Technology
Fire Tests Enable New Timber Typologies
After a long time lost in the woods, architects and engineers are rediscovering timber. Recent fire tests have demonstrated that timber can be a viable building material and meet existing code requirements.
Using Drones to Inspect Urban Building Façades
Many cities require the owners of multistory buildings to regularly inspect their façades, looking for problems that may lead to injury or property damage. Drones can potentially help ease the process and cost of doing so.
Drone Delivery Takes to the Sky in Iceland
Iceland is the answer to the trivia question of which country is the first to approve drone delivery service.
'Smart Road' Pilot Project Coming to Kansas City
The infrastructure to support a future of connected cars and automated vehicles is one step closer to reality.
Car Crash Reporting Guidelines Prepare for Self-Driving Vehicles
The Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria's latest edition has new instructions for reporting the emerging sector of autonomous vehicles.
Criticisms Emerge for New Orleans' Biggest Post-Katrina Streetcar Projects
Advocates have reason to be concerned about the performance of the two newest streetcar lines in New Orleans—both the largest transit projects after the destruction of Hurricane Katrina.
Digital Divide Broadens with Broadband
Accessing the internet is too expensive for many, not just in rural areas but also in cities.
Designing a Better Trash Chute
Programs that make folks pay for garbage services based on how much they throw away can cut down trash in landfills. Designers are looking for ways to adapt these programs to multiunit buildings.
Hints of a North Texas Freeway Rebellion
At the helm of a movement to think beyond concrete solutions to transportation challenges in North Texas are the mayors of Fort Worth, Grapevine, and Arlington.
Impacts of AVs and E-Commerce on Municipal Budgets
A new report from Urbanism Next/SCI takes you through a city’s budget—both revenues and expenditures—and describes the areas that will be affected as AVs become commonplace and e-commerce takes on an even larger role in retail
Lyft Partnering With Amtrak for First-Last Mile Connections
Amtrak is partnering with Lyft to offer train passengers a discounted option for first and last mile needs. New Lyft riders qualify for a $5 savings on each of their first four rides.
Are Reports Predicting a Future of Electric Vehicles Exaggerated?
David Yager, an oil industry consultant, writes that recent reports predicting electric vehicles will eventually outsell those with internal combustion engines are vastly exaggerated, notwithstanding national bans on future sales of such cars.
Electrifying California: Volkswagen Settlement Approved
The biggest obstacle to the adoption of electric vehicles in California, a shortage of charging infrastructure, just became a lot more manageable thanks to $200 million from Volkswagen stemming the from the dieselgate settlement.
Los Angeles Metro Takes Initial Step Toward Conversion to Electric Buses by 2030
The board of L.A. Metro voted Thursday to spend $138 million to purchase 95 electric buses plus chargers and wiring upgrades for two transit lines that now use natural gas buses, and approved a motion to convert all buses to battery-electrics by 2030
Using Satellite Imagery, This AI Traces Urban Wealth
Penny is an artificial intelligence program that detects affluence from space. It also lets users experiment with how different visual forms affect its perception of an area's wealth.
Next From China: Bikeshare Without the Station
Led by the companies Mobike and Ofo, so-called "dockless" bike sharing is all the rage in Chinese cities. Unlocked by app, the bikes can be left anywhere for the next user to pick up. There have been some hiccups.
Pittsburgh Takes Property Data Visualization to the Next Level
Not all property data maps are created equal.
Bikes That Talk in a World of Self-Driving Cars
The question of whether self-driving cars will make streets and roads a safer place for humans depends on whether technology can protect the most vulnerable users.
First Mile-Last Mile, Intermodalism, and Making Public Transit More Attractive
As planners seek to leverage public transit investments with enhanced first mile-last mile connections, it is critical that market analysis guide those initiatives and that impacts and cost effectiveness are part of the performance assessment.
A National Day of Telecommuting
Companies and workers in the country of Japan are less likely to work from home than in the United States. The government hopes to increase the number of telecommuters during the 2020 Olympics, however.
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
