Public Information

The Denver Skyline, according to Midjourney, an AI image generator.

Denver-Inspired Chatbot Serves as Prototype for AI in City Planning and Zoning

A prototype City Planning Chatbot uses AI to answer public questions on zoning and city planning in Denver. Although not endorsed by the City, the experiment demonstrates the potential power of AI to provide accurate planning and zoning answers.

November 5, 2023 - Chris Steins via Medium

Border Wall

Lawsuit Targets Lack of Public Information on Trump's Border Wall

The Public Information Act has not been sufficient in getting the Trump Administration to divulge information about its plans to build a wall between the United States and Mexico.

June 1, 2017 - Center for Biological Diversity

Cincinnati Streetcar

Cincinnati Streetcar Exempt from Open Records Law

The Cincinnati Business Courier reports on the local effect of a long-standing state law.

June 19, 2016 - Cincinnati Business Courier

New Crude-by-Rail Rule Restricts Access to Information

A May 1 Federal Railroad Administration rule on moving crude by rail was supposed to make routing information more accessible to the the public, but due to lobbying by the rail industry, it will do just the opposite.

June 27, 2015 - McClatchy Washington Bureau

Trying to Let the Sun Shine on San Francisco's Public Agencies

The City of San Francisco has for years had a "Sunshine" ordinance, requiring that public agencies make their documents and proceedings available to the public. But recent reviews show that sunshine has been hard to find in the city of fog.

March 12, 2010 - San Francisco Bay Guardian

Thousands of Crimes Not Displaying on LAPD Crime Map

The Los Angeles Police Department's crime-tracking website has been omitting thousands of violent crimes. 40% of crimes reported so far in 2009 are not included in the public website.

July 10, 2009 - Los Angeles Times

Ownership of Bus Arrival Data Disputed

The story of how an iPhone application charting public transit arrival times led to as-yet-unanswered questions about who owns this public data -- or whether it can be owned at all.

June 29, 2009 - SF Appeal

The Age of Smart Infrastructure

Infrastructure and technology are blending together, creating infrastructure and infrastructural management more responsive and intelligent.

May 4, 2009 - The New York Times

Google Takes Government Data Public

A new search tool from Google makes it easy to find public information, a move the company hopes will encourage governments to be more transparent with their data.

April 30, 2009 - The Washington Post

Automatic Local Information

This article from Next American City looks at the strengths and weaknesses of the website EveryBlock.com, an automated, geography-based information aggregator.

January 4, 2009 - Next American City

Time for Government 2.0

With increasing amounts of data collected and held by governments, there's a lot of opportunity to make use of it for the betterment of communities, according to this column from Neal Peirce.

July 29, 2008 - Citiwire

News from HUD User

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

Call for Speakers

Mpact Transit + Community

New Updates on PD&R Edge

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Websites

The best of the Internet—since 2002.

Top Apps

Planning apps for a brave new world.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

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.