World
Global issues, U.N., etc.
How Cities Miss the 'World Class' Mark
A recent article on the Stanford Social Innovation Review blog argues that instead of chasing gleaming skyscrapers, planners in developing cities should build a new model of the "world class" city.
Arguing for City-Focused Sustainable Development Goals
Richard Florida joins the chorus calling for the United Nations to make “cities the centerpiece of its forthcoming Sustainable Development Goals.”
The History of GPS—Back to the First Century
A new book details the primitive origins of the GPS tracking technologies that are so pervasive in today’s mobile-phone-enabled world.
Time Running Out for Climate Change Action, Warns IPCC
In its second major report since 2007, the U.N. panel's report was not all bad news. It noted that while nations may be slow to agree to climate treaties, city and state governments have written their own climate plans along with the private sector.
As the Seas Rise, Cities 'Dither'
The world’s coastal cities now face an impossible situation as a result of climate change. While the impacts and catastrophes become inevitable, why do cities like San Francisco dither rather than act?
Where’s the Nearest Airport? New Diagram Shows—for Every Place on Earth
"Each region is closer to a particular airport than any other," explains the creator of what's called a spherical Voronoi diagram. The diagram illustrates just how far that airport is.
Impact Investing for Community Development
Lisa Hall gives an overview of impact investing in this enlightening, introduction-type piece. She shares the potential and the new opportunities for community development that are coming out of this emerging field.
Friday Eye Candy: Revisiting the Sites of Famous Album Covers
For the music aficionados: a recent article in Guardian Cities dug up the Google Street Views of the exact locations of iconic album covers, laying the album cover over the current condition.
Open Street Events Around the World
Inspired by the ciclovías of Bogotá, Colombia, open street events are growing in popularity around the world. Here’s a survey of nine events from around the world that close streets to cars and open them up to humans.
Housing Policy Repair for a New Era: Let’s Review
Communities across the U.S. are increasingly frustrated at the persistence of mid-20th-century thinking about housing among local leaders even in the face of a mountain of 21st-century evidence that times have changed.
Crowd-Sourced Infographic Rates Ten Transit Systems
An interactive map featuring a combination of ESRI's Story Maps, Yelp, and TripAdvisor posts shows ten popular subway systems as rated by transit riders.
Top Urban Instagram Feeds
Marta Bausells and the readers of Guardian Cities collaborated to create a list of top Instagram photographers from around the world.
Friday Eye Candy: New York Public Library Releases Thousands of Historic Maps to the Public
“For the historic cartographile, Christmas may have come late, but here it is,” writes Daniel Stuckey.
Climate Change Harms People, not just Polar Bears, Warns IPCC in Exhaustive Report
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a follow-up report to another in September that focused on the cause of climate change. The report released Monday focuses on the disruption that climate change will cause human society.
'People Habitat': Kaid Benfield Takes Smart Growth to a Higher Level
Kaid Benfield has a new book out, which Scott Doyon found positively uplifting. In ways beyond what you might be thinking.
Top Ten Fake Futures Most Likely to Destroy Planning As We Know It
The following is a list things that are never going to happen, because if they did, urban planning as we know it would cease to exist.
Top Architecture Websites
The Life of An Architect website recently published its second list of “The Best Architectural Websites in the World.”
Air Pollution Kills 7 Million Annually
In September, 2011 the above title read two million. Figures from both years are based on reports from the World Health Organization, a United Nations agency. Is air quality getting worse, or are more deaths being attributed to air pollution?
A Call for a Youth Movement in the Planning Process
Most millennials and Gen Xers are either too busy or too disengaged to realize how the future of their hometowns is being shaped by people much older than they.
Rewarded for Doing Good: Shigeru Ban Wins Pritzker Prize
The 2014 Pritzker Architecture Prize had been awarded to Shigeru Ban. Ban is best known for his innovative use of paper as a construction material and for relief work in disaster areas.
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.
New York City School Construction Authority
Village of Glen Ellyn
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
