Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne offers a take on Las Vegas' new CityCenter mega project, highlighting the project's faux-urbanism and what in the end is disappointingly conservative architecture.
"If CityCenter represents a final bender for Wall Street's decade of unreason -- and since this after all is Las Vegas -- it might at least have pursued a wilder, more inventive and more entertaining kind of architectural gigantism. Given MGM's declarations all along that this was going to be the first truly high-design development on the Strip, it's tough not to wander through the place and think – even if it's purely an architecture-lover's fantasy -- about what might have been if a really rip-roaring group of firms, one with a collective taste for scale, color, irony and abandon, had been allowed to drain that $8.5 billion budget."
FULL STORY: In Las Vegas, one final echo of the boom years
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.
Downtown Los Angeles on the Rise: A Promising 2025
Fueled by new developments, cultural investments, and a growing dining scene, downtown Los Angeles is poised for significant growth in 2025, despite challenges from recent wildfires and economic uncertainties.
San Francisco Slow Streets Bucks Citywide Trend, Reducing Injuries by 61 Percent
Low-cost interventions aimed at slowing traffic are making a major impact on road safety.
How Single-Family Conversions Benefit Both Homeowners and Cities
Converting single-family homes to triplexes can ease the housing crisis and offer affordable, flexible options for more households. Why is it largely illegal?
Report: Transportation Equity Requires More Than Electrification
Lower-income households often lack the resources to buy electric cars, signaling a need for a more holistic approach to improving mobility and lowering transportation costs.
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.
Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.
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