Movies
Francis Ford Copolla’s Urban Planning Swan Song
Legendary director Francis Ford Coppola’s likely final major film, Megalopolis, celebrates design and urban planning. It is a dazzling mishmash of architectural, cinematic, and literary history.
Racing Toward Dystopia
The latest installment in the Mad Max franchise is a more urgent warning about the perils of climate change and megalomania than ever before.
New Film, Set on a Philly Bus, Celebrates the Magic of the Latino Community
The Latino community gathers on a bus, and joy ensues, in the new short film "La Guagua 47."
Robert Moses Inspires 'Motherless Brooklyn'
A new movie starring Edward Norton, based on the novel of the same name by Lionel Essrog, gives a central role to a Robert Moses doppelgänger, as portrayed by Alec Baldwin.
Pop Quiz: Can You Name These Movies Where the NYC Subway Plays a Role?
You're allowed to guess.
Friday Fun: Oscars-Nominated Films Featuring Place in a Starring Role
Many of the movies nominated for Oscars this year gain a great deal of thematic and storytelling meaning from their locations.
Black Panther's Many Lessons in Urbanism
Black Panther is a smash hit with critics and audiences. In addition to long-needed perspective about race, the movie has presented urbanism in a new light.
Why Can't Public Transit Get a Role on the Silver Screen?
Or even Netflix, for that matter.
Blade Runner Goes Back to the Future
Los Angeles appears in Blade Runner 2049 in name only. But the film still provides an arresting vision of a high-density future and is a reminder of the eternal ambiguity that surrounds Los Angeles.
Reviews for 'Citizen Jane: Battle for the City'
Two publications likely to find an audience with people sympathetic to the cause of Jane Jacobs reviewed the latest film about her political battles with Robert Moses for the soul of New York.
The Pop Culture Verdict: Transit Is Hip
Several decades ago, public transit was a distinctly low-quality way of getting around. Now, if we can believe TV and movies depicting the near future, all that has changed. Transit has become aspirational.
Atlanta's Favorite Architect Inspires Science Fiction
Even movies set long ago and far, far away have to be filmed somewhere. With uncanny frequency, many of them, including "The Hunger Games" and "Insurgent," have been filmed in the futuristic/dystopian landscape designed by John Portman in Atlanta.
Study: Youth Learn Reckless Driving Habits at the Movies
Researchers in the Behavioral Science Institute at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands produced evidence that movies like Fast and the Furious influence the driving of young people.
And the Feel-Good Oscar Goes To...
Discussing some of the most pro-urban movies ever made.
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.
Film Makes the Walls Talk for Six Famous Buildings
An expansive new 3D film, shown recently at the Berlin Film Festival, collects a series of vignettes that anthropomorphize buildings like the Berlin Philharmonic, the National Library of Russia, and the Salk Institute.
Friday Funny: Disney Planning More Vehicle-Themed Movies
If you love the transportation-related puns you've been subjected to over repeated viewings of Cars, Cars 2, and, now, Planes with your children, you're going to be excited to hear about what Disney is working on now.
"Urbanized" Seeks To Chart The Future Of Planning
A.O. Scott reviews the final installment of Gary Hustwit's design trilogy, "Urbanized," and concludes that even those with a deep knowledge of urban planning are likely to learn something from the carefully selected images and interviews.
Friday Funny - Top Ten Cities That Need Statues from 80's Movies
While Philadelphia has a real-life statue of the famous underdog Rocky Balboa, an online campaign in Detroit wants a similar RoboCop statue put up. TIME Magazine has other must-have icons from the 80s era it thinks cities should adopt in stone.
Urban Favorites
The Polis Blog presents a huge list of "urban favorites" -- songs, movies, initiatives and places that explain or highlight the best of the world's urban areas.
Pagination
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.
University of Southern California
City of Meridian
University of Calgary
American Planning Association, Sustainable Communities Division
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
Detroit Regional Partnership
San Joaquin LAFCo
City of South Portland