United States

Coastal Resilience

$31 Billion ‘Ike Dike’ Hurricane Protection Project Moving Through Congress

Congress authorized the $31 billion ‘Ike Dike’ sea-level rise adaptation project, along with a laundry list of other water infrastructure projects.

May 26, 2022 - Eno Center for Transportation

Hopscotch squares on concrete schoolyard with basketball hoop in background

The Social and Economic Benefits of Green Schoolyards

New research suggests that switching from asphalt to green, park-like schoolyards brings economic benefits in addition to public health improvements.

May 26, 2022 - Trust for Public Land

Parked electric scooters on a sidewalk with person walking bike in the background

Highlights From the National Shared Mobility Summit

Mobility leaders from around the country met to discuss multimodal transportation, equity, and accessibility.

May 25, 2022 - Smart Cities Dive

An electric bicycle is shown with the legs of a human who is riding the e-bike.

Making the Case for E-Bikes

A new white paper lays the groundwork for better e-bike incentive programs.

May 24, 2022 - Streetsblog USA

A vacant department store in Coolidge, Arizona.

How To Slow the Wave of Commercial Vacancies

Empty storefronts depress property values and suppress small business growth. What can cities do to fill these vacancies?

May 24, 2022 - Next City

Suburban Home

Home Sales to Investors On the Rise

Sales of homes to investors and corporations, often in cash, are pricing out would-be homebuyers.

May 24, 2022 - Houston Chronicle

People gather on a street with no cars during the L.E.A.F. Festival of Flowers in the Meatpacking District of New York City.

‘Togetherness’ as a Synonym for ‘Transportation’

Transportation is a fundamental aspect of community cohesion, and should be considered a synonym for togetherness.

May 23, 2022 - William Riggs

Fringe Development

Public Perceptions of Sprawl and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Urban density has a bad reputation.

May 23, 2022 - Greater Greater Washington

Suburban Rowhouses

Housing Market May Finally Be Cooling Down

The overheated housing market of the last two years is showing signs of slowing down as home sales fall to the lowest levels since the pandemic began.

May 23, 2022 - Time Magazine

Biking

Report: Bike Commuting Up by 61 Percent Since 2000

While bike commuting remains below one percent as a regular transportation mode in the United States, the popularity of biking got a boost during the pandemic.

May 23, 2022 - The Bike Adviser

A conceptual rendering of three high-speed rail trains. The middle train is orange; the other two are black.

The California High-Speed Rail Project Illustrates America’s Transit Issues

Slow progress and a bloated budget have plagued the High-Speed Rail project linking San Francisco to Los Angeles, exposing deeper issues with American transit projects.

May 22, 2022 - Eric Carlson

Shuttered strip mall in Niland, California

Strip Malls as a Housing Solution

The American strip mall may be a dying breed of commercial development, but could the buildings serve a new use as sustainable housing?

May 22, 2022 - Yale Environment 360

Protected bike lane New York

How To Sustain the E-Bike Boom: Make Riders Feel Safe

Riders of electric and non-electric bikes alike agree that they would ride more if they felt safer on city streets, signaling a need for an increased focus on bike infrastructure.

May 19, 2022 - Bloomberg

Urban Solar Power

Zoning Stands in the Way of Renewable Energy

Renewable energy is cheap as ever, but zoning isn’t keeping up with the market.

May 19, 2022 - Popular Science

Walkable DC

Mixed Use Could Lower Neighborhood Crime Rates

New research shows areas with a heavy concentration of commercial offices experience 40 percent higher crime rates than neighborhoods that mix residential and commercial uses.

May 19, 2022 - Arch Daily

Exurban Construction

How Minimum Size Requirements Hamper Housing Production

Minimum square footage requirements are preventing many property owners from building on their lots, despite no evidence that they bring any safety benefits or maintain high property values.

May 19, 2022 - Forbes

Single-Family Housing Development

Report: How Housing Inequity Shrinks Economic Opportunities

Increasingly unaffordable housing in most U.S. metropolitan areas is pushing low-income workers farther away, decreasing their access to economic opportunities.

May 18, 2022 - National Equity Atlas

Traffic Safety Advocates

Traffic Fatalities Set Records as Pandemic-Era Road Carnage Shows No Signs of Stopping

An estimated 42,915 people died in automobile crashes in 2021, according to recent federal data. The increasing fatalities continue a trend that began with the outset of the pandemic.

May 17, 2022 - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Rittenhouse Square, a park in Philadelphia, framed by large buildings.

Parks as a Weapon Against Climate Change

The 2022 ParkScore finds that cities are increasingly employing green space as a tool for mitigating heat and extreme weather effects, but the distribution of parks remains inequitable.

May 16, 2022 - Trust for Public Land

Single-Family Housing Construction

New White House Housing Initiative Includes Zoning Reform Incentives

The Biden administration this morning released a new program of actions intended to spur housing construction around the United States.

May 16, 2022 - The White House

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.