History / Preservation

Tempe Historic Preservation Proposal Could Make it Harder to Build New Homes
Proposed changes to the city’s preservation ordinance would make two-thirds of the city’s housing stock eligible for preservation.

Former Brooklyn Sugar Refinery Reopens as All-Electric Office Tower
A historic building was reimagined as a 15-story office tower powered by renewable energy.

The Spectre of Shoddy Infrastructure
How a mythical creature is keeping the historical memory of the Silver Bridge collapse alive.

Historic Chicago School Building to Become Affordable Housing
The adaptive reuse project will create 50 income-restricted housing units and community amenities.

Mixed-Use Zoning in Waterfront Plan Attracts Controversy in Connecticut
Norwalk, Connecticut is figuring out how to balance the competing interests of development demand, public access, environmental risks, and historic preservation.

Capturing the Post-Pandemic City: The Power of 'Visual Prosecution'
Have you ever tried immersive photography to show how urban landscapes, with their ever-evolving stories, are changing post-pandemic? A three-time author of books about understanding the innate identities of urban places updates his perspective.

Exploring Urban Resurgence
In a wide ranging personal journey of interest to planners and interpreters of the built and natural landscapes, Chuck Wolfe weaves the interplay of the forces behind the everyday, providing fodder for problem solving in our cities and towns.

Conversions Eliminated Over 100K Housing Units in New York City
Apartment-to-house conversions are contributing to a net loss of housing in some of the city’s historic neighborhoods.

What Is the City of Tomorrow?
The City of Tomorrow is the English name given to an early work of urban design by Le Corbusier, who, throughout his career, evolved a concept of city planning firmly based in rationality and order.

How One L.A. Developer Uses the Law to Build Apartments
California’s density bonus law lets developers skirt some zoning regulations to build multifamily housing.

Google Shifts Real Estate Strategy to Adaptive Reuse
The company is moving away from flashy new campuses in favor of converting existing buildings with interesting histories.

Looking to the Middle East for Cooling Architecture
Cooling mechanisms built into traditional architecture offer lessons for U.S. builders as heat waves grow more intense.

Where Have all the Kit Homes Gone?
Buying a house through the Sears catalog was, for a brief historical moment, a popular and affordable way to become a homeowner.

The Most Influential Contemporary Urbanists
The 100 people making an impact on planning and cities today.

New Highways Are Still Tearing Communities Apart
Residents of a historic Black South Carolina town are being displaced by a road widening project.

Another L.A. Gentrification Story
New art galleries are moving into a neighborhood recently dubbed ‘Melrose Hill,’ prompting both derision and concern on the part of local residents.

The 100 Most Influential Urbanists, Past and Present
Planetizen readers have decided the who's who of urbanism (and its discontents) in 2023.

Pennsylvania Law Removes Obstacles to Blight Reduction
“We don’t need every old coal miner’s house” to stay standing, says Sen. David Argall (R-Schuylkill).

Vote for the Most Influential Urbanists, Past and Present
Readers sent hundreds of nominees for an updated version of Planetizen's Most Influential Urbanists list. Now's your chance to vote among 200 nominees.

Expanding Access to Golf in South Los Angeles
L.A. County’s Maggie Hathaway Golf Course getting up to $15 Million from U.S. Open Community Legacy Project to expand access to the sport in South L.A.
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