grid

Smart Growth: Claustrophobic, Unsafe, and Bad for Gas Mileage

Rick Harrison argues that smart growth looks good on paper, but in application the density creates a whole host of problems.

May 17, 2009 - New Geography

Ancient Cities Found in the Amazon

Anthropologists have discovered traces of highly organized and gridded cities in the Amazon rainforest dating back to the 1200s.

August 31, 2008 - National Geographic

Culs-de-Sac and Grids: A Middle Ground (Or Two, Or Three)

Smart growth supporters tend to prefer grid systems to cul-de-sacs, for excellent reasons. A proliferation of cul-de-sacs artificially lengthens walking distances: if streets don’t connect to each other, you might have to walk a mile to go just a few hundred feet. In addition, cul-de-sacs increase traffic congestion by dumping most vehicular traffic on a few major streets. And because biking is less safe on busy, high-traffic streets, bikers benefit from a grid system as well.

August 28, 2008 - Michael Lewyn

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.