World

Global issues, U.N., etc.

Coastal Cities and Climate Change

Anthony Flint looks at how cities around the world are preparing for the predicted rise in sea level due to global warming, and how the Dutch experience with building dikes could be essential.

May 1, 2010 - Citiwire.net

Friday Funny: The Development Process is the Pits

Cartoonist Ben Katchor has an obsession with the built environment. In this cartoon, an architect finds inspiration in an olive, but struggles with developers who have their own ideas.

April 30, 2010 - Metropolis Magazine

Architecture Is, By Definition, Corrupt

Victoria Beach, an independent architect, says that going by a recent definition by lawyer Lawrence Lessig, the entire profession of architecture is ethically corrupt.

April 30, 2010 - Design Intelligence

LEED-ND Officially Launches

LEED for Neighborhood Development, seen by many as a corrective to the green building rating system emphasizing sustainability at the neighborhood scale, is now official. Kaid Benfield was part of its creation, and has this report.

April 29, 2010 - NRDC Blog

Inside the World of Maps

This series from the BBC looks at the art and innovation of cartography.

April 29, 2010 - BBC

Won't Somebody Think of the Children?

Kids make up a big part of city populations. But often the built environment doesn't reflect a world planned with children in mind. This post from Polis looks at an effort to put children's needs back in the minds of planners.

April 29, 2010 - POLIS

Changing the World One Block at a Time

The neighborhood is the basic building block of human society, and successful efforts to make the world a better place often start right there, says Jay Walljasper.

April 29, 2010 - Jay Walljasper

The Greenest Cities

CNN explores the world's 'greenest' urban centers, and find that complexity is the secret of their success.

April 28, 2010 - CNN Online

Why Peak Oil Will Bring us Closer

In this excerpt from his new book "Eaarth", Bill McKibben discusses how such efforts as the Transition movement and farmer's markets are tapping into our need for neighbors.

April 28, 2010 - AlterNet

People's Needs and Placemaking

Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP, proposes a new way of looking at placemaking through the lens of the 4 basic human needs (a framework from the field of psychology).

April 26, 2010 - PDI Advisor

Brightening Up The Landscape

A paint company is sponsoring a project to brighten up dull communities by painting them with bright colors.

April 26, 2010 - GOOD Magazine

Brasilia, 50 Years Later

Christopher Hawthorne remarks that Brasilia had an optimism that is remarkably different from today's new cities that are striving towards sustainability and preparing for eco-disasters.

April 23, 2010 - The Los Angeles Times

The Orthodoxy of Urbanism

Planners take a prescriptive approach to urbanism, while people have their own ideas about what makes good places that don't fit the standard orthodoxy. Drew Austin says both extremes need attention, and synthesis.

April 22, 2010 - The Urbanophile

The Manliest of Cities

AskMen.com ranks the Top 29 cities in the world to be a man, using a highly scientific ranking system based on the price of an iPod, the city's GDP, the ratio of men to women, and - the efficiency of public transit?

April 20, 2010 - Ask Men

Revisiting Sites of Eco-Disaster

Stephanie Rogers revisits 7 of the greatest environmental disasters (including the 2008 TVA coal sludge spill) and finds that while they may have left the headlines, serious problems remain.

April 19, 2010 - AlterNet

Confusing Access and Mobility

Transportation planner Jarrett Walker, on why transportation planners can't stop applying freeway concepts to transit and the important difference between access and mobility.

April 18, 2010 - Human Transit

The Magic of the Grid

A new book by Hannah Higgins seeks to show that the history of modern society is based on the grid.

April 18, 2010 - Metropolis Magazine

Communicating Codes Through Song

When working a charrette in Jamaica, architect Steve Mouzon inadvertently inspired local children to set a recommendation for urban farming to song.

April 17, 2010 - The Original Green Blog

Free Tools to Connect Your City

Why build your own? There are several free web applications out there that help cities interface with their citizens. Christian Madera picks the best.

April 17, 2010 - Next American City

Friday Funny: The Ultimate SimCity

Behold Magnasanti, the ultimate city built using the SimCity game with no cheats, with a population of 9 million residents.

April 16, 2010 - YouTube

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.