Urban Development

Shanghai

Fixation On City Skylines Detracts From City Streets

City life happens at street level. But some of our most iconic images of cities are focused hundreds, or even thousands, of feet in the air. Our streetscapes are the worse off for it.

May 31, 2017 - Common Edge

France

Beuvron-en-Auge: 15th Century Town Planning Stands the Test of Time

Another reason European placemaking has North American applications: it wasn't always perfect. Hazel Borys looks to simple town planning lessons from a village in Normandy.

May 31, 2017 - PlaceShakers

Bollards

Saving Lives: Including Sidewalk Bollards in Street Design

Countless lives were likely saved by a strategically placed bollard on W. 45th Ave. which stopped a motorist who had driven three blocks on city sidewalks, mowing-down as many pedestrians as possible, from entering the Times Square pedestrian plaza.

May 31, 2017 - The New York Times

Gentrification

Who's To Blame For Gentrification?

Journalist Peter Markowitz has written a provocative, and profoundly disingenuous, analysis of the causes and effects of gentrification in American cities. He sows division at a time that requires collaboration, writes Josh Stephens.

May 31, 2017 - California Planning & Development Report

Calgary Suburbs

Canada's Growth Trending Toward the Suburban

According to this opinion piece, the tales of urbanizing Canada are overblown. "We're a suburban nation," says one of the sources quoted in the article.

May 30, 2017 - The Globe and Mail

Seaside Entrance

To Save New Urbanism From #MAGA, it's Time to Get Political

An opinion piece acknowledges the similarities between the nostalgia of New Urbanism and the "Make American Great Again" sentiment behind Trump's rise to power. New Urbanism has a chance, still, to change its path.

May 30, 2017 - Dan Piatkowski

Brooklyn

Progressives Against Housing

In Zoned Out!, Tom Angotti, of City University New York (CUNY) tries to make the case against upzoning New York's neighborhoods (or at least its poorer ones).

May 29, 2017 - Michael Lewyn

A New Mall in Texas Counts on Customers from Mexico

The Outlet Shoppes mall in Laredo opened in March and has done brisk business since—including cash transactions that are likely indication of spending from Mexican residents from across the border.

May 29, 2017 - CNBC

Santa Monica 3rd Street Promenade

Santa Monica Proposing Balanced Approach With Downtown Plan

After residents soundly defeated the anti-growth Measure LV in November, city officials are still trying to propose a plan that addresses the traffic and livability concerns that led to the initiative being placed on the ballot.

May 29, 2017 - The Planning Report

Campus Martius

Detroit Making its Streets 'Sticky'

The word "sticky" when applied to the urban design context has come to mean attractive and comfortable—the kind of place that makes people want to stay away and make return visits. Detroit is the latest city to experiment with the concept.

May 29, 2017 - Detroit Free Press

Miami

David Beckham's Big Idea: A New Soccer Stadium in Miami, With Zero Parking Spaces

A group led by David Beckham is working to build a stadium in Miami that would house a Major League Soccer team. There are two twists (besides Becks): the stadium would require zero public financing and the stadium would build zero parking.

May 28, 2017 - Miami Herald

The Sonic Bloom display at Seattle Center

Seattle Kicks the Tires on the Seattle Center Again

Proposals to revamp the Seattle Center seem to arise with every mayoral administration in Seattle. This time, however, the Seattle Center is at the literal center of an explosion of growth.

May 28, 2017 - Crosscut

Residential Developments to Supplement New Detroit Hockey Arena

The Illitch family is continuing to reveal details of the big vision surrounding the new home to the Detroit Red Wings.

May 28, 2017 - Detroit Free Press

San Francisco Construction

Taller, Denser, but More Affordable Housing Coming to San Francisco

Following a similar ordinance signed into law by Mayor Ed Lee last July that dealt with developments that are 100 percent affordable, the new housing density ordinance apples to market-rate developments that have 30 percent affordability.

May 27, 2017 - San Francisco Chronicle

UC San Diego

Why Great Cities Need Great Universities

Universities do more than teach classes; they can help transform economies and elevate cities to greatness. UC San Diego is banking on it.

May 27, 2017 - The Planning Report

irving Texas

Coming Soon to Suburban Dallas: $1 Billion Mixed-Use Development

The city of Irving, a suburb of the city of Dallas, will soon add a $1 billion mixed-use development, complete with a light rail station.

May 27, 2017 - The Dallas Morning News

Sloan Lake

Conspicuous and Controversial Condo Building Breaks Ground in Denver

Sloan Lake is getting a new neighbor.

May 26, 2017 - The Denver Post

Rent

All We Need to Do: Call BS

Ben Brown calls BS on a number of city planning and gentrification points.

May 25, 2017 - PlaceShakers

Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona

Comparing the Differences in Property Taxes Around the United States

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence have released their annual "50-State Property Tax Comparison Study."

May 24, 2017 - Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

Piedmont Park Atlanta

The 'City Design Project' Aims to Make Atlanta an Intentional City

Two of the highest-profile planners in the city of Atlanta, Tim Keane and Ryan Gravel, have teamed up to lead a creative visioning process that could help lead Atlanta to a new era of planning and development.

May 24, 2017 - Atlanta

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.

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Transportation Planner I

KFH Group Inc.

Director, Strategy and Research

Greater Baltimore Committee

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.