Exclusives
FEATURE
When AI goes rogue: what planners need to knowThis summer, four major AI labs disclosed that their agents had slipped out of test environments. For planners, the lessons are about access, oversight and the one sandbox we can’t afford to lose: public trust.
FEATURE
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
FEATURE
A new platform for New Yorkers is making ADU development a breeze
If cities want to produce more housing, they need to make it simple for people to build. New York City’s ADU for You is doing just that.
BLOG POST
A well-timed look at highway expansion projects’ human impact
Book review: “City Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, and the Future of America’s Highways” tells the story of Texas residents’ decades-long battle to curb the impacts of three highway projects.
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Op-ed: Finding the value in LA’s emptiest parks
Los Angeles has the nation's largest dog population, but a measly 14 dog parks. Adaptive reuse can help bridge this gap.
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Op-ed: if transit agencies want sustainability, they should focus on their buildings
In the Washington region, buildings can account for nearly 70% of greenhouse gas emissions. If WMATA wants to be a sustainable agency, it must upgrade its developments as well as its transit.
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Data reveals that NYC’s bet on congestion pricing has paid off
After almost two years of the program, reports show positive impacts on traffic and air quality and no disruptions to parking.
FEATURE
The next era of climate resilience will be measured in co-benefits
Why the strongest resilience investments solve more than one problem at once.
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Mansplainer or plansplainer? A quiz
Think you can tell the difference between regular condescension and urban planning condescension? Take this quiz to find out!
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The city is the health system
Your healthcare system treats you after you get sick. Your city decides whether your health declines at all. Singapore is proving that planning is preventive medicine.
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The coolest Copenhagen urban retrofit you’ve never heard of
In Denmark, a ship-building-site-turned-cultural-hub demonstrates the power of mixed-use spaces and organic planning.
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Data centers pump $340M into rural Texas projects as they try to improve their reputations
The companies have faced waves of public backlash in Texas. To battle that negative public perception, they’ve donated millions to community causes and needs.
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Suburbs before the car
The world's first suburbs were designed to exclude. Today, they might just hold the secret to doing transit-oriented development right.
BLOG POST
Evidence-based planning in a time of information overload
The field of academic publishing has become complex and crowded. What does it mean for urban planners?
FEATURE
To privatize, or not to privatize? Lessons from Britain and Japan's railways
When Britain and Japan faced the consequences of monopolistic public transit, both countries divided their transit up into regional private companies — and saw very different outcomes.
BLOG POST
A much-needed revamp of the best way to approach design
Book review: “Designing the Complex City: A Systemic Approach to Spatial Design” translates complex theory into actionable tools for planners, architects and more.
BLOG POST
Congestion Costing Reality Check, Part 3: Smart congestion relief
There are many better ways to reduce congestion in your city than expensive roadway expansion projects. Win-win strategies reduce congestion and provide many other benefits.
BLOG POST
A Transect of sprawl
A development pattern this lifestyle-defining deserves its whole own classification system.
BLOG POST
Is AI really the Panacea to our permitting woes?
Let’s have a look at what’s happening on the ground.
BLOG POST
Transit Planning 201: The unfunded mandate
How the ADA transformed accessibility, and created one of public transportation’s thorniest operational challenges.
FEATURE
What the fall of earth's largest pre-industrial city can teach us about urban sprawl
Angkor was a low-density metropolis. It lasted six centuries, until it could no longer maintain its infrastructure in a changing climate. Today, it offers planners a sobering warning about the risks of dispersed urban living.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Montrose County
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority
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.
