Brownfields
A Battle to Protect England's Countryside as Greenfield Developments Double
Far from applying the government's policy of brownfield first, the number of new houses planned for greenfield sites has doubled since reform of the planning system in England reduced protection for greenbelt land.
Using Brownfields to Heal Contaminated Communities
Ronda Kaysen reports on the growing trend in transforming brownfield sites in disadvantaged communities into health centers, "in essence taking a potential source of health problems for a community and turning it into a place for health care."
New Life for Dead Gas Stations
Finding new uses for vacant gas stations is a major challenge throughout the U.S. The days of the small, independent service station are fading, yet they often occupy prime, gateway sites. Whether razed or transformed, challenges are formidable.
Brownfields to Green Golf Courses in Michigan
A former industrial corridor in Benton Harbor, Michigan is being transformed into a resort community complete with golf course.
Outrageous Skate Park Planned for Under Manhattan Bridge
Architecture for Humanity has asked 9 design firms to dream up an upgrade for Coleman Oval Skate Park, which is located directly underneath the Manhattan Bridge.
A Highly Unique Brownfield
Beckholmen, an island off Stockholm, has been an industrial and shipping center since the 1600s. Today, the city is looking at ways to revitalize the island while preserving the industry that has dominated it for so long.
Repurposed Railyard Becomes Award-Winning Park
The City Parks blog looks at Santa Fe Railyard Park and Plaza, one of the winners of this year's Rudy Bruner Awards for Urban Excellence.
Squeezing Juice from Brownfields
Communities across the country are trying to reuse contaminated brownfields as sites for the production of clean energy.
Reviving the Real Estate Market with Parks
The idea of tuning toxic or polluted sites into parks has been creating new green spaces in cities throughout the country. It's also re-starting the real estate market.
Rust Belt Mayors Are Greening Brownfields
With the unlikely help of a group called the Mayors Automotive Coalition, down-at-the-heels towns are reinventing themselves - in various shades of green.
Fixing "A Hole in the Urban Fabric"
That's how Christopher Hume describes the Toronto area that will soon be Underpass Park, a mixed-use, mixed-income neighborhood for 6,000 people.
New York City Brownfields Program Clean But Flawed
A citywide brownfields recovery program in New York City has been cleaning up polluted sites, allowing new developments to move in on formerly vacant areas. But some worry the program is fueling gentrification.
Brownfields Become Solar Fields
Cities across the country are re-utilizing brownfield sites as solar farms.
Struggling Communities Ignored by NY's Brownfield Cleanup Program
An environmental watchdog group reveals that funds from New York's Brownfield Cleanup Program are not going to clean up the lower-income communities they were intended to help.
Developers Find Cash in Brownfields
According to this article in Area Development Online, developing a brownfield is a no-brainer: infrastructure is in place, governments have redevelopment funds to support it, and "the PR flip is huge."
Plants Do The Dirty Work
"Phytoremediation" is a growing field (pun intended) of practice that uses particular types of plants to leech toxic materials out of the soil in contaminated sites.
A Natural Way to Green Brownfields
With more than 11,000 acres of brownfield sites in New York City sitting underused due to contamination, officials there want to get things cleaned up and reused. Urban designer Kaja Kühl offers this field guide to small-scale bioremediation to help.
Halloween Costumes for Urban Planners - 3rd Edition
It's Halloween time again, the day when dressing up in silly costumes is required of every conscionable person. Some opt for the scary ghost or the sexy nurse, but others, more thoughtful others, make more of this opportunity.
New York City Given Power to Clean Up Brownfields
New York City has garnered new powers to institute cleanups on moderately contaminated sites, which could help revive hundreds of spots in the city that have sat empty or unused for years.
Warehouses to Urban Farms
Yesterday's infrastructure can become tomorrow's agriculture, says Ed Harwood, by converting underused industrial warehouses and factories to hydroponic and aeroponic growing.
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.
Ada County Highway District
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
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
