Trash collection

Close-up on overflowing trash can in New York City labeled with Times Square.

Why is Public Sanitation so Hard?

U.S. cities struggle to keep streets and sidewalks clean. Some are turning to high-tech trash cans to help.

February 9, 2026 - The Hustle

White waste management sanitation garbage truck and worker pushing wheeled green dumpster on street with piles of trash bags.

Parked Cars Hamper NYC Trash Containerization Effort

Sanitation workers must manually collect bags from containers blocked by parked cars, slowing a process that is meant to be safer and more efficient.

December 3, 2024 - StreetsBlog NYC

New York Department of Sanitation

Haul Together

With New York City on the verge of reorganizing the private sanitation industry, union organizer Allan Henry connects the dots between street safety, worker rights, and environmental impacts.

July 24, 2018 - Urban Omnibus

Vermin Graffiti

New York City to Invest $32 Million in its Rat Problem

Clean and safe from rats.

July 14, 2017 - Smart Cities Dive

New York Department of Sanitation

A Booming Brooklyn Seen from the Back of a Garbage Truck

New York continues to grow, and as the city changes, so does its garbage.

February 8, 2017 - The New York Times

New York Trash

Change Coming to the Way New York City Collects its Trash

The de Blasio Administration has recommended that the city of New York is ready to collect its trash in a new way, with a system known as franchising.

August 22, 2016 - Politico New York

Garbage Truck

Minnesotans Clash Over Organized Trash Collection

Instead of letting trash collection companies compete to serve customers, several Minnesota cities are negotiating contracts on behalf of their citizens. The measure, which reduces garbage truck traffic, has prompted backlash.

February 7, 2016 - StarTribune

Roosevelt Island

Roosevelt Island's Pneumatic Garbage System

On New York City's Roosevelt Island, residents have long lived free from the roar of garbage trucks. Instead they use Avacs, an island-wide system of pneumatic tubes that moves trash to a central location for processing.

August 21, 2015 - The New York Times

Floods Create Trash Collection Stink in Oakland County

Recent heavy rains in Oakland County, north of Detroit, have required the local waste authority to make temporary arrangements for sewage-soaked trash. Residents are not happy.

August 24, 2014 - Detroit Free Press

Baltimore Water Wheel Takes out the Trash—40 Tons since May

Part innovative urban design solution, part historic and simple design solution, the city of Baltimore's trash-collecting water wheel has been an unmitigated success at mitigating the trash in the Jones Fall River.

July 29, 2014 - Sustainable Cities Collective

In Los Angeles, a Clash Over Trash

Kate Linthicum and Jessica Garrison recount the debate over a new proposal to overhaul Los Angeles's trash collection industry, as labor and environmental groups go head-to-head with waste haulers and business interests.

February 14, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

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.

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Transportation Planner I

KFH Group Inc.

Director, Strategy and Research

Greater Baltimore Committee

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.