Urbanization

Is There Space for Planning in Trump's News Cycle?
An analysis of Planetizen traffic in the first six months of the Trump Administration reveals an audience still focused, despite so many distractions, on the future of communities.

Denver Suburb Rejects TOD at Light Rail Station in Special Election
Tuesday's mail-in vote by residents of Greenwood Village to overwhelmingly reject a city-council approved plan to allow mixed-use development at a light rail station is a major setback for smart growth proponents.

Back to the Suburbs: Most Metropolitan Are Getting Less Dense
A closer look at the data reveals a country that continues to sprawl.

Gentrification, for Better and Worse
Gentrification—more wealthy people moving into lower-income communities—often faces opposition, sometimes for the wrong reasons. It is important to consider all benefits and costs when formulating urban development policies.
Friday Eye Candy: Winning Images of Urbanization and Migration
The Penn Institute for Urban Research, in collaboration with Perry World House, is pleased to announce the winner of its 2017 photo contest on the theme of urbanization and migration.
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.
United Nations Taking First Steps Toward the New Urban Agenda
Some of the big work left undone by the Habitat III summit in finalizing the New Urban Agenda in December is now moving forward. The future of the New Urban Agenda and UN-Habitat can now start to take shape.
Trump and the New Urban Crisis
Richard Florida writes that Trump's victory over Hillary Clinton is a product of the backlash against what he calls The New Urban Crisis of burgeoning economic inequality—the widening divides between rich and poor.

Sand: Another Victim of Global Urbanization
Headlined by vertical (and horizontal) sprawl in China, India, and elsewhere, the global building boom requires vast quantities of concrete and asphalt. And to get those materials, sand must be taken from the environment.

The Atlas of Urban Expansion Shows How Cities Grow
The "Monitoring Global Urban Expansion Program" gathers and analyzes data on 200 cities around the world. The "Atlas of Urban Expansion" presents the program's preliminary results.

Denver City Summit 2016: Place, Culture, Meaning
Keynote speeches and break-out sessions at this year's Rocky Mountain City Summit implicated the importance of cultural knowledge for planning inclusive and equitable cities.

Jane Jacobs's Legacy: 2016 Edition
New York magazine offers a long reflection on the shifting lessons offered by Jane Jacobs after a year of new books and a re-emergence into the public eye.

Charlotte Wonders About its Future as a Fast-Growing City
Behind all the debates surrounding the consequences of quick growth, a big question looms for Charlotte and other similarly growing cities: Will it last?

'The World's Urban Planner': UN-Habitat's Joan Clos
The phrase "everything on the street" captures UN-Habitat head Joan Clos's approach to urbanization. In the wake of Habitat III, who is the man behind the conference's "New Urban Agenda"?

China's Urbanization Boom May Be Slowing
After a period of modernization and urban growth unrivaled in human history, several forces promise a slump, or at least a slowing. Maybe it's time to improve existing cities, not keep building new ones.

What 6,000 Years of Population Data Looks Like
We can now watch 6,000 years of urban settlements and movements unfold on our computer screens.

Stop Saying 50 Percent of Humans Live in Cities
The idea that half the world's population has moved to cities, with more coming soon, misses a fundamental fact about cities: many of them are actually suburbs.

Lessons from the Paleolithic Era for Contemporary Urbanites
Gustav Milne makes a simple argument via The Guardian: urbanization "is bad for us."

Mayoral Op-Ed: Give Cities the Power to Address Climate Change
In an opinion piece, former mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York joins Anne Hidalgo of Paris and Eduardo Paes of Rio de Janeiro. They argue that national governments should give cities every possible tool to cut emissions.

Op-Ed: Habitat III Should Consider Food Systems
The UN's Habitat III conference will be held in October of this year. Thomas Forster argues that urban areas are being considered in isolation, without enough attention to rural areas and food systems.
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