Urban Development

Understanding How City Rules Affect Urban Areas

In this excerpt from the new book, "City Rules: How Regulations Affect Urban Form," author Emily Talen outlines the ways in which zoning ordinances, building codes and other bureaucratic restrictions negatively affect urban areas.

June 26, 2012 - City Limits

The "Perfect Storm" that Caused the U.S. Public Housing Fiasco

Architect Ray Gindroz says that a perfect storm of factors - economic change, crushing policy decisions, and over-reaching ambition - brought about the disaster of public housing in the U.S. like Pruitt-Igoe.

June 25, 2012 - Better! Cities & Towns

Towers in the Park, 2012 Style

Julie V. Iovine laments that while walkability is the watchword of the day, architects have to design what they're hired to design -- and that often means designing iconic buildings that turn a blind eye to pedestrians.

June 24, 2012 - The Architect's Newspaper

D.C. Loosens Up its Tie

Amanda Kolson Hurley surveys the innovative architecture and urban planning transforming America's notoriously stodgy capital into a model of progressive urbanism.

June 22, 2012 - The Architect's Newspaper

More Carrot, Less Stick Needed for Affordable Housing

Mixed-income housing - infusing affordable housing with market-rate units - is relying more on incentives and subsidies, than mandates, to stimulate development.

June 21, 2012 - Urban Land

Reno: The Biggest Little 'Livable' City in the World

Concerned about becoming a "western Detroit," the city of Reno, built around the gambling industry, seeks to shake off that trademark with new investments in other industries and amenities.

June 21, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Big-Box Centers Are Too Big to Fill

Shopping center landlords are having trouble renting their big-box spaces after the fall of Borders Group Inc., reflecting a larger shift in the way Americans shop, reports Kris Hudson.

June 17, 2012 - The Wall Street Journal

Plan for Willets Point Comes into Focus

Unveiled earlier this week by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the area around Citi Field in Queens is due to become "the site of historic private investment," as a result of a deal reached with developers Sterling Equities and Related Companies.

June 17, 2012 - The Architect's Newspaper Blog

Can L.A. Protect its Vulnerable Populations from Transit-Induced Development?

With Los Angeles embarking on the "largest transit expansion in the United States," a new report looks at ways the city can preserve critical affordable housing in areas ripe for transit-oriented economic development.

June 13, 2012 - Better! Cities & Towns

Office Tenants in Vancouver Flocking to Transit

In a pattern being repeated across Canada's major cities, office tenants are willing to pay a premium to be located close to transit in Vancouver and buildings located only a few blocks away or in suburban office parks are seeing a rise in vacancies.

June 12, 2012 - The Globe and Mail

Dallas's Urban Regeneration Flies Beneath the Radar

Though "generally cited as an example of all the things you don’t want a city to be," Karrie Jacobs finds reason to believe that Texas's third largest city has taken to heart the "country’s newfound passion for all things urban."

June 12, 2012 - Metropolis

Forced Eviction Stirs Public Outrage in Taiwan

One family in Taipei has rallied support for "victims of urban renewal" after the city demolished their home to make way for high-rise apartments, Loa Lok-Sin reports.

June 12, 2012 - Taipei Times

After a Lost Decade, How Can Chicago Get Back on Track?

Aaron M. Renn looks at Chicago's struggles over the last decade - one that saw the city "increasingly falling behind its large urban brethren" - and asks whether its aspirations for becoming a global city are delusional.

June 11, 2012 - City Journal

Baltimore Considers Freeway Removal

Although those at the top of the city's political pyramid have been mum about the fate of the Jones Falls Expressway, which just turned 50 years old, a group of Baltimore's entrepreneurs are pushing to rethink the area now occupied by the roadway.

June 11, 2012 - Urbanite

Doing it Anyway: How Nonprofits are Tackling the Challenge of Scattered-Site Rentals

Scattered-site rental management is something nonprofits have long found to be a challenge. But there are ways of pulling it off, and those who have done it tell Shelterforce how, and why it’s worth it.

June 9, 2012 - Shelterforce Magazine

Extreme Gentrification Invades Greenwich Village

With "guys in suits" having replaced the "artists, weirdos and blue-collar families" that surrounded Adam Davidson while growing up in the Village in the 1970s, he wonders if mom-and-pop shops can survive the neighborhood's extreme gentrification.

June 8, 2012 - The New York Times

What's the Difference Between a Strip Mall and Paris?

Geoff Dyer points out why the difference between the typical strip mall and the multi-way boulevard may be more subtle than you think.

June 8, 2012 - PlaceShakers

An Appreciation for the Early Promoters of Brownstone Brooklyn

Say what you will about the gentrification of Brownstone Brooklyn, but there's no question that Everett and Evelyn Ortner's regard for the neighborhood's historical treasures had a significant influence on its evolution over the past 50 years.

June 7, 2012 - The New York Times

Controversial NYU Expansion Plan Gets Go-Ahead

Yesterday, New York City's Planning Commission voted nearly unanimously to support a slightly reduced version of New York University's controversial expansion plans for two superblocks in Greenwich Village, reports Tom Stoelker.

June 7, 2012 - The Architect's Newspaper Blog

Copy and Paste Urbanism Completed in China

Chinese developers recently completed their controversial replication of the Austrian village of Hallstatt, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, reports Molly Oswaks.

June 7, 2012 - Gizmodo

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.