Public Policy

Most Successful Bus Rapid Transit Stalls Out

Bogota, Columbia's TransMilenio bus rapid transit system has been widely praised and imitated around the world. However, many consider the successful bus system to be suffering from its own success.

July 16, 2011 - www.TheCityFix.com

Why California Should Increase Car Tax

George Skelton of The Los Angeles Times contends that one of Schwarzenegger's biggest blunders as governor of California was lowering the vehicle license fee to 0.65%.

July 11, 2011 - The Los Angeles Times

Ideological Clash Over Transportation Bill

A proposal to cut transportation funding by chairman of the House transportation committee John Mica (R-Fla.) received wide criticism from the Democrat counterpart.

July 8, 2011 - The Washington Post

Los Angeles' Legacy of Murals is Disappearing

The legacy of Los Angeles murals has all but left the city, buried under sign ordinances, billboard policy and tagging. Tanner Blackman in the Dept. of City Planning Code Studies Section is working to free up the knot of regulation.

July 7, 2011 - KCET

Stagnant Sales Hamper Chicago's Revitalization Efforts

Failing to attract buyers even with deep discounts, developers are starting to bail out on Plan for Transformation, an ambitious program that seeks to replace moribund public housing projects with mixed-income housing.

June 20, 2011 - Chicago Tribune

Does Climate Change Transcend Partisan Politics?

A Yale University survey yielded a surprising result: climate change policy is becoming less polarizing among Americans of different political affiliations.

June 17, 2011 - D.C. Streesblog

Planning Disputes Loom Large Over Upcoming Australian Election

A variety of controversial planning policies and high-profile development projects in Melbourne have led to widespread resident frustration, reports The Sydney Morning Herald. Could planning issues change the city's larger political equation?

October 13, 2010 - The Sydney Morning Herald

Crafting the Next Generation of Smart Growth Policies

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy spent two years looking at smart growth policies in a number of states to see how well they've achieved their goals. Gregory K. Ingram, President of the Institute, explains the results.

June 8, 2009 - Gregory K. Ingram

British Intelligence Tells Planners to Keep Plans Secret

MI5 has requested that planners and architects keep some details of building designs top secret as part of the fight against terrorism.

June 13, 2008 - The Architect's Journal

An Outbreak Of Beauty and Happiness?

In spite of my sense that we are heading pell mell into the gloom of global warming, catastrophic conflict and hopeless mediocrity, I’ve noticed a hopeful trend. Beauty and happiness have been rehabilitated from irrelevant to necessary.  It may not be an avalanche, but proponents are showing up in unusual places: a book by an environmental conservationist, another by an historian philosopher, and a Mother Jones article about the economy.  Can this portend a trend?

March 22, 2007 - Barbara Knecht

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

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.