Technology

Self-Driving Car

Will First Fatality Affect the Development of Self-Driving Cars?

A May 7 crash of a Model S Tesla in Florida may have outsized implications for the future of driverless technology. The details of the single-fatality crash were made public in a June 30 blog by Tesla though they were reported immediately to NHTSA.

July 9, 2016 - Planetizen

Tesla

#TeslaCrash: Three Reasons for Tesla (and All of Us) to Be Concerned

Tesla has just disclosed the first fatal crash of a driver using its "Autopilot" system. Tesla should be concerned about the question of who's liable, and we should all be concerned about the wider consequences of this tragic event.

July 7, 2016 - Scott Le Vine

Community Meeting

The 3 Most Common Community Engagement Mistakes

Planners, like any other professionals, live in a kind of bubble. Those charged with dealing with the public run the risk of expecting too much from residents as they design community engagement activities. Here are some of the most common mistakes.

July 5, 2016 - Dave Biggs

urban park

Is New York Distributing Its Public Plazas Equally?

An analysis of the geographic distribution of New York's new public plazas sought to determine if the program was meeting one of its stated goals: providing access to public plazas for low- and moderate-income households.

July 5, 2016 - Placemeter

Meter Maid

Pesky Parking Tickets? There's an App for That

An intrepid student has created a simple chatbot program that helps people get out of parking tickets.

July 4, 2016 - Ars Technica

After Brexit, London's Fintech Future Foggy at Best

Over half of Europe’s financial technology "unicorns" are in the London area. The decision to quit the EU is already threatening the ecosystem that allows London to trade within the EU, as well as its status as hub for fintech jobs and technology

July 1, 2016 - Cities of the Future

Traffic

Friday Funny: An Old Meme Scores Points Against New Transportation Tech

You remember the one showing the amount of space occupied by 60 people on a bike, 60 people on a bus, and 60 people in cars? It's also helpful for making a convenient point about Uber and self-driving cars.

July 1, 2016 - Twitter

Blue Origin

Florida Getting a New, Privately Funded Space Exploration Facility

Blue Origin, founded by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, is constructing a massive facility for building rockets in another sign of the future of space exploration.

June 30, 2016 - GeekWire

Blue Sky

This Tech Company Wants to Build a Better City

There's no shortage of ambition from Silicon Valley startup accelerator and investment firm Y Combinator—which recently announced its intentions to build a prototype city.

June 29, 2016 - Bloomberg

Miami Brightline Construction

Meet the New Generation of Trains Built for Florida's Brightline

Wired takes a tour of a Siemens factory in California tasked with the task of building the rolling stock for the forthcoming, privately-funded Brightline train line in Florida.

June 27, 2016 - Wired

Control Room

The Rise of the Smart City

It seems like behind every corner is a smart city waiting to happen. WNYC investigates.

June 25, 2016 - WNYC

SimCity 2000

Lessons for Urban Planning in 2016—From SimCity 2000

A tech writer had a chance to revisit SimCity 2000 after years away from the game for contemporary lessons in planning.

June 25, 2016 - Inverse

Google Self-Driving Car

Preparing for Automated Vehicles: Recommendations From NACTO

The National Association of City Transportation Officials has spoken out on the ned to begin preparing for a future of automated vehicles.

June 25, 2016 - National Association of City Transportation Officials

Portland

Planetizen Week in Review: June 24, 2016

The biggest news stories of a big week in planning and land use—all in just over two minutes.

June 24, 2016 - Planetizen

Mobility

Tips for Transit in the Age of Uber

Hate it or love it, Uber has changed the transportation game across this country. To boost ridership and change its public image, transit should consider taking some cues from the rideshare giant.

June 22, 2016 - Market Urbanism

Chicago Beach

Summer Is Here—and So Are 'Smart Beaches'

A group of "citizen data scientists" produced a predictive analytic model that offers citizens better information about water quality on beaches along Lake Michigan in Chicago.

June 21, 2016 - Data-Smart City Solutions

Smart City World Congress 2016 is Cities for Citizens

After the huge success of the 2015 edition, with more than 14,000 visitors and 105 countries attending the show, Fira de Barcelona readies the sixth edition focusing on citizens and the circular economy.

June 21, 2016 - Cities of the Future

Highway

How Self-Driving Cars Could Lead to More Sprawl

Much of the focus on the potential of self-driving cars to effect change in the built environment has focused on dense, urban environments. But what is self-driving cars mostly enable continued outward expansion?

June 20, 2016 - The Wall Street Journal

Mercator map

Map-Correcting App Shows 'The True Size Of' Places

Typical world maps badly misrepresent the size of countries; a new web app shows their true scale.

June 20, 2016 - Wired

Digital Billboards

A Lack of Action Despite Evidence of Safety Risks Posed by Digital Billboards

The Eno Center for Transportation lays out a clear appeal for action to regulate the time, place, and manner of digital billboards.

June 18, 2016 - Eno Center for Transportation

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.