United States

Solar and Wind Energy

The Congressional Budget Cut Clean Energy Tax Breaks

The consequences of the Congressional budget approved at the end of 2019 can be measured in millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

January 12, 2020 - Inside Climate News

Electric Truck

Coming in 2020: Electrification of Transportation, Including Trucks

Auto manufacturers will offer more battery and plug-in hybrid models this year, and the nation's largest state is expected to approve a new regulation requiring medium and heavy-duty truck manufacturers to sell zero-emission vehicles.

January 10, 2020 - Government Technology

Multi-Modal Intersection

How Cities Can Digitize Their 21st Century Mobility Policies

As we enter the digital age of transportation, cities are finding new ways to digitize their policies.

January 9, 2020 - Wisconsin Autonomous Vehicle Proving Ground

Smartphone car

'We Live in Cities of the Cloud': Transformation of the Urban World in the On-Demand Age

On-demand technology has vastly transformed cities by changing everything from the way we shop and travel to how markets target and serve us.

January 9, 2020 - CityLab

Candidates for President

Urban Planning Trends to Watch in 2020

Planetizen Managing Editor James Brasuell tries to predict the big ideas and trends that will dominate the discussion about the future of land use, planning, and development in the first year of the new decade.

January 9, 2020 - James Brasuell

Second Avenue Subway

Eno to Launch Study of High U.S. Transit Costs

The Eno Center for Transportation is answering long-overdue calls for more information about the well documented costs of transit investments in the United States.

January 8, 2020 - Eno Center for Transportation

Housing Construction

Report: Low Housing Production Stymies Entry-Level Buyers

According to this report, the trends point to a "less diverse, older, higher-income" crop of homebuyers as low production locks out the young and many people of color.

January 8, 2020 - Curbed San Francisco

Bus Schedule

A Decade of Transit Investments, Quantified

Yonah Freemark gives less-than-stellar marks for the transit investments of U.S. cities in the 2010s.

January 8, 2020 - theTransportPolitic

Homes

How Housing Fared in 2019

Next City's Jared Brey reviews a year of developments in housing politics and policy, teasing out several big trends.

January 8, 2020 - Next City

New mexico Power

Decline in Coal-Fired Power Reduces U.S. Carbon Emissions in 2019

The energy sector produced ten percent less carbon emissions in 2019 than the previous year—the largest drop in decades. Still, the decline of the coal industry is not enough to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Accord.

January 7, 2020 - Inside Climate News

Remembering Neal Peirce

He was ahead of his time as a journalist, an urban thinker—and even as an entrepreneur who foreshadowed today's nonprofit news web sites.

January 7, 2020 - Urban Edge

New York Street

Study: Walking and Cycling Rates Haven't Changed Much Since 2001

New analysis of National Household Travel Survey data shows that the United States has a long way to go to overcome the dominance of the automobile for daily travel.

January 7, 2020 - Journal of Transport & Health via ScienceDirect

Washington, D.C. Bus Lane

Red Bus Lanes Easier to Install Thanks to Federal Green Light

Bus lanes covered in a red carpet of paint are gaining popularity in urban areas, but only with a very tentative kind of approval from federal regulators. Red bus lanes took a big, but not final, step toward full regulatory approval in December.

January 6, 2020 - The Washington Post

Paris Aerial

What California Can Learn from France About Tackling a Housing Crisis

As California continues to grapple with staggering housing issues, France's experience offers lessons about the kinds of housing policies and strategies that work.

January 6, 2020 - San Francisco Chronicle

Oil Pipeline

Trump Administration Proposes Changes to National Environmental Policy Act

Sources report that proposed changes to the National Environmental Policy Act would limit the kinds of projects subject to federal environmental review, and remove climate change as a consideration for large infrastructure projects.

January 6, 2020 - The New York Times

School Chlidren

2019 Year-End Census Estimate: Slowest Growth in 100 Years

The 12-month period ending July 1, 2019, saw the lowest population growth rate, 0.5 percent, since 1918, reported the U.S. Census Bureau on Monday. Natural increase (births minus deaths) was the lowest in decades. Ten states saw population declines.

January 5, 2020 - U.S. Census Bureau

Dilworth park

Empowering Architects to Reduce Carbon Emissions

Stephanie Carlisle, a principal at Philadelphia architecture firm KieranTimberlake, discusses the need for a toolkit of decarbonization strategies that designers can use for all design efforts, "not just the fancy projects or the unique projects."

January 3, 2020 - The Architectural League of New York

Renewable Energy

Global Cost of Transitioning to 100 Percent Renewable Energy: $73 Trillion

A report by researchers from Stanford University says the cost of transitioning the world to entirely renewable energy production would pay for itself in seven years and add a net positive amount of jobs measured in the millions.

January 3, 2020 - Yale Environment 360

Public Comment

What the Academic Literature Says About Civic Engagement

A literature review notes three big themes and challenges to emerge from a year's worth of intellectual investigation of civic engagement.

January 2, 2020 - Data-Smart City Solutions

Sprawl

Modest Densification, a Strategy to Alleviate the Housing Crisis?

Incremental changes to density on single-family parcels could boost the nation’s housing stock without dramatic impacts at the neighborhood level.

January 2, 2020 - Curbed

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.