The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Philadelphia is opening its first "parklet" -- a small public park space built on street parking spaces.

August 4 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

This post from <em>The Infrastructurist</em> looks at recent arguments for and against high speed rail projects in the U.S. through the lens of spending.

August 4 - Infrastructurist

A new analysis of real estate search data shows where people from other countries tend to move when immigrating to America.

August 4 - Fast Company Design

Frank Gruber asks, "why, not how." Many of the explanations for decline are clear; why it was allowed to happen, less so. Gruber highlights "suspects" of what might have led to cities' destruction.

August 3 - The Huffington Post

The post-carbon city will require dramatically different planning. Why not plan them with children in mind, writes Jason McLennan?

August 3 - Yes! Magazine

A post at ASLA's <em>The Dirt</em> predicts that the next "crisis" to be debated in Congress will be that of the need for a comprehensive transportation bill to repair this country's "vulnerable infrastructure."

August 3 - THE DIRT

The BMW Guggenheim Lab is a traveling exhibition that will visit nine cities in the next six years, providing a public space to explore the challenges of today's cities.

August 3 - The Architect's Newspaper

PhillyTreeMap makes counting trees interactive with it’s users being able to add trees to its web-based digital map of Philadelphia, reports Gregory Thomas for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

August 3 - Philadelphia Inquirer

Want to speed up your transit? Follow San Francisco's lead and let your passengers enter any door they please, says Yonah Freemark. A pilot program on the J-Church line is testing out the idea.

August 3 - the transport politic

Jenny Sullivan of Builder Magazine spots a trend for slightly increased densities in suburban towns, creating urban-lite communities that are attracting city dwellers who would never have dreamed of living in the burbs.

August 3 - Builder Magazine

Researchers in China have reportedly created an insulation material that can "retain and release heat according to specific temperature requirements."

August 3 - Buildings

After 10 years in operation, the Neighborhood Council system in L.A. represents a great deal of unfulfilled potential, say City Councilmember Paul Krekorian. With that, and the city's dire financial straits in mind, Krekorian is proposing reforms.

August 3 - The Planning Report

The Yerba Buena District Street Life Plan starts off its 10-year life to improve public space by placing six mobile gardens in parts of the district that have more concrete and asphalt than vegetation, reports John King for San Francisco Chronicle.

August 3 - San Francisco Chronicle

Despite wildlife declines caused by factors such as Britain's urban sprawl, researchers suspect that cities are better habitats for pollinating insects because they have a greater number and diversity of flowers, reports Rebecca Morelle for BBC.

August 2 - BBC

A new study shows how even as minorities move up the social ladder, they tend to live in poorer neighborhoods, reports Joanna Lin for California Watch.

August 2 - California Watch

Toronto's Mayor Rob Ford keeps insisting that the city has plenty of "gravy" -- in the form of municipal services -- that can be cut from the budget; however, according to Jack Diamond "there is no gravy train."

August 2 - Globe and Mail

Arturas Zuokas, mayor of the Lithuanian capital, has taken enforcement of cars parked illegally in cycle lanes into his own hands. In a YouTube video, Zuokas is shown riding on top of a tank as it crushes a car parked illegally in a cycle lane.

August 2 - Guardian

Former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneors, now the executive chairman of CityView, makes the case for urban markets as the driving force of the real estate market (including investment from foreign investors) in the near future.

August 2 - The Planning Report

Last week, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing released the much anticipated Detroit Works Project for "shrinking" the city. Reporter Nancy Kaffer says it isn't quite what everyone was expecting.

August 2 - Crain's Detroit Business

Attorney Evan McKenzie explores the world of homeowners' associations and common interest developments, which he says are creating an unfortunate layer of private government over unsuspecting homeowners.

August 2 - New Urban Network