International Development

The United Nation’s New Urban Agenda has created a playbook for planning advocates. It opens possibilities for building inclusive, integrated urban planning in countries where planning has been top-down and limited in scope.

June 20, 2021 - Bruce Stiftel

Innovation means different things to different people. For Bridges to Prosperity (B2P), a nonprofit that builds footbridges in the developing world, it’s a way to help people thrive despite limited resources.

June 28, 2017 - Doggerel

Despite depressing U.S. federal politics, there are many encouraging planning trends if you look internationally and locally.

March 26, 2017 - Todd Litman

UN-Habitat has adopted International Guidelines for Urban and Territorial Planning intended to inform the United Nation's New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals.

May 1, 2015 - Bruce Stiftel

An infographic from the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition compares U.S. development and aid spending to the annual Super Bowl splurge on ads, food, and security.

February 3, 2013 - The Washington Post

Announced at a recent United Nations summit on biodiversity, India’s pledge of $50 million to assist developing countries with conservation efforts marks a significant shift in the way environmental protection is funded worldwide.

October 28, 2012 - The New York Times

The nation of Iraq is building itself anew after the last of the US troops evacuated six months ago, but experts are saying that their wealth, which has created an invasion of shopping malls around the country, is subsidizing the public agenda.

July 5, 2012 - The New York Times

The formula for Detroit's current status is complicated -- a mix of local, regional and national socioeconomic forces. But while many hands have shaped the good and bad of today's Detroit, the impact of current federal policy is easy to spot.

January 4, 2012 - City Limits

Recently released Capital City Planning Framework for Perth outlines a mixed-use city that is both livable and welcoming to outsiders.

June 22, 2011 - Architecture & Design

An experiment in community participation conducted by a multinational group of architects, planners and artists in south Delhi tests the efficacy of guerrilla neighborhood planning methods in the developing world.

November 17, 2010 - The Wall Street Journal

To celebrate an important victory a winning team sometimes parades around the arena with their coach on their shoulders as the fans cheer in adulation. Planners sometimes deserve similar treatment! For example, regardless of who wins the 2010 FIFA World Cup to be held in South Africa June and July 2010, the real victor will be residents of the four cities where matches will be held, who gain an efficient new public transportation system as a long-term legacy. Everybody wins!

October 26, 2009 - Todd Litman

Tuk-tuks are mechanized rickshaws - a cheaper alternative to taxis - that can be found throughout the developing world, from Latin America to Africa to southeast Asia and India. Environmental think-tank Enviu is trying to reduce rickshaw emissions.

July 18, 2009 - New York Times

Here at Planetizen and Urban Insight, many of our efforts to serve the planning community take place on Windows and Mac computers that would, much like your own computers at your home and office (or even your sparkly new iPhone), dwarf even the most powerful machines of a generation ago. We use these computers to build websites, create maps, share data, explore 3D environments, design, organize databases, and lots of other tasks that can bring new worlds to life without shoveling an ounce of dirt.

November 12, 2007 - Chris Steins