Urban Development

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.

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.

Parking Requirements Eliminated in Cambridge, Massachusetts
A major zoning amendment was approved by the Cambridge City Council on Monday, October 24, 2022.

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."

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.

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.

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.

Why the City Can’t 'Just Put a Trader Joe’s There'
The flawed logic behind an all-too-common planning misconception.

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.

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.

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

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.

$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.

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.

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.

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.

When Nostalgia Impedes Progress
Urban design critic John King urges fellow Berkeley residents to embrace change and growth.

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.

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.

EPCOT: The Original 'Smart City'
What can today’s futurists learn from Disney’s unrealized utopia?
Pagination
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.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
City of Moreno Valley
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
City of Cambridge, Maryland