Urban Development

Urban Land Institute Encourages Developers to Build for Better Health

The Urban Land Institute has a new project: convincing developers that they can, and should, design for health and wellness.

December 10, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

Suburban Office Building

Large Companies Moving Back to Cities

The movement stems from demographic changes in the work force. For companies seeking younger hires, they need to go to where they prefer to live. Suburban campuses may be replaced by urban headquarters or the addition of satellite offices in cities.

December 10, 2013 - The Wall Street Journal

Can Newark's New Image Survive Cory Booker's Departure

Cory Booker entered office with a goal of transforming Newark's reputation from failed city to recovering city. J.B. Wogan examines whether the new senator used the city as a platform to boost his own image, or enacted meaningful change.

December 10, 2013 - Governing

What's Holding Up Redevelopment 2.0 in California?

When California shuttered its hundreds of local redevelopment agencies, many believed a new (if smaller) system for funding affordable housing and development in blighted areas would soon follow. Two years later, the state is still waiting.

December 9, 2013 - California Planning & Development Report

Here's to the Visionaries

As the president and co-founder of Friends of the High Line prepares to leave the park he helped to create, it is a good time to consider the legacy of what is now one of the most famous contemporary landscapes in the world.

December 8, 2013 - Mark Hough

Jan Gehl Laments 'Birdsh*t' Architecture

Jan Gehl argued at the Royal Institute of British Architects annual research symposium that architects and urban planners must do more research on how their schemes affect people.

December 8, 2013 - Future Cities

Future-Proofing Underground Condo Parking

Declining demand for zoning-mandated underground condominium parking has Toronto developers and architects talking about ways to design flexible sub-surface spaces to accommodate the possibility of alternate future uses.

December 5, 2013 - The Toronto Star

Madrid Master Plan Prioritizes People over Cars and Development over Regulation

Completed about every 15 years, Madrid's General Urban Plan sets out a long-term vision for the city's development. The newest iteration replaces a "dud" from 1997 that has "dogged the city for years," reports Feargus O'Sullivan.

December 5, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

13 Ways to Kill Your Community

Scott Doyon reviews the book "13 Ways to Kill Your Community", by Alberta Legislative Assembly member Doug Griffiths and journalist Kelly Clemmer. In it, the authors reveal some of the "curiously recurring behaviors" that harm cities of all sizes.

December 4, 2013 - PlaceShakers

Miami Becomes Safe Harbor for Cash and Celebrity Architecture

Rowan Moore looks at the multiple layers that are conspiring to make a maturing Miami the "new Most Exciting City in America". Diverse cultural offerings and branded architecture are attracting international investors.

December 3, 2013 - The Guardian

Techniques for Bridging the Activist-Developer Divide

A frank discussion about growth and development at a recent Vancouver forum revealed the extensive common ground shared developers and neighborhood activists, and promising techniques for bridging their traditional divide.

December 2, 2013 - The Vancouver Sun

The gentrifying street-scape of the South Park neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles, California

Downtown L.A.'s Residential Revolution

A plan to build 1,500 rental apartments where six parking lots now sit is just the latest sign of the insatiable demand for housing gripping downtown Los Angeles.

December 1, 2013 - The Wall Street Journal

$1.6 Billion Shopping Center Planned for Riot-Scarred Section of London

Following successful developments in Stratford and Shepherd’s Bush, Westfield, joined by new partner Hammerson, will build another shopping centre in south London's riot affected town of Croydon.

November 29, 2013 - The Independent (UK)

Predictability v. Flexibility

Just about everything we screw up as individuals and organizations has to do with our determination to optimize both extremes of predictability and flexibility, writes Ben Brown

November 27, 2013 - PlaceShakers

18 Projects That Could Transform Detroit

Greenways, streetcars, and adaptive re-use projects are among the conceptual, as well as in-progress, initiatives profiled by Ashley Woods.

November 27, 2013 - The Huffington Post

Frank Gehry Rides to Grand Avenue's Rescue; Will Officials Cheer or Jeer?

Christopher Hawthorne reports that Frank Gehry is back in charge of the design for the quixotic $650-million Grand Avenue redevelopment after a disastrous redesign nearly scuttled the star-crossed project.

November 25, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

San Francisco Monopoly

San Francisco's Crisis of Affluence

The booming tech industry has brought economic development to the Bay Area. But lavish lifestyles, astronomical housing prices, and rising evictions has put the industry in the crosshairs of a very public backlash. Can the city broker peace?

November 25, 2013 - The New York Times

12 Bold and Bizarre Visions for Cities

There's no shortage of bold and bizarre ideas for how to make our future cities more livable, sustainable, and efficient. Whether many of these ideas are feasible is another story.

November 24, 2013 - Future Cities

27 Ideas for Keeping the Twin Cities Prosperous

A study prepared for the McKnight Foundation’s Food for Thought series has searched far and wide for lessons for keeping Minneapolis-St. Paul a prosperous and livable place.

November 23, 2013 - MinnPost

To Help Clean the City, Amsterdam Gives Alcoholics Free Beer

Should you pay alcoholics in beer? This is the ethical dilemma thrown up by a city project in the famously liberal city of Amsterdam.

November 22, 2013 - Future Cities

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.