Urban Development

Tree heart

Affordable Housing or Trees: A Tough Choice in a Wave of New Development

Environmentalists are up in arms after the loss of thousands of trees to make room for new developments in Nashville. Now a new affordable housing project could be the demise of the city's largest tree.

November 16, 2018 - Tennessean

Mesa Arts Center

Arizona Event Venues Don't Seem to Make Fiscal Sense, But City Leaders Say They’re Worth the Losses

Convention and arts centers are costly and lose lots of money, but cities still build and advocate for them.

November 16, 2018 - Arizona Republic

New York Subway

Friday Funny: The Onion Says the Subway Is Reserved for Amazon Employees Now

A totally fake news story, intended to satirize, not provide any factual information, makes fun of how much New York City's political leadership gave to Amazon to make sure HQ2 would call the Big Apple home.

November 16, 2018 - The Onion

Regional Transit

San Francisco Approved an Expanded Central SoMa Plan

The Central SoMa Plan, which sets development goals for a key swath of Downtown San Francisco, got bigger as it moved through a lengthy approval process.

November 15, 2018 - San Francisco Chronicle

Dilworth park

Details of Philadelphia's $181 Million, Voter Approved Bond

Voters approved a $181 million municipal bond to fund public works investments around the city.

November 15, 2018 - PlanPhilly

Duquesne Incline

Pittsburgh Then and Now

Take a tour of early 20th century Pittsburgh.

November 15, 2018 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Boston Ferry

Airbnb Suing Boston Over New Regulations

The front lines of the short-term rental wars shift to the city of Boston.

November 15, 2018 - The Boston Globe

Smart Cities World Congress Opens its Biggest Event

Organized by Fira de Barcelona at its Gran Via venue, the event is the largest to date, with over 840 exhibiting companies, 700 attending cities and a 31% increase regarding exhibition space, occupying two pavilions for the first time.

November 14, 2018 - Cities of the Future

Arlington County, Virginia

New Virginia Tech 'Innovation Campus' Helped Woo Amazon to Arlington

According to an announcement by Virginia Tech yesterday, their plans to build a $1 billion innovation campus in nearby Alexandria helped win the HQ2 prize for Northern Virginia.

November 14, 2018 - WTOP

Chicago Riverwalk

Opinion: Environmentalism Is Good for Business

A thriving natural environment creates opportunity for private developers and local economies, an economist argues.

November 14, 2018 - New York Times

Shenzhen Crumbling Buildings

Speculation Leaves 50 Million Homes Empty in China

Experts say China has the highest vacancy rate on residential units of any country in the world. The roots of the problem lay in housing speculation, according to China's leaders.

November 14, 2018 - Bloomberg

Seattle, Washington

Updated: Complete Coverage of Amazon's HQ2 Decision

The official news of Amazon's choices for its second location broke this morning, but hot takes were streaming in all day.

November 13, 2018 - Planetizen

Pilsen Chicago

The Problems With Tax Increment Financing and How to Fix Them

Tax increment financing (TIF) districts are common in municipalities across the country. However, the economic development tool is also poorly understood and often the target of criticism.

November 13, 2018 - Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

Gated House

Real Estate in the U.S.: More and More 'Million-Dollar Neighborhoods'

A new report from Trulia reveals the quickly increasing number of neighborhoods in the country that have a median home price touching seven figures.

November 13, 2018 - Curbed

Miami Traffic Jam

Study Finds Fewer Young People Want Cars

Driving is often marketed as fun and liberating, but millennials aren’t buying it.

November 13, 2018 - Chicago Tribune

Amazon Fulfillment Center

Amazon Makes It Official With New York and D.C.; Throws Another Curveball With Nashville

The reported selection of New York and Washington, D.C. as the dual winners of the Amazon HQ2 competition was officially announced this morning. Still, Amazon wasn't done with the surprises.

November 13, 2018 - Planetizen

Residential Development

Citing Lack of ADU Development, Ann Arbor to Refine its ADU Ordinance

After legalizing accessory dwelling units in 2016, the city of Ann Arbor hasn't added many accessory dwelling units. Some regulations designed to limit the number of ADUs developed have made the building type impossibly cost prohibitive.

November 13, 2018 - MLive

Brooklyn Open Space

Field Operations-Designed Domino Park In Brooklyn Reviewed

The long-anticipated Domino Park, located in front of the former Domino Sugar refinery on the East River in Brooklyn, was designed by James Corner Field Operations (JFCO).

November 13, 2018 - The Architect's Newspaper

Vacant Properties

Land Bank Trends in 2018

An economic development professional shares three key takeaways from a recent conference focused on land baking practices.

November 12, 2018 - The Port

Houston Sprawl

Houston’s Growth Poses Service Challenges

The Houston region continues to grow, and local regional governance is struggling to meet residents’ needs.

November 12, 2018 - Houston Public Media

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.