Utopia
New ‘City’ Elysium Planned in Spain
The development proposes a from-scratch sustainable community built on brand new land at the edge of a reservoir.
What Is the Garden City Movement?
Born as a reaction to the crowded, dirty conditions in turn-of-the-century London and other industrial cities, the Garden City movement offers an idealized planned community designed to join elements of town and country.
Why Tech-Utopian City Plans Fail
Like others before him, e-commerce billionaire Marc Lore wants to build the ideal city from scratch. Urban experts don't have much faith in his chances.
Kanye West's Unpermitted Vision for Housing Utopia Has Been Demolished
Kanye had 45 days to submit plans for the unpermitted buildings built on his property in Calabasas, California. Instead, the rapper tore the buildings down.
Kanye West Lacks Permits for the Prototype Housing Units He Built
Kanye West's first foray into the development business is off to an inauspicious start.
Planning Utopia: Revisiting Thomas More's Classic
In this second installment of a three-part review of Thomas More's Utopia in its 500th anniversary year, L.A. area planner Jodie Sackett looks at More's ideas for planning a Utopian city. Do More's ideas have current relevance?
Elements of a Utopia: Revisiting Thomas More's Classic
It's been 500 years since Thomas More penned his classic Utopia. With the benefit of hindsight, Los Angeles area planner, Jodie Sackett, reviews some of the key ingredients More believed necessary for a utopian society.
Y Combinator's New Cities Project Gets Curiouser and Curiouser
The Silicon Valley start-up devoted to reinventing the city made a splashy hire this week.
A Developer's Plan to Build a Mormon Utopia in Vermont Hits Opposition
Plans drawn up for a new, futuristic 20,000-person community in Sharon, Vermont, based on town plans originally conceived by Church of Latter Day Saints founder Joseph Smith, have hit a roadblock with locals and the church itself.
This Tech Company Wants to Build a Better City
There's no shortage of ambition from Silicon Valley startup accelerator and investment firm Y Combinator—which recently announced its intentions to build a prototype city.
The Impossible 'Dream Cities'
A book review of the newly released book, "Dream Cities," by Wade Graham.
The Dichotomy of California's Frontier Myth: 'Hell-A' and Utopian San Francisco
“[There] is something about the frequency with which California and 'the future' are used synonymously,’ writes Kristin Miller. But the future looks much different when set in Southern California as compared to Northern California.
Kanye West Delivers Desktop Pep Talk at Harvard GSD
Musician and aspiring designer Kanye West stopped by Harvard’s Graduate School of Design for a surprise visit Sunday evening and delivered what Jenny Xie calls a manifesto on architecture.
Are We There Yet? A Status Update on the Cities of the Future
PlanIT Valley, Masdar City, Songdo - the names of these bold visions elicit past promises of a smart and sustainable future. Eric Jaffe rounds up the latest news on the progress of the world's new urban utopias.
Mouse Utopia, and the Density Scare
John B. Calhoun wrote in the 70s about studies he'd conducted that looked at how mice would react when "overcrowded". Since his utopias often turned ugly, he (and many others) extrapolated the results to humans, giving density a bad name.
Hardly a Celebration
With a recent murder, a shootout-turned-suicide, and a high rate of foreclosure, the reality of Celebration, Florida, is less ideal than appearances would suggest.
Suburban Utopias?
This article from the Guardian argues that despite years of derision, suburbia is gaining a more positive reputation as "utopia in a big way".
Prisoners of The Village
You don't know how you get there, but you're there. And you can't leave. You're a prisoner among hundreds of other prisoners, but you're the only one who knows it. Or at least you think you know it. Are you really still a prisoner if you forget you're being held against your will? Existentialism aside, what if it's your environment that's taking away your sense of individualism?
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.
Berkeley County
Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA)
Ada County Highway District
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
City of Cambridge, Maryland
