Urban Design
Where Words Fail: Teach Architects and Urban Designers Like Violinists
Architects and urban designers justify or explain their work with words, and municipalities govern design with jargon-filled regulations. The outcome is often underwhelming.
San Francisco's 1971 Urban Design Plan Echoes Today's Concerns
A 1971 effort to quantify the city's values and design goals reflects many of the same priorities that planners and residents face today.
Reimagining San Francisco for the Post-COVID Era
A San Francisco nonprofit is developing a set of recommendations for making downtown neighborhoods more flexible and welcoming to a more diverse set of users.
Updating New York City's Urban Design Principles
Anita Laremont, newly appointed director of the New York Department of City Planning and chair of the City Planning Commission, elaborates on the city's priorities for the public realm and the role for good urban design to enhance quality of life.
River District Megadevelopment Moving Forward in New Orleans
The project, led by Gensler, will span 39 acres of residential units, retail, and cultural attractions.
How the Built Environment Impacts Public Health
New research sheds light on how the brain responds to urban environments and architecture.
How the 'Financialization of Housing' is Physically Changing Cities
The increasing investment value of real estate has led to tangible changes in the way buildings are designed and function, one author argues.
Jaime Lerner, One of the World's Most Influential Urbanists, Passes Away at the Age of 83
A sad day for the world of planning and urban design innovation, as Jaime Lerner, the Brazilian urbanist who created the concept of bus rapid transit as we know it today, passed away in Brazil.
The Pitfalls of the 15-Minute City
The concept, touted as "hyper-local," can fail to take into account local conditions and historical inequities in American cities.
The Surprisingly Important Role of Symmetry in Healthy Places
New research suggests there might be a "symmetry deficit disorder" in today's built environments, with significant impacts on health, well-being, and even sustainability.
The Best (and Worst) of Architecture and Design in 2020
An annual review of the world of architecture and design from design critics at the Dallas Morning News and Curbed.
Reassessing New Urbanism
A thematic issue of the peer reviewed journal Urban Planning provides a framework for reassessing New Urbanism.
Town Building Game Offers Moments of Pandemic Zen
Townscraper, a new "casual town building" game earned good reviews among early adopters this summer.
The Legacy of Chicano Urbanism in East Los Angeles
Fifty years after the Chicano Moratorium, James Rojas reflects on the future of Latino Urbanism.
Designing for Dementia
Subtle design interventions can facilitate safe navigation in urban environments for people with cognitive abilities effected by dementia.
Seeing the Street
A San Francisco-based design studio describes the thought process behind an effort to push outdoor lighting design beyond the lowest common denominator allowed by bureaucracy and status quo thinking.
Envisioning the Post-Pandemic City
The coronavirus has upended urban life, but it also provides an opportunity to look to new and innovative redesign of cities in the future.
How Typical Economic Development Kills Community Character
An economic development pro makes an argument for an approach to economic development that prioritizes the urban design decisions that favor community character.
A New Model for Community-Led Neighborhood Revitalization
A case study in community-led neighborhood revitalization.
Digital Roundtable Discusses Silicon Valley's Urbanist Future
Highlighting the ways in which the pandemic’s disruption is unleashing innovation, panelists share their hope for streamlining public-private collaborations to solve some of the region’s housing, transportation, and equity challenges.
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 Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority
