Urban Design
Children in 55 countries are redesigning their cities in Minecraft
A U.N.-backed program lets students and community members reimagine sites in their neighborhoods in the game — and translate them into real-life buildings.
Move over, zoning. Housing’s unsung hero is better street design.
The physical layout of infrastructure is the quiet force that shapes housing supply.
Planning for Love, Part 3: Enhancing human connection through walkability
In the third and final installment of this series, author Hannah Kosoff examines what her research findings say about modern dating and urban form.
How urban design makes the world unsafe for women — and how we can change that
An industrial designer explains how cities, cars and other everyday items could better serve women.
Planning for Love, Part 2: What happens to dating in a car-centric world?
A survey of over 150 adults about their dating lives reveals stark differences based on their neighborhood's walkability.
Is the built environment partly to blame for population decline?
The way communities are designed could be contributing to lower birth rates.
How urban design can deter crime
Well-designed public spaces and good lighting can prevent crime and make residents feel safer.
Study highlights links between land use and road safety
New research suggests that shifting 'household-supporting' retail away from dangerous arterial streets can reduce pedestrian deaths and injuries.
Why Walk Scores Don’t Tell the Whole Story
A popular measure of walkability only measures proximity, not safety or comfort.
The Parking Lot Maternity Leave
New parenthood is the stress test of suburbia. I’ve learned the hard way just how spectacularly it fails.
Top 10 Island Press Built Environment Books
From “Life Between Buildings” to “Human Transit,” Island Press has played a critical role in building the catalogue of literature that is foundational to urban planning.
From SoHo to SoDoSoPa
How zoning made great neighborhoods illegal to build, and preordained gentrification.
Land Use: Chasing Utopia, 2025?
History has taught us the risks of undervaluing the power of planning decisions. Overvaluing them might be just as dangerous.
“Leveraging Place”: A Toolkit for Staying Loyal to the Places We Shape
Place speaks before we plan. We need to listen.
Video: Jane Jacobs’ ‘Sidewalk Ballet’ is Alive and Well
“Streets Make Cities” takes viewers on a stroll down West 4th Street in Greenwich Village, illustrating the many ways that streets and sidewalks form the lifeblood of a city.
‘Architectural Epidemiology:’ Centering Public Health in Urban Design
A new book asks, what if cities were designed around health equity?
The Vast Potential of the Right-of-Way
One writer argues that the space between two building faces is the most important element of the built environment.
How Public Spaces Exclude Teen Girls
Adolescent girls face unique challenges and concerns when navigating public spaces. We can design cities with their needs in mind.
The Trouble With QUIMBY
The idea of “quality urbanism in my back yard” has its uses, but should not be used to limit housing supply.
What ‘The Brutalist’ Teaches Us About Modern Cities
How architecture and urban landscapes reflect the trauma and dysfunction of the post-war experience.
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.
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
Eagle County Government
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
