The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Creating a 'Smart' Grid Will Be a Challenge
Creating a "smart" grid to better handle the nation's electricity sounds like a great idea, but the job's going to be a tough -- and expensive.
Oregon Eyes a Tight Water Future
The municipal demand for water in Oregon is expected to increase by more than 61% by 2050, and many policymakers there are trying to figure out how to meet that growing demand.
Future Scotland: Debating the Built Environment
The Lighthouse Centre for Architecture and Design in Glasgow stirred up a series of debates to talk about the future of Scotland's built environment.
Philly Suburbs Get Smart Growth Funding
Last week, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission handed out funds to Philadelphia counties to improve transportation and land use planning in growing suburbs.
BLOG POST
Tips on Gainful Unemployment for New Planners
In the United States the stimulus package will eventually kick in to create jobs for planners—in housing, transportation, design and such. However, in upcoming months students graduating from planning schools face a situation they typically had not planned on—where unemployment is relatively high and employers are hesitant about taking on new people. As I have been pointing out to my students, this is not the first time in the history of the world that such a situation has occurred. The following tips draw on my own observations of successful strategies for weathering such downturns.
Common Ground Found For New Urbanists and the Disabled
Disability-rights activists have criticized New Urbanists for raising entrances above ground level, which hampers accessibility. The 'Lifelong Communities' charrette in Atlanta found the two groups mending ways.
Russia Plans Bridge to Nowhere
The Russian government is building a 2-mile bridge from Vladivostok to a tiny island in preparation for the 2012 Asia Pacific Economic Summit. Many in the country say the $1 billion plan is a waste of money and a bridge to nowhere.
Bay Area Adopts Regional Transportation Plan
On Earth Day, the Bay Area's MPO- the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, formally adopted their Regional Transportation Plan that includes a controversial 800-mile High Occupancy Toll lane network that is dependent on the passage of legislation.
Dreaming the Green Home of Tomorrow
The Wall Street Journal asked four architects (including William MacDonough and Steve Mouzon) to design an energy-efficient, sustainable house of the future. The results are in, and couldn't be more different.
Assessing Place Change in the UK
This series from the BBC looks at how the UK's cities have changed over the last few decades, and what the lasting impact is of the billions spent for community redevelopment.
Decentralizing, 'Resolarizing' Our Food Systems
Wartime urban gardening and the Obama's White House vegetable garden should be our inspiration in our efforts to wean our food systems off of industrial-scale agriculture, writes Michael Pollan, author of "In Defense of Food."
Brutalist High-Rises Finding New Life in Toronto
Toronto is moving forward with a plan to re-vision it's aging concrete high-rises as sustainable, mixed-use centers of urban development.
Americans Moving Less Amid Recession
Fewer Americans moved over the past year than any other year since 1962, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Contested Future of Coney Island
Redeveloping Coney Island could be the biggest rezoning effort in New York City history. The controversial plan has many in the city up in arms.
BLOG POST
Convergence of Mobility and Mobility (ConMaM)
<p> One of the many glorious perks of being an engineer is that we are so bad at thinking up clever names for programs and tools that there's been an unabashed, universal concession by the general public to accept our use of horribly convoluted acronyms. My favorite transportation acronym sub-genre is the collection of traffic signal configurations that for no clear reason (other than because engineers are, deep down, fun people) have flown off on a winged tangent. The original intersection signal control which included pedestrian push buttons was “PEdestrian LIght CONtrolled”, close enough to be named “Pelican”. A “Pedestrian User-Friendly INtelligent crossing” alternative to the Pelican is named “Puffin”. Since a combined pedestrian/bicycle signal means two (
FEATURE
From Motor City to Garden City
Detroit may be struggling economically, but community groups and citizen activists are keeping the city vibrant with a wide variety of urban farming projects throughout the shrinking city.
Ports and the Public-Private Partnership
Without their own dedicated federal funding, U.S. ports are often left to provide for themselves. More and more of them are turning to public-private partnerships.
BLOG POST
The Next City
"Rules established in another era need to be rethought, " said Xavier de Sousa Briggs, associate director of the White House Office of Management and Budget this weekend in Cambridge. Briggs' job touches almost everything, from the postal service to the Department of Homeland Security, and it was admittedly exciting to see someone with an urban planning background in such a powerful position. Briggs spoke at lightning speed, and I could almost see the multitude of invisible connections going into his brain and back out to the White House. Much of what he's working on, he explained, is taking "old stovepipes" -- government agencies that have worked in silos for decades -- and making them talk to each other. <br />
U.S. Infrastructure Needs More Than Stimulus Bump
The recession has been a boon for stimulus-funded infrastructure projects. But despite the work, it's not the full revamp the nation's infrastructure system needs, according to Jonathan D. Miller in this piece from <em>Citiwire</em>.
Under the Bridge: A New Park Surprises in Providence
The park under a new bridge in Providence succeeds in creating an interesting space in the city, and shows that concrete doesn't have to be dull.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Ada County Highway District
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
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.
