Urban Development

Autonomous Vehicles and Streets: A Guide to Potential Impacts

As the arrival of autonomous vehicles (AVs) becomes more of a reality, cities need to start considering how this new technology will affect streets and street networks. This brief guide provides an overview and resources on this topic.

July 29, 2017 - Urbanism Next Blog - Sustainable Cities Initiative

One57

Billionaire Row's Newest Residents: Lawsuits and Foreclosures

The world's skinniest skyscraper, under construction on Manhattan "Billionaire's Row," is over budget with 60 stories left to build.

July 28, 2017 - The New York Post

Grand Central

Manhattan's Midtown East Rezoning Wins Critical Approval

A City Council committee's approval of a proposed rezoning of Midtown East represents a big win for the de Blasio Administration. The Bloomberg Administration fell short in an efforts to upzone the neighborhood in 2013.

July 27, 2017 - Crain's New York Business

Art in the Face of Gentrification

Art and culture tend to be integral to helping disenfranchised communities self-identify, develop their identities, and organize around place-based issues. But its presence can also be used be used by real estate interests to market neighborhoods.

July 27, 2017 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

Suburban Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Takes Property Data Visualization to the Next Level

Not all property data maps are created equal.

July 26, 2017 - Data-Smart City Solutions

Santa Monica Route 66

Critiquing Santa Monica's 'Grand Bargain' of a Downtown Plan

The city of Santa Monica increased in population by 6,500 between 1960 and 2010, while the rest of Los Angeles County grew by 60 percent over the same period. A debate over a new downtown plan that includes more housing was never going to be simple.

July 26, 2017 - Los Angeles Times

The Branham light rail station area.

Traffic Concerns Sink Light-Rail-Adjacent Development in San Jose

The city of San Jose has a mixed record of moving forward with land use changes that complement its existing and expanding transit systems.

July 25, 2017 - The Mercury News

Hope VI Housing

Op-Ed: To Lower Housing Costs, Make it Cheaper and Easier to Build Housing

The argument in the headline, put more specifically: inclusionary zoning, fees, legal challenges, and minimum apartment sizes are counter-productive. The only policy that will add housing stock, is to make it much cheaper to add housing stock.

July 25, 2017 - Sightline Institute

Texas State Capital

Texas Bill Would Immunize Property Rights From Zoning Code Changes

The Texas Legislature and executive branch is continuing to wage a battle against local control, this time pursuing a land use law that would undermine zoning code changes, such as the current CodeNEXT process in Austin.

July 25, 2017 - Austin American-Statesman

Bushwick

Study: 'Eyes on the Street' Have Real Value for Neighborhood Safety

The first study to make an attempt at quantifying the value of "eyes on street"—an idea most eloquently described by Jane Jacobs—offers reason to support a mix of uses, with businesses operating later in the evening.

July 24, 2017 - Next City

Potomac River

Alexandria's Affordable Housing Stock Shrank 90% Since 2000

Rents and prices are going up for basically every kind of housing unit in Alexandria, Virginia. The city's commitment to the preservation of subsidized housing is no match.

July 23, 2017 - Greater Greater Washington

City of Kigali, Rwanda

Property Tax in Africa

The rapidly growing and urbanizing continent of Africa offers lessons in property tax.

July 21, 2017 - At Lincoln House

Grand Central

Controversy Follows Proposed Midtown East Plan

A very public spat over proposed Midtown East plan took place in the pages of Crain's this week.

July 21, 2017 - Crain's Business New York

Eminent Domain Sparks Controversy in New Jersey

Developers had plans for the largest undeveloped waterfront property north of Hoboken in the state of New Jersey. The borough of Edgewater has other plans.

July 21, 2017 - NorthJersey

Abbot Kinney, Venice

Coffee With Your Gentrification?

The Los Angeles Times published a pair of incendiary articles this week in which coffee plays an integral role in the conversation about gentrification.

July 20, 2017 - Los Angeles Times

Amazon Fulfillment Center

How Planners Can Liberate the Next Amazon

The path to business success occasionally passes through the garage—famously demonstrated by industry titans like Amazon or Hewlett Packard. Zoning codes should encourage, not obstruct, these kinds of American success stories.

July 20, 2017 - Olivia Gonzalez

San Francisco, California

Lawrence Halprin and the Public Realm: Can the United Nations Plaza Unite San Franciscans?

Since its inauguration in 1975, San Francisco’s United Nations Plaza has not served its intended purpose.

July 20, 2017 - Linda Day

Texas Suburb

Permits for Single-Family Homes in Texas Once Again Outnumber Multifamily Permits

The longstanding trend in Texas of permitting more single-family homes than multi-family developments looks to be accelerating.

July 20, 2017 - Houston Chronicle

Parking Meter Fail

A New Video to Explain the High Cost of Free Parking

Mobility Lab, the Chilton Media Group, and Vox have produced a new video on the price of parking, and "how we have historically done it all wrong" in the United States.

July 19, 2017 - Mobility Lab

Transit Village Plans Popping Up All Over San Jose

A long-awaited BART extension into San Jose, California is also bringing major development interest of the transit-oriented variety.

July 19, 2017 - The Mercury News

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

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.