Landscape Architecture
Get Your Garden Room Right
Springtime is outdoor living time. Make the most of yours with Susan Henderson's handy guide to garden rooms.
Mixing Architecture and Landscape Make for Potent Cocktail at Seagram Building
Phyllis Lambert explores the evolution of the Seagram Building, focusing on Mies van der Rohe's profound concern for the relationship between building and nature.

Inspiring Ideas for Solving L.A.'s Biggest Challenges
With 279 submissions received, the pubic voting period has begun for determining who will receive the $1,000,000 in grants being awarded to improve the quality of life in Los Angeles along eight key indicators.
ASLA Launches National Landscape Architecture Month
The American Society of Landscape Architects and its local chapters are organizing a series of events during April to celebrate National Landscape Architecture Month. The theme of this year's events is "Healthy Living Through Design."
Vision for Chicago Riverwalk Set to Get Big Check from Feds
An ambitious vision for transforming a six-block segment of the Chicago River into six themed recreation areas looks almost certain to become a reality now that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has promised the project a $100 million federal loan.
Exposing the Fallacy of Sky Forests
Have you noticed the architectural trend in spicing up bland glass skyscrapers with forests of foliage? Tim de Chant strips away this veneer of extreme greenwashing by explaining why trees won't grow on a ledge 500 feet high.
Parks: An Antidote to 'Brain Fatigue'
Scientists have long theorized that natural settings can help us manage the stress induced by urban living. New research made possible by advances in EEG technology has confirmed the restorative effects of parks.

Plans for Queens' 'High Line' Has Competition: Bringing Back the Train
Queen's version of Manhattan's High Line is known as the QueensWay, an abandoned LIRR branch that went from Rego Park to Rockaway. Two congressmen have now endorsed a plan to bring the train back - though planning for the new park has already begun.

The Prevalence of Play Deserts
A new study analyzing the amenities in 165 parks in the four-county Kansas City metro region found that low-income neighborhoods suffer from a lack of play spaces, despite having more parks per capita, reports Emily Badger.
Gehry's Controversial Eisenhower Memorial Comes Under Congressional Attack
On Tuesday, several members of Congress overseeing the approval of Frank Gehry's design and the budgetary requirements for the Eisenhower Memorial expressed their disapproval at a subcommittee hearing.
New Pavilion Reflects Marseille's Revitalization
A sleek new pavilion made of reflective stainless steel, designed by Foster + Partners, is helping to reshape the image of France's rough-and-tumble port city as a destination.

Top Trends 2012-2013
Over the course of the year, the editors of Planetizen review and summarize thousands of articles, books, studies and editorials related to planning and urban development. Here are our picks for the most notable planning trends of the past year.
Future Looking Brighter for Landscapes of the Recent Past
While modernist buildings have fared somewhat better in the minds of preservationists, recent trends seem to indicate a more promising future for protecting the significant modernist landscapes of the recent past, says Charles Birnbaum.
Building a Better Playground
Cecilie Rohwedder profiles playground designer Peter Heuken, who's at the vanguard of a trend towards bespoke play spaces that challenge children as much as they entertain them.
Glamorizing the 'Humble' Park Bench
The semi-finalists competing to design an iconic ‘street seat’ for Boston's growing Innovation District have given "the city a glimpse of what the often-overlooked park bench could be when reconsidered through sustainable, beautiful design."
Santa Monica Unearths Its Civic Heart
Terry Pristin examines two pivotal projects currently under construction in Santa Monica that are poised to reconnect the city's historic civic center to the vibrant, walkable beachfront community.
With Mayoral Election Comes Hope for Fixing L.A.'s Broken Public Spaces
LAX, the LA River, Pershing Square; the list of Los Angeles' under-performing public spaces could sadly continue for a while. As the city votes for its next mayor, Christopher Hawthorne offers some "some straightforward ideas" about how to fix them.
Can L.A. Recapture the "Green Heart" of Downtown?
An editorial in the Los Angeles Downtown News commends burgeoning efforts to rethink the city's historic Pershing Square, and offers some ideas for principles to help guide the process.
What Will it Take to Transform Chicago's Riverfront?
With dozens of riverfront revitalization projects completed across the world in the past couple of decades, lessons abound for how Chicago can best integrate its waterfront and downtown. Whet Moser considers three examples.
Innovative App Calculates the Benefits of Planting Trees
With more than 10,000 downloads in the U.S., i-Tree calculates the environmental and economic benefits of planting trees.
Pagination
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.
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