Gardens

The Importance of Botanical Gardens
Southern California is home to some of the best botanical gardens around. TimeOut just released its list of the top Japanese and botanical gardens, mansion and institution gardens, and urban and hidden gardens.

State Bill Protects New York’s Community Gardens
The legislation recognizes community gardens as vital urban spaces and an effective weapon against the impacts of climate change on cities.

Florida Preempts Local Zoning Laws That Prohibit Gardens
Many gardeners in Florida celebrated this week, as Senate Bill 82 went into effect, by planting fruits and vegetables in their yards, legally, whether their city liked it or not.

As Drought Returns to Texas, Report Recommends Stricter Rules on Outdoor Water Use
A report from a coalition of nonprofits recommends, among other restrictions, allowing outdoor watering only twice per week.

Friday Eye Candy: The Restored Gardens of Emily Dickinson
Fans of poetry and gardens will appreciate the effort to restore the historic home of Emily Dickinson—along with her cherished garden.
Urban Agriculture Projects in Chicago Show the Way
Successful Chicago urban agriculture projects on rooftop, in edible lawn, and at a school reviewed by resilience consultant Dave Hampton.
Neuroscience and Landscape Architecture
Two new studies use EEG and fMRI to pinpoint which elements of urban parks and gardens induce brain activity associated with meditative states.
App Reveals More of Paris's Treasures: Parks and Gardens
CityGardens is an award winning mobile app that can help tourists and residents find hidden parks and gardens in the middle of Paris.
Vision for Remaking Detroit Comes Into Focus
John Gallagher provides an update on the elements being considered for remaking the city's neighborhoods by Mayor Dave Bing's Detroit Works long-term planning team.
Portland's Pavement Pulverizers
Grist looks at the volunteer group in Portland that legally removes unnecessary pavement from places around the city and replaces it with gardens and green space.
Are NIMFYs Next?
Converting front lawns into edible gardens is becoming popular, but some neighbors only see ugliness and worry about their property values. Are we entering the age of Not In My Front Yard (NIMFY)?
Broken Inner-City Freeway Reborn as Garden
Activists have turned the site of a former inner-city freeway in San Francisco into a community garden.
Music Shapes the Landscape
Landscape designer Julie Moir Messervy collaborated with cellist Yo-Yo Ma to design a waterfront park in Toronto. Bach's First Suite for Unaccompanied Cello served as inspiration.
The Gardens of Baghdad
This piece from The New York Times looks at the role of private gardens and public-facing landscaping in the city of Baghdad.
Good Parks Make Good Cities
That's Lynden Miller's motto, an artist and garden designer with a new book, Parks, Plants, and People: Beautifying the Urban Landscape. The Wall St. Journal has a profile.
Millennium Park Garden Takes Top Award from ASLA
The American Society of Landscape Architects has awarded the Lurie Garden in Chicago's Millennium Park with it's highest honor.
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.
EMC Planning Group, Inc.
City of Bakersfield
Standridge Inc.
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service