Exclusives

Greenwich Village street with red brick buildings with green awnings and businesses on first floor

FEATURE

Livable Streets, Revisited

The updated version of Donald Appleyard’s 1982 book Livable Streets, written by Appleyard's son, dives even deeper into the ‘ecology of the street,’ proposing actionable solutions for the conflicts and problems facing urban environments today.

February 26 - Bruce Appleyard

Washington Square Park, New York City

FEATURE

Reshaping Cities for Present-Day Populations

The demographic changes of the last few years give city planners and urban designers an opportunity to reimagine how public spaces can most effectively promote public health, wellbeing, and equity.

February 23 - Douglas C. Smith

View of blurry speeding cars on freeway at sunset

BLOG POST

Opinion: Induced Travel Demand Induces Media Attention

Induced demand is a popular concept among urbanists, but does its pervasiveness obscure the true costs of mobility?

February 22 - Steven Polzin

A button to start a car reads “2023 Start”

FEATURE

Planning Trends to Watch in 2023

The days and weeks since the arrival of Covid-19 have been filled with so much noise about the future, it’s been difficult to distinguish between big stories and frivolous distractions. Planetizen is here to help.

February 21 - James Brasuell

MacDougal Street

BLOG POST

Jane Jacobs and Zoning

Does the work of Jane Jacobs support restrictive zoning?

February 21 - Michael Lewyn


Waterfront walkway with benches and Detroit skyline in the background

FEATURE

Shaping a 15-Minute City Vision for Detroit and Cleveland Using Data-Assisted Modeling

How master plans in the two cities hope to transform their historic, and historically underutilized, waterfronts.

February 19 - Trevor McIntyre

Crosswalk leading to sidewalk and blank construction wall with pedestrian crossing light

FEATURE

The Responsibility of the Building to the Street

Structural engineers are responsible for ensuring that buildings do not fall over. Mechanical engineers must ensure that people inside can breathe. But what responsibility do building designers have to the street outside?

February 16 - Tristan Cleveland


Three planners or architects standing over a model of buildings and greenery and discussing

BLOG POST

How to Build an Urban Planning Consulting Business

Urban planners seeking independence through consultancy have an equal likelihood of success as a longstanding business. Here's how to get started.

February 14 - Devin Partida

View from behind young girl student wearing headphones and raising her hand as she attends online class with dark-haired female teacher on laptop in front of her

BLOG POST

Learning Loss and Urban Schools

Did urban students lose ground academically because of COVID? Yes, but no more so than suburbanites.

February 1 - Michael Lewyn

A map of the planned route of the Omaha Streetcar, as of January 2023.

BLOG POST

Warren Buffett, Streetcar Skeptic

Warren Buffett, bus service supporter?

January 31 - James Brasuell

Chicago Commute

FEATURE

The Right to Mobility

As we consider how to decarbonize transportation, preserving mobility, especially for lower- and middle-income people, must be a priority.

January 26 - Angie Schmitt

Congestion

FEATURE

Redesigning Streets for Livability: A Global View

An excerpt from the introduction of the recent book, “Streets For All: 50 Strategies for Shaping Resilient Cities,” edited by Vinayak Bharne and Shyam Khandekar.

January 18 - Vinayak Bharne

Streetscape in Chinatown, Washington, D.C.

BLOG POST

Density as a Scapegoat

Does compact development cause higher rents? No.

January 17 - Michael Lewyn

Close-up of black elevator panel qith square white buttons missing 13th floor, person pushing floor 9

BLOG POST

The Missing 13th Floor: How Ancient Fears Influence Modern Architecture

If you’ve ever looked closely at the elevator panel of a high-rise hotel or residential building, you’ve likely noticed something missing: a button for the 13th floor.

January 13 - Diana Ionescu

Parked electric scooters on a sidewalk with person walking bike in the background

BLOG POST

Small Modes Are Beautiful!

Active modes (walking, bicycling and their variants) and micromodes (e-bikes and e-scooters) can provide large climate emission reductions and other important benefits, if we let them. Small modes are important but often undercounted and undervalued.

January 13 - Todd Litman

Green roof in Rotterdam, The Netherlands

BLOG POST

Prioritizing Climate Change in Planning Projects

What should urban planners reconsider when engaging in sustainable development?

January 10 - Devin Partida

Two-lane street with pedestrian crossing island

PLANOPEDIA

What Is a Road Diet?

A road diet ‘trims down’ multilane roadways by reallocating street space to uses other than car traffic, improving safety for pedestrians, encouraging multimodal travel, and enhancing overall livability.

January 9 - Diana Ionescu

An e-bike is plugged into a public charger on a sunny day.

FEATURE

E-Bikes and the Bike Infrastructure of the Future

What will the future hold for cycling and bike infrastructure? With the introduction of e-bikes, the landscape of cycling, and even the definition of a bike, is changing.

January 9 - Eric Carlson

Single-family homes in a suburb of Dallas, Texas

BLOG POST

Is Exclusionary Zoning a Good Thing?

Some commentators defend exclusionary suburban zoning on the ground that it makes affluent suburbanites more willing to pay for public services. But does exclusion create losers?

January 3 - Michael Lewyn

Street in Paris Latin Quarter with row of bicycles, cobblestone street, and pedestrians

PLANOPEDIA

What Is a 15-Minute City?

The buzzword recently popularized by urbanists describes an urban form that dominated cities prior to the rise of autocentric planning.

December 28 - Diana Ionescu

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.

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.

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