Urban Development

Could Algorithms Best Architects in Designing Variety for the Suburbs?
What if an algorithm could meet the needs of the economic system driving suburban housing development while also designing more diverse building types? One architect has already experimented with this provocative thought experiment.

Sesame Street vs. Donald Trump
Sesame Street, which would lose federal support if some of the cuts proposed by the Trump Administration's draft budget go into effect, has been lampooning Donald Trump since long before he became president.

Are Malls and Streets Destined to Merge?
While much has been made of the suburban shopping mall's decline, successful urban retail spaces are taking their inspiration from the humble city street.
Boston's New Master Plan—Not Like the Old Master Plan
A land use attorney and planning instructor at MIT and Harvard University takes to the pages of The Boston Globe to explain planning to the audience of a new era.

Population Boom Continues to Stretch Cairo's Resources
This year, Cairo is estimated to grow by half a million people, but the city's economy is not keeping pace to support all of them.

Melbourne, Australia Plans Assault on Sprawl With '20-Minute Neighborhoods'
Melbourne's long-range plan for development through 2050 envisions denser neighborhoods, built around the idea of 20-minute neighborhoods.
A Defense of HUD's Grant Funding
Next City explores the possible consequences of reported desire by the Trump Administration to cut $6 billion from the budget of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Homeless People and Expensive Housing Cause an Identity Crisis in Berkeley
The city of Berkeley is suffering the consequences of the urban revival—soaring housing costs and humanitarian crises don't reconcile with the city's famously progressive politics.

Debate: Is a 'Restaurant Recession' a Sign of Urban Decline?
Examining both sides of a debate about whether the urban revival's high-water mark is visible in the restaurant sector.

The Gentrification Discussion Arrives in Tucson
Concerns about affordability and cultural identity are emerging in Mexican-American and African-American neighborhoods in Tucson.

$3 Billion Mall Proposal Still Facing Traffic Concerns in Florida
A massive mall, proposed for a 174-acre stretch of land that abuts the border between Miami-Dade and Broward counties, has so far breezed through approvals. "American Dream Miami" will still require political victories.

San Francisco's Plans for Market and Van Ness Reach a Crossroads
San Francisco Chronicle urban design critic John King reveals more than one layer of planning significance from a project proposed near one of the city's most prominent, but underutilized, intersections.

A Proposed Legislative Solution to California's Out-Migration Epidemic
The Sacramento Bee follows-up a revealing report on lower income workers leaving California due largely to exorbitant housing costs with an editorial endorsing legislation by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco to address the source of the problem.

Billion-Dollar Mixed Use Project in Omaha Gets Preliminary Approvals
A large mixed-use development proposed as a 'gateway to western Omaha' has received approval from the city's planning board.

Popular Energy Star Program on The Budget Chopping Block
As details emerge from the Trump Administration's draft budget proceedings, more programs of relevance to the planning profession are queued up for the chopping block. The budget is still far from a done deal, however.

To Inspire New Development, New York Rethinking its Shadow-Predicting Formula
The New York Department of City Planning is considering changes to a formula used to model the shadows cast by potential developments as part of its Midtown East rezoning plan.

Lessons for YIMBYs From Boyle Heights
In the wake of a very pro-development March election, Los Angeles seems ready to embrace change. But not everywhere. In low-income Boyle Heights, residents have been more militant than most against encroaching gentrification.

Making It Easier to Build Won't Help
Here are some observations that may shed light on the mystery of why—despite creating every incentive that planners can conceive—we are failing to produce affordable housing at the level we need.

On Detroit's Proposed Tallest Skyscraper
Slated for the site of the late Hudson's department store, Dan Gilbert's mixed-use mecca and its glassy 734-foot tower would symbolize Detroit's rebirth, in downtown at least.

Los Angeles' Iconic Angels Flight Railway To Utilize P3 Model
After appearing in the film La La Land, the world-renowned, iconic, 116-year-old Angels Flight will reopen to the public after a three-year modernization process.
Pagination
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.
City of Mt Shasta
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada