Land Use

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.

How Single-Family Conversions Benefit Both Homeowners and Cities
Converting single-family homes to triplexes can ease the housing crisis and offer affordable, flexible options for more households. Why is it largely illegal?

Supporting Indigenous Land Reclamation Through Design
Harvard students collaborated with the Sac and Fox Nation to develop strategies for reclaiming and co-managing ancestral lands in Illinois, supporting Indigenous sovereignty through design, cultural storytelling, and economic planning.

February Must-Reads: Top 10 Articles From Last Month
Federal policy changes send shock waves through agencies at all levels of government as we continue to monitor the effects of the new administration’s slash-and-burn approach to government.

Poll Shows Residents of Western States Prefer Conservation Over Oil and Gas
The majority of the poll’s respondents identified as politically conservative or independent, with 40 percent supporting MAGA platform.

Trump Administration Unfreezes Pennsylvania Climate Funding Amidst Lawsuits
Funding for air and water quality programs still at risk.

Purple Martins Call Nashville Home. Some Wish They Wouldn't
Each year, the city plays host to hundreds of thousands of birds on their way to and from South America.

Poll Shows Residents of Western States Prefer Conservation Over Oil and Gas
The majority of the poll’s respondents identified as politically conservative or independent, with 40 percent supporting the MAGA platform.

Opinion: Housing Versus Trees Is a False Choice; Swap Pavement for Trees Instead
Seattle’s goal to cover 30 percent of the city with tree canopy by 2037 doesn’t need to be sacrificed in favor of density. There’s a better way.

Beltline Surpasses Annual Affordable Housing Goal
The Atlanta Beltline agency is actively working to prevent the displacement of longtime residents along the trail system, where property values are rising rapidly.

DC Residents Want Affordability Over ‘Character’
A poll finds that most residents want to see changes in zoning and land use laws that unlock more housing construction in the District and improve affordability.

Public Lands Can Help Us Tackle the Housing Crisis in the West
The U.S. owns more than 650 million acres of public lands, and it has the power to sell or lease limited parcels for affordable housing. But mass disposal of public lands, as some legislators have proposed, is not the answer.

Phoenix Facilitates School-to-Affordable Housing Development
Two Phoenix school districts are selling their underused properties to build over 200 units of affordable housing.
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.
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Harvard GSD Executive Education
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NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
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