Technology

Renewable Natural Gas and Electricity Should Power Los Angeles Bus Fleet

It's not one or the other but both, argues Denny Zane of Move LA in a guest commentary for the Los Angeles Daily News about the decision that Los Angeles County Metro will make on June 22 on the future of the nation's second largest bus fleet.

June 12, 2017 - Los Angeles Daily News

Drone

Internet of Things Brings More Surveillance and Vulnerabilities to Cities

Too often, smart city technology is described as an innocuous tool, but Adam Greenfield argues the technology acquiring this data will be used to distribute city resources, an inherently political act.

June 10, 2017 - The Guardian

Subway Library

Meet New York's New 'Subway Library'

Public transit has always been a good place to catch up on some pleasure reading, but now the New York MTA and the New York Public Library have taken their synergy to new levels.

June 9, 2017 - The Architect's Newspaper

Security cameras on a building

When Surveillance Cameras Pay the Cost of New Street Lamps

Are the energy and money savings from modern street lamps worth the proliferation of surveillance technology around the city? San Jose, California is considering just such a quandary.

June 8, 2017 - The Mercury News

Uber Self-Driving Car

Trump Administration Preparing to Rewrite the Rules for Self-Driving Cars

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao spoke publically about the need for the federal government to regulate a way forward for the deployment of automated vehicle technology.

June 8, 2017 - The Wall Street Journal

L.A. Data Viz

A New Tool for Agent-Based Modeling

This tool from Sidewalk Labs lets planners draw upon vast quantities of data to create agent-based models, simulating who gains and loses when changes are made.

June 6, 2017 - Next City

Road Safety

'Video Analytics' a New Tool for Vision Zero Traffic Safety Goals

Project launch seeks volunteers to analyze videos, support new technology

June 6, 2017 - GeekWire

Proterra Electric Bus

Transit Agencies Move Toward Electric Buses

Transit agencies from Washington to Florida are beginning to make the switch from diesel and natural gas-powered buses to battery electric buses, some faster than others.

June 5, 2017 - Sierra Club Compass

Austin Traffic

Austin's Capital Metro Makes Like Uber and Lets Users Hail Their Ride

Public transit is evolving to keep up with the conveniences offered by transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft. The question is whether it will work for the long haul.

June 1, 2017 - KXAN

Chicago Argriculture

Only High Cost Premiums Can Make Urban Farming Pencil Out

Throwing cold water on the latest "techno-optimism" for indoor, urban agriculture.

June 1, 2017 - City Observatory

Shanghai

Fixation On City Skylines Detracts From City Streets

City life happens at street level. But some of our most iconic images of cities are focused hundreds, or even thousands, of feet in the air. Our streetscapes are the worse off for it.

May 31, 2017 - Common Edge

Seattle

Seattle and Silicon Valley: Joined at the Hip?

Tech thrives on connection, and America's west coast tech hubs are more connected than ever before. But Seattleites aren't in a rush to abandon their city's distinctiveness.

May 31, 2017 - The Economist

Self-Driving Bus

In Europe, Self-Drivers Focus on Augmenting Transit

Unlike the American focus on luxury personal self-drivers, the European approach favors small self-driving buses that can ferry riders to larger transit lines.

May 31, 2017 - The New York Times

Elon Musk Gigafactory

A Scathing Critique of Elon Musk's Big Tunneling Idea

Not all ideas are worth attention. What does the fact that ideas like Elon Musk's The Boring Company get so much attention say about the quality of civic discourse, or the potential for planning to improve the built environment?

May 24, 2017 - The Baffler

Empty Parking Lot

As a Driverless Future Dawns, Should We Still Build Parking?

No one is really sure how many parking spots the United States contains, but estimates stretch up to 2 billion.

May 23, 2017 - Doggerel

Honda Clarity

Northeast is Next Market for Fuel Cell Vehicles

The only state where fuel cell electric vehicles can be leased is California where 30 hydrogen refueling stations exist now, with 100 planned to be in operation by 2020. Almost no public refueling stations exist elsewhere, but that's about to change.

May 22, 2017 - The New York Times

Violin

Sunday Fun: Visualizing the Vibrations of Five Miles of Fiber Optic Cable

This new visualization helps us see the unseen: the underground fiber optic cables that lie beneath campus at Stanford University in California.

May 21, 2017 - Victoria & Albert Museum

Central Park from Rockefeller Center Historic Photo

Friday Eye Candy: A Mobile App That Provides a Historic Window Into New York

The Urban Archive app will be popular with anyone interested in the history of New York City. Hopefully the idea spreads to other cities soon.

May 19, 2017 - The Architect's Newspaper

Uber

Uber App to Share Transit Departure Times

Uber recently announced a feature that could appease transit advocates concerned about the encroachment of transportation network companies on transit ridership.

May 18, 2017 - The Verge

Toronto from the CN Tower

The New Frontier of Internet-Enabled Cities Slated for Toronto

Sidewalk Labs is preparing to launch a big experiment on the smart cities concept.

May 15, 2017 - Bloomberg

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.