Technology
A Vision for LA's New Web-Based Zoning Code
For the first time since 1946, Los Angeles is completely revising its zoning code. Urban Insight, the team behind Planetizen, is pleased to be part of this project. One of our key goals is to create a modern web-based version of the zoning code.
NYC's App Quest Generates Wealth of New Subway App Ideas
New York City's MTA is gearing up to wire all of its subway stations for cellular use, and has released the full list of application concepts created by developers for subway riders. The public can vote now -- what would make your ride better?
What do you Get when you Cross "Car Share" with "Bike Share"?
Electric Bike Share! The new program is set to launch in famously hilly San Francisco and across the bay in Berkeley next spring. Unlike the region's bike share which just launched August 29, it will be administered by the non-profit City Car Share.
Electric Will Supplant Fossil Fuel Cars on Safety
Advocating safety for the successful electric replacement of internal combustion engine cars solves many of the challenges of an automobile-inclusive future urbanity, and there will be no other kind.
Self-Driving Cars for Sale by 2020 Says Automaker
Nissan has become the first car company to commit to a date for selling self-driving cars in an announcement this week. And it won't just be one model for sale by 2020, Nissan will produce "multiple 'commercially viable' self-driving vehicles."
Updating the Book on Parking Reform
A Donald Shoup devotee offers new insight into the problems and solutions associated with parking in Los Angeles and other cities. Urban Planning professor Richard Willson says it'll cost you, but parking systems are going to get more efficient.
Geek Mercenaries Hack for Local Governments
Non-profit group works to improve efficiency of local governments with technology hacks.
Pristine Lake George to be Made a 'Smart Lake' to Monitor Climate Change
New York’s Lake George will soon be wired to more monitoring technology than any other body of water in the world.
The World's 10 Best Connected Cities
A new report out this week has ranked the Top 10 "Internet Cities" around the globe, based on a set of five criteria: connection speed, availability of citywide WiFi, openness to innovation, support of public data, and security/data privacy.
New Tool for Measuring Neighborhood Walkability
Watch out Walk Score, you've got some competition. Mapping company Maponics is measuring pedestrian-friendliness with a new tool called 'Walkability'. They measure several factors Walk Score doesn't, including crime, street type, and speed limit.
Planning for Obsolescence
As college becomes less affordable, alternatives to the traditional four-year model have been making inroads, leading some to question its lasting viability. If universities struggle, it will impact not only campuses, but cities, as well.
Editorial: Obama Should Assist States in Implementing VMT Fees
In this opinion piece on how to pay for roads, Noel Popwell gives 5 reasons for switching from gas tax to vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) fee revenue collection - even if the Highway Trust Fund wasn't facing insolvency next year. Obama is opposed to it.
Planners are Futurists With a Practical Bent
Planners are futurists, but with less pretension and jargon. Our work requires predicting how current trends are likely to affect future conditions and activities, and how communities should prepare. For example, let's predict self-driving cars.
More Hype on Hyperloop
LA Times' technology blogger Jon Healy takes a look at Elon Musk's Hyperloop, and after careful analysis, decides he'd bet on a proven, high-speed technology - the same one that inspired Musk to do an all-nighter to draft plans for an alternative.
Festival Makes Crowdfunding a Community-Building Affair
An innovative event held recently in Jacksonville, Florida used a festival as a means to bring crowdfunding to the people; providing a platform for community building and branding in the process. Could this be the future of financing public projects?
Newest Target for Hackers: Homes and Cars
As the 'Internet of Things' spreads its tentacles into more and more of our personal objects and public spaces, experts are warning of the serious, and potentially lethal, vulnerability of networked devices to hacking.
Streetmix Socializes Street Design
OK, so we missed this relaunch for our just-published list of the Top Websites. Another remarkable venture from the fellows at civic tech leader Code for America, Streeetmix is an impressively user-friendly and attractive tool for designing streets.
Hyperloop = Hyperlame?
Last week we looked at the dangers of focusing on transportation fantasies. But alas, entrepreneur Elon Musk's vision for a "fifth form" of transportation is here and we just can't help ourselves.
Top 10 Websites - 2013
Our annual list of the 10 best planning, design, and development websites represents some of the top online resources for news, information and research on the built environment.
London Recycling Bins Take a Page out of NSA Spy Book
The startup Renew has taken targeted advertising to a whole new level. Its Internet-connected recycling bins look for cell phones they recognize, then alter their video displays accordingly.
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.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority
