Exclusives

BLOG POST

Bottom-up urbanism, now becoming increasingly popular in the academy under the rubrics of “do-it-yourself (DIY) urbanism”; “guerilla urbanism”; “tactical urbanism” etc., are the surest sparks of brilliance and hope for our urban future.

November 16 - Vinayak Bharne

FEATURE

We have completely redesigned and rebuilt the Planetizen website. Enjoy the new features, a fresh new look, and a streamlined mobile-friendly design that's optimized for your laptop, tablet, and smartphone.

November 15 - Abhijeet Chavan

FEATURE

The 1970 Concept Los Angeles plan is a history lesson for urban planners and a vision of what the city could have looked like.

November 12 - cate miller

BLOG POST

Greetings from Manila where I'm attending the Asian Development Bank's Transport Forum 2012. It is an exciting and important event: the types of transport planning investments that the bank supports now can have huge impacts on the nature of future.

November 7 - Todd Litman

FEATURE

Ed Blakely indicts the planning profession for failing to protect our communities from the threat of a changing climate. How can we plan places that serve as bulwarks from the worst physical traumas, while providing economic and social resiliency?

November 5 - Edward J. Blakely

BLOG POST

I can't remember the last time I left the house and gave a moment's though to whether I'd be warm enough, or whether I needed to bring an umbrella. Meanwhile, half the East Coast is underwater right now.

November 2 - Josh Stephens

FEATURE

Planning education and practice fail to recognize the importance of physical design and spatial planning. Randall Arendt diagnoses the root of the disorder and suggests some treatments for returning urban planning to good health.

October 31 - Randall Arendt

BLOG POST

Students investigating options often ask if it makes a difference where the planning school is located. The short answer is it matters less to students than many think.

October 29 - Ann Forsyth

BLOG POST

In St Bernard Parish, it took almost 7 months for the crickets and other insects to return after Katrina. In that period there was silence at night to go with the darkness.<br /> <br /> But the first plans for recovery were delivered inside a mere 80 days, during which time none of the people were talked with or listened to except for the wham bam ty m&#39;amisms that are the lifeblood of the charrette.  <br /> <br /> Is it any wonder there are two disasters to recover from a full seven years later?  The first a storm.  The second, an imposition.<br />

October 26 - Charles Buki

BLOG POST

<p> In the 1990s, most public argument about suburban expansion was pretty simple. Environmentalists argued that sprawl increased pollution, while their opponents responded by invoking the free market.   Environmentalists and other sprawl critics (including myself) responded that sprawl is the result less of the free market than of <a href="http://works.bepress.com/lewyn/28/">government subsidy and regulation</a>.  </p> <p> Recently I have started to notice hints of a not-so-libertarian argument for sprawl: that pro-sprawl government policies such as highway construction open up real estate for development, and thus make housing affordable.  </p>

October 25 - Michael Lewyn

BLOG POST

<p> A few weeks back, I watched with concern Toronto having a rhetoric-heavy debate about removing the relatively new bike-lane on Jarvis Street. Last minute efforts to save the bike-lane <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/cityhallpolitics/article/1265847--jarvis-bike-lanes-to-be-removed-after-last-ditch-council-effort-to-save-them-fails" target="_blank">were ultimately unsuccessful</a>, although as small consolation, Council chose not to use bike-lane infrastructure funds to remove it – a previous intention that had been seen as adding budgeting insult to active mobility injury.<br /> <br />

October 22 - Brent Toderian

BLOG POST

<p class="MsoNormal"> <a href="http://www.dot.gov/map21">Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21)</a>, the new U.S. federal transportation law, has the following main goals: </p> <ol style="margin-top: 0cm"> <li class="MsoNormal">Safety</li> <li class="MsoNormal">Infrastructure condition</li> <li class="MsoNormal">Congestion reduction</li> <li class="MsoNormal">System reliability</li> <li class="MsoNormal">Freight movement and economic vitality</li> <li class="MsoNormal">Environmental sustainability</li> <li class="MsoNormal">Reduced project delivery delays</li> </ol> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp; </p>

October 21 - Todd Litman

BLOG POST

If you are applying to graduate school in planning, how much do GREs matter? Like many things in planning the answer varies with the person and program. Below I provide some general advice.

October 20 - Ann Forsyth

BLOG POST

<p> These are heady times for public space advocates. At long last the promotion of streets, sidewalks, parks and playgrounds has become part of the eminent design and development dialogue, and with it hopefully the recognition of the needs and rights of the user. </p> <p> This certainly is the situation in California where the approval of parklets, and other smaller scaled, vest pocket, public projects are being hotly pursued, and in other cities where the noble if not naive Occupy movement raised the profile and purpose of public space. </p>

October 17 - Sam Hall Kaplan

BLOG POST

<p class="MsoNormal"> Years ago, when I was researching my thesis concerning city planning thought in the 1940s and 50s, I came across an article from an American planning journal, which stated that &quot;everyone is in favor of fast and efficient freeways&quot; – the epitome of prevailing orthodoxy in an era of Interstate Highway construction. Now, when I share this quote with students, it only elicits derisive laughter.

October 15 - Michael Dudley

BLOG POST

<p class="MsoNormal"> The conventional wisdom among Americans who spend lots of time thinking about public transit is that four more years of Obama will be good news, and the election of the Romney-Ryan ticket would be bad.  I have to admit that this belief is by no means completely irrational: after all, President Romney will be much less likely than President Obama to veto a transportation bill passed by a Republican Congress, and might propose a mere austere budget than President Obama.   Nevertheless, I think there are good reasons to believe otherwise.  </p>

October 11 - Michael Lewyn

BLOG POST

<p> Urban agriculture is a hot topic in sustainability, food, and planning circles. From roof and deck gardens to community gardens to urban farms, urban agriculture has captured the imaginations of activists of many stripes as well as gardeners and eaters. When I mention that my academic work focuses on food access in urban areas, the most common response I get is “oh, you mean like urban ag?” As this interest in urban agriculture grows, some are asking whether food sovereignty – the ability for a population to produce enough food to feed itself – is a feasible goal for American cities.  </p>

October 11 - Lisa Feldstein

BLOG POST

<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small"> </span> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small">Study after</span><a href="/node/34807" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small"> study</span></a><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman"> <span style="font-size: small">highlights writing as a major skill that planning employers are looking for in new hires. Two specific kinds of writing seem most challenging to beginning planners.<br />

October 8 - Ann Forsyth

FEATURE

October 1 - Ariel Godwin

BLOG POST

What will it take to keep families in cities?

September 24 - Brent Toderian