Technology

Valencia, Spain

The Sustainability Challenges of E-Scooters

Scooters have helped diversify the mobility landscape, but companies need to better address the recycling and reuse process and the environmental impacts of defunct devices.

August 6, 2019 - Smart Cities Dive

Charging Station

Feds Spend $85 Million on Next Gen Bus Technology

The awardees of the Low-No grant program were announced recently. Only transit systems looking to add hydrogen fuel cells, battery electric engines, and related infrastructure improvement need apply.

July 31, 2019 - Federal Transit Administration

Digital City

AI and the Digital City

Adie Tomer, of the Brookings Institution, writes about the role of artificial intelligence in the new digital age transforming cities.

July 31, 2019 - Brookings

Electric Bus

6 Electric Buses Coming to Atlanta

A federal grant puts Atlanta among the vanguard of cities introducing electric bus technology to the streets.

July 30, 2019 - Atlanta Journal-Constitution

London Ride Hailing

Uber Lays Off 400 Employees

The massive layoffs represent one-third of Uber's global marketing team.

July 30, 2019 - Quartz

Subway WiFi

New York MTA Almost Eliminated WiFi on Buses

The New York City MTA has changed the story, twice, about its plans for little used WiFi service on the city buses.

July 29, 2019 - The City

GIS Mobile App

Top Planning Apps for 2019

Insights into the mobile app technology used in the practice and study of planning.

July 29, 2019 - James Brasuell

United States from Space

Study: It's Not Hard to Connect Anonymous Data to Specific Individuals

People have had to take it on faith that data anoymization was adequate to the task of protecting privacy of individuals. Recent research suggests such faith was misplaced.

July 27, 2019 - CNBC

Autonomous Vehicle

Advocates Press for Harder Questions While Pittsburgh Experiments With Self-Driving Cars

Five self-driving car companies are currently operating in Pittsburgh, without much critical rigor in asking about the consequences of the technology to the city.

July 22, 2019 - Streetsblog USA

Coastal City

A 20-Year To-Do List for Cities

Predicting the future of challenges facing cities isn't very hard when the future is already staring cities right in the face.

July 19, 2019 - Meeting of the Minds

Toronto Waterfront

Sidewalk Labs' Quayside Plans Get First Public Hearing in Toronto

The public got its first chance to weigh in on a controversial proposal to makeover a sliver of Toronto waterfront as an ambitious experiment in "smart city" technology.

July 18, 2019 - The Star

Security Camera

Once a Surveillance Secret, Palantir Manual Becomes Public

The secret manual for the use of facial recognition and data collection software company Palantir was made public thanks to a FOIA request. It includes instructions on how to find a complete account of a person's movements.

July 17, 2019 - Motherboard

Autonomous Vehicles

Self-Driving and Electric Vehicles, Over Promised and Under Delivered

The slow progress of autonomous vehicle and electric vehicle technology in gaining widespread traction in the transportation market is casting doubt on the ambitious statements of a few years prior.

July 17, 2019 - Fast Company

Wildfire Season

Seattle Clean-Air Shelters to Provide Relief to Residents

Wildfires have caused the city’s air quality to plummet in recent years. The new shelters will give residents a break when the air is not fit to breathe.

July 16, 2019 - CityLab

Tesla

Tesla’s Renewable Energy Vision—Big Benefits Without Major Lifestyle Changes

Tesla’s fancy cars generate much of the company’s revenue, while its solar energy products are decidedly less flashy.

July 16, 2019 - The Verge

London Crowded Street

Reducing Transportation Emissions in the United Kingdom to Net Zero by 2050

Late last month, the UK became the first country to commit to a legally-binding target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. A new academic research group recommends reduced auto ownership, regardless of how they are powered, to meet the target.

July 12, 2019 - BBC News

Census

Did You Know? The Census Bureau Offers a 'Statistical Testing Tool'

A tool released last year helps users test the significance of comparisons between American Community Survey estimates.

July 12, 2019 - United States Census Bureau

Uber Lyft Departure

Tracking the Growth and Competition of U.S. Ride-Hailing Companies

Uber is the most popular ride-hailing company, but Lyft is gaining ground, especially in specific regions around the United States.

July 11, 2019 - Second Measure

Suburban Neighborhood

Algorithms Can Design Buildings Now

Introducing "algorithmic space planning." The last word in that phrase shows that planners should take notice of the new technology just as much as architects and engineers.

July 11, 2019 - Architect Magazine

Personal Mobility

The State of Mobility as a Service Platforms

With so many new mobility options available in cities, mobility as a service (MaaS) platforms have a lot of work to do for a lot of people. Development is still catching up to the scope of the endeavor.

July 6, 2019 - Smart Cities Dive

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.