Climate Change

Primary Image
Extreme Weather

Funding Research of Atmospheric Rivers to Better Prepare for Heavy Rains

Atmospheric river seems like a phrase that has only recently entered the parlance of the times, but the state of California has seen enough of the idea in action want to know more, and prepare for more.

July 12, 2019 - Water News Network

Columbia River Gorge

King County Selling Carbon Credits to Fund Forest Preservation

Two companies so far have purchased carbon credits through the newly public program in Washington State's King County.

July 11, 2019 - KUOW

Seattle Skyline from Kerry Park

A 'Green New Deal' for Seattle

The city of Seattle has taken the first steps toward creating a "Green New Deal." Now comes the hard part of deciding on specific policies.

July 10, 2019 - The Urbanist

Cars and Herbie

How the Law Enshrines Car Dependence

Land use regulations provide exhibit A in this indictment of the American legal system's support for a murderous and destructive dependence on automobiles for transportation.

July 10, 2019 - The Atlantic

Sequoia State Park

To Solve Climate Change: Plant a Trillion Trees

A new study suggests planting enough trees to cover a landmass the size of the United States.

July 8, 2019 - Associated press via WHYY

Miami, Florida

All the Places Mentioned in Last Week's Democratic Debates

Candidates drop names for a reason.

July 3, 2019 - CityLab

Gaslamp Quarter

Climate Crisis, Housing Crisis on a Collision Course

Sprawl might relieve the housing crisis, but it would also exacerbate the climate crisis. Tough choices will be necessary in regions like San Diego, where the question of where to accommodate growth is very much in question.

July 2, 2019 - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Flood Damaged Suburb

More Detail on What Happened to 100 Resilient Cities

The Rockefeller Foundation has cited costs and a new strategic direction to explain why it abruptly cut off the program this year. While the work may live on in some form, the move underscores the risks of relying on private funding.

July 2, 2019 - CityLab

Presidential Campaign

Urban Planning and the Democratic Debate Field

The Democratic Party will hold a two-day debate event, starting tonight. It's time to brush up on the positions of the leading candidates on policies and politics relate to housing, climate change, and infrastructure.

June 26, 2019 - James Brasuell

Seawall Crescent City California

As Sea Levels Rise, Some Cities Will Be Saved While Others Will Be Left Behind

U.S. coastal cities need to prepare for the effects of climate change, but the pot of funding is limited. There’s no way around the fact that there will be winners and there will be losers.

June 22, 2019 - The New York Times

Boston Seaport

Boston’s Seaport District, Where Building Started Before Flood Preparation

The Boston waterfront has been booming, but the area is extremely vulnerable to climate change and rising sea levels. Measures to address those risks have come just recently.

June 22, 2019 - Bloomberg BusinessWeek

Marquam Bridge

The Biggest Highway Boondoggles in the United States

Frontier Group and U.S. PIRG have released the fifth edition of its Highway Boondoggles report.

June 18, 2019 - U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Amazon HQ2

Report Details the Many Risks of Climate Change Facing Queens

The Regional Plan Association recently released a report targeting the climate risks associated with the older housing stock in Central Queens, New York City.

June 16, 2019 - QNS

Staten Island

Watch: Sea Walls and the Future of Resilience

Vox and Curbed provide multi-media coverage of a Staten Island sea wall project as an example of the necessity of resilient infrastructure, and the shortcomings of our ability to predict the needs of the built environments in changed climates.

June 14, 2019 - Curbed New York

Atlanta Park

A Sustainability Plan for Georgia's Most Populous County

Fulton County, Georgia, home to Atlanta, adopted the "2019 Sustainability Plan + Resilience" earlier this month, focused on addressing the effects of climate change.

June 12, 2019 - SaportaReport

Adams Morgan District

The Case for Upzoning

The parallel crises of pollution and housing affordability require denser zoning of land uses, otherwise known as upzoning, according to this article.

June 12, 2019 - Greater Greater Washington

Urban Solar Power

Expanded Solar Capacity Means Supply Exceeds Demand for Solar in California

California is setting records for the amount of solar energy it can’t use, but this cushion might be a good thing: it means the state won’t need to depend as heavily on fossil fuels as a stopgap.

June 10, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

Golden Gate

The Generational Warfare of Our Times

If action isn’t taken to address the major issues the nation faces today, younger people will be contending with a lifetime of hardship. But older generations seem mostly to be looking the other way.

June 10, 2019 - Slate

Gulf Coast

Visualizing Worst-Case Scenario Sea Level Rise on the Texas Coast

Much of the state political leadership in Texas has been slow to accept the existence of climate change, much less the role of the state's economy, land use, and infrastructure planning in exacerbating the crisis. Maybe this will help wake them up?

June 7, 2019 - My San Antonio

Toronto

A New Resilience Strategy for Toronto

Toronto is preparing for the worst of climate change, but also the stresses of affordability, congestion, and aging infrastructure.

June 7, 2019 - CBC News

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.