The Atlantic Cities

Segregation Doesn't Only Harm the Poor

Emily Badger looks at recent research that shows that racial and economic segregation harms not only minority and low-income families, but also those that've fled to affluent areas.

May 3, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

How Facebook Simulates Suburbia: Lessons for Building Public Spaces in the Digital Age

As the virtual and physical worlds become more intertwined, the role of the traditional architect and the information architect become more closely aligned. Emily Badger explores the ways that each discipline can help the other design public spaces.

April 30, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Empty Parking Lot

Has Seattle Solved the Science of Parking Demand?

Parking regulations are generally formulated as uniform standards that apply to hundreds or thousands of parcels equally, often resulting in overbuilt supply. But what if planners could anticipate the parking demand down to the parcel?

April 27, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Do Immigrants Help or Hurt America's Urban Economies?

As Congress debates immigration reform, Richard Florida explains why more liberal policies could be a boon for America's cities by examining the connection between foreign-born populations and economic outcomes.

April 25, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Gentrification Provides an Opportunity to Diversify Urban Schools

Segregated schools are an enduring problem in urban America. But with young affluent (often white) professionals flocking to cities, and enrolling their children in public schools, a historic opportunity exists to create diverse schools.

April 18, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Skywalk Plan Threatens Cleveland's Budding Street Life

A downtown Cleveland casino is pushing to build a skywalk to connect to its parking garage located across the street. Recognizing the anti-urban implications of the plan, an unlikely activist has organized opposition to the project.

April 17, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

El Paso Destroys to Rebuild

Emily Badger explains why the demolition of El Paso's high-rise city hall this past weekend was a cause for celebration, as the first step in a multimillion-dollar redevelopment that promises to transform the city's downtown.

April 16, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Chicago Policy Shift Gives Pedestrians a Leg Up

With the coming release of Chicago's new Complete Streets Design Guidelines, the city is undertaking a "seismic policy shift" in how it evaluates all transportation projects: by making pedestrians the primary mode for consideration.

April 12, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Is It OK Now to Have More Babies?

For those concerned about world population, a new study from Spain rebuts prior studies, including the U.N. 2011 report that project population reaching 10 billion by 2100. The new report projects it peaking at 8 billion in 2050, then declining.

April 9, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Bicyclists in Minneapolis Come Under Attack

John Metcalfe looks at the frightening incidents of violence being directed at bicyclists using Minneapolis' popular Midtown Greenway.

April 5, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

San Francisco Keep Tabs on Residents' Trash to Clean Up the City's Diversion Rate

Mark Andrew Boyer looks at the work of San Francisco's "municipal cart auditors" a team of city employed trash diggers who scour the city's cans for scofflaw sorters as part of a broader effort to become 100-percent "waste-free" by 2020.

April 5, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Shared Space Brings Shared Bonhomie to U.K. Village Center

The U.K. village of Poynton recently removed the traffic lights, signs, lanes, and even curbs from its center. The result? Rather than chaos, a film claims the project has helped revitalize the town's traditional center.

April 3, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Miami Temperature

America's Hottest Cities May Be Its Most Sustainable

Everything you've thought about climate control may be wrong. And for that realization, you've got Michael Sivak to thank.

March 29, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Denver Densifies as Developers Anticipate Transit Expansion

Before the first line of the multi-billion dollar FasTracks regional transit expansion opens to the public, developers are clamoring to build near Denver area stations. In a city that was beset by sprawl for a half-century, the shift is good news.

March 27, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Help Select the Most Promising Applications of Open Data

886 projects have been entered in a $5 million competition organized by the Knight News Challenge to find the best ideas for making the places we live "more awesome through data and technology." The Atlantic Cities shares 12 of their favorites.

March 26, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Empty Swings

The Prevalence of Play Deserts

A new study analyzing the amenities in 165 parks in the four-county Kansas City metro region found that low-income neighborhoods suffer from a lack of play spaces, despite having more parks per capita, reports Emily Badger.

March 25, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Park-and-Ride: Good for Cars, Bad for Transit

A new study out of the Netherlands finds that contrary to their intended function of encouraging a mode shift to transit, and away from autos, such facilities might actually increase car use, to the detriment of alternatives.

March 21, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

A Ride Through Berlin's 'Underground Art Gallery'

The variety of designs found in the Berlin subway's 173 stations imbibes each one with its own unique identity. Cataloging this 'underground art gallery' has been the mission of photographer Kate Seabrook.

March 21, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Felling Opposition to Wooden Skyscrapers

For a number of reasons, the use of wood for the construction of large buildings fell out of favor more than a century ago. So why is one Vancouver-based architect arguing for constructing high-rises using one of nature's oldest building materials?

March 19, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

The Life and Death of the Suburban Paradigm

A new article by city historian Graeme Davison traces the rise and fall of the suburban paradigm from its ideological roots in Victorian England to its current backlash.

March 15, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

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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.