A land use attorney and planning instructor at MIT and Harvard University takes to the pages of The Boston Globe to explain planning to the audience of a new era.
"When Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh proposed a new master plan two years ago, many might have expected the effort — dubbed Imagine Boston 2030 — to alter the very look of the city," writes Matthew Kiefer to begin a recent article for The Boston Globe.
Keifer finds that Boston's master planning process is "shaping up very differently." Specifically, Keifer points to the city's "extensive outreach" and an "engaging, jargon-free draft" released in November. The final product, expected soon, "captures aspirations not just for housing but education, energy, the environment, and the arts, it’s less a plan than a set of guiding principles for equitable growth."
According to Keifer, the new directions taken by the Imagine Boston 2030 plan is a result of a new era of planning—distinct from the "urban renewal" approach of the era that produced the city's last master plan in 1965. "Urban planning, as we once knew it, is over," declares Kiefer.
Read the full story: It’s the end of urban planning as we know it (and we feel fine)
Boston Unveils New Shoreline Resilience Plan
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East Boston Kicks Off Series of New Neighborhood Plans
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
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Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
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Los Angeles just elected an urban planner as its mayor
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Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority