Technology

Bee is For Billboard

Artists Find Alternate Uses for Billboards in Los Angeles

With a surplus of unsold billboard spaces dotting Los Angeles, artists are using the empty spaces as canvasses for new forms of public art.

March 10, 2017 - The Art Newspaper

Electric Car

Uncertain Future for Electric Vehicles if Fuel Efficiency Standards Relaxed

The U.S. EPA has signaled that it will withdraw an earlier decision to maintain the 54.5 miles per gallon target. Should that happen, a major casualty will be electric vehicles, according to one prominent EV advocate interviewed on NPR.

March 8, 2017 - NPR

The Road to 5G Starts With Home Broadband

This year’s Mobile World Congress is all about 5G and IoT, with some handset and wearable launches. Wireless carriers and infrastructure vendors are starting to launch Gigabit broadband pilots to bring 5G class connectivity to residential users.

March 5, 2017 - Cities of the Future

Silicon Valley

California Investing In 'Transformative Climate Communities'

The California Strategic Growth Council has $140 million in cap-and-trade revenue for the new Transformative Climate Community program. The aim of the program is to catalyze environmental and economic investment in disadvantaged communities.

March 5, 2017 - The Planning Report

Crowd

Big Data, Smart Cities, and Personal Privacy

Cities, which have demonstrated vulnerability to hacks, present a threat to personal privacy. Experts propose solutions to a growing problem.

March 5, 2017 - Next City

Waze

Israel Plans to Harness the Power of Waze to Save Wildlife

Just in time for United Nations World Wildlife Day, a new initiative in Israel has launched to identify deadly road crossings for animals by harnessing data collected from the Waze app.

February 28, 2017 - The Jerusalem Post

Self-Driving Car

Trump Administration Reviewing U.S. DOT's Automated Vehicle Guidelines

Among the many guidelines and rules going back to the drawing board (or ceremonial execution by executive order) at the federal level are guidelines for self-driving cars released only months ago by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

February 28, 2017 - Reuters

Research Team to Study the Physiological Responses of Pedestrians to 'Physical Disorder'

Associate Professors Yunwoo Nam and lead PI Changbum Ahn from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, were recently awarded an NSF grant entitled "Human-Centric Sensing Platform to Assess Neighborhood Physical Disorder."

February 26, 2017 - University of Nebraska College of Architecture

New York Subway

A Tool to Show the Effects of Transit Closures

The NYC Transit Explorer from Sidewalk Labs shows how much transit service New Yorkers stand to lose when the L Train shuts down for 18 months.

February 26, 2017 - Sidewalk Talk

New York City

Are Driverless Cars Good for Cities?

With experts predicting widespread autonomous vehicle (AV) adoption in the not-too-distant-future, many policymakers, designers, and ordinary citizens are left scratching their heads, uncertain of what to expect and how to prepare.

February 22, 2017 - Doggerel

Parking

Google Can Now Predict Parking Difficulty

The way Google predicts parking difficulty could make it easier to develop "smart city" applications in the future.

February 21, 2017 - IoT for All

Empty Retail

Should Online Shopping Change How We Use Ground-Level Space?

Urbanist Jane Jacobs' support for mixed use development has long been seen as the best urban design strategy, but this vision assumed that the retail space under housing could be rented. What if that is no longer the case?

February 19, 2017 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

Dog Park

All the Reasons to Map a City's Smells

"Smell-mapping" is gaining attention from urban planners, data scientists, and nature conservationists alike.

February 18, 2017 - Citymetric

Minecraft Model

Friday Eye Candy: A Minecraft Duplicate of Chicago

An exemplary display of Minecraft prowess.

February 17, 2017 - Chicago Tribune

Passenger Drone

World's First Passenger Drone Readies for Takeoff in Dubai

This summer, commuters may have another option for moving around Dubai as a pilotless drone is prepared to shuttle passengers around the city.

February 15, 2017 - Dezeen

Servers

Big Data Brings Bespoke Cities

This start-up uses an AI to comb through Google Street View images, matching users with cities that fit their "lifestyle preferences."

February 12, 2017 - Quartz

Autonomous Vehicle

A New Policy Agenda for Autonomous Vehicles: It's Time to Lead Innovation

A call for planners, policy makers, and the car industry to assertively lead the policy development in anticipation of the coming wave of autonomous vehicle technology.

February 9, 2017 - William Riggs

Rolling Digital Billboards Hit New Orleans' Streets

A southern Louisiana company is bringing a mobile, four-sided digital billboard to the streets of New Orleans

February 7, 2017 - The Advocate (Louisiana)

Google Maps

Google Maps Update Opens New Access to Mobility and Culture

Google Maps and other navigation and mapping apps have done a lot to inspire and educate people to make the most of their surroundings. New changes to the Google Maps app will add new functionality for those purposes.

February 6, 2017 - Google

Small-Scale Apartment

This Start-Up Takes (Some) of the Hassle Out of Renting

Entrepreneur Tyrone Poole's Oregon start-up matches prospective tenants with rental units they qualify for, eliminating legwork and application fees.

February 3, 2017 - CityLab

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.