Urban Development

Is Chicago The New 'Green' American City?

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, whose city has typically been recognized for its environmental leadership, recently visited Chicago to observe the pioneering work of Mayor Daley in implementing green building principles and gather new ideas.

March 21, 2007 - The Chicago Tribune

Rezoning L.A.'s Industrial Bones

Developers want to transform downtown L.A.'s warehouses, factories, and grimy commercial buildings to accommodate live-work spaces. Planners and activists want to stay the course -- they say needed jobs are at stake.

March 21, 2007 - The Los Angeles Times

From Bunkers and Barracks To Mixed-Use Housing

The Canada Lands Company refurbishes surplus military bases into New Urbanist neighborhoods.

March 20, 2007 - New Urban News

Home Sales Up In Detroit, Down in Suburbs

Although homes sales were down over 20% in some Detroit suburbs last year, the city itself saw a modest increase of 6%, and residential construction is at a 30-year high.

March 20, 2007 - The Detroit Free Press

Cabrini Green's Dying Breath

Though only a few towers remain from Chicago's notorious Cabrini Green housing project, new and old problems persist.

March 20, 2007 - The New York Times

Can A 'Zipper Zone' Reconnect Intown Memphis?

A top architect is advocating the use of zoning and urban design to transform a key urban thoroughfare into a "zipper" bringing together many of the city's top assets and neighborhoods.

March 19, 2007 - Memphis Commercial-Appeal

Harvard-Adjacent Neighborhood Holds On To Its Character

Even with the constant threat of Harvard's ongoing expansion and new attention from developers, the Riverside neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts, still manages to preserve its quirky atmosphere and charm, though affordability has declined.

March 18, 2007 - MIT Tech

Does Starbucks Belong In The Forbidden City?

One Chinese lawmaker is claiming the coffee chain's outpost in Beijing's Imperial Palace Complex, a venerable symbol of American capitalism, is tainting the national culture that the site represents.

March 17, 2007 - Forbes

University Hopes To Help Fight Traffic With Mixed Use Plans

Emory University hopes wants provide affordable housing for faculty and staff and tackle the area's traffic problem by building pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use communities on land near campus -- though some area residents aren't sold on the idea.

March 17, 2007 - The Sunday Paper

Friday Funny: When Your House Really Does Become An Island

A real estate company in Chongqing city, China, turns the home of a man who refuses to move into an island. [Includes a stunning photo.]

March 16, 2007 - Ananova

New Orleans Gives Green Light To Trump

The city council unanimously approved the real estate tycoon's plans for a 70-story hotel and condo tower.

March 16, 2007 - New Orleans Times-Picayune

The Nation's Up-And-Coming Neighborhoods

A list of neighborhoods heading towards gentrification in the nation's 10 largest cities aims to give homebuyers and investors a chance to get in before prices skyrocket.

March 16, 2007 - Business Week

Racing Towards Modernization, Vietnam's Past Is Threatened

Spurred by extraordinary economic and urban growth, Ho Chi Minh City is experiencing a building boom. But preservationists are worried about the danger to the city's priceless colonial era heritage.

March 15, 2007 - The Christian Science Monitor

Katrina Spurs Mixed-Use Boom In Baton Rouge

Many mixed-use projects have been popping up recently in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Many say this trend is fueled mainly by a population influx of New Orleans evacuees and new development incentives.

March 15, 2007 - National Real Estate Investor

Duany Advocates Putting A There There

During the conclusion of a recent charrette in Jackson, Mississippi, Andres Duany advised redevelopment and placemaking as the most important strategy for the struggling area.

March 14, 2007 - The Clarion-Ledger

Training Asia's Future Urban Planners And Leaders

The Asian Development Bank has partnered with the Singapore government on a new educational initiative to help improve conditions for poorer residents of the region's cities.

March 14, 2007 - People's Daily Online

Taking On Joel Kotkin

Michael Lewyn offers a thorough critique of Joel Kotkin's pro-sprawl, anti-urbanism arguments in the media.

March 13, 2007 - Congress For New Urbanism

New Urban Certification Process Moving Forward

The new LEED-ND program is seeking pilot projects to be certified under its new rating system, though developers of some greenfield New Urbanist communities worry the system will penalize them.

March 13, 2007 - New Urban News

UNOP Plan Works For New Orleans

Responding to recent criticism, Robert B. Olshansky and Lewis D. Hopkins, professors of urban and regional planning at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, argue that the United New Orleans Plan gets a lot more things right than wrong.

March 12, 2007 - New Orleans Times-Picayune

New Urban Investment Funds Catching A Wave

Pools of capital ebb and flow, but the tide may be starting to come in for smart growth and New Urbanist investment funds.

March 12, 2007 - New Urban News

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.