Social / Demographics

Ghost bike in New York

New Study Examines Bicyclist Fatality Data from 1975-2012

There's good and bad news to report from the 37-year study. Good news: Decreased child fatal bike crashes, but it results from fewer children biking. Bad news: Increased adult fatal crashes, but it results from an increase in adult male cyclists.

August 16, 2015 - HealthDay News

Obama Promise Zones

Promise Zones Partner Up in Los Angeles and Philadelphia

A new phase of President Obama's Promise Zone anti-poverty initiative will take place simultaneously in Los Angeles and Philadelphia. AmeriCorps staff will be on hand to provide career coaching to high school students.

August 7, 2015 - Next City

Upper Manhattan's Disappearing Bodegas

Rising rents and competition with chains are taking their toll on Manhattan bodegas, a mainstay for hispanic neighborhoods for their fresh and ethnic foods. As their numbers decline, chain stores increase, and Walk Scores drop.

August 5, 2015 - The New York Times N.Y. / Region

No Luxury Condos

What's the Matter With the Planning Process?

Current planning models places housing affordability and preservation fundamentally at odds with one another. We must be willing to re-evaluate our processes if we are to truly move forward.

August 4, 2015 - Reuben Duarte

Harnessing Social Resilience in the Rust Belt

Paterson, New Jersey's diverse immigrant population holds the potential to revive the city's declining economy. Writer Jeff Byles documents key resources the city has and how similar postindustrial cities have harnessed community-driven planning.

August 3, 2015 - Doggerel

Rethinking Culture and Community in New York City

Caron Atlas has spent decades working to understand and improve the relationship between cities and the arts. As co-director of Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts New York, she advocates for the recognition of artistic activity throughout NYC.

August 3, 2015 - Satellite Magazine

Smiling couple on a blanket in a park in Denmark

Measuring Well-Being in Santa Monica

The beachfront town known for its surfers and celebrities is collecting data that dig deeper than traditional measures of economic prosperity, and the results may be surprising.

August 3, 2015 - Fast Company Co.Exist

Washington DC Chinatown

Residents Forced Out of Washington, D.C.'s Chinatown

Can a neighborhood still call itself Chinatown when everyone living there is wealthy and white? Beset by rapid gentrification, longtime residents of D.C.'s Chinatown fight to keep their homes.

August 3, 2015 - The Washington Post

Tax the 1 Percent

How Falling Inequality Rates Mislead

While the vast majority of cities saw an increase—or no decrease—in neighborhood inequality since 1990, nearly 30 regions became more equal. But paper equality can be problematic when the rich simply up and left town.

August 1, 2015 - Urban Institute

Blog Series Explores the 'Heart of the Arctic'

Hazel Borys chronicles an Arctic expedition adventure, rife with environmental insights. If you ever wondered what it felt like in the olden days to receive dispatches from explorers off in distant mysterious lands, maybe it felt something like this.

July 31, 2015 - PlaceShakers

City Life in the Republic of NGOs

Haiti's weak government and heavy foreign aid presence has led some to refer to it as the "Republic of NGOs." Satellite explored how this dynamic plays out in the small city of Fort-Liberté, which has been shaken by recent protests over electricity.

July 31, 2015 - Satellite Magazine

Bed Stuy view

The Political Semantics of Housing Segregation

Two authors agree that housing policies in the War on Poverty have failed. Are those policies too progressive, or not progressive enough?

July 31, 2015 - Market Urbanism

Brooklyn

Friday Funny: Hipster Havens in All 50 States

Everyone has heard about Silver Lake, the Mission, and, of course, Brooklyn. But what about East Village, NuLu, Fondren, and Haymarket? Hipsters are everywhere! These are the top hipster neighborhoods—the Brooklyns, if you will—in all 50 states

July 31, 2015 - Thrillist

A Community of Brick Suburban Homes on a cloudy summer day

The Changing Face of Suburban America

As the nation becomes more racially diverse, so too do the suburbs.

July 31, 2015 - Brookings: The Avenue

Shenzhen Crumbling Buildings

Op-Ed Decries the Idea of the 'Triumph of the City'

An unflinching op-ed begs a rethinking of narratives that cheer the "Triumph of the City." In the contemporary city, the argument goes, only the rich are better off from urbanization.

July 31, 2015 - Citymetric

Detroit Skyline

Most Downtowns Still Lagging Behind

Central districts have been surging back since the 1980s. But in most cities, the upper third of earners still favor outlying areas and are underrepresented closer to downtown.

July 30, 2015 - City Observatory City Commentary

Detroit Vacant Properties

Map Depicts Nationwide Geography of Inequality

An analysis and accompanying interactive map from the Urban Institute show where the nation's richest and poorest tend to live. The map tells a tale of deeply ingrained wealth segregation.

July 28, 2015 - The Washington Post - Wonkblog

Yuppies Out

Op-Ed: Newer Model Density Falls Short of its Promise

The general principle is simple: more density equals lower prices and less environmental impact. But suburbia's imprint is deep, both on cities themselves and on how we expect to inhabit them.

July 27, 2015 - Grist

Old houses with large porch and colorful siding

All-White Neighborhoods Are Nearly Extinct; All-Black Neighborhoods Persist

The good news is that middle-class suburbs are becoming increasingly integrated. However, a closer look at the migration patterns of whites and minorities reveals a more complex picture, rife with racism.

July 26, 2015 - The Washington Post - Wonkblog

Poverty Shifts to the Twin Cities Suburbs

A recent report finds that more people are living in poverty in suburban areas than in the more urban areas of the Twin Cities region.

July 25, 2015 - MPR News

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.