Urban Development

Steven Pearlstein reads the tea leaves to predict the future development patterns in Washington, D.C. and finds that all signs point inwards to the city center and its closer-in suburbs.

January 19, 2012 - The Washington Post

On Tuesday, China's National Bureau of Statistics announced that China has, for the first time ever, more urban than rural dwellers.

January 17, 2012 - The Telegraph

The Supreme Court decision to approve the elimination of California's redevelopment agencies late last year set February 1st as the date of dissolution. A new bill in the state senate would slow down the clock.

January 17, 2012 - California Planning & Development Report

Urban Omnibus declares the visionary work of the Speculation Studio at Columbia University an overdue evolution in architectural education.

January 16, 2012 - Urban Omnibus

Catering to potential office tenants who would want more modern spaces, New York City officials are toying with rezoning a swath of midtown Manhattan, allowing for even more density and the replacement of aging office buildings.

January 15, 2012 - The Wall Street Journal

2012 will be much like 2011. Experts see a long, grind-it-out recovery with only a few bright spots, but there are deals to be had.

January 15, 2012 - Star Tribune

Preservationists say Lathrop Homes should be preserved, the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) says it should be "transformed", but what do the residents think?

January 13, 2012 - Chicago Tribune

In an opinion piece for the Los Angeles Times, William Fulton, former mayor of Ventura and the only mayor in California who supported the Governor's proposal to end redevelopment, offers concrete steps for reviving redevelopment in the state.

January 13, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

A police sergeant displayed his mediation skills at a regional planning meeting by temporarily replacing the facilitator after 20 tea party activists disrupted the meeting.

January 12, 2012 - The Press Democrat

There might be something to the analogy, opines Blair Kamin, when comparing the building's star status to its contribution to the urban setting.

January 12, 2012 - Chicago Tribune

A new study has created unexpected tensions between public health advocates and smart-growth-oriented urban planners.

January 12, 2012 - California Watch

The City's top budget official has warned that dismantling the Redevelopment Agency could cost the city more than $109 million in new expenses.

January 12, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

With strong advocates in Washington and in City Hall, planning continues for an ambitious multi-billion dollar effort to overhaul the Los Angeles River and its relationship to the city.

January 11, 2012 - Planning

"Look out, Silicon Valley"-- A decades-long effort to bring technology-based firms to New York City is beginning to see a payoff, according to this piece from The Economist.

January 11, 2012 - The Economist

From movie sets to pot farms to low-income housing, foreclosed homes have been converted in unepected and resourceful ways. Catherine Rampell reports.

January 11, 2012 - The New York Times

Energy efficiency has become as compelling as "the new granite countertop" for home sales and rentals.

January 10, 2012 - Urban Land

The Philadelphia Inquirer's architecture critic sets out to find the outer edge of the Philadelphia suburbs, and finds a "zombie subdivision."

January 9, 2012 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Researchers look at the largely suburban South Bay area of Los Angeles to offer ways to retrofit auto-oriented suburbs for more pedestrian travel.

January 9, 2012 - Access

A new technology enables pedestrian behavior and flow to be monitored continuously using mobile phone technology. Its use in US and UK shopping centers has consumer rights activists worried.

January 9, 2012 - The Guardian

New York University's 20-year expansion plan could become a dangerous precedent for overbuilding by bypassing the city's open space zoning rules, argues Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

January 8, 2012 - The Villager