Exclusives
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The Garden City at "The World's End"
The new film The World's End may be a hilarious British comedy about an epic pub crawl interrupted by the Apocalypse, but it also presents the viewer with a provocative perspective on competing views of liberty.
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Electric Will Supplant Fossil Fuel Cars on Safety
Advocating safety for the successful electric replacement of internal combustion engine cars solves many of the challenges of an automobile-inclusive future urbanity, and there will be no other kind.
FEATURE
Lessons from West: Do Texas Land Use Laws Put Residents at Risk?
After a fertilizer plant explosion killed 15 people in West, observers blamed Texas's lax zoning regulations. Analysis of the locations of such plants across the Western U.S. seeks to determine whether Texas land use law is uniquely unregulated.
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Obstacles to a "Metropolitan Revolution"
In theory, cities might be able to revitalize their economies and infrastructure. But in reality, state governments can create all kinds of obstacles to city policy.
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Taking Bicycle Parking to the Streets
We can best thank Portland and other pioneers for all their hard work with on-street bicycle parking (a.k.a. "bike corrals") by simply benefitting ourselves from their efforts. Here's how...
FEATURE
Using Mixed‐Use Education to Build Communities
Urban Planning is rarely seen as a remedy for the state of the education system. However, thoughtful community design that integrates schools in new ways can lead to successful learning environments and vibrant communities.
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Planning for Obsolescence
As college becomes less affordable, alternatives to the traditional four-year model have been making inroads, leading some to question its lasting viability. If universities struggle, it will impact not only campuses, but cities, as well.
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Who's Returning To The City
Are children, millenials and baby boomers returning to cities? The best answer: sometimes, sometimes, and maybe not.
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Planners are Futurists With a Practical Bent
Planners are futurists, but with less pretension and jargon. Our work requires predicting how current trends are likely to affect future conditions and activities, and how communities should prepare. For example, let's predict self-driving cars.
FEATURE
Top 10 Websites - 2013
Our annual list of the 10 best planning, design, and development websites represents some of the top online resources for news, information and research on the built environment.
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Six Tips for City Hall Leadership
Any leader is only as good as their team, and supporting your team's work while earning their trust and respect is the number one responsibility of a good leader. Here are six additional thoughts on what makes a good municipal leader.
FEATURE
Zimmerman Free But Gated Communities Guilty
Until gated community ownership organizations are held accountable for the actions of their residents and security agents we will see the use of "stand your ground" arguments as veils for deeper racial and socioeconomic profiling.
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Rational Fear
Many people believe that cities are dangerous due to exaggerated fears of urban crime. Cities are actually far safer and healthier than suburban and rural locations, and smart growth policies can further enhance their safety and health advantages.
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Progressives and Urbanists- A Difficult Relationship
Although conservatives don't always support urbanism, neither do progressives.
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Ink Blot or Bird Sh**? Museum Design Tests L.A.’s Urban Psyche
Buried beneath the enthusiasm that’s accompanied the unveiling of Peter Zumthor’s design for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is one important criteria by which the project should be evaluated: how does it contribute to the urban environment?
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Lessons from Canada's Summer of Sorrow
Alberta's floods and the tragic rail disaster in Quebec have lead to arguments for more stringent development controls in vulnerable areas and greater municipal control over railroads, as well as a more rapid transition away from oil.
FEATURE
The High Cost of Free Curb and Gutter
The U.S. is in need of new approaches to managing stormwater. Though the EPA has been slow to provide guidance, there's plenty that can be done now. Parking reform provides a handy model for solving seemingly intractable entitlement problems.
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Laurie Olin: The Man, The Myth, The Landscape Architect
Laurie Olin, the preeminent landscape architect, is being presented this week with the prestigious National Medal of Arts. The well deserved honor is a big deal not only for Olin and his firm, but for all landscape architects.
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The Side Effects of Property Taxes
American reliance on property taxes leads to NIMBYism and periodic tax revolts, thus impeding both development and basic public services.
FEATURE
BRT: Cities Get on Board with Better, Reliable Transportation
With Millennials leading America’s historic decline in driving, cities are exploring ways to attract young professionals through reliable mass transit. Benjamin de la Pena and Nicholas Turner argue that Bus Rapid Transit is the optimal solution.
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
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.
