Urbanization

Urban Planning Ranked as the Second Best Job in Canada
It might come as a shock to planners who lived and worked through the great recession, but a Canadian publication has named urban planning in the number two position on a ranking of "Best Jobs" in the country.

In Long Island City, a Glimpse of the Future?
According to critic James Russell, Long Island City has come to resemble the new metropolises of Asia. A frenetic jumble of old and new, the area's "dystopian" qualities aren't all bad.

Friday Eye Candy: India's Rapid Urbanization
Photographer and architect Lars Mortensen captured the new face of urbanization in Gurgaon, a suburb of New Delhi. The scales involved are unprecedented, and rich and poor live in close proximity.

GE and Industry's Return to the City
GE recently made the blockbuster decision to move its corporate headquarters to Boston. More than just another example of a company returning to an urban area, the move shows how a city like Boston benefits the kind of company GE wants to become.
Urban Fringe the New Frontier in China's New Urbanism
The Chinese government wants an influx of nearly 100 million new urban residents by 2020. In order to accommodate a migration of this nature, China's urban planners are tasked with creating cities to be more livable.

Homeless Are No Longer 'Out of Sight, Out of Mind' in Booming Cities
One of the sad contradictions of the revival of core urban areas has been the clash between waves of investment and affluence with large populations of homelessness. Many cities are still coming to terms with the issue, much less solving it.
Iowa Caucus Results: Cruz wins, Ethanol Mandate Loses
The only major candidate, Democrat or Republican, to call for an end to the contentious ethanol mandate won the Republican caucus, clearly beating Donald Trump. That could doom what many even in Iowa, among even some farmers, call a boondoggle.

Visualizing Global Urban Growth Through 2030
Geographer Duncan Smith mapped the predicted trajectory of worldwide urban growth from 1950 through 2030. Concentric circles of different shades show where and when growth was (or will be) the most dramatic.
'Threading the Needle' of Environmental Sustainability and Social Justice for Cities
This blog is part of the World Resources Report (WRR) series. The WRR looks at cities as drivers of economic and social opportunity, and simultaneously as areas with concentrations of poverty, environmental degradation, and inequality.

How Chinese Immigrants Are Urbanizing a Connecticut Suburb
Next City provides a case study in the urbanization of suburbs—in this case the result of a large influx of Chinese immigrants.

Crises and Innovation Converge on San Francisco Planning Director John Rahaim's Watch
The latest installment of the Planners Across America series interviews John Rahaim, planning director for the City and County of San Francisco, about the heightened passions and perpetual controversies of planning in the City by the Bay.

Study Reveals a 'Bull Market for City Centers'
If housing prices were tracked like the stock market, urban cores would be soaring to new highs.

Op-Ed Decries the Idea of the 'Triumph of the City'
An unflinching op-ed begs a rethinking of narratives that cheer the "Triumph of the City." In the contemporary city, the argument goes, only the rich are better off from urbanization.

Pedestrianization Models from China
For urbanization in China's cities to be truly human-centered, pedestrianization plans must be thoroughly considered.

The New American Ghost Town: Suburban Office Parks
Suburban office parks are achieving the status of ghost towns in the Washington, D.C. area.

Guidance for Good Urban Density
A new report by the Urban Land Institute, "Density: Drivers, Dividends and Debates," examines the concept of density, its impacts, and how it can best be achieved in cities around the world.

Things Don't Change That Fast—Including the Housing Market
Digging into the data to get beyond the misleading notion of radical change in development patterns.

What Cities Can Learn From Companies Migrating to Downtown
The Core Values: Why American Companies are Moving Downtown report, released on June 18, 2015, provides in-depth analysis of a powerful trend of companies investing in urban downtowns.

China's Megacities May Soon Rely on Urban Farming
While widespread urban farming remains pipe dream in the United States, dwindling arable land and a mass shift to cities might make it a necessity in China.

Interview: Edward Glaeser Makes the Case for Cities
In a lengthy discussion shared by Marquette University, author and Harvard Economics Professor Ed Glaeser lays out the thinking behind his book "Triumph of the City," as exemplified by cities around the country and the world.
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