Landscape Architecture

Cities Facing Turf Questions

Water saver or environmental hazard? Questions are compounding about artificial turf as more homeowners ditch their grass for fake lawns. Contradicting city policies muddy the issue in the arid Southwest.

September 4, 2009 - Miller-McCune

An Antigravity Forest

The new facade of the Atheneum Hotel in London sports 12,000 hanging plants, creating a lush curtain of greenery. Wired Magazine has pictures of the facade and other similar sites.

September 2, 2009 - Wired

Berlin Airport to Be Reborn as Public Park

A historic airfield in Berlin will be transformed over the next year into the city's largest park.

September 2, 2009 - The Local

High Line Assessment District Dropped

Plans to create an assessment district near New York City's new High Line linear park have been dropped.

September 1, 2009 - The Architect's Newspaper

Parks Are Cash Cows

A new report claims that Central Park in New York added $1 billion to the economy in 2007, and the new High Line park added $4 billion in new real estate developments.

August 28, 2009 - ASLA's The Dirt blog

New Lincoln Center Fountain Has Preservationists Irked

The iconic Philip Johnson-designed fountain in front of New York's Lincoln Center is getting a makeover. The new fountain has some preservationists peeved.

August 27, 2009 - The New York Times

A Biological Approach to City Building

Architecture and biomimicry are joining forces. A new city being planned in a flood-prone region of India is using the concept of mimicking nature to build a city that better responds to its environmental conditions.

August 27, 2009 - Harvard Magazine

Landscape Architecture: Dealing With a 'Larger Scale'

In this Q&A, The Wall Street Journal talks with landscape architect Adriaan Geuze, whose work has had a big impact on the field, especially in its combination of landscape design, architecture and planning.

August 23, 2009 - The Wall Street Journal

Korea Prevents Crime Through Environmental Design

CPTED -- crime prevention through environmental design -- is catching on in Korea as a way to improve security.

August 21, 2009 - Joong Ang Daily

New Poll Finds Increased Usage of Urban Parks

A new report issued by The Trust for Public Land details the park and recreation system acres and facilities of the nation's largest 77 cities. The report shows that Americans are flocking to their city parks more in a down economy.

August 19, 2009 - City Parks Blog

Turf Troubles

When mandatory water conservation rules took effect in Glendale, California, homeowner David Wood installed artificial turf to maintain the green front yard emblematic of the American Dream. But his new fake lawn is against the law.

August 9, 2009 - Glendale News Press

Learning Water Conservation on the Golf Course

As water resources dwindle, golf course managers are becoming go-to experts on conservation.

August 7, 2009 - The New York Times

Park Built On Top of Contaminated Site

New public space has opened in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in an unlikely place. The new park sits a few feet above the contaminated grounds of a deactivated municipal incinerator.

August 4, 2009 - Metropolis

The Effects of the Background Noise of City Life

Urban sounds can have an effect on people -- both physically and mentally. This sonic tour through New York City examines how sounds affect urbanites.

August 3, 2009 - Discover

Top Cities for Active People

Outside Magazine ranks the top 10 U.S. cities for people who like to exercise and be outdoors.

August 1, 2009 - Outside

Largest Park in Newark Opens, 30 Years Late

Nat Turner Park is Newark's newest, and largest, city-owned park. The city bought the lot in the 1970s but didn't get around to developing it until now.

July 31, 2009 - Newark Star-Ledger

Stream Surfacing in the Bronx

Community activists in the South Bronx are working to "daylight" a long-buried stream and re-integrate some natural water treatment processes into the dense urban atmosphere.

July 21, 2009 - The New York Moon

Prague's Temporary Beach Offers A View of the City

Prague's temporary riverfront beach gives locals a summer destination and a view on the city's iconic architecture.

July 21, 2009 - The New York Times

Art and Public Space Highlighted By New St. Louis Park

This post from The Architect's Newspaper looks at the park that just opened in St. Louis, and finds it effective at emphasizing the public art and public space that exist in the city -- even beyond the park's edges.

July 20, 2009 - The Architect's Newspaper

Wayfinding in the City

A review of The Wayfinding Handbook: Information Design for Public Places by David Gibson finds it rich with great ideas for designing new systems, but lacking in ideas for fixing old ones.

July 17, 2009 - re:place Magazine

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.