Public Health
Cities Need More Public Bathrooms–Well Beyond the Pandemic
COVID-19 laid bare the dismal state of public bathrooms in America, and some cities stepped up to add more facilities. But why remove them while the need remains?
Supreme Court Allows Indiana University's Vaccine Mandate to Remain in Place
The Supreme Court rejected a request brought by students to block Indiana University from requiring COVID-19 vaccinations. Students, faculty, and staff are required to be fully vaccinated by August 15.
Why It's So Difficult to Measure Heat Deaths
Without a standard for recording and classifying heat-related deaths, experts believe the scale of the problem is much bigger than numbers let on.
What Is the Future for Transit After COVID? - A Debate
Critic Randal O'Toole and advocate Todd Litman debate how communities should plan for public transit in the post pandemic future. Should it contract or expand?
COVID-19, AIDS, and CDC Guidance
Music critic Joel Rozen pens a unique perspective for Slate's "Coronavirus Diaries" on the Provincetown, Massachusetts cluster that prompted the CDC on July 27 to reverse its masking guidance for the fully vaccinated issued a month earlier.
Congress Shortchanges School Bus Electrification in Infrastructure Bill
Greening school buses, which represent the bulk of America's mass transit, would reduce children's exposure to harmful diesel emissions and remove millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions from our roads.
Opinion: Keep Public Toilets at L.A. Homeless Encampments
The city is planning to remove the hundreds of public toilets and hand-washing stations installed during the pandemic. But the need for them isn't going away.
The Public Health Benefits of Bike Share, Quantified
New research shows that bike share use has a positive impact on public health, even in less bikeable cities.
How Mapping Tools Played a Role in Understanding COVID-19
A new episode of the Geospatial Revolution Project assesses how scientists used digital mapping tools to think about the pandemic.
Opinion: Loud Driving is a Public Health Threat
As more research demonstrates the negative health and environmental impacts of excessive traffic noise, the New York state legislature has passed a bill prohibiting the sale of muffler modification devices.
Why You Might Miss Your Commute–and How to Replicate its Benefits at Home
According to "boundary theory," a daily commute gives us time to do the emotional work of switching roles and establishing a separation between work and home life.
Minnesota Transit Buses Deliver COVID-19 Vaccines
The state's department of health is deploying the retrofitted buses to administer vaccines in hard-to-reach communities.
How the Built Environment Impacts Public Health
New research sheds light on how the brain responds to urban environments and architecture.
Coronavirus Legislation: Vaccine Choice or Anti-Vax?
If vaccines provide the means out of the pandemic, vaccine hesitancy and opposition threaten to prolong it. Battles over public health are being fought in courtrooms and statehouses like in Ohio, where a 'vaccine choice' bill is being considered.
California Workplaces to Return to Normal? Not Unless Everyone is Vaccinated
Most coronavirus restrictions are set to end on June 15 in California. The statewide mask mandate will align with CDC guidance, but workplaces will follow the new Cal/OSHA mask mandate: Unless everyone is vaccinated indoors, everyone masks.
L.A. Metro Denounces—but Doesn't Scrap—710 Freeway Expansion Plan
The agency's board members spoke out forcefully against air pollution and displacement, but stopped short of completely rejecting the project, looking instead to cleaner vehicles and regulations that mitigate community concerns.
Housing Design That Advances Health
Applying trauma-informed principles, reducing social isolation, and encouraging active living—how housing can be designed to promote good health.
Suicides Prompt New Public Access Rules for the Vessel at Manhattan's Hudson Yards
The Vessel is reopening after closing for four months due to a rash of suicides.
Most Questions About the Long-Term Impact of the Pandemic Still Unanswered
Planetizen started gathering articles attempting to predict the post-pandemic future in March 2020. The work goes on, with many questions left still to be answered.
COVID Vaccines Are Already Changing Cities
Here are just a few ways urban environments are transforming and reinventing themselves in the wake of the coronavirus.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
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.
