Technology

Slow Adoption For SF's Pay-By-Phone Parking Meters

The city has outfitted more than 1,000 parking meters with new technology to allow motorists to pay over the phone. Yet most of them haven't noticed.

April 5, 2008 - The Examiner

Will Boston's Citywide Wi-Fi Network Be Realized?

Boston's plan to blanket the city with wireless internet access has met a series of obstacles which seriously threaten the project.

April 4, 2008 - The Boston Globe

Pittsburgh Wrestling With New LED Billboards

A six-month moratorium on new billboards has been passed by the Pittsburgh City Council as it struggles to formulate a policy for brightly lit LED signs.

April 2, 2008 - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Wi-Fi Plans Dropped Over Health Concerns

Officials in the California city of Sebastopol have gone back on an agreement with an Internet provider that was planning to create a municipal Wi-Fi network for the city. They cited health concerns in their decision.

March 28, 2008 - The Press Democrat

Computer Problems Prompt Census Bureau to Rethink Counting Method

Technological issues with the handheld computers to be used in the U.S. Census Bureau's 2010 Census have frustrated officials and have them considering a plan to return to the traditional paper and pencil counting method of years past.

March 27, 2008 - CNN

Venice Plans For Sea Level Rise

Operation "Rialto" will lift some Venice buildings up to 3.3 feet in an effort to avoid the negative implications of sea level rise.

March 26, 2008 - Terra Daily

Who's Ready for Peak Oil?

Report ranks largest 50 US cities by their readiness for $4+ a gallon gas and $100+ a barrel oil prices

March 24, 2008 - Common Current

Can Wi-Fi Make Congestion Pricing Work?

An innovative proposal seeks to deal with both vehicle and internet congestion by placing Wi-Fi access transmitters in cars driving through urban areas.

March 18, 2008 - Baseline

How Mechanization Can Help Cities Rethink Parking

March 17, 2008 - Shannon Sanders McDonald, AIA

A New Way to Design a Bike Network

Boston's nascent bike program turns to Google Maps for inexpensive help.

March 9, 2008 - Streetsblog

Historic Preservation Through Virtual Reality

By utilizing virtual reality software, students at UC Berkeley are recreating a historic stretch of Oakland, California's 7th Street, a historic hotbed of jazz and blues clubs during the 1940s and '50s.

March 7, 2008 - UC Berkeley

The Global City That Never Sleeps

By using telephone and voice over IP calling data, a team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has created detailed maps of calls between New York and other major world cities, painting a vivid picture of globalization.

March 6, 2008 - MIT News

Congestion Theory Modeled Live

Researchers in Japan have created a live model of the so-called "shockwave" theory to explain traffic congestion.

March 6, 2008 - New Scientist

Boise a Case Study for the High-Tech Economy

Idaho policymakers must make necessary investments and attract talent to succeed, according to a new report.

March 5, 2008 - Idaho Business Review

Fuel Cell Buses: A Tale Of Two Transit Agencies

In the San Francisco Bay Area, two public transit agencies are conducting trials with "Zero Emission Buses", or ZEBs. They are using different types of hydrogen fuel cell technologies, with very different results.

March 3, 2008 - San Jose Mercury News

Mapping the 'New Cartography'

Ubiquitous access to GPS data and social software is generating a whole new breed of cartographers who are empowering themselves and others by mapping everything from community assets to occurrence of disease.

March 3, 2008 - In These Times

Libraries in the Digital Age

In this slideshow from Slate, Witold Rybczynski looks at public libraries from across the country and wonders how they will and should react to the increasingly digital age.

March 1, 2008 - Slate

Tree Maps Inform City Planting Plans

A group of researchers is using mapping and satellite data to help cities quantify their tree canopy cover -- a move that is spurring efforts to increase tree planting in cities across the country.

February 22, 2008 - Associated Press

Istanbul Version 2

A civil engineer has proposed a plan to create a "satellite" backup city of the Turkish metropolis of Instanbul -- a city precariously sited in a major earthquake area.

February 19, 2008 - Discovery

New Generation of New York's Greenstreets Handle Stormwater and Calm Traffic

A look at how the city's sustainability initiative, PlaNYC, is leading to greener streets in more ways than one.

February 17, 2008 - Streetsblog

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.