Water
Philadelphia Goes Porous
Philadelphia's water department has opened its first street made of porous pavement, which will help city streets safer by absorbing rain water.
Getting Off the Water Grid in Seattle
Buildings in Seattle, including a school, are trying to remove themselves from the urban water grid. More could soon follow.
State Subsidies Enable the Southwest's Largest New Urbanist Development
It's at Albuquerque's edge, it's the size of Manhattan, and it's happening, despite drought, recession and tightening state budgets. An annotation of Mesa del Sol's master plan explains how and why.
Planning Sidewalks in an Age of Climate Change
A new report on sidewalks and climate change in Seattle prompts a call to urban planners and municipal officials to take greater care in installing sidewalks in neighborhoods.
Sharing Water in an Age of Shortages
As water resources become increasingly important in the American West, new tactics for sharing among farmers, environmentalists and urban officials are showing how arid areas can withstand shortages.
The Need for 'Blue Urbanism'
In a world heavily composed of and reliant on water, how we treat our oceans should be a major aspect of the way we think about planning and living on this planet, according to Timothy Beatley.
A Worrying Future for Urban Water
Climate change is expected to create major shifts in the amount of water and rainfall in cities in the near future. A recent symposium in Philadelphia on urban water delved into this emerging problem.
Visualizing Water in the Landscape
Water shortages are on the rise, and effective management of this dwindling resource is becoming increasingly important to cities. How architects and planners visualize water in the landscape plays a big role in how it is understood and managed.
Climate Change and the Urban Water Crisis
As population growth and climate change set in, cities in developing countries will face major shortages of freshwater. A new report looks at how those cities could be affected and what preventive steps they should start taking.
Visualizing the Cost of Water
This visualization compares the costs of providing water in cities across the world, and shows how those costs have grown or shrank in recent years.
The World's Water-Smart Cities
This collection of city profiles looks at cities around the world that are making major improvements to the way they handle and provide water.
Physically Modeling and Understanding Floods in the U.S.
Despite efforts to stop them, floods hammered the U.S. in the early 20th century. A now abandoned model of the Mississippi river, its tributaries and surrounding lands was built to better understand how to combat those floods.
Ancient Canals Offer Water Solution for Desert City
The ancient irrigation networks lying below Phoenix could offer a solution to the sprawling desert city's water problems.
The Trouble with Radioactive Water
Grist delves into the responses and repercussions of a recent New York Times story about contaminated water in Pittsburgh caused by a method of extracting natural gas known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking.
Protecting Water Security in the Chicago Area
Regional water issues are of major concern in many parts of the world. The Chicago area is especially sensitive to water. New efforts are underway there to help preserve a threatened resource.
Groundwater Management A Looming Disaster for California
Of all the environmental problems facing California, depletion of its groundwater may be the most important according to this piece.
Decades of Failure in the Sea of Dust
When Los Angeles drained Owens Lake to bring water into its quickly growing urban basin, it simultaneously created a dry lakebed and one of the worst dust pollution problems in America. Various efforts to fight the problem have only failed.
Making the Desert Productive
Officials in Jordan are moving closer to creating an ambitious project aimed at producing food, fresh water and energy in the Sahara Desert.
Re-Engineering California's Water Supplies
In California, some worry that the state's aging delta levees are in extreme danger of being destroyed by earthquakes. And as environmental concerns rise, the state is considering plans to re-engineer its water supplies to prevent another "Katrina".
Troubles Persist in California's Delta
The process of re-designing California's Delta to protect endangered species, feed the state's farms and serve freshwater to its residents has become further complicated.
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.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
