Houston

Downtown Houston pedestrians

Walkability Plan, Including Parking Reform, Adopted in Houston

The city of Houston is embarking on an ambitious plan to reshape how new development in the city prioritizes walkability, and deprioritizes the automobile.

August 6, 2020 - Houston Chronicle

Houston, Texas

How Houston Achieved Lot Size Reform

Nolan Gray of George Mason University and Adam A. Millsap of the Charles Koch Institute write about a recent article they authored in the Journal of Planning Education and Research.

July 22, 2020 - JPER

Houston

New Houston Housing Report Tells a Story of Under-Investment

A new report from the Kinder Institute for Urban Research highlights the state of housing the Houston and Harris County, and more specifically, the historically Black neighborhood of Settegast in northeast Houston.

July 21, 2020 - Rice Kinder Institute for Urban Research

Coronavirus Protest

California Rolls Back

The nation's most significant rollback to date of a state reopening plan occurred Monday when California Gov. Gavin Newsom closed seven categories of indoor businesses statewide and an additional six categories of indoor operations in 31 counties.

July 14, 2020 - San Francisco Chronicle

Black Lives Matter Protest

COVID-19: What About Those Protests?

While not conclusive, evidence suggests that relatively few transmissions of the coronavirus occurred during the widespread protests that followed the death of George Floyd due to the outdoor settings, being in motion and wearing of masks.

July 3, 2020 - The Washington Post

Volunteers

Advocates: Equity Lacking in the New Houston Climate Action Plan

Advocates and local residents are expressing concern about a lack of direct support in the Houston Climate Action Plan for underserved neighborhoods that have already experienced some of the worst effects of climate change.

July 1, 2020 - One Breath Partnership

Social Distancing

Texas Hits Pause as Hospital Beds Fill Up

Coronavirus cases are surging throughout the South and West. With growing hospitalizations threatening the capacity of the health care systems in major cities in Texas, Gov. Gregg Abbott pressed 'pause' on the state's reopening plan.

June 26, 2020 - The Washington Post

Carlos Correa

Houston: The Prophetic City

The Houston story gets a new telling in a recently published book by Stephen Klineberg.

June 24, 2020 - Texas Monthly

Coronavirus

City vs. State: Mayors Want Power to Require Mask Wearing to Slow Coronavirus Spread

Coronavirus cases are surging in the Lone Star State's urban areas, so mayors of nine of its largest cities asked Greg Abbott for the power to mandate the wearing of masks or facial coverings, prohibited by executive order, to slow viral spread.

June 21, 2020 - The Texas Tribune

Houston, Texas

Interstate 45 Realignment Would Cut Through a Historic Black Neighborhood in Houston

A plan to realign Interstate 45 in Houston has been criticized as a highway boondoggle as well as a failure of racial and social equity, and recent protests have only amplified the latter criticisms of the project.

June 9, 2020 - Streetsblog USA

Texas

Dallas Eyes Big Property Tax Increase to Cover COVID-19 Losses

Dallas will need voter approval to overcome tax increase obstacles put in place by the Texas State Legislature.

May 31, 2020 - The Dallas Morning News

Bangkok, Thailand

Second Wave or Second Peak?

The terminology of the coronavirus pandemic isn't applied consistently, particularly when dealing with areas seeing a resurgence of infection after states have relaxed social distancing restrictions. The World Health Organization added some clarity.

May 27, 2020 - Reuters

Coronavirus

Religion in the Pandemic: First Amendment vs. Public Health and Safety

Conflicts between church and state are being decided in state and federal courts as governors act to protect their constituents from the coronavirus while religious institutions and their supporters seek exceptions from social gathering restrictions.

May 24, 2020 - The Oregonian

Hurricane Harvey Flooding

First Climate Action Plan Released in Houston

The planning legacy of Hurricane Harvey is becoming more clear in Houston, after the city released its first-ever Houston Climate Action Plan, just months after releasing the Resilient Houston plan.

April 28, 2020 - Houston Chronicle

Houston, Texas

Texas Losing its Housing Affordability Advantage

Trends pre-dating Covid-19 showed housing affordability slipping away from many residents in Texas. The pandemic will likely only exacerbate the trend, according to this analysis.

April 15, 2020 - Rice Kinder Institute for Urban Research: The Urban Edge

Townhouses

Gentrification Architecture—It’s Baffling

Critics say the design of homes that come with gentrification is too often uninspired, incompatible, and downright ugly.

March 16, 2020 - The Texas Observer

Texas Central

Eminent Domain Challenges Remain for Dallas to Houston High-Speed Rail Project

While Texas Central's plan to build a high-speed rail link between Houston and Dallas has already dealt with years of opposition from rural communities, big fights over the use of eminent domain have yet to begin.

March 10, 2020 - The Dallas Morning News

The Windy City

No Slowdown of Out-Migration of Black Residents from Chicago

The city of Chicago continues to see a decline in population, including tens of thousands of African-Americans who have left in recent years.

March 4, 2020 - The New York Times

Houston Metro Bus

A First for Houston: Chief Transportation Planner

The newly created position of Chief Transportation Planner for the city of Houston is tasked with working with multiple levels of government to help shift Houston away from its car-centric model.

February 28, 2020 - Community Impact Newspaper

Houston

Refugees Learn to Survive as Pedestrians on Houston's Dangerous Streets

For one refugee family, living in Houston has meant facing a host of new challenges as they traverse the city’s roadways without a car.

February 20, 2020 - Texas Monthly

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.