Urban Planning

Biking Outpaces Transit Use in DC
D.C. residents and visitors take as many as 30 million trips on bikes or shared mobility, yet bike lanes cover just one quarter of one percent of the District’s streets.

Planners be Nimble, Planners be Quick
Planning should be methodical and responsive to community needs, but not to the point of inefficiency. Too much planning can be just as harmful as too little.

Planning Your Planning Career: A Process not a Blueprint
As planning students and recent graduates consider internships and first jobs, they often ask how much these initial decisions matter. A conversation with Professor Robert Freestone unpacks the twists and turns of planning careers.

Two Cheers For the Planners’ Pledge
A “Planners’ Pledge” created by some of the leading authorities on planning sets forth a bold urbanist agenda- even if not every idea in the pledge is equally useful in all cities.

First Cities: Planning Lessons for the 21st Century
A new book about urban planning in the deep human past explores principles, strategies, and lessons relevant for today.

Celebrating Women Urbanists
This International Women’s Month, we look back on our list of Most Influential Urbanists to highlight the contributions of women in urban planning and urban design.

Did the Pandemic Spur Radical Urban Change?
The Covid era highlighted social inequities and prompted new paradigms for urbanism and mobility. Will they stick around?

Los Angeles: An Urban Planner's Guide to the City
A diverse global city, Los Angeles is characterized by unique neighborhood nodes and is a center of global trade and entertainment.

Houston: An Urban Planner's Guide to the City
Infamous for its lack of zoning codes, this east Texas port city grew thanks to the energy industry and an abundance of developable land.

Planning Year in Review 2023: Zoning Reform, a Rail Revolution, and Climate Realities
Last year’s most talked-about planning issues and news.

Mitchell Silver, FAIP, Kicks Off Season 3 of the Planning Commission Podcast
Former APA President and NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver reflects on a career spent planning for people.

Planning for the Snow and an Open Right of Way
The Planning Commission Podcast presents their Chrismas episode.

All We Want for the Holidays is…
Here are a dozen timely gift ideas for creating better communities.

Planetizen’s Top Posts of 2023
The most-read articles on Planetizen in 2023.

Planetizen’s Top Planning Books of 2023
The world is changing, and planning with it.

Opinion: The Arrogance of Social Media Urbanists
Criticism of ‘bad’ urban design and development policies leveled at ‘planners’ often obscures the complex nature of urban politics and land use regulations.

Bringing Planning Back to the People
Has the profession given in to corporate interests, and is there another way forward?

What Is the City of Tomorrow?
The City of Tomorrow is the English name given to an early work of urban design by Le Corbusier, who, throughout his career, evolved a concept of city planning firmly based in rationality and order.

Note to Companies: Hire Urban Planners
An argument for the value of including planners in industries far beyond city planning.

Youth, Inexperience, and a Sense of Mission
Forty years ago this week, I arrived in Tallahassee to take my first full-time university job. It was a nervous moment. After nearly eight years of graduate school, I was about to learn if I was any good at the career I'd prepared so long to begin.
Pagination
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