Community / Economic Development
'Greening the Ghetto'
Low income housing can also be green housing. A new trend in home design and community activism is giving even inexpensive housing a green sheen.
More Ways to Shrink
Drake Bennett rounds up a host of new ideas for cities like Detroit and Cleveland that are forced to consider how to manage their shrinking cities.
The Urban and Civic Impact of Daniel Burnham
A documentary airing nationally on PBS today looks at the work of Daniel Burnham and the emergence of the urban planning profession.
Cities With the Most Pedestrian Deaths
GOOD Magazine has an infographic illustrating the world cities with the most pedestrian fatalities per 100,000 residents. Unsurprisingly, 3 American cities are at the top of the list.
Cash for Clunkers Program A Dud, Say Economists
A new study says that the bump in sales brought on by the Cash for Clunkers program was immediately followed by an equal plunge in sales, effectively wiping out the economic benefit.
Temporary Autonomous Zones Alter Public Space in The UK
The increase in outdoor music festivals, guerrilla gardening, temporary restaurants, cinemas and pop-up shops are all examples of "a growing appetite for transforming our apparently prosaic, profit-led landscape into something else."
Building Business By Building Bike Lanes
Cycling activists in Vancouver are trying to tout the economic benefits of bike lanes to help build the case for a proposed separated bike lane.
The Year of the City at Burning Man
The annual arts festival Burning Man is underway in Northwestern Nevada. This year's theme of Metropolis highlights the event's city-like nature.
Dubai's Formula of Tax Free Economic Zones and Mass Tourism Doesn't Work
Joshua Hammer describes his visit to the financially straitened emirate where he found "deserted highways, empty hotel rooms, miles of unsold residential and office space."
Marketing Suburban Life To Gay Community
Berwyn, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, is running an aggressive marketing campaign to convince the gay community that their small city is a friendly and affordable place for them to live.
Meet the Geeks Re-Shaping D.C.
Planning nerd bloggers like David Alpert of Greater Greater Washington are finding that they can have significant influence in the world of D.C. planning and development.
Stealth Solar is Slowly Transforming Downtown Portland
In Portland, two examples of how stealthy implementation of solar-powered technology is changing the rhythm of daily life.
Could Your Next Tomato Come From A Former Best Buy?
Gene Fredericks wants to turn empty big box stores into hydroponic and aquaponic growing centers using the latest technologies.
Why Are There So Many Empty Lots?
Kids from Walt Whitman Middle School in Brooklyn wanted to know why there were so many empty lots around their school. The Center for Urban Pedagogy worked with the kids to understand why, and created a video document from what they found.
New York Passes Smart Growth Bill
Governor David Paterson signed The Smart Growth Public Policy Infrastructure Policy Act on Monday, which directs the state to invest in infrastructure in dense communities rather than sprawling ones.
Community-Supported Businesses on the Rise
Stacy Mitchell reports on the growing trend of micro-financing, where small business people turn to the local community to get the funding they need to open restaurants or small shops.
Google Creates Affordable Housing Fund
Google has invested $86 million in a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit fund to create 480 affordable rental housing units for low income families.
Recreating European-Style Cafe Life in America
In Portland, patterns of urban use are emerging that are similar to the European-style neighborhood bar as a community gathering place.
The Legacy of L.A.'s Former Planning Director
Gail Goldberg recently left the helm of the City of Los Angeles' City Planning Department. AIA Los Angeles takes a look back at her four-year tenure and the positive impacts she made.
Mapping Toronto's Class Divide
Richard Florida plots the geography of class on a map of Toronto to show the deep economic divisions at work in an almost "completely post industrial," city.
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
