Urban Development

Shaping America's Cities: Part 2 - A Debate Over Smart Growth

Author Robert Bruegmann and activist Gloria Ohland debate Smart Growth.

June 21, 2007 - The Los Angeles Times

World's Most Expensive Cities Named

Moscow is the world's most expensive city, at 35% more expensive than living in new York. Asuncion in Paraguay is the least expensive city for the fifth year running.

June 21, 2007 - CNN Money

Shaping America's Cities: Part 1 - A Debate Over Sprawl

Author Robert Bruegmann and activist Gloria Ohland debate over urban sprawl.

June 20, 2007 - The Los Angeles Times

Are The Cities Of The Future Destined To Be Mega-slums?

By 2030, an estimated 2 billion of the 5 billion people who will be living in cities will live in slums, primarily in Africa and Asia.

June 20, 2007 - Forbes

Documentary Follows Suburban Development Fight In Austin

"The Unforeseen," a new documentary, takes a thoughtful look at the various interests at stake in the development of sprawling real estate in Austin.

June 20, 2007 - NOW

The Corruption Of Smart Growth

With many developers touting their various projects as "smart growth", the term is losing much of it meaning.

June 20, 2007 - The Hartford Courant

Ranch vs. McMansion

Wayne Senville is on a trip across the U.S. on Route 50. He reports on how Creve Coeur, Missouri, is a well-kept suburb west of the city of St. Louis, is handling the trend of ranch homes are being torn down and replaced with McMansions.

June 19, 2007 - Greetings From Route 50

Urban Green Space Threatened By Higher Density?

New regulations requiring higher density housing have some worried about the threat to urban green space in the UK.

June 18, 2007 - BBC

Manhattan Neighborhood Transformed By High Rises

Two towers climbing hundreds of feet high above the rest of the neighborhood has some Upper West Side residents upset about the resulting transformation of their community.

June 18, 2007 - The New York Times

EPA Bullseye: Smart Growth Targets Big Builders

The US EPA is directing educational and research efforts that explain (among other things) the financial benefits of smart growth directly to the nation's largest homebuilders and developers.

June 18, 2007 - New Urban News

For Hong Kong, Street Markets Are In The Past

While neighborhood farmer's markets are all the rage in the U.S., redevelopment officials in Hong Kong are making plans to raze of the city's oldest open-air food markets -- which is falling victim to gentrification.

June 17, 2007 - International Herald Tribune

Big Box Stores Fuel Chicago Retail Boom

Despite efforts to limit big box retailers in the city, Chicago is riding a new wave of retail spending at the likes of Target and Wal-Mart -- though smaller local retailers are also sharing in the boom.

June 17, 2007 - The Chicago Tribune

Historic Brooklyn Waterfront Declared 'Endangered'

Plans for development have threatened the historic industrial buildings along Brooklyn's waterfront in recent years. Now, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has declared the waterfront one of the nation's most endangered historic places.

June 16, 2007 - The New York Times

Study Shows Walkable Nieghborhoods Important To Health Of Elderly

Walkability has been shown to greatly improve the health and wellbeing of senior citizens. In response to recent studies on this issue, planners are looking to create walkable neighborhoods that encourage healthy habits for residents of all ages.

June 15, 2007 - The Seattle Times

Zoning Loophole Eyes Backyards As Developable Brownfields

A zoning loophole classifying backyard gardens as brownfields has opened the door for developers in England to tear down homes and rebuild flats and apartments, eating up the equivalent of nearly 3,000 soccer fields in the next decade.

June 14, 2007 - BBC

West Palm Beach Seeks Signature Skyline

West Palm Beach, Florida, is entertaining several ideas to embolden its skyline. One proposal suggests a 1,500 foot tower, which would be the tallest in the United States.

June 14, 2007 - The Miami Herald

School Site Next To Freeway Decried As Hazardous

Plans for a new high school next to a busy freeway interchange in New Haven, Connecticut, call for sealed windows and air filtration systems, but community and environmental groups are calling the entire proposal unconscionable.

June 14, 2007 - New Haven Independent

Housing Developers Breathe Neighborhood Into Downtown Boise

With a number of large-scale condo and apartment developments planned for downtown Boise, seven developers are transforming the formerly vacant downtown into a vibrant neighborhood.

June 13, 2007 - The Idaho Statesman

To Preserve Its Skyline, London May Limit Skyscrapers

Preservationists are calling for buffer zones around the city's heritage sites, which could upset Mayor Ken Livingstone's plans to spur urban regeneration with new high-rise buildings.

June 13, 2007 - BusinessWeek

A Walkable Downtown Los Angeles?

As part of a new set of guiding principles that call on city planners to 'demand a walkable city', Los Angeles may adopt new standards requiring developers to widen sidewalks, not streets.

June 13, 2007 - LA Downtown News

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.

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.