Music

Talking Heads Little Creatures album cover.

Great Album Covers with Urban Planning Themes

Album covers that evoke urban themes.

September 13, 2024 - Gabe Bailer - PP - AICP - NJ Urbanthinker

Coronavirus and Transportation

Songs About Places in the Time of Coronavirus

The latest edition of Planetizen's annual list of songs about places, for all the audiophiles with a passion for place.

December 7, 2020 - James Brasuell

Laurel Canyon

How Urban Form Created Classic Rock

A great many factors converged to create the culture and music of the 1960s. A powerful, but often overlooked, factor was the Los Angeles neighborhood of Laurel Canyon. A new documentary provides a case study in urban creativity.

August 30, 2020 - Common Edge Collaborative

West Hollywood, California

Independent Music Venues Face a Tough Road Ahead

Where have all the venues gone?

May 14, 2020 - Los Angeles Times

NOAA Satellite Fires

Songs About Places 2019

Songs about dystopia and catastrophe are impossible to avoid this year, but "Old Town Road" could be the path to redemption. Managing Editor James Brasuell assembled a Spotify playlist on songs about places from 2019.

December 11, 2019 - James Brasuell

Paris Metro

Songs About Places - 2018

The 2018 edition of an annual playlist of songs about places by critically acclaimed and popular bands.

December 13, 2018 - James Brasuell

Theater

2017's Best Songs About Places

Our favorite genre of music is the one that celebrates places.

December 18, 2017 - James Brasuell

Barbes Music

Safe for Now, Brooklyn Music Mecca Sees a Cloudy Future

More than 20 percent of New York's smaller music venues have closed in the past 15 years. Although Brooklyn institution Barbes was recently saved by a crowdfunding campaign, its founder is pessimistic about the future of New York's independent arts.

July 13, 2017 - Soft City

Berlin Subway

U2 Concert Costs Transit Agency $61K

The Bay Area agency had to extend service into the night hours when the show ran overtime.

May 26, 2017 - San Francisco Chronicle

From Caracas to Remote Villages, One Family's Search for Venezuela

Like his father and great-uncle before him, 37-year-old Caracas native Guillermo Lares is using Venezuela's rural traditions to help himself and his contemporaries reflect on the country's current reality.

April 27, 2017 - Soft City

Punk

Explosive Subculture: Cities and the Punk Movement

From London to Los Angeles, the punk movement was always an urban phenomenon. But punks needed to fight hard for a place in the cities they called home.

March 28, 2017 - The Guardian

Buskers

An Ordinance to Curb Street Performance in Chicago Draws Criticism

Chicago Aldermen are considering an ordinance to outlaw street performances audible from more than 20 feet away, but in a segregated city, some fear that a quieter downtown might be more unwelcoming.

February 28, 2017 - Chicagoist

Hard Rock Coliseum

Unique 'Audio Portraits' Pay Homage to Urban Noise

One man's noise pollution is another man's symphony.

February 27, 2017 - CityLab

Chicago Blues

Chicago Could Lose the Blues

An editorial in Crain's suggests that by not taking full advantage of its history with the Blues, Chicago is wasting a precious cultural resource and missing an opportunity for tourism dollars.

January 26, 2017 - Crain's Chicago Business

Wynton Marsalis

Friday Fun: Wynton Marsalis on the 'Mythic Significance' of Trains

Famed musician Wynton Marsalis recently spoke with Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx about the connections between music and transportation.

October 14, 2016 - Facebook Video

Tuscany

'The Well-Tempered City': An Epic Book, and Why

In a review of Jonathan F.P. Rose's new book, 'The Well-Tempered City,' Chuck Wolfe enthusiastically endorses Rose's refreshing world view.

September 28, 2016 - The Huffington Post

The Bronx

Poor Urban Planning and the Birth of Hip Hop

An architect known as the Hip-Hop Architect explains how the planning decisions of the 20th century served as muse and breeding ground for the multi-million-dollar industry of hip hop.

August 23, 2016 - Fader

Sutro Tower

A Year's Worth of Music About Places

Musicians from all varieties of musical genres spent the past year pondering, celebrating, and complicating our perception of places.

January 22, 2016 - James Brasuell

Street Musician

Street Performers: Nuisance or Necessity?

With its eclectic music scene, Asheville, North Carolina is a popular spot for street musicians. They can bring a vibrancy the town might suffer without. But some residents fear a rise in panhandling and homelessness.

May 31, 2015 - The New York Times

Made in America Concert

2014 in Review—Music About Places

A list of personal favorites—music that expressed more than research or rhetoric can about the places where we live, work, and play.

December 24, 2014 - James Brasuell

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.