Social / Demographics

Unoccupied housing is on the rise in many parts of the country, according to an analysis of U.S. Postal Service data.

July 27, 2011 - USA Today

Officials in Moscow are pushing a plan to double the footprint of the city in order to ease congestion and overcrowding. Some worry sprawling development patters will follow.

July 27, 2011 - Guardian

The youth of America will ditch its cities in favor of the suburbs, according to this op-ed from Joel Kotkin.

July 27, 2011 - New Geography

The Active Living approach, promoting activity by changing physical space, is not enough to combat the obesity epidemic, Laura Tolkoff writes. Though the urban planner's role in reducing obesity is unclear, Tolkoff presents some possibilities.

July 27, 2011 - Colab Radio

The city of Vancouver is planning to offer more than $42 million in land and capital grants aimed at developing affordable housing. Its part of a 10-year plan to end homelessness in the city.

July 26, 2011 - The Vancouver Sun

A comic book is helping municipal employees in Brazil to understand how to catalog land for the collection of property taxes.

July 26, 2011 - At Lincoln House

For a city of over 16,000 people per square mile, less than 7% of Hong Kong's land is designated for residential use. Subdivided apartments - aka "coffin units" - totaling 150 square feet aren't uncommon, reports The Wall Street Journal.

July 26, 2011 - The Wall Street Journal

Companies are moving back to the city in response to a new generation of workers who prefer the urban environment over suburban office parks.

July 22, 2011 - CNN Money

In a post at Project for Public Spaces, a politician from Spokane, WA is quoted as saying the way municipal governments could spur job growth is by building public spaces where people want to live, work, shop and invest.

July 21, 2011 - Project For Public Spaces

Each year Walk Score ranks the top cities for walking, according to its own walk score methodology. In 2011, NYC placed #1. See the rest of the top 10!

July 21, 2011 - Walk Score

The amount of children under five has jumped in downtown Minneapolis, which is posing problems for the city and its school system.

July 20, 2011 - Minneapolis-St.Paul Star Tribune

A new 26-foot statue of Marilyn Monroe -- recreating a famous film scene in which wind blows up the star's skirt -- has been unveiled in Chicago. Tourists seem to like it, but others argue it's too kitschy.

July 20, 2011 - Chicago Sun-Times

Though population growth rates have slowed in cities and suburbs, their increasing interconnectedness has created sets of diverse metropolitan areas, according to the Brookings Institution's Alan Berube.

July 20, 2011 - The Brookings Institution

The first major American city to have a black majority, Washington D.C.'s demographics have shifted again.

July 19, 2011 - The New York Times

In an effort to improve the visitor experience and boost business, operators of a busy transit hub in Boston are bringing in performers and various activities to entertain people waiting and convince others to linger longer.

July 19, 2011 - The Boston Globe

A new documentary film delves into the complicated history, life and demolition of the Pruitt-Igoe housing project in St. Louis.

July 18, 2011 - The Architect's Newspaper

Programmer and designer Eric Fischer has created a series of images that map the location of geo-coded images on Flickr and places where people are using Twitter.

July 18, 2011 - The City Fix

As the desire for wireless internet increases, some public parks are finding that Wi-Fi networks are becoming a new and important amenity.

July 18, 2011 - Time

Proportionally more women bike on New York City streets with protected bike lanes than not at all, and turning a painted lane into a protected one caused female ridership to soar.

July 18, 2011 - Streetsblog

Sprawl is so last season. GQ ranks the "most sartorially-challenged metropolises in the greater United States" based solely on the five-letter S-word rarely mentioned in planning: Style.

July 16, 2011 - GQ