Infrastructure
How Can We Provoke "Peak Waste"?
Because city residents generate four times as much trash as rural residents, the rapid growth of the world's cities is leading to the rapid growth of the world's garbage. A new study examines future trash troubles and potential solutions.
Itemizing the Cost of a Great Street
Great streets don't come cheap. From bike lanes to planters to special signage, it takes more than curbs and concrete to make a nice street. The Grid itemizes what it costs to outfit a specific intersection in Toronto's St. Clair West neighborhood.
How Would You Transform London's Forgotten Spaces?
In one of the world's most desirable cities, even the most unattractive and leftover spaces carry the potential for regeneration. An exhibit staged in Somerset House's own forgotten space shares innovative ideas to transform London's lesser places.
Top 20 Weird & Wonderful Urban Bridges
Though meant to unite, bridges can be divisive structures. What should a bridge really be? Does clever design matter, or is it all about function? Here are 20 bridges from around the world that stand out as interesting, if not always functional.
The Irony of Ring Roads
One way to address traffic congestion is to provide a bypass for vehicles around city traffic machinations. Ring roads, by definition, are meant to perform that function. In reality, they ignore the supply and demand model of traffic management.
L.A.'s Next Superhighway
Could Los Angeles get a private company to spend $3 billion to $5 billion to connect every residence and business in the city to a fiber broadband network? City leaders seem to think so, and are planning to move forward with an RFP.
Ambitious Network to Cover 40% of Hamburg in Green
Imagine being able to traverse a major city surrounded entirely by bikes, pedestrians, and green spaces. That vision is poised to become reality in Hamburg within the next two decades as the city pursues plans for a vast Grünes Netz (Green Network).
NYC: 7 Things at Risk, Post-Bloomberg
As Mayor Bloomberg gets set to leave office in New York, here are 7 things that may dramatically change under a new administration.
Tappan Zee Scores Largest Ever TIFIA Loan, But How Will It Be Repaid?
New York State received good news on Oct. 31: A $1.6 billion loan has been approved toward the $4 billion replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge. The remainder will be borrowed from the private sector. A commission will offer ways to repay the loans.
Did Republicans Orchestrate a National High-Speed Derailment?
Was the demise of plans for high-speed rail in several states run by Republican governors the result of fiscal prudence or a case of political collusion? A new report in the Tampa Tribune suggests the latter.
Tolls are not Taxes, Rules Virginia's Supreme Court
They are fees, ruled the court on Oct. 31, overturning a May 1, Portsmouth circuit judge ruling in a major victory for both tolling and public-private partnerships. It allows tolls to fund the Elizabeth River Crossings, VDOT's P3 tunnels project.
This California Jail is Off the Grid
The Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, California isn’t your average prison complex. Its independent power system, or microgrid, sets it apart from its peers—and saves an estimated $100,000 a year.
Climate Change Threatens Global Food Supply
The leaked draft of a new report by the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns of the disturbing affect a warming planet will have on food production. The panel's last report had been more sanguine about the impacts.
Cities and Businesses Aim to Wipe Out Demolition Waste
Cities and businesses are looking to reduce waste from demolition sites and increase the amount of recycled material used in new developments.
Public-Private Partnerships: Trick or Treat?
As localities increasingly pursue public-private partnerships to fund much-needed infrastructure projects, Ryan Holeywell explores the promise and pitfalls of this popular financing arrangement. Are dissenting voices being stifled?
A Monstrous Price Tag for the World's Most Expensive Hallway
One of the first portions of the World Trade Center PATH station has opened beneath West Street in Manhattan. The 100-foot-long pedestrian passageway provides a taste of Santiago Calatrava's design and what a seemingly unlimited budget can buy you.
Congress Contemplates Cooperating on Infrastructure Spending
Might a recent agreement to fund water projects pave the way for more transportation spending? That's what positive signals out of Washington seem to indicate. Just one small obstacle stands in the way: how to finance road and bridge projects.
Shrinking Cities Seek to Shrink Streets
In Rust Belt cities like Flint, Michigan, a loss of population translates to less cars on oversized streets. Angie Schmitt examines how Flint, and other cities like it, are trying to right-size their transportation infrastructure.
New Rail Tunnel is First to Join Two Continents
On the 90th anniversary of the founding of modern Turkey, officials realized a vision dreamt by an Ottoman sultan by inaugurating a rail tunnel beneath the Bosporus to connect Asia and Europe. Critics have questioned the tunnel's safety.
“There It Is — Take It”: The Story of the Los Angeles Aqueduct
The controversial construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct provided grist for famous books and movies, and conflicts that continue to this day. In a multimedia feature, Louis Sahagun explores the history of the project that helped birth modern L.A.
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.
Ada County Highway District
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
