Chinatown

Ornate Chinatown gate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with people walking in front of it.

Philadelphia’s ‘Chinatown Stitch’ Freeway Cap in Danger After Feds Retract Funding

A project 15 years in the making would reconnect Philadelphia’s Chinatown neighborhood after decades of being split in half by a roadway.

March 11, 2026 - WHYY

Group of seniors doing tai chi in park in New York City.

How a NYC Teen is Helping Chinese Seniors Navigate the Affordable Housing System

For low-income seniors with limited English and tech proficiency, navigating New York City's affordable housing systems is a challenge. To help, we must think beyond affordability.

November 21, 2025 - Shelterforce Magazine

Alpine Recreation Center sign in park in Chinatown, Los Angeles, CA.

More Than a Park: A Safe Haven for Generations in LA’s Chinatown

Alpine Recreation Center serves as a vital cultural and community hub in Los Angeles' Chinatown, offering a safe, welcoming space for generations of Chinese American residents to gather, connect, and thrive amidst rapid urban change.

May 19, 2025 - American Community Media

Wire sign over street "Welcome to Chinatown" in New York City.

Mahjong Game Highlights Displacement of Seniors in NYC’s Chinatown

‘Aging Out of Place’ explores the mechanisms that displace vulnerable seniors, and how the community can help preserve key resources and institutions.

May 15, 2025 - Next City

Block packed with Chinese-and English-language marquees and signs in New York City's Chinatown.

A Visual Celebration of Manhattan’s Chinatown Elder Community, Through Food

Lanterns, cafeteria trays, and community connection take center stage in this stunning photo essay.

April 13, 2025 - Civil Eats

Sunset view of downtown Nashville, Tennessee skyline from across a river.

Plans for Nashville’s First Chinatown Underway

Developers are working on a new cultural commercial development that will offer unique Asian architecture, culture, shopping, restaurant, and retail services to Nashvillians and visitors from surrounding cities and states.

June 3, 2024 - Nashville Post

Philadelphia, Chinatown

Equitable Development Plan Aims To Protect Philly's Chinatown

As the historic neighborhood experiences increased redevelopment around the new Rail Park, community activists are working to ensure older residents and businesses aren't displaced in the process.

March 2, 2022 - Next City

Vancouver, British Columbia

Gentrification in Chinatown Harms Social Cohesion, Food Security

A new report focuses on the consequences of gentrification in Vancouver's Chinatown neighborhood.

January 26, 2019 - The Star Vancouver

Reading Viaduct

Working to Avoid the Pitfalls of the High Line

A highly anticipated linear park project in Philadelphia will open this year. Planners and activists have been working in anticipation of increased pressure on the local housing market.

February 21, 2018 - The Philadelphia Citizen

Portland's Jade District Is a Planner's Nightmare (and Dream)

The Jade District on Portland's distant east side is a typical geography of wide streets and sprawl, but is also a relatively complete, self-contained community.

December 3, 2017 - Oregon Public Broadcasting

San Francisco Tunnel Boring Machine

San Francisco's $1.6 Billion Central Subway Project 10 Months Behind Schedule

The $1.6 billion Central Subway project will bring the first subway to San Francisco's Chinatown. After early funding and planning delays, construction had seemed to be moving along swiftly. Now the project is expected to be delayed by 10 months.

July 11, 2017 - San Francisco Examiner

Philadelphia, Chinatown

Philadelphia's Chinatown Stays Resilient Against Displacement

With the construction of a new community center and housing, Philadelphia's Chinatown sees a more secure future for the historic neighborhood

November 28, 2016 - PhillyMag

Hilliard Towers

Chicago's Hilliard Homes Succeed Despite Trend Away From High-Rise Projects

The Hilliard Homes avoided the wrecking ball for 50 years, even while other high-rise projects were knocked down. A Chicago Reader pierce suggests the design and management of these buildings could make them a model for future High-rise projects.

October 12, 2016 - Chicago Reader

Chicago Chinatown

Chicago Chinatown's an Outlier of Success

While the cultural authenticity and geographic footprint of Chinatowns around the United States shrink, Chicago's is growing. What can other cities learn from Chicago's model?

May 15, 2016 - Chicago Tribune

Chinatown Residents Create Their Own Plan to Prevent Displacement

In a city looking to land use regulations for answers to an affordable housing crisis, one collection of community groups attempted to create a plan of their own.

March 7, 2016 - The Architect's Newspaper

Washington DC Chinatown

Residents Forced Out of Washington, D.C.'s Chinatown

Can a neighborhood still call itself Chinatown when everyone living there is wealthy and white? Beset by rapid gentrification, longtime residents of D.C.'s Chinatown fight to keep their homes.

August 3, 2015 - The Washington Post

Residents Disillusioned with the Planning Process in Los Angeles' Chinatown

Sharon McNary reports on a proposed development in the Chinatown neighborhood of Los Angeles that predates, and could thus avoid, the guidelines put forward by one of the most progressive plans in the city—the Cornfield Arroyo Specific Plan.

February 13, 2015 - KPCC

San Francisco Tunnel Boring Machine

Seattle's Envy? San Francisco's Big Alma Outperforms Big Bertha

Big Alma is one of two boring machines used to tunnel under the streets of San Francisco to construct the new Central Subway to Chinatown. Big Bertha, Seattle's infamous tunnel borer, has been stalled since December. Big Alma emerged on June 11.

June 16, 2014 - The San Francisco Examiner

Movie Marquee

Ranking the Top Movies About Urbanism

The Oscars are this weekend, so its an appropriate time to turn to movie magic as a powerful force for how American’s perceive environments—from rural to urban and everything between.

February 28, 2014 - Next City

Will Chinatowns Soon Be Extinct?

The formation of Chinatowns in the United States began in the late 19th Century, and since then have provided an important immigrant gateway. But gentrification and rising expenses in U.S. cities are shrinking many Chinatowns.

February 6, 2014 - BBC News

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.

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Transportation Planner I

KFH Group Inc.

Director, Strategy and Research

Greater Baltimore Committee

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