Artificial Intelligence
North Carolina Deploys 2,500 AI-Based Traffic Signals
The signals use AI to collect data and help traffic engineers make decisions and implement changes more quickly and effectively.
The Basics of Artificial Neural Networks: What Urban Planners Should Know
Planetizen AI columnist Tom Sanchez takes us under the hood of the technology that drives many AI tools.
What Is Artificial Intelligence?
Data-driven algorithms can help planners make more informed decisions, but the technology comes with its own risks of error, misuse, and built-in biases.
Researchers Use AI to Get Clearer Picture of US Housing
Analysts are using artificial intelligence to supercharge their research by allowing them to comb through data faster. Though these AI tools can be error prone, they save time and housing researchers are optimistic about the future.
Cal Fire Chatbot Fails to Answer Basic Questions
An AI chatbot designed to provide information about wildfires can’t answer questions about evacuation orders, among other problems.
In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking
Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?
Four Reasons Urban Planners Can’t Ignore AI
It’s no longer a question of whether AI will shape planning, but how. That how is up to us.
Rethinking Computing: Researchers Tackle AI’s Energy Demands
USC researchers are reimagining how AI systems are trained and powered — through smarter algorithms, innovative hardware, and brain-inspired designs — to dramatically reduce computing’s energy footprint.
How Data-Driven Research Is Shaping Sustainable Urban Development
Explore how data-driven research is revolutionizing sustainable urban development, creating smarter, greener, and more resilient cities for the future.
Minneapolis Bans Rent-Setting Software
Four cities have enacted restrictions on algorithmic software that can inflate rent costs.
Ratepayers Could Be on the Hook for Data Centers’ Energy Use
Without regulatory changes, data centers’ high demand for energy would be subsidized by taxpayers, according to a new study.
Planning Trends for 2025: Creative Housing Solutions, Ongoing Transit Woes, and the Ever-Creeping Tentacles of AI
Urban planners have no shortage of urgent issues to delve into, from a deepening housing crisis to an increasingly unpredictable climate to a new federal administration bent on slashing key funding for everything from electric cars to housing assistance.
Fighting Forest Pests With AI: A Hemlock Success Story
Fairfax County utilized GeoAI and ArcGIS technology to efficiently map and protect its hemlock trees from the invasive woolly adelgid, ensuring targeted pest management and preservation of its evergreen canopy.
Smart Cities and Utilities: Enhancing Energy Efficiency Through IoT Integration
Learn how IoT integration in utilities is boosting energy efficiency in smart cities, aiding urban planners in sustainable development.
AI Uncovers Forgotten Oil Wells: A High-Tech Solution to Environmental Hazards
Researchers are using artificial intelligence, drones, and sensors to locate and assess undocumented orphaned oil and gas wells, addressing their environmental and climate risks by identifying high-priority sites for plugging and methane mitigation.
Cities and States Taking Action to Limit Rent-Setting AI
Federal prosecutors are charging a software company with using algorithms to artificially inflate rents.
Future Floods in Focus: Using AI and Physics to Visualize Disaster Risks
MIT researchers have developed a groundbreaking AI-powered tool that integrates physics-based models to generate realistic satellite images of future flooding, offering communities a powerful way to visualize and prepare for disasters.
How AI Can Improve Public Transit
Machine learning and AI can transform the way transit agencies operate and make service faster and more comfortable for users.
Google Inks Nuclear Power Deal
Tech giants are seeking out renewable energy to fuel power-hungry data centers and AI applications.
The Role of AI in Streamlining Municipal Services and Operations
Explore how artificial intelligence optimizes municipal services, enhancing efficiency in urban planning, traffic management, and public safety.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association
