Prisons

Woman in crowd holding sign saying "Detention center NOT welcome here" at protest against ICE detention center in Monroe, Georgia.

Land use as protest: How American cities are fighting federal immigration detention centers

Across the country, city officials are using zoning codes and land use law to limit where ICE detention facilities can be built.

June 23, 2026 - Matthew Reyes

Protesters carrying signs and Mexican and American flags march in San Antonio street against ICE raids with historic Spanish-style building in background.

San Antonio sets new rules for immigration detention facilities

The city revised its zoning code to add new restrictions for private detention centers, but the ordinance won't apply to federally operated facilities.

April 19, 2026 - San Antonio Report

Close-up in barbed wire fence around immigration detention center with American flag visible in background.

Architecture Firm to Stop Designing ICE Prisons After Staff Outrage

Employees of one of the nation’s largest “justice facility” firms called on their company to end contracts for detention facilities.

March 18, 2026 - Mother Jones

 Protesters stand on top of a freeway overpass over the I-90 freeway with a Stand With Minneapolis banner as a result of the ICE shooting in Minnesota.

Spokane Zoning Bill Would Ban Detention Centers in the City

Two proposed city ordinances would prevent federal immigration authorities from using city property for detention facilities.

February 22, 2026 - RANGE Media

Protesters holding a blue "ICE out of LA" sign with LA Dodgers logo in Los Angeles.

LA Considers Reviving Zoning Rule That Would Prohibit ICE Facilities for Children

A 2019 proposal would bar private detention facilities from contracting with federal agencies to detain minors.

February 18, 2026 - LAist

Armed guard standing behind fence at Chicago ICE detention facilities.

ICE is Buying Massive Warehouses in Small Towns for New Detention Centers

The agency is shifting its approach from temporary, makeshift detention camps to more permanent facilities.

February 1, 2026 - The New Republic

Delaney Hall is a secure detention facility near Newark Airport used by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to hold illegal aliens awaiting deportation hearings.

Commentary: New Jersey Township Could Use Zoning Law to Block ICE Facility

The Roxbury council passed a resolution opposing a new immigration detention facility, but the town could go further by enacting an ordinance barring detention as a land use.

January 25, 2026 - Insider NJ

Former Lincoln Heights jail, now abandoned, with graffiti on white Art Deco stone walls in Los Angeles, California.

Opinion: As Prison Populations Drop, Shuttered Facilities Offer Opportunity

The redevelopment of hundreds of former military bases in the 1980s provides a model for how similar facilities can be repurposed to serve the surrounding communities.

August 10, 2025 - Governing

Deralict stone prison building with turrets and a chain link fence in foreground, under a gray, cloudy sky.

‘Shawshank Redemption’: 5 Adaptive Reuse Strategies for Shuttered Jails

Redeveloping closed correctional facilities in ways that foster just and thriving communities is a growing trend across the United States.

May 15, 2024 - Vera

Conceptual rendering of Rikers Island redevelopment as renewable energy facility

Can New York City Go Green Without Renewable Rikers?

New York City’s bold proposal to close the jail on Rikers Island and replace it with green infrastructure is in jeopardy. Will this compromise the city’s ambitious climate goals?

August 24, 2023 - Mark H. McNulty

Crowd of activists protesting conditions at Rikers Island with one woman in front speaking into microphone

Envisioning a Sustainable Future for Rikers Island

With the prison complex slated to close by 2027, the city has an opportunity to transform the island into a renewable energy and research hub.

November 8, 2022 - Time Out NY

Coronavirus

An American Lockdown

Words matter. Road safety advocates know that "crashes are not accidents." Similarly, calling coronavirus restrictions "lockdowns," fails to distinguish the severity among public health orders. On January 6, America experienced a true lockdown.

January 25, 2021 - NPR

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

AIA Updates Ethics Code to Prohibit Design of Facilities Used for Solitary Confinement, Execution

Advocates in the design industries have been pushing for years for the American Institute of Architects to take a stance on how prisons are designed.

December 16, 2020 - The Architect's Newspaper

Georgia Protest

States Take Steps to Reopen Regardless of White House Guideline Criteria

Governors of several states announced initial steps to reopen their economies even though their COVID-19 caseloads are not meeting the criteria that they show a decline for two weeks, according to White House reopening guidelines issued April 16.

April 21, 2020 - The New York Times

COVID-19

A Cheer (Or Maybe Even Two) For Redundancy

Is government too efficient to protect us from epidemics?

April 6, 2020 - Michael Lewyn

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Eastern State Penitentiary: A Class about the Past Speaks to the Present and the Future

Built as an embodiment of the ideals of prison reformers, the Eastern State Penitentiary had running water and central heating before the White House, and housed the first synagogue built in an American prison.

June 13, 2019 - Penn IUR Urban Link

NYC Health and Hospitals

Where Care Meets Confinement

For doctors trying to provide mental health care to people who are incarcerated or detained by the New York City Department of Corrections, city jails pose a challenge — and provide an opportunity.

August 8, 2018 - Urban Omnibus

A $48 Million Bet on the 'L.A. Model' of Juvenile Justice

With Campus Kilpatrick, Los Angeles County has made a serious investment in progressive design to support progressive programming.

January 29, 2018 - Metropolis Magazine

This California Jail is Off the Grid

The Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, California isn’t your average prison complex. Its independent power system, or microgrid, sets it apart from its peers—and saves an estimated $100,000 a year.

November 3, 2013 - The Atlantic

empty parking lot of Eastvale, California's best buy and kohl's, mountains in background

Why Four of California's Newest Cities May Soon Dissolve

All four are in Riverside County (east of LA). Reduced vehicle license fees, shifting funds from cities to prisons and a huge state budget deficit created the perfect storm to drain expected revenues. Hope was placed in a bill to fix it.

September 19, 2013 - Bloomberg News

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.

Senior Planner

City of Thousand Oaks

Community Development Director

City of Wisconsin Rapids

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Harvard University Graduate School of Design

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