The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

In Baku, Azerbaijan, the opportunity to host the annual Eurovision song competition in May has served as a catalyst for showing off the city as an untapped luxury tourism hot spot.

January 28 - The Atlantic Cities

Alex Goldmark reports on a new for-profit investing tool to incentivize innovation to solve chronic social challenges, which is gaining popularity in the U.S. and has already been tested in the United Kingdom and Australia.

January 28 - Good

For the second time this week, the "Room For Debate" section of <em>The New York Times</em> is tackling an area of interest for planners. This time, High Speed Rail in California is up for debate by a series of contributors.

January 28 - The New York Times

The extra $24 a year, tacked onto existing utility bills, would go toward covering a $3 million transportation budget gap and highway and bridge repair. This is the transportation officials' second try in convincing the City Council.

January 28 - Boulder Daily Camera

A new theme park dedicated to all things Napoleon has been proposed for the area south of Paris by former French minister and history buff Yves Jégo, and is being touted as a rival to Disneyland, reports Henry Samuel.

January 27 - The Telegraph

Ben Goldman reports on a new illustrative guide, <em>Sustainable Street Network Principles</em>, published by the Congress for New Urbanism, that seeks to educate planners and officials on how to create successful streets and neighborhoods.

January 27 - Streetsblog D.C.

Claire Easley talks with the "godfather of green," Jerry Yudelson, about the "megatrends" to watch for in the Green Building industry over the next year.

January 27 - Builder Magazine

In an effort to seek an 11th hour reprieve from the scheduled elimination of the state's redevelopment agencies, two consortiums of cities have filed lawsuits in Sacramento Superior Court, reports Josh Stephens.

January 27 - California Planning & Development Report

Jon Bruner profiles Los Angeles Department of Transportation Engineer Edward Yu, and the ATSAC system run by Yu and his team, which controls the timing of traffic lights at each of the city's 4,114 intersections.

January 27 - Forbes

Ariel Schwartz writes about Popuphood, a project aiming to dramatically revitalize the Old Oakland neighborhood by offering six months of free rent to five retail establishments on one block.

January 27 - Fast Company Co.Exist

<em>The Atlantic Cities</em> has posted a photo essay of the world's newest subway system, which opened on December 1, 2011 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

January 27 - The Atlantic Cities

Shan Li reports on the increasing prevalence of electric vehicle charging stations at retail centers across the country, even though demand for such services is small.

January 27 - Los Angeles Times

In the "Room for Debate" section of its Opinion Pages, <em>The New York Times</em> has gathered a series of ideas for fixing the struggling housing market from experts across the ideological spectrum.

January 27 - The New York Times

In new rules published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, the Department of Transportation is amending Bush era policies on awarding grants for Light Rail, Subway, and Bus Rapid Transit projects.

January 27 - Bloomberg

Sarah Laskow reports on a new study from the National Trust for Historic Preservation that confirms and quantifies the adage that reuse of a historic building is more sustainable than LEED certified new construction.

January 26 - Good

The prior code, adopted in 1962 and amended with with nearly 1,000 ad-hoc revisions since then, required a strict separation of uses and outlawed the classic Philadelphia rowhouse typology.

January 26 - APA Sustaining Places

Michael Kimmelman, after visiting the Penn South housing cooperative in Manhattan and reflecting on the new film "The Pruitt-Igoe Myth", questions the role that design has in determining success or failure for tower in the park housing type.

January 26 - The New York Times

John McIlwain explores the market for energy efficient housing, and finds growth across the country.

January 26 - The Atlantic Cities

Frugality, a lack of debt, and a government focused on high production, low inflation and extensive social services are the secrets to providing many Germans with a standard of living higher than Americans making twice as much.

January 26 - Los Angeles Times

The discovery of the harbor town of Bathonea in 2007, after a drought uncovered its water-logged remains, has yielded a treasure trove of relics illuminating Istanbul's rise as a world power.

January 26 - The New York Times