World

Global issues, U.N., etc.

Who Gets Left Behind in the Pursuit of 'Livability'?

Richey Piiparinen explores the "original sin" of the quest for urban “livability” - economic development - and examines what the pitfalls are when cities are designed for high-valued consumers rather than people.

January 3, 2013 - New Geography

9 Megaprojects to Follow in the New Year

The globe's increasing urbanization has spawned city-building projects on a scale never seen before, and each week seems to bring news of the next instant city. Mackenzie Keast tracks nine such projects that are due to proceed in 2013.

January 2, 2013 - Urban Times

What Does Zipcar's Purchase Portend for the Future of Car-Sharing?

Looks like we've got our first breaking urban news story of the year with today's announcement of the purchase of car-sharing leader Zipcar by rental car behemoth Avis. Steven Pearlstein laments what the deal means for Zipcar and consumers.

January 2, 2013 - The Washington Post

Yarn Bombing Bolardos by Teje La Araña 2

10 Urban Trends to Leave Behind with 2012

As they reflect on a year of exciting advances in urbanism, and look forward to the next, the writers at The Atlantic Cities discuss the most loathed trends they hope will die in 2013.

January 2, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

A Simple Solution to Kabul's Massive Traffic Problem

The proposal is simple. Instead of investing billions of dollars more on elaborate infrastructure or trust a corrupted police force, the concept is to nudge this complex system at two targeted points in the city, argues Mitchell Sutika Sipus.

January 2, 2013 - Humanitarian Space

An Urban Tech Wish List

What do you get for the smart city that thinks it has everything? Lauren Drell lists the 25 technologies every smart city should have.

December 30, 2012 - Mashable

From Housing Planes to People: Repurposing Success Stories

As cities across the world look to convert aging and obsolete airfields to new uses, a growing body of repurposing success stories show "how problematic properties can be successfully converted," reports Christine Negroni.

December 29, 2012 - The New York Times

Proximity Trumps Mobility: Smart Growth Maximizes Accessibility

The increased proximity provided by more compact and centralized development is about ten times more influential than vehicle traffic speed on the number of destinations that people can reach within a given travel time.

December 26, 2012 - Journal Of The American Planning Association

Biometric Monitors: Coming to a Driveway Near You

Might your car one day serve as a mobile doctor's office? If research into biometric monitoring being conducted by carmakers comes to fruition, your car may soon be able to tracks your stress and blood sugar levels, and more, reports Bob Moon.

December 25, 2012 - American Public Media: Marketplace

For the Sake of Santa, Please Don't Build Any More Suburbs

Santa is sounding the alarm: "Christmas is in jeopardy.” What's making St. Nick a little less jolly this year? New analysis shows that suburban development patterns are driving up costs at the North Pole, say Paul Knight and Kevin Clark.

December 25, 2012 - paullknight.com

City lights

How Cities Celebrate the Holidays

Kaid Benfield delivers a photo essay full of holiday cheer that shows the suburbs aren't the only places that know how to accessorize for the season.

December 25, 2012 - NRDC Switchboard

The Year's Top Architecture Controversies

Who wants to read about the best buildings of the year when you can read about the most controversial? Architizer will guide you through the year's best in copycats, criticism, and crybabies.

December 24, 2012 - Architizer

Einstein's Bike Shop

Bicycling: Good for the Brain and the Body

The physical benefits of cycling are well known, but researchers are just beginning to understand how riding a bike benefits our brains, writes Simon Usborne.

December 22, 2012 - The Independent

Architecture for the End of the World

The good news is that we've survived yet another doomsday prophecy. Bad news - there's plenty more reasons to think our world is under threat. Vanessa Quirk looks at architectural responses to the threat - real or imagined - of apocalypse.

December 21, 2012 - ArchDaily

Coal Ascendant in the 21st Century

Coal burning is rising everywhere save the U.S. If no changes are made to promote alternatives, it will overtake oil as the world's top energy source within a decade according to a new report from the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA).

December 21, 2012 - Bloomberg News

Farmland Aplenty for Growing World Population

Worried about feeding the world's growing population, especially as it increases meat consumption and farmland is impacted by climate change? No fear - improved crop technology and slowing world growth will allow farms to be converted to wildlands.

December 20, 2012 - Reuters - U.S.

What's in a Name?

"Detroit is the Paris of the Widwest", "Oakland is the Newark of the West Coast", "Chattanooga is the Cleveland of the Southeast" - a new website uses a navigable map of the world to catalog the many "X is the Y of Z" analogies found on Twitter.

December 18, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Constructing the Perfect Gift List for Architects

Having a hard time finding the right set of t-squares or owlish black eyeglasses for the Howard Roark in your family? Check out the Holiday Gift Guide that Vanessa Quirk has assembled for ArchDaily.

December 17, 2012 - ArchDaily

Wilmington NC Lives Outdoors

When a city's tightly-gridded, walkable streets are developed with connected, convivial, complete neighborhoods, the temptation to walk, bike, and run overcome the lethargy of our modern lifestyle. See an inspiring photo essay from Wilmington, NC.

December 16, 2012 - PlaceShakers

Beneath the Sea, Recognizing the Need to Turn Down the Volume

Humans are a noisy lot. In addition to fouling our cities with extreme sounds and exporting our din to wilderness areas, scientists are beginning to recognize and map the substantial impact of human-generated sound on the world's waters.

December 12, 2012 - The New York Times

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.