Urban Design
Looking Back to Find the Future of San Diego
An advocacy group is republishing the 1974 regional plan for sustainability, and finding that it's just as relevant now as it was then.
Los Angeles: Focus on Urban Design (Not Just Urban Planning)
By embracing timeless principles of urban placemaking, we can create walkable transit villages and make room for housing at every socioeconomic level. First we have to re-invigorate high quality urban design.
240 'World Changing Ideas,' Including Transportation and Urban Design
Fast Company’s second-annual World Changing Ideas Awards will recognize winners in 12 categories. There are now 240 finalists.
Eyes from the Street: The Neighbourhood Fabric that Matters
The mantra “eyes on the street" focuses on the physical and functional traits of urban fabric but fails to explain the high crime rate of my Jacobsian neighbourhood. Time to reconsider, look for explanations, and exchange mantras for research.
Op-Ed: Let's Make Urban Design Inspiring Again
Allison Arieff finds fault with the nation's uninspired conversation on infrastructure. When urban design projects have more emotional appeal, she argues, they can unify rather than divide.
New Tools for Making Walkable Places
Eleven ways to make a city more walkable.
L.A. Tenants Link Planned 'Design District' to Displacement
Community leaders say a design district in Westlake could pave the way for the erasure of L.A's Historic Filipinotown.
Urban Design for Medical Students
A co-curricular program at a Philadelphia medical school integrates public health and city planning.
Explained: Keys to Affordability in Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances
Zoning ordinances are one of the most powerful ways local governments regulate development, and they should work to implement the policies in a Comprehensive Plan Update.
The Block Fallacy, or How Not to Build a Circulation System
An examination of the Block Ordinance as a panacea for the ailments of modern cities.
A Shifting Sense of Urban Design in Dallas
In an opinion piece, architecture critic Mark Lamster discusses the merits and deficiencies of recent Dallas developments. He praises a rising sense of "progressivism" in the city's design choices.
Professor: High-End Housing Worsened Vancouver's Affordability Crunch
UBC's Patrick Condon argues that for Vancouver and cities like it, simply adding supply at any level doesn't get at the root causes of the global affordable housing crisis.
AVs and Real Estate - A Guide to Potential Impacts
AVs are more than a transportation issue and will have significant impacts on real estate. Expect AVs to affect parking, sprawl, housing prices, and transit.
Autonomous Vehicles and Streets: A Guide to Potential Impacts
As the arrival of autonomous vehicles (AVs) becomes more of a reality, cities need to start considering how this new technology will affect streets and street networks. This brief guide provides an overview and resources on this topic.
New Web Based Tool Helps to 'Design Your Town'
A new tool produced by the Regional Plan Association, the Orange County Department of Planning, the Pace University Land Use Law Center, and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy offers a starting point for people with big ideas.
Detroit Making its Streets 'Sticky'
The word "sticky" when applied to the urban design context has come to mean attractive and comfortable—the kind of place that makes people want to stay away and make return visits. Detroit is the latest city to experiment with the concept.
Activating Artists as an Urban Resource
Planning and art don't traditionally mix, but that's changing. Embedded at NYC's Department of Design and Construction, artist Mary Miss envisions public art as an infrastructural aid.
The 'City Design Project' Aims to Make Atlanta an Intentional City
Two of the highest-profile planners in the city of Atlanta, Tim Keane and Ryan Gravel, have teamed up to lead a creative visioning process that could help lead Atlanta to a new era of planning and development.
Has Placemaking Become Cliché?
There’s very little that differentiates proposals by four distinguished planning and design firms to better connect my university to its immediate neighborhood and the wider city. Why is that, and does it have to be that way?
How Los Angeles Can Design for Density
Good urban design can make growth more appealing.
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
