Urban Development

Black and white portrait of Mike Davis

Remembering a Titan: Mike Davis Dies at 76

Davis’ unflinching portrait of Los Angeles politics and power dynamics remains a penetrating analysis of modern city-building, who it benefits, and who it leaves behind.

October 26, 2022 - Los Angeles Times

A map of New Jersey focuses on Haledon and blurs our surrounding cities such as Paterson.

Zoning Changes Intended to Spur Redevelopment in Haledon, New Jersey

The borough of Haledon is hoping that less restrictive zoning will spur a new wave of development and economic activity along one of the city's commercial corridors.

October 26, 2022 - North Jersey

Cambridge Bike Lane

Parking Requirements Eliminated in Cambridge, Massachusetts

A major zoning amendment was approved by the Cambridge City Council on Monday, October 24, 2022.

October 25, 2022 - The Crimson

Santa Monica Bay

How the 'Builder's Remedy' Is Disrupting Planning and Development in California

The state of California has long looked the other way while cities blocked growth. With the state now enforcing growth plans, more and more cities are faced with losing local control of zoning. Introducing the “Builder's Remedy."

October 25, 2022 - Los Angeles Times

Street with Regal cinema building in downtown Rockville, Maryland

Montgomery County Divided Over Long-Range Plan

In the wake of mass resignations at the county’s planning board, the county council will vote to update their growth plan to reflect the region’s changing economy and demographics.

October 25, 2022 - The Washington Post

View of Dealey Plaza with pedestrians at crosswalk and brick book depository building in background

A New Vision for Dallas’ Dealey Plaza

After decades of neglect, a team of designers reimagines the infamous plaza as a safe, vibrant, multimodal public space.

October 24, 2022 - The Dallas Morning News

New York City skyline with construction cranes in foreground

The Right to a Healthy Environment: Not as Healthy as One Might Think

Some state constitutions provide that citizens have the right to a healthy environment. But these seemingly innocuous provisions may lead to counterproductive results.

October 24, 2022 - Michael Lewyn

Trader Joe's building with "Coming Soon" and "Now Hiring" banners

Why the City Can’t 'Just Put a Trader Joe’s There'

The flawed logic behind an all-too-common planning misconception.

October 23, 2022 - Strong Towns

San Francisco Skyline

How Office Conversions Could Benefit San Francisco

The city could emulate Calgary, New York, and other cities in supporting office conversions as a way to boost floundering downtown economies and provide much-needed additional housing.

October 21, 2022 - San Francisco Chronicle

The Interstate 10 freeway cuts through residential neighborhoods in the city of Alhambra. Downtown Los Angeles is visible in the background,

The Consequences of Sprawl: Overcrowded Housing and Covid Deaths

Los Angeles is the nation's capital of both crowding and sprawl. A feature published by the Los Angeles Times provides the history of how the metropolis achieved this contradiction.

October 20, 2022 - Los Angeles Times

Nighttime view of downtown Columbus, Ohio over freeways with fast-moving traffic

Visualizing Columbus Before Freeways

A new project uses historical records to reconstruct what Columbus neighborhoods looked like before freeways displaced them.

October 19, 2022 - The Columbus Dispatch

Vacant lot in Chicago, Illinois with skyline in background

Chicago To Boost Vacant Lot Sales Program

The city hopes its incentives to buyers will help convert the thousands of city-owned vacant lots into housing, green space, or other productive uses.

October 19, 2022 - Bloomberg CityLab

Rendering of SPARC Kips Bay campus

$1.6 Billion Life Sciences Campus Headed to Manhattan

A $1.6 billion project will transform a city block into a health and sciences hub.

October 19, 2022 - Urbanize New York

Mission Bay and Potrero Hill

Caltrain Railyard Redevelopment Back on the Table in San Francisco

An incredibly complex development proposal for 20 acres of Caltrain railyard is back on the table, nearly a decade since it first made news in San Francisco.

October 17, 2022 - San Francisco Chronicle

New York City Open Streets

Cities Rethinking the Value of Parking

The effort to reclaim public and private spaces from car storage had some setbacks since the days of al fresco and open streets in the first years of Covid-19. But widespread parking reforms and new evidence shows the public is rethinking parking.

October 17, 2022 - Globe and Mail

View of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida barrier island

Hurricane Ian Puts Renewed Focus on Florida's Barrier Islands

Ian did not impact Southeast Florida, but coastal residents there took notice of the state's deadliest hurricane since 1935 that devastated much of Southwest Florida last month, particularly the barrier islands off the Gulf Coast.

October 14, 2022 - WPTV News

Downtown Berkeley, California with Bay Bridge and San Francisco skyline in background

When Nostalgia Impedes Progress

Urban design critic John King urges fellow Berkeley residents to embrace change and growth.

October 12, 2022 - Berkeleyside

Map with Peachtree Corners label

A Smart City Quietly Grows in Georgia

Peachtree Corners is putting the ‘smart city’ model into practice, taking a methodical approach to introducing new technology and autonomous devices.

October 12, 2022 - Politico

Photo of European road in medieval city

Parking and Sustainable Urban Mobility

Parking policy, and any potential change in it, is a highly contested issue in most cities. The integration of parking measures into a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) can help achieve long-term goals.

October 12, 2022 - Parking and SUMP - Using parking management to achieve SUMP objectives effectively and sustainably’

Still image of EPCOT city concept from Disney's 1966 promotional film

EPCOT: The Original 'Smart City'

What can today’s futurists learn from Disney’s unrealized utopia?

October 7, 2022 - Diana Ionescu

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.