Urban Design
7 Principles for Designing Safe Cities
A World Research Institute report offers seven prescriptions for designing safer cities. At the top of the list: avoid sprawl.
Master Planned Neighborhood Focuses on Materials to Avoid Blandness
Could something as simple of the material selected for a residential tower prove the "antidote to suburban blandness"? A Parisian suburb thinks so.
A Call for Better Urban Design on Tampa's Grand Central Avenue
A local columnist voices a harsh critique of a development proposed for one of Tampa's most beloved streets. So far the developer seems responsive to the community's concerns.
How Cities Grow Big; Not How Big Cities Grow!
Can cities stop growth? is there an ideal size for a city-region? What really matters is HOW a city grows big, not how big a city grows. Design matters. When people suggest a city is getting too big, shift the conversation from quantity to quality.
Boston Confronts the Origins of Its Lousy Architecture
For the first 300-or-so years of its history, Boston built some of the most handsome, historic neighborhoods in the country. Lately, says critic Rachel Slade, it has given in to mediocrity. Mayor Marty Walsh is trying to undo the damage.
Cycletracks and Other Improvements Coming Soon to Downtown Los Angeles
Improvements funded by the developer of the 73-story Wilshire Grand project will make Downtown Los Angeles' main thoroughfare a better place to walk, bike, and use public transit.
Lessons from Baltimore: Civic Action, Not Defensive Architecture, Needed
Baltimore was only beginning to undo the ill effects of the architecture and planning response to the riots of 1968 when the protests and unrest of 2015 struck. Can the architecture field produce a more positive response to violence this time?
Big Plans for Fort Wayne's Downtown Waterfront
Situated at the confluence of the St. Joseph, St. Marys, and Maumee Rivers, Fort Wayne, Indiana is flush with funding for an ambitious waterfront revival project.
The Power of Play in the Public Square
Paris represents the best of grand architecture and city planning, from the Eiffel Tower to the Champs-Elysées. Yet, underneath these places, are small parks that bring together Paris' diverse populations through the power of play.
Death and Life in Seoul
A new article in the Journal of Planning Education and Research tests whether Jacob’s ideas ring true for predicting pedestrian vitality in Seoul.
'Ones to Watch': Young Designers Working to Improve Urban Life
The U.K. based Design Council recently announced the winners of its "Ones to Watch" competition. The winning entries show how young designers (aka, the "future of British design") are working to improve urban life.
Child-Friendly Cities: What My Toddler Taught Me about City Design
In a post from the new Plan.Place blog, the author explores the city with a two-year-old as his guide and offers reflections on viewing the urban landscape anew--from an elevation of 34 inches and with a renewed sense of wonder.
Top Planning Trends – 2014
A deeper look at the traffic data on Planetizen reveals trends from the planning and urban design conversation of 2014.
Op-Ed Critiques Architecture: from 'Infinitesimal Specks' to 'Sprawling Dreck'
Steven Bingler and Martin C. Pedersen pen a withering critique of the architecture profession's obsession with glamorous contracts at the expense of context-sensitive, community-focused designs.
Back to Basics: the Diggs Town Public Housing Revitalization
Some of the most effective solutions in urban design involve the simplest design changes. Revitalizing public housing is difficult, but not impossible, as shown by Ray Gindroz and his team at Urban Design Associates in Norfolk, Virginia.
Ten Provocative Ideas for Bicycling Architecture
Arch Daily presents the ten major ideas to emerge from a "design provocation" for big ideas to push trip share of bike in New York City closer to, and even beyond, the levels of Copenhagen.
Op-Ed: Urban Design Should Mind the Line Between 'Cute' and 'Safe'
Sarah Goodyear writes a dissenting take on the "cutestification" of urban design—calling for a priority on clean and safe over "fun."
Six Helpful Apps for Urban Designers
Leslie Clagett shares a list of apps for urban designers (helpful to project managers, too) "to streamline design problems, decision making, and materials selection."
Study Reveals China's Middle Class Obesity Problem
A study titled "Walking, obesity and urban design in Chinese neighborhoods" finds that the population with least access to walkable neighborhoods in China—namely, the middle class, are suffering the worst of the country's growing obesity problem.
Trees In Urban Design: Are You Planting a Liability or Growing an Asset?
Trees are a vital element of urban design, one that must considered at every stage of planning, design and development.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Smith Gee Studio
City of Charlotte
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
US High Speed Rail Association
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)
