Smartphones
A Brave New World: How Apps Are Changing Planning
Mobile applications (apps) are gaining in popularity as tools for increasing participation in local governance and planning, and are opening up new possibilities for planners to tap into the wisdom of the crowd.
Opinion: Smartphone Dependency Mirrors Car-Centric Development
Decades ago, we started building a society based around car ownership, making it difficult to navigate U.S. cities without one. Are we making the same mistakes with smartphones?
Recommended Mobile Apps for Urban Planning in 2023
Planetizen's annual list of top apps for planners is back, ten years after its first appearance on the site. Scores of apps have been recommended by planners as examples of planning in action, or tools for planning action.
Best Apps for Urban Planning in 2022
Mobile apps continue to redefine the practices of planning—urban planning, regional planning, transportation planning, community planning, and rural planning included.
Against Victim Blaming
One common scapegoat for rising pedestrian death rates is "distracted walking." But there is little reason to believe that smartphone-wielding pedestrians are a major cause of roadway carnage.
Real-Time Art Installation Reveals the Many Dimensions of Data
Using a wagon filled with phones, an artist in Berlin demonstrated the disconnect between data and the real world.
'Today’s Dockless Bike-Sharing Systems Are Wild Systems'
Dockless bikes offer the unexpected and help users navigate and understand the urban environment in new and different ways.
Smart Phones and Urban Change in the 2010s
According to the architecture critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer, smart phone technology enabled the most profound changes in Philadelphia during the 2010s.
Top Planning Apps for 2019
Insights into the mobile app technology used in the practice and study of planning.
4 Regulatory Complications of 5G Infrastructure Development
The implementation of 5G Internet infrastructure raises fundamental questions about how private companies operate in the public realm. Don't expect easy answers.
The Best Planning Apps
Planetizen is pleased to present the best of the latest crop of mobile apps by planners and for planners.
Survey: What Are Your Favorite Planning Apps?
We're updating the annual Top Apps for Planning list, and we want your input.
Coming to L.A. Transit in 2018: Smartphone Fare Payment
Los Angeles is planning to join the ranks of cities that will allow transit fare payment by smartphone app. The scope of benefits offered by app-based fare payment is still under development.
Denver-Area Transit Users Can Use Smartphones to Pay Their Fare
The Regional Transportation District hopes that the ability to pay transit fares by smartphone will remove the frustration of waiting in line and searching for correct change.
Dearth of Data Masks Scale of Distracted Driving Fatalities
Bloomberg links the uptick in traffic fatalities throughout the United States to rising smartphone use while driving.
Transit Riders in Portland Can Pay Their Fare With Their Smartphones
Introducing the Hop Fastpass system.
Mobile Apps Provide the Ultimate Guide to Los Angeles
Get this guide for 21 apps and services for enjoying the city of Los Angeles to its fullest, whether you're a resident or a visitor.
It's Snowing—There's An App for Tracking That
A snow storm came through overnight, your street hasn't been cleared. When can you expect to have your street cleared? Cities are increasingly providing snowplow tracking information to residents.
Fitness Apps Are the New Planning Tool
Many smartphone users have a fitness app that they use to track their routes and progress on fitness goals. The data in these apps is a gold mine for planners, helping lead to better infrastructure investments.
Cell Phones Fail the Eyeball Test for Public Safety
Citing anecdotal evidence from Montgomery County, the Governors Highway Safety Association, and China, a Washington Post article argues that cell phones are creating public safety concerns.
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
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
