Social / Demographics

Locals vs Tourists Mapped Through Photography

Eric Fischer uses Flickr geodata to visualize where photos are taken in cities, and by whom. The result is a colorful divide between tourists and locals in a variety of cities around the world.

June 19, 2010 - The Map Room

BP Disaster Endangering Coastal Cultures

The Gulf Coast is home to diverse ethnic and racial communities that have already endured decades of pollution from chemical and petroleum industries. The BP leak may be the "nail in the coffin" for many of these communities, writes Jordan Flaherty.

June 17, 2010 - Truthout

As Developing Countries Urbanize, Food Booms

A new study shows that agricultural output in the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China will be three times as great as those in the developed world. Increasing urbanization is seen as one of the drivers of this growth

June 17, 2010 - BBC

Los Angeles Finds a Communal Way to Enjoy The World Cup

Jeremy Rosenberg of Next American City examines how the people of Los Angeles get together to watch the world cup, in the absence of any primary public meeting space.

June 16, 2010 - Next American City

City Logos for the Entire World

GOOD points to a new project that's trying to create and collect city logos for every city on the planet.

June 16, 2010 - Good

Bruce Sterling on Cities

Boing Boing interviews author and futurist Bruce Sterling about global cities and how vastly expanding urban scale is not necessarily a problem.

June 15, 2010 - Boing Boing

Augmenting Sense of Place

In the first of a two-part series on augmented reality, Mitchell Schwarzer discusses how this new form of information affects our sense of place.

June 15, 2010 - Places

New Urbanist Ideas Can Improve Public Health

"A once radical idea - that health and urbanism are so deeply entwined that investing in the latter may improve the former -- is beginning to find broad adoption," concludes Fast Company. Greg Lindsay charts the realization of this relationship.

June 12, 2010 - Fast Company

Traffic Planning for Rock and Roll

Traffic congestion marred the early year's of the annual music festival Bonnaroo in Tennessee. But now, advanced traffic planning has made the gridlock only a memory.

June 10, 2010 - The New York Times

The Big Business Behind Local Opposition to Wal-Mart

Typically thought of as a war to protect small businesses in communities from being swallowed up by a giant, the local opposition to Wal-Mart stores is often funded secretly by other major grocery chains.

June 9, 2010 - The Wall Street Journal

Sit/Lie Proposal Shot Down in San Francisco

A controversial plan being pushed by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom to ban sitting or laying on public sidewalks during certain hours of the day has been voted down by supervisors.

June 9, 2010 - San Francisco Chronicle

Party in the Graveyard

The Olinger Crown Hill Cemetery in Wheat Ridge, Colorado is trying to lighten up what is typically a somber setting by scheduling concerts and other cultural events at the graveyard.

June 9, 2010 - The Denver Post

Has Expansion of the Welfare State Hindered Social Mobility in London?

Joel Kotkin examines the causes of growing disaffection among Britain's youth and the associated class conflicts that were highlighted by the recent general election.

June 7, 2010 - New Geography

Homes on the Highway for Displaced Haitians

Haitians displaced from their home by the devastating earthquake in January have set up camp along a highway median.

June 3, 2010 - NPR

Quantifying Health Costs Of Auto-Dependency

Can health care costs be factored into transportation investments? Should they? The American Public Health Association says an emphatic 'yes' to both. Results are reported in a 12-page report that includes cost savings from walkable urban design.

June 2, 2010 - Grist

Modernism, Architecture and Segregation

Essayist and photographer Aisha Sloan revisits the Los Angeles neighborhood of her childhood to examine Modernist architecture and its correlation to segregation.

June 1, 2010 - Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built & Natural Environments

Amid a Slow Recovery, Frustration Grows in Haiti

Frustration and anger are rampant in Port-au-Prince, where recovery from the earthquake that thrashed the city in January has been slow and, by some local accounts, corrupt.

June 1, 2010 - The New York Times

A Rural Future Beyond Agriculture

Development in rural America has long been a confounding problem. Increasing outmigration highlights the importance of finding new methods for economic development beyond agriculture.

May 31, 2010 - The Daily Yonder

Shrinking and Aging Population Poses Problems for Germany

Emigration is up and the birth rate is dropping in Germany, where people are starting to worry about what a shrinking and aging population will mean for the country's future.

May 31, 2010 - Der Spiegel

The Uncomfortable Relationship Between Race and Public Transit in L.A.

As part of his series about walking across Los Angeles, writer Ryan Bradley delves into the complicated and controversial relationship between race and transit in the city.

May 31, 2010 - Good

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.