Urbanization

Orchard Station RTD Light Rail

Denver Suburb Rejects TOD at Light Rail Station in Special Election

Tuesday's mail-in vote by residents of Greenwood Village to overwhelmingly reject a city-council approved plan to allow mixed-use development at a light rail station is a major setback for smart growth proponents.

June 9, 2017 - The Denver Post

San Antonio Riverwalk

Back to the Suburbs: Most Metropolitan Are Getting Less Dense

A closer look at the data reveals a country that continues to sprawl.

May 23, 2017 - The New York Times

Gentrification

Gentrification, for Better and Worse

Gentrification—more wealthy people moving into lower-income communities—often faces opposition, sometimes for the wrong reasons. It is important to consider all benefits and costs when formulating urban development policies.

May 18, 2017 - Todd Litman

Friday Eye Candy: Winning Images of Urbanization and Migration

The Penn Institute for Urban Research, in collaboration with Perry World House, is pleased to announce the winner of its 2017 photo contest on the theme of urbanization and migration.

April 28, 2017 - Penn IUR

From Caracas to Remote Villages, One Family's Search for Venezuela

Like his father and great-uncle before him, 37-year-old Caracas native Guillermo Lares is using Venezuela's rural traditions to help himself and his contemporaries reflect on the country's current reality.

April 27, 2017 - Soft City

United Nations Taking First Steps Toward the New Urban Agenda

Some of the big work left undone by the Habitat III summit in finalizing the New Urban Agenda in December is now moving forward. The future of the New Urban Agenda and UN-Habitat can now start to take shape.

April 26, 2017 - Citiscope

Trump and the New Urban Crisis

Richard Florida writes that Trump's victory over Hillary Clinton is a product of the backlash against what he calls The New Urban Crisis of burgeoning economic inequality—the widening divides between rich and poor.

April 24, 2017 - Penn IUR Urban Link

Hong Kong Towers

Sand: Another Victim of Global Urbanization

Headlined by vertical (and horizontal) sprawl in China, India, and elsewhere, the global building boom requires vast quantities of concrete and asphalt. And to get those materials, sand must be taken from the environment.

March 8, 2017 - The Guardian

Los Angeles sprawl

The Atlas of Urban Expansion Shows How Cities Grow

The "Monitoring Global Urban Expansion Program" gathers and analyzes data on 200 cities around the world. The "Atlas of Urban Expansion" presents the program's preliminary results.

January 17, 2017 - Atlas of Urban Expansion

Denver Union Station

Denver City Summit 2016: Place, Culture, Meaning

Keynote speeches and break-out sessions at this year's Rocky Mountain City Summit implicated the importance of cultural knowledge for planning inclusive and equitable cities.

November 21, 2016 - Dean Saitta

Jane Jacobs

Jane Jacobs's Legacy: 2016 Edition

New York magazine offers a long reflection on the shifting lessons offered by Jane Jacobs after a year of new books and a re-emergence into the public eye.

November 4, 2016 - New York

Charlotte

Charlotte Wonders About its Future as a Fast-Growing City

Behind all the debates surrounding the consequences of quick growth, a big question looms for Charlotte and other similarly growing cities: Will it last?

October 30, 2016 - The Charlotte Observer

Joan Clos

'The World's Urban Planner': UN-Habitat's Joan Clos

The phrase "everything on the street" captures UN-Habitat head Joan Clos's approach to urbanization. In the wake of Habitat III, who is the man behind the conference's "New Urban Agenda"?

October 26, 2016 - Citiscope

Shanghai China

China's Urbanization Boom May Be Slowing

After a period of modernization and urban growth unrivaled in human history, several forces promise a slump, or at least a slowing. Maybe it's time to improve existing cities, not keep building new ones.

August 2, 2016 - Bloomberg

Pyramids of Giza

What 6,000 Years of Population Data Looks Like

We can now watch 6,000 years of urban settlements and movements unfold on our computer screens.

June 28, 2016 - The Guardian

Freeway Construction

Stop Saying 50 Percent of Humans Live in Cities

The idea that half the world's population has moved to cities, with more coming soon, misses a fundamental fact about cities: many of them are actually suburbs.

June 8, 2016 - Undark

Stone Age

Lessons from the Paleolithic Era for Contemporary Urbanites

Gustav Milne makes a simple argument via The Guardian: urbanization "is bad for us."

May 25, 2016 - The Guardian

Phoenix Dust Storm

Mayoral Op-Ed: Give Cities the Power to Address Climate Change

In an opinion piece, former mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York joins Anne Hidalgo of Paris and Eduardo Paes of Rio de Janeiro. They argue that national governments should give cities every possible tool to cut emissions.

May 10, 2016 - The Guardian

Bhaji Bazaar

Op-Ed: Habitat III Should Consider Food Systems

The UN's Habitat III conference will be held in October of this year. Thomas Forster argues that urban areas are being considered in isolation, without enough attention to rural areas and food systems.

April 29, 2016 - Citiscope

Canada

Urban Planning Ranked as the Second Best Job in Canada

It might come as a shock to planners who lived and worked through the great recession, but a Canadian publication has named urban planning in the number two position on a ranking of "Best Jobs" in the country.

April 26, 2016 - Canadian Business

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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.