World
Global issues, U.N., etc.
The Pendulum Shifts: Expertise in Planning Is Now Suspect
Thinking grass roots empowerment makes expertise unnecessary is not a return to traditional placemaking. It's just a new take on business as usual, argues Scott Doyon.
Urban Ag Evangelist Gives Guerrilla Gardening a Dose of Star Power
David Hochman profiles Ron Finley, an urban gardening activist from South Los Angeles whose breakout TED talk and volunteer work are attracting some high profile supporters.
Does Urbanization Make Nations Less Relevant?
In the pre-modern era, city-states were the engines of global trade and diplomacy. As rapid urbanization drives globalization outside the structures of international frameworks, cities are returning to the fore as transnational actors.
The Dynamic Potential of Urbanism Without Effort
Chuck Wolfe summarizes a major tenet of his new book and suggests we risk ignoring the back story of urban forms and functions by failing to truly understand the traditional relationships between people and place.
The Future of Urban Animation: Biology Infiltrates Design and Construction
Bacterial manufacturing, bio-electric envelopes, robotic swarm construction, biosynthetic design patterns; Chris Arkenberg sketches the future of city design and construction in which "the barriers between biology and technology will start to fall."
Award Sheds Light on Overlooked Architecture from the Muslim World
Henry Grabar profiles some of the projects shortlisted for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Comprising new construction and preservation work from throughout the Muslim world, the award spotlights projects often overlooked by the western media.
Ways to Fail at Form-Based Codes 03: Misapply the Transect
On 50th anniversary of the Jetsons, Hazel Borys celebrates city planning that isn't pie in the sky, but instead lets us cast a shadow.
Astonishing Arctic Ice Melt Becomes National Security Threat
The Arctic may become ice free as soon as 2015, 85 years earlier than recent predictions, prompting a briefing of top U.S. government officials, including those from the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security, by Arctic specialists.
Massive Historical Map Collection Added to Digital Library
A private collection of 38,000 historical maps has been added to the Digital Public Library of America, reports Rebecca Rosen, making it more accessible to researchers and anyone interested in the history of their community.
Urbanization Brings Eradication of Extreme Poverty in Sight
The elimination of extreme poverty - daily income below $1.25 - has long been a goal of the U.N., the World Bank, and development experts. The world's mass urbanization is a leading reason that quixotic goal may actually be achievable by 2030.
Website Provides Tools to Resurrect Abandoned Buildings
The world is full of millions of abandoned buildings; unused resources that drag down their surrounding communities. One website aims to provide advocates with the tools to reactivate them, writes Ben Schiller.
CO2 Levels Approach Troubling Milestone
The concentration of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere is fast approaching levels not seen for millions of years. At 400 parts per million (p.p.m.), the planet is fast approaching the point of no return for avoiding dangerous climate change.
How Facebook Simulates Suburbia: Lessons for Building Public Spaces in the Digital Age
As the virtual and physical worlds become more intertwined, the role of the traditional architect and the information architect become more closely aligned. Emily Badger explores the ways that each discipline can help the other design public spaces.
Craft and Context: Architecture that Connects Place and Time
Architect Mark Sofield explores the essential meaning of craft in architecture, which he says lies in the nature of the connections a building or space creates.
'Quantitative Urbanism' Reduces Cities to a Formula
Jerry Adler examines the emerging field of “quantitative urbanism,” which aims to use mathematical formulas to unveil and explain the universal properties shared by cities.
Ranking the World's Most Bike-Friendly Cities
The Copenhagen-based urban planning consultancy Copenhagenize Design Co. has released the follow-up to its 2011 rankings of the world's most bike-friendly cities. Only one city in North America cracked the top 20.
The Future of Municipal Planning 02: Learning from Success
Urban design studios and a plethora of new data demonstrate the value of successful placemaking. Howard Blackson sees these as key components of future municipal planning.
Successional Urbanism: An Interview with Andrés Duany
Architect and town planner Galina Tachieva sits down with New Urbanism innovator Andrés Duany to discuss the big and small topics on his mind today: lean urbanism, successional urbanism and the Transect, the orthodoxy of the small block, and more.
Friday Funny: 15 Mid-Century Modern Death Traps
With their flexible open spaces, right angles, and expanses of glass, mid-century modern houses are coveted by those homeowners with a keen design sense. And, as Projectophile illustrates, it's best if those homeowners don't have children.
Lighting Revolution Produces Radiant Visions of Our Future
The technological advances transforming "Edison’s 130-year-old industry" promise to revolutionize the way light is integrated in our homes, workplaces, and cities.
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.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
Custer County Colorado
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont
