Christian Madera
Christian Madera was managing editor of Planetizen from 2006 to 2008.
Contributed 1912 posts
Christian Madera was managing editor of Planetizen from 2006 to 2008. He currently lives and works in Hong Kong.
Christian has written about urban planning, policy and technology issues for the Los Angeles Times, Planning Magazine, The Southern Sierran, and Next City Magazine, where he was a 2010 Urban Leaders Fellow. His past experience includes working as a community planner and the web and new media manager for the National Capital Planning Commission in Washington, DC, as well as a policy analyst for a non-profit housing developer in Los Angeles.
Prior to joining Planetizen, Christian worked as a program manager for the China Planning and Development Institute in Shanghai and Beijing. Christian also spent three years as a web developer at Urban Insight, the internet consulting firm that supports Planetizen, and contributed significantly to the development of Planetizen from 2000-2003. He has interned and consulted with a number of governments and non-profit organizations, including the Port Authority of NY/NJ, the Rockefeller Foundation, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), NYU Rudin Center for Transportation Policy, New Jersey Future, the City of Newark, NJ, and the CUNY Building Performance Lab in New York City.
Christian holds a BS in urban planning and development from the University of Southern California's School of Policy Planning and Development, and an MPA from the Woodrow Wilson School of International and Public Affairs at Princeton University.
12 Distinctive Destinations For 2007
<p>The National Trust for Historic Preservation has published its annual list of twelve unique communities with a commitment to preservation.</p>
America's Homebuilders Still Not On The Green Building Bandwagon
<p>Even with all the interest in green building, most large scale homebuilders are weary of incorporating green building practices, citing consumers' lack of willingness to pay more.</p>
The Future Of Smart Growth In A World Gone Green
<p>This week, I came to the Planetizen office to find that I had received a package in the mail containing a matching set of men's and women's athletic socks. After opening the box, I learned that these were not ordinary socks – which are manufactured from petroleum derived synthetic fibers – but from a new type of fiber made from corn (which, along with soybeans and bamboo, seems set to become one of the most versatile substances of the 21st century). I'm not really sure why I someone thought I should receive a few pairs of corn-fiber socks (perhaps they knew I'd blog about it), but it did seem to me to be another symbol of how the world is slowly but steadily entering a bold, new, eco-friendly future.</p>
A Plan For Helping Second-Tier Cities Prosper
<p>Commentator Neal Peirce argues that the nation's second-tier cities can indeed grow and prosper in partnership with leading metro areas, if we only give them a chance.</p>
San Diego Neighborhood Wrestles With Student Housing
<p>Entrepreneurial students-turned-developers are turning houses into dorms around San Diego State University to meet the growing demand for affordable housing, but neighbors want the city to crackdown on the practice.</p>