Social / Demographics

Thailand

Is the End of Bangkok Street Food Vending Near?

Street food vendors are an integral part of the Bangkok urban landscape, but city planners want to see them gone.

December 19, 2019 - The New York Times

Bay Area Planner Accosted by Building Security

An extremely problematic encounter occurred last week when a black planner was accosted by security while taking photos of bike racks on the street outside of a luxury building.

December 18, 2019 - Curbed San Francisco

Ontario, Canada

Toronto's Biggest Story of 2019: Mississauga

The city of Mississauga is undergoing a transformation so complete that one Toronto-based write said the suburb is the city's issue of the year.

December 18, 2019 - Toronto Storeys

Homeless Cars

The Homeless Working Poor

The Salinas Valley in California is an agricultural powerhouse, but homelessness and hunger abound. Finding affordable housing is becoming increasingly difficult, even for people with jobs.

December 16, 2019 - The California Sunday Magazine

Berkeley Hills Bay Area

Navigating California's Housing Insanity

One person’s return to the San Francisco Bay Area meant facing the dystopian realities of the rental market.

December 16, 2019 - Harper's Magazine

Ben Carson

The Decade in Urban Planning

A look back at the biggest stories and themes from the world of urban planning in the decade that was the 2010s.

December 16, 2019 - James Brasuell

Detroit Vacant Properties

A Better Way to Tackle Social and Economic Inequality

Building community wealth from the bottom up is a more effective way to turn struggling communities around.

December 16, 2019 - CityLab

Lisbon, Portugal

What Can Brain Science Tell Us About Cities?

Cities are not unlike brains in their capacity to evolve along complex, self-organizing patterns. Studying what some researchers call the "urban connectome" may give us insight into how best to organize the places where we live.

December 15, 2019 - CNU Public Square

Electric Car Charging Stencil

California Climate Program Offers Up to $9,500 Toward Purchase of Used EVs

Lawmakers want to ensure that electric vehicles are accessible to all Californians, particularly lower-income motorists in disadvantaged communities. Unlike other incentive programs, participants must also scrap an older, polluting vehicle.

December 14, 2019 - San Francisco Chronicle

Young Planners

Attracting Youth of Color to the Field of Planning

A leading youth engagement in planning program, explained.

December 12, 2019 - Planning Magazine

Hartford, Connecticut

Low-Income Housing Tax Credits: 'Erecting Pockets of Poverty'

The state of Connecticut deploys almost all of its federal housing funding in impoverished communities, according to this bombshell investigatory report.

December 11, 2019 - ProPublica

Boise Idaho

Development Backlash Follows Population and Job Growth in Western States

As housing prices rise all over the country, quickly growing states like Colorado, Idaho, and Utah are transforming in ways some residents didn't anticipate or desire. Such circumstances are a breeding ground for anti-development politics.

December 11, 2019 - Pew Stateline

Brooklyn

Report: 'Racialized Displacement' Followed Rezonings in New York City

The rezonings in question occurred during the Bloomberg administration, but advocates are seizing on the relevance of that experience to the rezonings of the de Blasio administration.

December 8, 2019 - Curbed New York

Car-centric Planning

Transit-Oriented Development Central to D.C. Region's Growth Plan

Transit-oriented development will play a key role in mitigating the congestion effects of growing population in the region around the nation's capital, and regional planners say the region is already achieving its goals.

December 2, 2019 - WTOP

Pedestrian Signal

Where Enforcement of Jaywalking Equals Criminalization of Homelessness

Records in Salt Lake City show that police in Salt Lake City concentrate jaywalking enforcement in the corner of the city that houses most of the city's homeless services.

December 2, 2019 - The Salt Lake City Tribune

Sign

California Migration Boosts Nevada Population Above 3 Million

Californians fleeing the nation's highest housing prices were key to Nevada's growth according to newly released Census data. The Las Vegas Review-Journal's reporter, editorial board, and readers all had something to say about the newcomers.

November 30, 2019 - Las Vegas Review-Journal

Homeless Man

Calling for More Humane Treatment, and News Coverage, of the Homeless

Two articles raise questions about the state of humanity, as evidenced by the way news organizations and politicians write and talk about the homeless.

November 28, 2019 - Streetsblog LA

Moving Truck

U.S. Migration Reaches 72-Year Low

Staying in place is more and more the norm, even among historically mobile young people.

November 26, 2019 - Brookings

babyt Boomer Homeowners

Study: Boomers Leaving Their Homes Will Dramatically Increase Housing Supply

New analysis by Zillow predicts a "Silver Tsunami" of residential properties coming to the market as Baby Boomers leave the housing market. The effect could be like the housing boom of the mid-2000s.

November 26, 2019 - Zillow

Los Angeles Skyline

Blade Runner's Dystopian World and the L.A. of Today

The original "Blade Runner" takes place in the Los Angeles of November 2019. How does the film’s vision of the city compare with the present-day reality?

November 23, 2019 - LAist

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.