This year's Chelsea Flower Show in London offers some innovative examples of how gardens can flourish in cities.
"Although you might think of English gardens as flowery borders and clipped hedges, the May show proved England's position as the center of progressive gardening. The event featured close to 50 display gardens, some nearly a quarter-acre large, and most created by Europe's leading landscape designers. Sustainability was the unspoken theme, broadly interpreted and elegantly executed."
"The ultimate in sustainable design and winner of best-in-show was "600 Days With Bradstone," a stunning combination of the ancient and the futuristic, designed by Sarah Eberle and sponsored by the hardscape company Bradstone. Eberle spent eight years researching what she calls a "terrestrial space garden" that would support an astronaut for an extended stay on Mars. That may sound far-fetched, but many of the concepts apply to any homeowner looking to create an interesting, environmentally conscious space despite challenging natural conditions."
FULL STORY: Pretty yet practical

What ‘The Brutalist’ Teaches Us About Modern Cities
How architecture and urban landscapes reflect the trauma and dysfunction of the post-war experience.

‘Complete Streets’ Webpage Deleted in Federal Purge
Basic resources and information on building bike lanes and sidewalks, formerly housed on the government’s Complete Streets website, are now gone.

The VW Bus is Back — Now as an Electric Minivan
Volkswagen’s ID. Buzz reimagines its iconic Bus as a fully electric minivan, blending retro design with modern technology, a 231-mile range, and practical versatility to offer a stylish yet functional EV for the future.

Ratepayers Could Be on the Hook for Data Centers’ Energy Use
Without regulatory changes, data centers’ high demand for energy would be subsidized by taxpayers, according to a new study.

City Nature Challenge: Explore, Document, and Protect Urban Biodiversity
The City Nature Challenge is a global community science event where participants use the iNaturalist app to document urban biodiversity, contributing valuable data to support conservation and scientific research.

A Lone Voice for Climate: How The Wild Robot Stands Apart in Hollywood
Among this year’s Oscar-nominated films, only The Wild Robot passed the Climate Reality Check, a test measuring climate change representation in storytelling, highlighting the ongoing lack of climate awareness in mainstream Hollywood films.
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.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research