Community / Economic Development

Looking At The Bilbao Effect

The concept of using cultural facilities to spur economic development was pioneering by this Spanish rust belt city 10 years ago. Today, many cities want to follow in its footsteps.

October 21, 2007 - The Art Newspaper

Becoming The 'Singapore of Africa'

Government officials in Rwanda are looking to the high-tech sector as a way to bring the country into economic viability. Rwanda is wiring up in hopes of becoming Africa's tech center.

October 21, 2007 - The Christian Science Monitor

Fighting Crime With Design

Law enforcement in Sacramento, California are using urban design to reduce crime in the city.

October 20, 2007 - The Sacramento Bee

Detroit Expands Casinos For More Cash

Desperate for jobs and tax revenue, the City of Detroit has permitted its three original casino operators to build new larger complexes.

October 20, 2007 - The Guardian Unlimited

Boise Reconsiders Landlord Status

City officials in Boise, Idaho, are considering a liquidation of properties the city owns and operates as affordable housing. The costs of keeping the housing available is becoming unaffordable for the city.

October 18, 2007 - The Boise Weekly

Street Vendors Booted From Mexico City

Mexico City police forced street vendors from nearly 100 streets recently in an effort to clean up the city. But the vendors vow to return.

October 17, 2007 - Associated Press via Oakland Tribune

Miami's Botched Foreign Trade Zone Development

What could have been an economic development homerun for Miami's Wynwood neighborhood has turned out to be a miserable failure. Nonetheless, hope remains that new ownership can restore the site's promising potential.

October 15, 2007 - The Miami Herald

New Orleans Recovery Plan Scaled Back

Officials in New Orleans have released a scaled-back version of the recovery plan the city council approved earlier this spring. This lighter version of the plan focuses on removing blight, and building affordable apartments.

October 15, 2007 - Associated Press via Time

The Physical Footprint Of The World's Biggest Retailers

This graph from Good shows the acreage of some of the world's biggest retailers, including McDonald's, 7-11, and Wal-Mart.

October 13, 2007 - Good

Hudson Yards Development Will Bring Big Things To New York

As design proposals come in for the Hudson Yards development site in Manhattan, Peter Slatin writes that this project more than any other has the potential to bolster the economic power of New York City in a huge way.

October 12, 2007 - The Slatin Report

Is Community-Based Planning On The Rise In Manhattan?

Opposition to Columbia University's 17-acre expansion plan reveals the good and bad about the city's community planning movement.

October 11, 2007 - City Limits Weekly

Locals Displaced By Tourism In Mayan Riviera

The tourism industry is booming along the Mayan Riviera on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. Many are worried that the ever-increasing supply of hotels and the flood of tourists will displace most of the area's local residents and hurt the environment.

October 11, 2007 - The Christian Science Monitor

Staten Island Sees Flood Of Hipsters

As more of the "creative class" moves to Staten Island, the area enjoys a boost in hipness.

October 11, 2007 - The New York Times

A Working Class Neighborhood Battle With Foreclosure

In the struggling city of Lawrence, Massachusetts, sub-prime mortgage foreclosures are threatening the community's stability and the longterm viability of the city's minority and working class neighborhoods.

October 10, 2007 - The Boston Globe

What's Behind Boise's Success

This article from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer looks at the conditions that have made Boise one of the country's most successful and thriving cities.

October 10, 2007 - The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Resurrecting The Mall

While Canada's enclosed shopping malls are aging, developers are finding new and profitable ways of redeveloping them.

October 9, 2007 - The Globe & Mail

New York Suburbs Lure TOD For Revitalization

Officials in suburban New York towns are putting more effort into luring developers to build housing near their transit stations -- a revitalization method that has shown success around the country.

October 9, 2007 - The New York Times

Italian Cities Are Slowing Down

More and more Italian cities are getting on board the "Slow City" movement, from the big to the tiny.

October 7, 2007 - Der Spiegel

APA Lists Best North American Neighborhoods

APA has published a list of its "Top Ten Neighborhoods". The list tends towards the coasts, but includes two inland outliers.

October 6, 2007 - San Francisco Examiner

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.