The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Granny Units - In Apartments?
The City Council of Vancouver recently gave developers the ability to create smaller units attached to condos for buyers to use as rental property.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu Entertains Daily Show's Jon Stewart
While the Comedy Show's Jon Stewart can't get too excited about “Cap & Trade,” Secretary of Energy Steven Chu does his best to explain the importance of the Waxman-Markey climate legislation to him.
Higher Gas Prices Equals Lower Mortality?
Author Chris Steiner looks at the public health and public safety ramifications of higher gas prices.
The Shared Developmental Trajectory of Megachurches and Corporate America
This piece from <em>Triple Canopy</em> tracks the development of megachurches in America and the similar trajectory of corporate headquarters from dense city areas to vast exurban campuses.
Solving Scarce Parking With 'Benefit Districts'
Transportation planners in San Francisco are proposing "parking benefit districts" where residents control pricing and boundaries to make parking easier in the congested city.
Geoengineering the Problem of Climate Change
This piece from <em>The Atlantic</em> looks at the emerging concept of "geoengineering" -- a set ideas that seek solutions to climate change by manipulating the environment.
Early Benefits for Vancouver in Olympic Development
Vancouver's development for the 2010 Winter Olympics will be a long-term benefit for the city, according to Olympics advisers. Some say the positive impact is already being seen.
HUD Community Development Fund Down 34% In Proposed Fed. Budget
While HUD's budget has decreased by 4%, the Federal Railroad Administration is up 35%. This is just one of the revelations to be found in this interactive graphic of the Obama Administration's proposed federal budget for 2010.
FEATURE
Rethinking the Street Space: Why Street Design Matters
Streets aren't just for driving, and cities are starting to realize it. Amber Hawkes and Georgia Sheridan explain why street design matters and where we are today in terms of designing the "street space."
Connecting the Museum With the Community
Museums are transitioning from niche cultural sites to community hubs, and expanding their engagement with their cities.
Redesigning the Fire Hydrant
The gush of an uncapped fire hydrant in the summer is a welcome relief for urban dwellers, but the water loss is staggering. Landscape architect Adrienne Cortez decided to find a solution to keeping people cool and similarly activating public space.
From Trash to Splash
<em>Dumpster diving</em> takes on new meaning as a New York-based design firm reinvents vacant lots as mini-resorts by converting old trash bins into swimming pools.
LEED-ND: Yay or Nay?
After five years of preparation and testing, members of the US Green Building Council (USGBC) and the Congress for the New Urbanism will begin balloting in late July on whether to authorize a full-fledged LEED-Neighborhood Development program.
Stimulus Projects Bring Delays to Nation's Roads
Thousands of stimulus-funded transportation projects are underway this summer, creating thousands of delays on the nation's roads.
Central Park: Perfect Location for an Airport?
The Manhattan Airport Foundation is lobbying to turn Central Park (yes, that Central Park) into an airport. The web is a twitter, and the MAF's elaborate designs are very funny. Aren't they? They're not really serious?
Charging Cyclists to Build Bike Infrastructure
Officials in Washington's Clark County are considering a plan to enact an annual fee for bicyclists to fund bike-related infrastructure.
Open City Data, But How Much?
Opening city data to the public was a relatively new idea when the District of Columbia began publishing its data streams online recently. As applications using the data developed, some in the District got a little weary of the idea.
Hanoi 2030
A consortium of consultants has released an ambitious urban development plan for Hanoi City in Vietnam, including an extensive green corridor.
Banning Billboards
The city of El Paso, Texas, considers whether to become the latest of several cities to impose new restrictions on billboards that amounts to a ban on future construction.
BLOG POST
What Happens When an Irresistible Force Meets an Immovable Object
<p> The unstoppable force paradox is an exercise in logic that seems to come up in the law all too often. There is a Chinese variant. The Chinese word for “paradox” is literally translated as “spear-shield” coming from a story in a Third Century B.C. philosophy book, Han Fiez, about a man selling a sword he claimed could pierce any shield. He also was trying to sell a shield, which he said could resist any sword. He was asked the obvious question and could give no answer. </p> <p> The Washington Supreme Court broke the paradox between a 12-month moratorium during which the City of Woodinville considered sustainable development regulations for its R-1 residential area, and the efforts by the Northshore United Church of Christ (Northshore Church) to host a movable encampment for homeless people on its R-1 property. <a href="http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/805881.opn.pdf">City of Woodinville v. Northshore United Church of Christ (July 16, 2009)</a>. </p>
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Harvard GSD Executive Education
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Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
