Urban Design
Design Thinking Needs a Broader Perspective
A design-focused study of mode choice doesn’t consider the many ways people interact with and travel through urban environments.
The Practical Confessions of an Urbanist Pilgrim
After 12 days of walking the Portuguese Camino, the importance of many urban planning and development debates—from balanced growth to banning cars—became abundantly clear.
Unequal Distribution of Shade Is Environmental Injustice
A longread, written by Sam Boch and published by Places Journal, has been creating a stir online and is highly recommended for those with an interest in intersections between social justice and urban design.
Hip Hop Architecture Camp Connects D.C. Youth to Futures in Urban Planning
D.C. youth collaborate with local hip hop artists to create planning inspired music video.
How to Design and Plan to Address the Root Causes of Gender Inequality
Gender equality has never played such a prominent role in the design of public and urban spaces. The world needs more than superficial, reactionary measures to address the long history of public space as the physical realm of patriarchy.
Programming Over Serenity Favored in 21st Century Park Design
The new urban public realm in the United States is highly programmed—some of that design approach reflects the trends of culture and some reflects a history of violence and bad for PR for parks at the end of the 20th century.
What Do Cities in Fortnite Look Like?
Fornite is one of the fastest growing multiplayer games in the history of games, with over 125 million players in one year. A teenager Fortnite player publishes a collection of images from the major cities in the game.
New Planning Games Focuses on Consensus Building
A new game called Imaginable Guidelines invites participants to imagine, explore, discuss, and share their vision for the future.
Design Review: Massive Civic Center Renovation Proposed in San Francisco
The city of San Francisco is proposing an ambitious renovation of its Civic Center—the series of public spaces connecting Market Street to City Hall.
Contest: Design a Logo for New York's Privately-Owned Public Spaces
New York City is holding a competition for a distinctive logo to clearly demarcate all of its 550 privately-owned public spaces.
The Case for Bottom-Up Urban Planning and Design
The wisdom of a broad cross section of residents and stakeholders is an essential part of planning and designing livable, efficient, and authentic communities.
Downtown Seattle Corridor Gets Visioning Treatment
A stakeholder group hopes to create a pedestrian- and business-friendly streetscape in Downtown Seattle.
How Residential Architecture Got So Cookie Cutter
While it's fun to tease about the architectural shortcomings of most newly constructed urban residential buildings in the United States, the causes of its ubiquitous sameness reveals the depths of the country's housing crisis.
Can Los Angeles Fix its Bad Transit?
Transit writer Alon Levy argues it will take more than system improvements to integrate public transit into L.A.'s urban fabric.
The Street-Level Consequences of Zoning
Modern zoning practices separated uses, claiming this was a better way to organize American cities. However, the social, cultural, and urban design outcomes drastically changed the world we live in.
Futuristic Public Toilets Coming to San Francisco
San Francisco's street furniture predates Google, but the city hopes a new design will bring it into the Information Age.
Critic Blasts the Design and Planning Effects of CVS
CVS is about as American as apple pie, but at what cost to American communities?
Eyes from the Street – A Finer Filter
Evidence described here suggests that urban design for "eyes on the street" is not enough to lower crime.
Thinkers in the Tropical Shade: Empowering Lessons for Livable Places
Thanks to the Australian-American Fulbright Commission and UN-Habitat's World Urban Campaign, fundamental relationships at the heart of urban public health and livability are under scrutiny in tropical Australia.
From Combined Sewer Systems to Green Infrastructure
A partnership between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Omaha Stormwater Program are tackling the challenges of combined stormwater systems in the Omaha area.
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.
Caltrans
Smith Gee Studio
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
