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.
Drinking The 'Downtown Revitalization' Kool-Aid
<p>Boosters like to sell downtown revitalization as crucial to a region's economic interest -- but for most cities, that's rarely the case.</p>
Friday Funny: To Prevent Global Warming, New Zealand Proposes 'Fart Tax'
<p>In New Zealand, its not so much people, but methane-producing livestock that's the problem. A revived government proposal would tax farmers for their animal's gas emissions.</p>
The Anti-Starchitect
<p>Boston architect Peter Kuttner's philosophy is increasingly rare in architecture circles these days. He thinks architecture should serve people.</p>
Houston Creates Its First Ever Historic District
<p>City officials moved to protect 33 acres of the Old Sixth Ward -- a historic mark for the city in its own right.</p>
The Left-Leaning NIMBY
<p>In Marin County and other wealthy, liberal enclaves, many residents are vocally supportive of affordable housing and other causes -- unless its in their neighborhood.</p>