World
Global issues, U.N., etc.
The Enduring Allure of Urban Environments
Even if the swelling modern metropolis doesn't reflect the gleaming city of science fiction, Edwin Heathcote finds much to be optimistic about with regard to the future of cities on a rapidly urbanizing planet.
LEED-ND Proves Effective at Reducing Driving
Using complex transportation modeling, new research published in the Journal of Planning Education and Research confirms that developments built to the standards of LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) reduce driving and associated emissions.
Graduating Into the Workplace: Perspectives from Recent Planning Grads
As a new cohort of young planners prepares to enter the field, more than a dozen recent graduates share their insights on how to make the most of a planning education and navigate one of the most challenging job environments in recent memory.
A Streetcar to Desire: An Argument for Converting Roads to Rails
Terra Nova author Eric W. Sanderson builds a refreshingly wonky case for a modern streetcar revival.
How Much of the World's Urbanization is Being Driven by Overseas Land Acquisitions?
Since 2006, agro-businesses, hedge-funds, financial firms, and government agencies have splurged on an overseas land-buying binge. As Saskia Sassen explains, such purchases disrupt the status quo, forcing local residents to migrate to cities.
4 Measures Could Help Stave Off the Worst Effects of Global Warming
A new report from the International Energy Agency has some sobering news about the planet's record setting carbon emissions. But it also identifies four policy recommendations that could help stave off warming in excess of the dreaded 2°C mark.
The Architectural Image: Who's Fooling Whom?
The architectural image is the currency of contemporary architecture. It's the means by which projects are envisioned, sold, and judged. But is the quest for the perfect image harming Architecture?
Augmented Architecture: The Ultimate Expression of Function Over Form?
Zachary Edelson speculates on the ways in which Google Glass, and other augmented reality elements, will change the way we experience architecture and our environments.
Abandonment, Authenticity, and Transgressive Placemaking
Kelly Bennett writes on the connections between authentic places, abandonment, and a new wave of placemaking.
Google Blimps to Bring Internet Access to Remote Regions
With the privacy concerns that've arisen with its questionable data gathering, many people are unlikely to welcome the idea of a Google blimp floating overhead. But the billion people the company wants to connect to the Internet may feel differently.
Visualizing Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions
A new infographic shows in elegant detail exactly how much individual sources and sectors contribute to global greenhouse gas emissions. Brad Plumer parses the data.
Friday Eye Candy: 19 Fascinating City Maps
Lauren Drell at Mashable has rounded up 19 (or is it 21?) 'dynamic, real-time and compelling visualizations of how we live and move.'
Global Roads Safer, But U.S. Performs Poorly
A study from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development shows that traffic fatalities across the world have reached an all-time low. However roads in the U.S. are less safe than in 28 other countries, including Serbia and Greece.
The World's Top Travel Destinations
Planning a trip to Bangkok this year? If so, you're not alone. The Thai capital tops MasterCard's new ranking of the world's most visited cities, with nearly 16 million tourists expected to see the city this year.
Will Google Maps Destroy Public Space?
With the latest redesign of Maps, Google is personalizing the mapping experience to reflect the places we, and our friends, frequent. In doing so, will the technology giant eliminate serendipitous "entanglements" from the urban experience?
Lighting Designers Project a Bright Future for Our Cities
Utilizing new approaches and new technologies for illuminating the built environment, lighting designers are helping to create safer, more dynamic, and more accessible cities.
Prefab is Having a Moment; Can it Sustain the Momentum?
With a modular high-rise planned for Brooklyn, a modular design winning Manhattan's micro-unit apartment competition, and several other prefabricated buildings on the drawing board throughout the U.S., prefab is getting a relook.
Urban Ruins and the High Line Next Door
Chuck Wolfe suggests we all have the inspiration within us to envision how to remake our cities--from the conjecture of a Seattle restauranteur about Seattle's monorail to neighborhood examples of "we used this before, let's use it again".
The Future of Vertical Urban Farming is Pink
Let's put aside those renderings of high-rise urban greenhouses with lush, vertical gardens. Vertical farming's future, instead, lies more practically in large, suburban "pinkhouses", says one expert.
Forgotten Freight Demands Frighten Transportation Planners
While much of the current discussion in planning centers on decreasing road capacity to promote greater pedestrian mobility, Eric Jaffe wonders if we are thinking enough about the critical and complex task of moving freight.
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.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority
