Social / Demographics

Coronavirus and Transportation

Pandemic Planning Must Reconcile With the Inequities of the Past

The ongoing debate about the role of marginalized communities in the emergency planning programs of the pandemic has now been detailed on the pages of the New York Times.

July 21, 2020 - The New York Times

The Villages, Florida

The Villages and the Dangers of Holding Too Tightly to the Past

Some parts of The Villages, Florida, the nation's largest retirement community and one of its most popular master planned communities, bear a striking resemblance to the neotraditional development favored by famous early examples of New Urbanism.

July 20, 2020 - James Brasuell

Atlanta, Georgia

Mapping the Displacement Risk of Opportunity Zones

An Atlanta case study.

July 20, 2020 - Next City

2020 Census Logo

Census Workers Start Going Door to Door

The Census has been pushed back by several months, and there's still time to prevent a Census worker coming to your door if you haven't filled out the response form.

July 17, 2020 - Associated Press

Hong Kong

Hong Kong Acts Decisively to Stamp Out Coronavirus Resurgence

Hong Kong, hailed as an early success in containing the virus, is seeing a resurgence that threatens to exceed the initial outbreak. While minimal by U.S. standards, the government is enacting its strictest restrictions to date to extinguish it.

July 16, 2020 - Bloomberg News

Salt Lake City

20 Years Later: Envision Utah's Quality Growth Strategy Deemed a Massive Success

The state of Utah created Envision Utah in the late 1990s to address growth while maintaining quality of life and protecting the environment in the state. The plan set goals for 2020, so it's time to evaluate its success.

July 16, 2020 - The Salt Lake Tribune

Cincinnati, Ohio

Past Civil Unrest Sets the Table for Today's Gentrification

The story is similar in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Miami, Cincinnati, and Boston: scenes of widespread destruction—the fires, looting, and property damage of civil unrest—sow the seeds for redevelopment and gentrification.

July 15, 2020 - The New York Times

Coronavirus and Urbanism

Learning from Down Under

The governors of Arizona, California, Florida, Texas, and other states where COVID-19 infections are threatening to overwhelm hospitals should consider what their counterpart in Victoria, Australia, did on July 7 to contain the coronavirus.

July 15, 2020 - The Guardian

Police Enfocement

Berkeley City Council Considers Relieving Police From Traffic Stop Duties

Unarmed public works officials could replace Berkeley Police officers in monitoring minor traffic violations pending approval of a proposal to be considered by the Berkeley City Council.

July 14, 2020 - The New York Times

Coronavirus Protest

California Rolls Back

The nation's most significant rollback to date of a state reopening plan occurred Monday when California Gov. Gavin Newsom closed seven categories of indoor businesses statewide and an additional six categories of indoor operations in 31 counties.

July 14, 2020 - San Francisco Chronicle

Choice Neighborhoods

Lawyers Connect Breonna Taylor's Murder to Choice Neighborhoods Initiative in Louisville

The lawyers for Breonna Taylor accuse police in Louisville of acting on behalf of a redevelopment plan led by the city with funding support from the federal government.

July 14, 2020 - Louisville Courier Journal

Coronavirus

'Metro Recovery Index' Measures the Impact of the Pandemic and the Trajectory of the Recovery

Brookings has released a new tool for measuring the impact of the coronavirus on local economies across the country, as well as the effectiveness of economic recovery efforts.

July 14, 2020 - Brookings

COVID-19

Resurgence Delayed—or a Pandemic Exodus?

In this interview with Emily Badger of the New York Times, Natalie Moore of WBEZ Chicago, and Amanda Kolson Hurley of Bloomberg Businessweek, Slate's Henry Grabar asks about the future viability of America's cities and suburbs in a time of COVID-19

July 14, 2020 - Slate

Florida Retirement Community

The Stage for Trump's Racist Tweet: The Villages, Florida

The Villages is one of the strangest, and most significant, planning and development stories in recent memory—with surprisingly regular relevance in the media and numerous intersections to politics and culture.

July 13, 2020 - James Brasuell

Los Angeles in 1939, as determined by the  Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC).

Lessons From Decades of Racist Land Policy

President and CEO of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy Dr. George McCarthy traces the legacy of racist policy and offers guidance toward an economic recovery that begins to undo systemic racism.

July 13, 2020 - Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

Berkeley Hills Bay Area

Groundbreaking Affordable Housing and Homeless Shelter Project Underway in Berkeley

A new Berkeley development, the largest affordable housing development in city history, is slated to house 200 low-income and homeless residents by May 2022.

July 13, 2020 - The Mercury News

Columbia University Athletics

A New Generation of Community-Led Planning in New York

With a benchmark success in demanding rights for the community during an ongoing rezoning process in Inwood, a neighborhood in Manhattan, a new generation of community-led resistance to top-down planning is coalescing in New York City.

July 13, 2020 - Yes!

Emergency Sign

COVID Crisis Triggers Unprecedented Medical Measure in Arizona

At the request of the state's largest health network, Arizona has activated the "Crisis Standards of Care," meaning that if a hospital lacks capacity, it can turn away new patients, likely to be seniors, sending them home. Other states may follow.

July 9, 2020 - Arizona Mirror

Helena, Montana

CDC Sued to Force Release Racial Demographic Data on Coronavirus Spread

Systemic racism is blamed for the glaring and tragic racial disparities of the COVID-19 illness in the United States.

July 9, 2020 - The New York Times

Fringe Development

Marohn: End Single-Family Zoning

A prominent conservative voice in the urban planning debate makes the case for repealing the single-family zoning status quo.

July 8, 2020 - The American Conservative

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.