Urban Development

Stephen Box, a bicycle advocate in Los Angeles, reviews the famous TOD project at the intersection of Hollywood and Western 10 years after it opened. Is "It's Not As Bad As It Used To Be" enough?

January 6, 2009 - SoapBoxLA

Officials in Sydney, Australia, are creating a blueprint for the city that envisions a broad mass transit system, increased density in the inner city and the suburbs and a much higher skyline.

January 6, 2009 - The Sydney Morning Herald

Small wind turbines are showing up on residential properties in New York City as developers get savvy about cutting energy costs with passive technologies.

January 6, 2009 - The New York Times

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has decided that the need for new homes is greater than the need to protect the environment in Britain, and is preparing to sweep away planning regulations across the country that limit building in undeveloped areas.

January 5, 2009 - The Times U.K.

In a continuing investigation, the Chicago Tribune reports on the bribes and corruption that have resulted from the Chicago policy of allowing local aldermen final say -- over local zoning and planning -- on what gets built.

January 2, 2009 - Chicago Tribune

Controversy surrounds a $20 million redesign of New York City's Union Square Park.

January 1, 2009 - The New York Times

Developer Amir Ziv thought he'd received all the approvals he needed for a controversial affordable housing development in Columbia, MO - but failed to count on storm water regulations.

January 1, 2009 - The Columbia Tribune

January 1, 2009 - Abhijeet Chavan

Density gives cities an edge, according to this study of commutes around the world. Hong Kong, Osaka, and Berlin all rank highly.

December 29, 2008 - MSNBC

Dongtan eco-city was to be a community of 50,000 residents living in a utopian, eco-friendly development. But since the mayor of Shanghai, a big supporter, was arrested on fraud charges, the whole project may be dead in the water.

December 27, 2008 - The Christian Science Monitor

Kaid Benfield, Director of the Smart Growth Program at the NRDC, picks some if his favorite success stories of smart growth transformation, from Atlanta's Beltline to Berlin's Hackesche Hofe.

December 25, 2008 - NRDC Switchboard

Neal Peirce reflects on the happier moments of 2008 -- and a future that seems bent on creating better places and communities.

December 25, 2008 - Citiwire

The eccentric megaprojects keep coming in Dubai, leaving some to question the environmental wisdom of so much development in a notoriously water-poor desert.

December 24, 2008 - Guardian

This column from The Tyee looks at the architecture for Vancouver's 2010 Olympic games and is not impressed.

December 23, 2008 - The Tyee

With a record amount of commercial real-estate debt coming due, some of the country's biggest property developers have become the latest to go hat-in-hand to the government for assistance.

December 22, 2008 - The Wall St. Journal

Writer Karrie Jacobs (no relation) tours the rapidly-urbanizing cities of Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Dubai. As development forces small neighborhood cultures out, she can't help but wonder what Jane Jacobs would think.

December 21, 2008 - Metropolis Magazine

Nick Paumgarten imagines a New York City landscape that would result from a present-day economic crisis.

December 21, 2008 - The New Yorker

Despite a high concentration of shopping, jobs and parking, Tysons Corner does not have a lot of people. Plans are moving forward that will bring more life to this office park, shopping center city.

December 20, 2008 - The New York Times

A developer in Holmdel, New Jersey sees promise in a building designed by Eero Saarinen to become a pedestrian-friendly town center. 'This place can be a great public realm."

December 19, 2008 - The Independent

There will be no infill development at Jefferson Park, near the University of Arizona, that increases density. The move contradicts the city's plan to achieve a more "urban feel."

December 19, 2008 - Tuscon Citizen