Community / Economic Development
Is Smart Growth a United Nations Plot?
Tea Partiers, anti-smart growthers and Wendell Cox all agree: Agenda 21, a United Nations program adopted in 1992, contains dangerous ideas that if implemented could damage economic growth and cement world government control over the U.S.
Envisioning a Less Suburban Long Island
The Long Island Index, a project to gather and present data about Long Island, has been studying the exodus of young people from their community. Now they're trying to do something about it with a new vision for the island.
Brooklyn Developers Embark On Race Into The Sky
Long the sole preserve of Manhattan developers, Brooklyn is now the setting for its own race to the sky. Two developers are planning to break ground next year on residential buildings that will loom nearly 100 ft over any of their predecessors.
LA Artist Reopens Derelict JC Penney As Art Complex
An LA based artist is about reopen a 100,000 square foot disused JC Penney as an arts complex in West Houston. The former West Oaks Mall anchor had been vacant for two years before becoming the focus of the new rehab concept.
Manhattan's Far West Side Rises From Olympic Disappointment
A vibrant neighborhood is rising on Manhattan's far west side, where the Stadium and complex would have been built as proposed by the New York's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games.
Washington DC Imagines Itself Without Transit
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is celebrating its 35th anniversary and is finding ways to ascertain exactly what the agency has brought to the region.
LA City Council Moves Closer To River Centric Development
The Los Angeles City Council last week approved an update to the Los Angeles River Implementation Overlay to encourage good quality river centric development and begin removing some of the concrete that covers the river and its banks.
Even or Odd? Rome Restricts Car Use
With pollution levels becoming dangerous in Rome, Italy, the government is taking a hard line on driving. In late November, only cars with even-numbered license plates were allowed to drive in the city, with odd plates the next.
What Is Christmas Without the Department Store?
Robert David Sullivan writes that the Main Street America department store is a holiday tradition, a grand public crossroads for celebrating the season.
How Local Manufacturing Can Rub the Rust off the Rust Belt
William Bostwick explores how locally-sourced, niche product manufacturing could help the Rust Belt rise.
London Taxi Drivers' 'Knowledge' Alters Brain Makeup
London requires more topographical knowledge of its taxi drivers than any other city in the world. Now researchers have found that acquiring 'the knowledge' required to gain certification physically changes a human brain.
New Study Finds Twitter Reinforces Place-Based Networks
A new study that explores the geography of twitter networks finds that rather than making place obsolete, their intensity can be predicted by location and proximity, suggesting they enhance location based relationships.
"Civic Action" Examines Art's Role In Development
The Noguchi museum in New York has asked four artists to take a crack at city planning by offering a new way of interpreting the construction of urban fabric. Martha Schwendener evaluates the results.
As Long as It's Flexible, No End for Urban Retail
Last week, a panel of retailers and developers discussed the challenges--and, ultimately, the keys to success--of urban retail. Susan Piperato reports.
The Apple Store: The City's "Seal of Approval"?
Apple stores are great revenue generators in cities, writes Brian Caulfield, but not just as a one-off. Customers tend to come back for more products and repairs, and the stores themeslves encourage plenty of cross-shopping nearby.
Ambitious Effort to Urbanize India
The Indian government is betting big with simultaneously building a massive high speed freight corridor between Delhi & Mumbai as well the physical infrastructure for 24 new cities that will become an industrial corridor.
Public Parks to Cover Highways in Hamburg
The City of Hamburg, Germany is planning on building elevated public parks on sections of the to-be-expanded A7 (Highway 7), which is considered one of the most important north-south connectors in Germany.
HUD Announces Sustainability Grant Winners
The 27 communities and regional planning organizations selected will receive a total $96 million to achieve their economic and environmental goals.
Town Builds Restaurant to Lure Chef
Pocomoke City officials have funded the construction of a restaurant and bar in their city with no tenant on the horizon - just hopes to attract a star chef and spur economic development downtown.
Urban Parks Go to The Dogs
According to a study by the non-profit Trust for Public Land, reporter Haya El Nasser says that dog parks are becoming the fastest-growing of city parks nationwide.
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.
EMC Planning Group, Inc.
Planetizen
Planetizen
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
