Environment

New Oil and Gas Drilling in California May Be Subject to Moratorium
Gov. Gavin Newsom pleased environmentalists by doing what his predecessor, Gov. Jerry Brown, refused – halting all new oil and gas fracking and placing a moratorium on another extraction method linked to a massive oil spill in Kern County.

Public Art and Resilience Planning
A neighborhood in New Orleans, badly damaged after Hurricane Katrina, is providing a test bed for an innovative new approach to urban planning.

Sea-Level Rise Report: Bad News for South Florida
A climate change conference in Southeast Florida this week delivers bad news for communities on the coast in South Florida and in the Florida Keys. Some of those communities won't be saved as the receipts for climate change come in.

Water Concerns Follow New Development in Montana
Sprawling subdivision development in Montana is popping up in former agricultural land, pressuring water resources and leading to some legal controversy.

Winter Friday Fun: A Map of the Best Sledding Spots
There's a map of Boston that points out all the best sledding spots. It seems like there are millions of kids living in other parts around the country that could benefit from a sledding map of their hometown.

Infographic: The Cumulative Carbon Emissions of Every Country Since 1750
The U.S. is exceptional when it comes to carbon emissions—that much is indisputable.

Air Pollution, Visualized
The New York Times created a visualization of air pollution that allows comparisons between local conditions and the worst air pollution in the world.

How Can Cities Adapt to Rising Temperatures? Change the Weather
Brian Stone of the Georgia Institute of Technology writes about a recent article he co-authored in the Journal of Planning Education and Research.

L.A. County Plans for Electrification
Los Angeles County's Minh Le discusses the county's priorities for moving forward with recent technological advancements in solar and energy storage.

Another Ambitious Creek Daylighting Planned in the San Francisco Bay Area
The East Bay Regional Park District is planning to daylight Alder Creek in the Oakland Hills. Native fish and other species will benefit.

Happy Cows Use Virtual Reality to Pretend it's Summer
Here's one application of virtual reality we didn't see coming: happy cows and better milk.

24-7 Public Bathroom Pilot to Expand in San Francisco
An experiment in round-the-clock public bathroom access has proven successful, and San Francisco is expanding the program.

U.S. Land Use, SUVs Targeted in New U.N. Climate Change Report
The United Nations announces more bad news for the climate and the role of American society and culture in causing the destruction of the planet.

Arizona Mayors Want to Stay in the Paris Climate Agreement
The mayors of Tucson and Phoenix want Congress to block President Donald Trump from removing the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement.

Why New York City's Flooding Its Own Subway Entrances
MTA reassured disoriented New Yorkers that it's flooding subway entrances on purpose, to test barriers that it hopes will guard the system against another Sandy.

The Top Urban Planning Books of 2019
The decade wraps up with another engaging crop of highly readable and recommendable books on the subject of urban planning. There's a lot to learn, on many related subjects, among this year's top planning books.

Satellite, Launched Into Space Earlier This Month, to Measure Urban Heat Island Effect
A new satellite, currently residing on the International Space Station and scheduled for deployment in January, will measure and map the urban heat island effect of seven U.S. cities.

California's Priorities for Electrification and Resilience
CEC Chair David Hochschild shares the commission’s strategy for improving the current grid system and how California has been, and will continue to be, a global leader in clean energy innovation.

Santa Monica Designs Greenest Municipal Building in the World
Amber Richane, Project Manager for the city of Santa Monica's new City Services Building, on the city's commitment to building the world's most sustainable public building.

China's Global Power Play
China's Belt and Road Initiative, a massive program to develop infrastructure in dozens of countries worldwide, may be the largest construction project in history. Its benefits to host countries—and to China itself—remain far from certain.
Pagination
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