Urban Development
Why Jeff Speck is a “Zoning Abolitionist”
Decades into his career, the walkability guru has learned a thing or two.
Planting for Change: How Trees Are Powering Climate Action
"Combating Climate Change with Trees" highlights how Southern California communities are strategically planting and nurturing urban forests to cool neighborhoods, improve air quality, and advance environmental justice.
Art in the Shade: Confronting Climate and Equity Through Creativity
Through powerful, multisensory installations, Roots of Cool uses art to illuminate Los Angeles’ climate and shade inequities, inviting visitors to imagine a more just, tree-filled future.
The Great Lakes Cities are Touted as a Climate Refuge. The Reality is Much More Complex.
Sewage overflows, invasive species and polar vortexes — America’s climate haven might be more illusive than we think.
Bend, Oregon Zoning Reforms Prioritize Small-Scale Housing
The city altered its zoning code to allow multi-family housing and eliminated parking mandates citywide.
Congress Kills Office Conversion Tax Credit
A federal tax incentive for energy efficiency upgrades is going away next year.
‘Architectural Epidemiology:’ Centering Public Health in Urban Design
A new book asks, what if cities were designed around health equity?
Dorm-Style Housing: A Solution for DC’s Vacant Office Buildings
Adapting office buildings to dorm-style housing with shared spaces is a much more affordable option than repurposing offices into apartments.
The Vast Potential of the Right-of-Way
One writer argues that the space between two building faces is the most important element of the built environment.
Will the Reconnecting Communities Program Survive Trump?
A freeway cap in Portland, Oregon is in jeopardy. But the visionary “restorative redevelopment” next door goes on.
Opinion: What San Francisco’s Proposed ‘Family Zoning’ Could Really Mean
Mayor Lurie is using ‘family zoning’ to encourage denser development and upzoning — but could the concept actually foster community and more human-scale public spaces?
Frederick Wiseman: Cinema’s Greatest Chronicler of the City
For over 60 years the legendary documentarian has quietly chronicled the urban American experience. The result is a subtle, stubborn celebration of the unsung hero of civic life: process.
Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall
A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.
San Antonio and Austin are Fusing Into one Massive Megaregion
The region spanning the two central Texas cities is growing fast, posing challenges for local infrastructure and water supplies.
Charlottesville Temporarily Has No Zoning Code
A judge ordered the Virginia city to throw out its newly revised zoning code, leaving permitting for new development in legal limbo.
In California Battle of Housing vs. Environment, Housing Just Won
A new state law significantly limits the power of CEQA, an environmental review law that served as a powerful tool for blocking new development.
Boulder Eliminates Parking Minimums Citywide
Officials estimate the cost of building a single underground parking space at up to $100,000.
Orange County, Florida Adopts Largest US “Sprawl Repair” Code
The ‘Orange Code’ seeks to rectify decades of sprawl-inducing, car-oriented development.
In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking
Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?
The Mobility-Productivity Paradox
New research shows that excessive vehicle travel reduces economic productivity, and that less mobility provides more productivity. Yes, you read that right.
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
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority
