Urban Development
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
TODs Prove To Be A Boon For Urban Regions
In this special report, the WSJ examines the growing popularity of rail-based TODs, examining their effect on land values as well as the challenges they may face in obtaining approval.
Building TODs Without The Transit
With pedestrian-friendly urban design increasingly popular, many suburban communities are building urban village-type developments usually designed around transit stations -- except they don't have transit.
China's Pre-Olympic Clean-Up Creates Slums
In preparation for the 2008 Olympics, Beijing and other Chinese cities have taken measures to clean up their "urban villages", demolishing homes and displacing thousands of poor migrants, which has resulted in the creation of many slums.
A Browner Shade of Green: The New Water Rules and the Next Chapter of Sprawl
Stormwater mitigation rules are supposed to help protect the environment, but the current regulations also end up encouraging sprawl over urban redevelopment.
Los Angeles' Smart Growth Saga
The city is working hard to increase density, but with Angelenos firmly attached to their cars and the region's transit moving at a snail's pace, can smart growth really work in L.A.?
Seattle Approves Major Mixed-Use Project For Pioneer Square
Plans call for redeveloping the north parking lot of the Seattle Seahawks stadium into a new mixed-use development that will add 400 housing units to the historic district and better link the neighborhood with adjoining areas.
Low-Income Tenants In D.C. Agree To Relocate
Plans to redevelop several ailing housing projects near the U.S. Capitol into mixed-income communities are moving forward after most tenants agree to relocate voluntarily.
More Controversy Surrounding Financing Of Atlantic Yards Project
A freelance journalist has uncovered documents that highlight major government financial backing for Forest City's Enterprises' proposed Brooklyn redevelopment project, which has largely been promoted as a privately funded development.
Integrating The Farm With The City
The idea of linking agriculture and smart growth is gaining ground in California's booming rural areas.
Olympic Games Cause Of Major Displacement, Says Rights Group
A human rights group has accused the Chinese Government of forcing 1.5 million residents from their homes in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing -- the latest in a continuing saga of displacement in former host cities.
Sell It As 'Smart Growth'
Savvy real estate developers who can promote their projects as smart growth developments are attracting significant capital from public pension funds -- regardless of the actual merits of the project.
Turning Shuttered School Sites Into New Homes
Forced to close schools due to shrinking enrollment, a Detroit suburb is selling its surplus schools to housing developers in hopes that children from new families will prop up remaining schools in the community.
Will Camden's Best Corporate Citizen Skip Town?
In an effort to improve its world headquarters, Campbell Soup wants to expand its campus in Camden, New Jersey. The only problem is that the company's plans include knocking down a nationally registered historic building.
India's Richest Man Builds Skyscraping House
Mukesh Ambani, India's richest man, has plans to build a 570-foot, 27-story skyscraper in Mumbai as a home for his six-person family, a stark contrast to the city's many crowded slums. Some planners predict similar skyscraper projects will follow.
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.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association
