Infrastructure

End of the rainbow

Three Technological Innovations that Could End Asphalt as We Know it

As more municipalities are shutting off lights for energy savings, technological innovations are leading the way in new lighting and paving systems to make up for these economic and environmental constraints.

October 4, 2014 - Woodhouse

Will New Jersey Raise Its Gas Tax?

New Jersey's gas tax has been stuck at 14.50 cents per gallon since 1988; only Alaska's is lower. An Assembly committee began hearings on increasing the tax to fix crumbling roads and improve transit. It's high-end benchmark: a 31-cent increase.

October 3, 2014 - NJ.com

LADOT Releases 'Great Streets for Los Angeles' Strategic Plan, Sets Vision Zero Goal

Following a year when 80 pedestrians were killed by cars in the city, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation has proposed a new strategic plan that sets Vision Zero goals for pedestrian fatalities and reflects new priorities for the city.

October 2, 2014 - Los Angeles Daily News

Trees

'Trees in Hard Landscapes': Guide for High-Performance Urban Infrastructure

A new cross-disciplinary report cites 32 case studies to offer practical solutions for integrating trees into civic spaces and surface car parks.

October 2, 2014 - Trees in Hard Landscapes: A Guide for Delivery

Streetscape Improvements in The Castro Include New, Improved Rainbow Design

Not to be outdone by West Hollywood, San Francisco's premier gay neighborhood has painted crosswalks on Castro Street in rainbow colors. However, it's only one part of a much bigger streetscape improvement project that involved huge community input.

October 2, 2014 - CBS

The Look and Feel of 'Inherently Urban'

Greek orators, current solution-based efforts, and 25 photographs remind us of the central role of human opportunity in the urban environment.

October 1, 2014 - The Huffington Post

Calatrava PATH New York

Why Design Matters in Transportation Infrastructure Design

New Jersey School of Architecture Director Darius Sollohub writes that transportation planners and engineers should consider what their infrastructure designs will say to today's users and future generations in an essay in InTransition magazine.

September 30, 2014 - InTransition Magazine

State Funding Sends Divvy Bikeshare to the Suburbs

Divvy—Chicago's popular bikeshare system—is expanding to farther flung areas of the metropolitan area, thanks to state funding approved by the governor.

September 30, 2014 - Chicago Tribune

Mixed Reviews on New Passenger Rail Reauthorization Act

Six years ago Congress passed the first Passenger Rail Reauthorization Act, known as PRIIA. Reauthorization was introduced on September 11, in a bill (known as PRRIA) praised by some but also criticized for decreasing Amtrak funding by 40 percent.

September 28, 2014 - RT&S (Railway Track & Structures)

RiverBend Project Begins New Chapter for Buffalo, NY

Solar panel company SolarCity unveiled plans for one of the largest solar panel factories to open in Buffalo, New York, forecasting almost 3,000 jobs for the factory alone.

September 27, 2014 - The Buffalo News

Underground

Underground: The Next Frontier of Urbanization

With rapidly urbanizing metro areas, some cities are not looking to build up, or spread out, anymore. Rather they have begun to grow into underground spaces.

September 27, 2014 - Bloomberg News

Florida Pilots Bike Lanes on Highway Bridges

In an effort to create safer walking and biking environments, Miami-Dade counties have built bike lanes along two highways connecting the Miami with its eastern island beaches, reducing travel distances by 75 percent for cyclists.

September 27, 2014 - Streetsblog USA

State Transportation Funding Falling Faster than Federal Transportation Funding

A new analysis form the Pew Charitable Trusts showed a 20 percent reduction in state spending on transportation between 2002 and 2011, compared to a 4 percent drop from the federal government over the same period.

September 26, 2014 - Governing

New Mobile Phone Charging Stations Powered By Kinetic Energy

Combining both solar power and kinetic energy, the first public phone charging station of its kind was recently installed at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri.

September 26, 2014 - Fast Co.Exist

Making NYC's Sanitation and Waste Disposal Sexy

A new six-part video series from The New York Times called "Living City" is aiming to make the infrastructure handling New York City's basic needs sexy.

September 26, 2014 - The New York Times

The Race to Map Brazil's Favelas

In an effort to tap into new users, companies like Google and Microsoft are racing to map the winding, informal streets of Brazil's slums in Rio de Janeiro.

September 25, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal

Report Reveals Imbalanced Investments for Atlanta's BeltLine

While the neighborhoods on northern segments of the Atlanta's BeltLine has received 94 percent of funding invested towards parks and trails, segments to the south have received 86 percent of affordable housing investments.

September 25, 2014 - SaportaReport

What's Your 'Elevator Pitch' for Greener, Healthier Cities?

Kaid Benfield shares his placemaking pitch.

September 24, 2014 - NRDC Switchboard

Seattle Adjusts Signals for Downtown Protected Bike Lane

Brandon G. Donnelly reports that after implementing a Downtown protected bike lane along 2nd Avenue, Seattle has had to make some adjustments to the signaling for the lane.

September 22, 2014 - Architect This City

Toll Road Truck

Another (Surprising) Toll Road Bankruptcy

It wasn't supposed to go this way. When Indiana leased the state's namesake, but failing, 157-mile toll road for $3.8 billion to an Australian-Spanish consortium in 2006 for 75 years, analysts predicted a handsome return for investors.

September 22, 2014 - Chicago Tribune

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.