World Trade Center

One World Trade Center

20 Years After 9/11: The 'Age of Skyscrapers' Is Nowhere Near Over

Despite predictions that the events of September 11, 2001 would be the end of skyscrapers, U.S. cities are building more tall buildings than ever.

September 12, 2021 - San Francisco Chronicle

Lower Manhattan

World Trade Center Rebuild Almost Complete With Approval of 900-Foot Mixed-Use Tower

Plans have been approved for the development of 5 World Trade Center, in place of a building damaged on September 11 and eventually torn down.

February 15, 2021 - The Architect's Newspaper

9/11 Memorial

How 9/11 Inspired Public Service as an Urban Planner

The account of how the terror and tragedy of 9/11 led an urban planner from working for a private consulting firm to working in the public sector.

September 12, 2016 - UrbDeZine

New York

Taking Stock of New York's Changing Skyline Post-9/11

Fear that skyscrapers might be a persistent target of terrorist attacks did not last long beyond the days and months following 9/11. Neither terrorists nor the Great Recession have stopped the city's skyline from continuing to reaching skyward.

September 11, 2016 - The Record

Bollards

What Does Architecture for Security Look Like?

There's a difference between designing for safety and designing for fear.

August 8, 2016 - Motherboard

Calatrava WTC Hub

A Review of Calatrava's World Trade Center Transportation Hub

There's still a construction fence around the World Trade Center transportation hub designed by Santiago Calatrava, and its not accessible from the street yet. Carol Berens shares a few photos and impressions.

May 4, 2016 - UrbDeZine

Friday Funny: Is the Design for 2 WTC Too King Kong-Friendly?

Henry Melcher reports on a humorous response to the new renderings revealed for the future 2 WTC tower (also the future home of 21st Century Fox and News Corp), designed by Bjarke Ingels Group.

June 12, 2015 - The Architect's Newspaper

One World Trade Center

Revealed: Designs for Final World Trade Center Tower

2 WTC was designed by Bjarke Ingels Group and already has a tentative lease agreement with Rupert Murdoch’s media companies, 21st Century Fox and News Corp.

June 9, 2015 - Wired

Watch the National September 11 Memorial Museum Rise from the Ground

A time-lapse camera installed by a live webcam company called EarthCam has produced a beautiful two-and-a-half-minute video showing the construction of the September 11 Memorial and Museum.

May 23, 2014 - Fast Co. Design

Accounting for the Port Authority’s Failures

The recent George Washington Bridge lane closure controversy, clouded by the presidential aspirations of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, is only the most recent failure of management by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

January 16, 2014 - Next American City

'Once-Lowly' Piece of Infrastructure Honored as a Hero of 9-11

David W. Dunlap recounts how the slurry wall built around the World Trade Center's foundations prevented the devastation to Lower Manhattan from becoming much worse, and "became a symbol of resilience in the months and years after the attack."

September 11, 2013 - The New York Times

Does New Orleans Need a New Tourism Icon?

The centerpiece of a $500 million plan for redeveloping New Orleans' riverfront is an 'iconic' sculpture, replacing the empty World Trade Center tower. Roberta Brandes Gratz argues the city should focus on small steps instead of a tourism boondoggle.

June 26, 2013 - The Lens

Hope for Healed Urban Fabric Dashed by Security Concerns at Former Trade Center Site

After the World Trade Center attacks, planners, neighbors, and Mayor Bloomberg supported reweaving the site into the city's street grid, in the process undoing "a painful planning error of the 1960s." Security concerns seem to have won out, however.

May 17, 2013 - The New York Times

See the New WTC Views, 80 Floors Up

This Architizer blog post features breathtaking photos from the WTC Progress Twitter account.

February 7, 2012 - Architizer

Historic Preservation and 9/11

Erica Stewart of the National Trust for Historic Preservation runs down a few of the ways that rebuilding efforts after the attacks on 9/11 took historic preservation into account.

September 12, 2011 - National Trust For Historic Preservation

Mixed Emotions at 9/11 Memorial

James S. Russell walks the new memorial at the World Trade Center site, and finds it "a place of quiet dignity" that is saddled with an unnecessary $300 million museum and visitors center.

September 6, 2011 - Bloomberg

Building Ramps Up at World Trade Center Site

The New York Times reports that yes, construction is beginning to move more rapidly at Ground Zero.

September 7, 2010 - The New York Times

Political Skirmishes Delaying Ground Zero Construction

New York City's Ground Zero has sat as an empty hole for years. Though infrastructure work is underway, politics are holding the rebuilding back, according to this interview with New Yorker architecture critic Paul Goldberger.

March 19, 2010 - National Public Radio

Should the World Trade Center be Rebuilt?

After years of debate and negotiation, the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site finally appears to be going forward. But there is considerable doubt as to its economic viability, writes Eliot Brown.

March 17, 2010 - New York Observer

The City Planner Behind 9/11

Mohamed Atta, one of the 9/11 terrorists, pursued a masters degree in city planning before the attacks. Slate's Daniel Brooks reads Atta's masters thesis, and finds a strain of anti-Western modernism that is revealing.

September 9, 2009 - Slate.com

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.