Car-Free Cities

Colorful two-story buildings close to each other in Culdesac Tempe development.

Culdesac Tempe Defies Expectations

Despite initial skepticism about its true potential for sustainable urbanism, the built-from-scratch “car-free neighborhood” is widely popular with its residents.

February 10, 2025 - Dwell

Line of five cyclists bike away from camera in wide protected bike lane on the right side of a street, with low-rise residential buildings in the background.

Book Review: Shifting Focus from Car-Free to Car-Lite Cities

Instead of aiming to make cities better for bikes, a new book argues we should be making cities better with bikes using a car-lite, not a car-free approach.

May 14, 2024 - Stephanie Rouse

Suburban outdoor mall in muted colors with decorative tower.

Is the City Moving to the Suburbs?

Is the recent trend to build more walkable suburbs a sign of sustainable change?

April 2, 2024 - Governing

Streetscape in old neighborhood of Brussels, Belgium with bikes parked in bulb-out.

Paris Is Great, But Here's Where the Green Mobility Revolution Is Happening

A movement toward sustainable mobility is taking place across Europe, not just in the City of Lights.

January 10, 2024 - Scott Shepard

Car-Free Cities

Watch: The Car-Free City Becomes Reality

The latest City Beautiful video shows off the fruits of car-free initiatives in European cities.

December 25, 2020 - City Beautiful

Congestion

Liberating Cities from Cars

Examining models of progress toward restrictions on the use and storage of automobiles from urban areas around the world.

July 20, 2020 - Joan Fitzgerald

MTA Bus

Visions of a Car-Free Manhattan

In Manhattan, the space devoted to cars and car-related infrastructure takes up an area four times larger than Central Park. What would New York City look like if it divested from cars?

July 20, 2020 - The New York Times

Car-Free Street

The End of Auto-Dependence

Enough European cities have shown it can be done. It's time for U.S. cities to follow suit.

February 3, 2020 - Curbed

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.

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.