World

Global issues, U.N., etc.

Traffic

Opinion: Car Culture Will Shift in the Next Decade

Cars and vehicle emissions are undoubtedly central to the climate change problem. The solution, however, might not be cleaner vehicles but rather a drastic change in our relationship to automobiles and driving.

January 6, 2020 - The Guardian

Renewable Energy

Global Cost of Transitioning to 100 Percent Renewable Energy: $73 Trillion

A report by researchers from Stanford University says the cost of transitioning the world to entirely renewable energy production would pay for itself in seven years and add a net positive amount of jobs measured in the millions.

January 3, 2020 - Yale Environment 360

Public Comment

What the Academic Literature Says About Civic Engagement

A literature review notes three big themes and challenges to emerge from a year's worth of intellectual investigation of civic engagement.

January 2, 2020 - Data-Smart City Solutions

2010s

New Decade Eye Candy: The Decade in Photographs

National Geographic shared a list of 15 of its best images captured during the 2010s.

January 1, 2020 - National Geographic

Jeff Bezos and Donald Trump

Watch: Urban Planning in the 2010s

A first draft of the urban planning history of the 2010s.

December 31, 2019 - Planetizen via YouTube

Transit Insights

Top Urban Planning Websites – 2019

Planetizen's annual list of the best of the planning Internet gives a taste of the technological and editorial milieu of the urban planning Internet at the beginning of a new decade.

December 31, 2019 - James Brasuell

A ferry boat returns to Seattle

Washington State to Transition to Battery Electric Ferries

Washington's largest diesel emissions polluter will transition its fleet to diesel-hybrids and then to battery-electric propulsion to comply with Gov. Inslee's emissions-reduction executive order which will also please the orcas in Puget Sound.

December 29, 2019 - Greentech Media

Vote

The Most Popular Urban Planning Articles of 2019

The most-read news, features, and blogs on Planetizen in 2019.

December 27, 2019 - James Brasuell

Panama City Rainforest Fog

Land Use Patterns Connected to Biodiversity Crisis

As many as 1 million species are at risk of extinction if the world, including planning professionals and politicians, doesn't make big changes.

December 24, 2019 - Vox

Green Hydrogen, Plus Storage, Key to Los Angeles' Plan for Carbon-Free Electricity

The Los Angeles municipal utility will convert a Utah coal power plant to run on natural gas in 2025. According to a proposal unveiled Dec. 10, the plant will incrementally be converted to run entirely on hydrogen, a zero-emission fuel, by 2045.

December 22, 2019 - Utility Dive

Alternative Transportation

Electric Bicycle Sales Will Outpace Electric Vehicle Sales Until 2023, Report Predicts

The world, including the United States, could be entering a new era of personal mobility.

December 21, 2019 - The Verge

Car Graveyard

3 Ways to Overcome a Century of Car-Centric Planning

The consequences of car-centric planning are clear, a century after cars took over streets and lives across this country. According to this article, so to is a new way forward.

December 21, 2019 - Citymetric

Mobility App

Watch: Lessons in Regional Mobility-as-a-Service Programs

The Eno Center for Transportation presents a 30-minute webinar, available on YouTube, to explore the cutting edge of Mobility-as-a-Service programs, with specific attention to regional programs.

December 20, 2019 - Eno Center for Transportation via YouTube

Fracking

Gov. Newsom's Phase-out of Oil Production Prompts Backlash in Kern County

Almost 80% of oil extraction in the nation's sixth largest oil-producing state occurs in Kern County. Supervisors see the California governor's climate plan to reduce oil production as a threat to the county's economic well-being.

December 17, 2019 - The Bakersfield Californian

College Students

Innovative Planning Curriculum Awarded

Winners of an annual award for innovation in planning curriculum were announced earlier this year, and applications for 2020's award will be open until February.

December 16, 2019 - Land Lines

Ben Carson

The Decade in Urban Planning

A look back at the biggest stories and themes from the world of urban planning in the decade that was the 2010s.

December 16, 2019 - James Brasuell

Lisbon, Portugal

What Can Brain Science Tell Us About Cities?

Cities are not unlike brains in their capacity to evolve along complex, self-organizing patterns. Studying what some researchers call the "urban connectome" may give us insight into how best to organize the places where we live.

December 15, 2019 - CNU Public Square

Equity in Public Spaces

Earlier this year, the Project for Public Spaces published a "Playbook for Inclusive Placemaking."

December 13, 2019 - Project For Public Spaces

Wildfire Smoke

How Suburbs Can Help the Climate Fight

Rethinking the "brutalscape" of infrastructure that supports the suburbs could be the key to the evolution of suburbs.

December 11, 2019 - The Conversation

NOAA Satellite Fires

Songs About Places 2019

Songs about dystopia and catastrophe are impossible to avoid this year, but "Old Town Road" could be the path to redemption. Managing Editor James Brasuell assembled a Spotify playlist on songs about places from 2019.

December 11, 2019 - James Brasuell

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.