Frequently Asked Questions

Planet-I-Zen? PLAN-etizen? How the heck do you pronounce your name?

We combined Plan, as in planning, and Netizen, as in a citizen of the Internet, and came up with "Planetizen". We pronounce it pla-NET-a-zen. However, you won't find our name in Webster's so feel free to pronounce it however it suits you.

How can I get in touch with you?

We would like to hear from you! Tell us what you think. Send us an email: info@planetizen.com.

Do you collaborate with any other organizations?

Yes, we collaborate with several other planning and development organizations. See our list of partners.

How can my organization become a partner?

If you regularly publish urban planning news, feature stories, job opportunities or events, we're interested in working with you. See our list of partners and find out more information about how your organization can become a Planetizen partner.

Can I get Planetizen on a handheld device, such as a Palm?

You can read the latest news, articles, jobs, and announcements from Planetizen on your handheld device or web enabled cellular phone. Get Planetizen's Mobile Edition.

What will you do with my email address if I sign up for your email newsletter?

We promise not to release your email address to anyone else. We also promise that if you want to stop receiving email from us, we'll make it easy to remove your email from our email list. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

Do you accept advertising?

You bet! Please see our advertising specifications if you are interested.

How can I help?

Urban planning, by its nature, is a collaborative process. Planetizen is too. We depend on your participation.

Can I submit an article?

Planetizen publishes two types of articles -- daily news summaries and original works such as Op-Eds, book reviews, event coverage, interviews, podcasts, and more, written or produced by planning professionals and other interested people.

If you have read a news story that you think Planetizen readers might be interested in, please send it to us. If you are interested in writing an original work, please review our submission guidelines.

A Planetizen news summary links to a web page that is no longer available. Can you send me that page?

Our news summaries provide a link (if available) to the original article or report available from the source website. Some websites make their content available for a limited time only, after which the content may be archived. Please look for the source website's policies on accessing archived content.

A Planetizen news summary does not link to the original article. Do you include articles that aren't available on the Web?

We struggled with this question. In the end, we elected to cover all articles that substantively concern urban planning, regardless of whether or not the source publication is available on the Web. The question we asked ourselves was: "Would Planetizen readers rather know about the existence of the article, even if they can't access it on the Web?" We felt that if the article was critical to your job or interest, you could then find a way to get the article from the source publication, even if it's not available on the Web.

Are you aware that news articles from certain sources such as The New York Times require registering with the source website?

Planetizen links to articles from a variety of sources. Most are free, but some require a free registration or a paid membership. For example, The New York Times website requires a free registration that provides free access to their articles. As sources such as these frequently publish excellent stories on urban planning issues, we provide a summary and link to such articles. You may decide if registering with the source website is worthwhile for you.

What is the technical architecture for Planetizen? How did you do this?

For those who are interested in the technical details, Planetizen uses the Drupal content management system, runs on the GNU/Linux operating system and is powered by the Apache Web server. The website is entirely database driven; the data is stored using the MySQL database and converted into web pages using a computer language called PHP. We also use several GNU tools to develop Planetizen. We would like to thank the world-wide community of Free Software and Open Source contributors for making it possible for us to develop Planetizen using high-quality, reliable software.

If you have a question not covered by these topics please send us an email.