Current trends in the design community require a pointed question: "When everything is characterized as 'world-changing,' is anything?"

Allison Arieff takes the occasion of a book review to write a critique of the design ethos of the disrupters and tech innovators of the contemporary economy. Arieff writes:
In this way, innovation is very much mirroring the larger public discourse: a distrust of institutions combined with unabashed confidence in one’s own judgment shifts solutions away from fixing, repairing or improving and shoves them toward destruction for its own sake.
Those words inspired by a recently published book by Jessica Helfand, titled Design: The Invention of Desire. Although the book's themes apply to more technological innovations than the Airbnbs and Ubers of the world (i.e., new technology directly related to planning, land use, and transportation), a book calling for a renewed attention to the humanist disciplines of design does apply to the world of planning—which more and more often adopts the moniker "urban design" before anything else.
And the questions Arieff asks certainly apply to the examples of urban design, rural design, architecture, landscape architecture, or all these other possible manifestations of the design works confronting planners every day: "Are we fixing the right things? Are we breaking the wrong ones? Is it necessary to start from scratch every time?"
FULL STORY: Solving All the Wrong Problems

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

Amtrak Rolls Out New Orleans to Alabama “Mardi Gras” Train
The new service will operate morning and evening departures between Mobile and New Orleans.

The Subversive Car-Free Guide to Trump's Great American Road Trip
Car-free ways to access Chicagoland’s best tourist attractions.

San Antonio and Austin are Fusing Into one Massive Megaregion
The region spanning the two central Texas cities is growing fast, posing challenges for local infrastructure and water supplies.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
Custer County Colorado
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont