Land Use
First Community To Offer Government-Sponsored Bike Sharing System
In Washington, D.C., Capital Bikeshare just celebrated its "1st Birthday Bash" according to Coleen Gentles.
Solyndra, Moneyball, and Lessons for Planning
The Los Angeles Times recently had a story about the collapse of Solyndra – the once heralded poster-child of the Obama administration’s green jobs plan. A big part of Solyndra’s demise was due to the rapidly falling price of their competitors’ solar panels. In 2008, the cost of solar panels was a bit over $4 for each watt generated. Solyndr
A foray by HUD into telling small towns how best to use their land
In April 2009, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan spoke to the ULI Spring Council Forum in Atlanta; he stated that his administration’s goal was “to put the UD back in HUD,” and explained that HUD’s over-reliance on housing solutions wasn’t helping cities address their complex revitalization needs. Just over two years later, this small new funding program caught my eye on a list of new HUD announcements: *** HUD HOPE VI – $0.5 million Application Due: August 22, 2011 Eligible Entities: Local governments
Rahul Mehrotra Talks Indian Urban Planning
Rahul Mehrotra talks to The Hindu about sustainable cities, community participation, and infrastructure. The article also has a review of his most recent book "Architecture in India Since 1990."
Berlin Wall Site Now a Hot Neighborhood
The Berlin Wall was constructed 50 years ago by Communist East Germany. Parts of the wall remain as a remembrance, but much of the area has been transformed into hip neighborhoods and parks.
Atlanta's Beltline Has Long Road to Ideal Smart Growth Model
The Atlanta Beltline Partnership's annual report shows how revitalization programs, workforce housing, parks and trails have been blossoming. Yet transit development has lagged behind, reports Kaid Benfield for The Atlantic.
Connecting Residents With Services in Abu Dhabi Master Plan
The revitalization master plan for two older neighborhoods in Abu Dhabi includes creating "new roads, clinics, schools, police stations and neighborhood centers" and making them easily accessible to residents.
How the Other Half Lives in Hong Kong
For a city of over 16,000 people per square mile, less than 7% of Hong Kong's land is designated for residential use. Subdivided apartments - aka "coffin units" - totaling 150 square feet aren't uncommon, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Land Use Impacts On Travel: Current State of Knowledge
As discussed in my previous column, An Inaccurate Attack On Smart Growth, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) sponsored a research program intended to raise doubts about smart growth’s ability to reduce vehicle travel [...]
Santa Monica's Ambitious Plan For 'No Net New Car Trips'
Beachside Santa Monica recently launched an ambitious Land Use and Circulation Element, which will balance growth, neighborhoods, and traffic. The plan has received accolades, and the city has become a model for consensus-based planning.
The Challenge of Long-Term Planning
The sometimes decades-long gap between cause and effect makes it difficult to reverse long-standing transportation & planning policies, says Ben Brown.
Music Gives New Life to Brownfield
A lakefront steel plant on Chicago's South Side that has been abandoned since 1992 is the venue of the Dave Matthew's Caravan July music festival.
The Federal Role in Supporting Urban Manufacturing
Revitalizing American manufacturing is widely-acknowledged as vital to our country’s economic recovery and long-term prosperity, but it is equally essential to understand the changing of this sector in order to make smart policy decisions.
New York's Zoning Needs An Update
On the 50th Anniversary of New York City's 1961 Zoning Resolution, President of the Municipal Art Society of New York Vin Cipolla argues that New York "needs a new zoning resolution for a new era."
Politics vs Progress in Australia
The new Government for the State of Victoria in Australia is attempting to reverse basic initiatives pursuing the integration of land use and transport, brought on by NIMBY influences.
Redefining "Smart Growth" for the 21st Century
Kaid Benfield of the NRDC thinks it is time to add more specifics to the definition of smart growth. He prescribes a set of six new focus areas, including equity and health, that he argues should be emphasized in the 21st-century smart growth agenda.
Slow Going for Light Rail in Dallas
A new 28-mile expansion makes the city's system is the largest in the nation, but is it actually changing travel habits? Yonah Freemark investigates.
Urban Agriculture Craze Boon to Farmers in Japan
Japan's yard-less city dwellers are increasingly drawn to "weekend farming" plots rented from commercial farmers on the urban fringe. Could it help the country's struggling agriculture sector? Kenji Hall reports.
Rethinking Detroit
Detroit reporter John Gallagher's new book "Reimagining Detroit" considers what it will take to remake The Motor City into a model that will work for the future.
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.
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
