Land Use

Jail the Planners for Not Preventing Sandy!
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?

Climate Gardening: Cultivating Resilient Landscapes in Los Angeles
TreePeople’s 4th Annual Urban Soil Symposium explored how climate gardening, soil health, and collaborative land management strategies can enhance urban resilience in the face of climate change.

Research Shows More Roads = More Driving
A national study shows, once again, that increasing road supply induces additional vehicle travel, particularly over the long run.

Community-Led Efforts to Combat Gentrification in Philadelphia’s University City
How residents came together to fight for housing equity.

Denver Could Eliminate Parking Requirements
The city could remove parking mandates citywide to reduce the cost of housing construction and ease permitting for new projects.

The Panacea of Outdoor Human Movement
Humans relish in over-complicating things, but the sweetest and healthiest things in life are the simplest.

Nightlife and the 15-Minute City
Plans for compact, walkable cities often don’t address nighttime concerns like transportation and lighting, which can make neighborhoods more vibrant and safe around the clock.

From Crisis to Opportunity in Ukraine
Rebuilding in ways that are more environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable in the face of ongoing conflict.

California Bill Aims to Boost TOD
A bill proposed by Sen. Scott Wiener would exempt transit agencies from zoning rules near ‘high-quality’ transit stops and allow denser transit-oriented development.

Florida Considers Legalizing ADUs
Current state law allows — but doesn’t require — cities to permit accessory dwelling units in single-family residential neighborhoods.

HUD Announces Plan to Build Housing on Public Lands
The agency will identify federally owned parcels appropriate for housing development and streamline the regulatory process to lease or transfer land to housing authorities and nonprofit developers.

Report: The State of Public Spaces
A 50-year-old institution takes stock of placemaking in the public realm today.

Honolulu's Iwilei Center Plans for Redevelopment Into Mixed-Use Space
Striving to expand affordable housing options for Oahu residents, Honolulu's Department of Land Management requests to redevelop the Iwilei Center into a mixed-use space.

NYC Zoning Reform: Where Will It Have an Impact?
The zoning reform package dubbed ‘City of Yes’ will likely yield uneven results, with many of the lowest-density neighborhoods exempted from new regulations.

San Diego to Rescind Multi-Unit ADU Rule
The city wants to close a loophole that allowed developers to build apartment buildings on single-family lots as ADUs.

Density and Disorder: The Imaginary Link
A recent article tries to tie public transit and walkability to social disorder — but in fact, sprawling Sunbelt cities like Memphis are as likely to have high crime rates as transit-rich metropolises such as New York and San Francisco.

Planning Trends for 2025: Creative Housing Solutions, Ongoing Transit Woes, and the Ever-Creeping Tentacles of AI
Urban planners have no shortage of urgent issues to delve into, from a deepening housing crisis to an increasingly unpredictable climate to a new federal administration bent on slashing key funding for everything from electric cars to housing assistance.

Bourbon Street Could Be a Model for Pedestrian Spaces
The conversation around pedestrianizing public streets isn’t new — think Times Square. Could one of America’s oldest streets lead the way in a revival of the pedestrian mall?

Don't Cement Our Future: Rethinking LA’s Landscape After Fire (and Floods)
A call for regenerative approaches to rebuilding that work with nature rather than against it.
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.
Florida Atlantic University
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
City of Piedmont, CA
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
City of Cambridge, Maryland