Landscape Architecture
Mapping Chicago's Growing Cornucopia of Urban Gardens
In Chicago, like in many cities, local food production comes in many forms, from small backyard crops to community gardens. Researchers are now using Google Earth to paint a more accurate picture of food production at different scales.
Good Urban Parks and Our Wellbeing
Broadening our definition of parks to recognize their role in preventative health care and promotion will only expand our awareness on how important they are to good neighbourhood design.
QueensWay: NYC’s Next High Line?
After 5 decades of abandonment, and recent inspiration from the much-lauded High Line, a rusty railway stretching three-and-a-half miles through central Queens may become NYC’s next elevated greenway.
Can a New Park Help Weave Together Divided Dallas?
Alan G. Brake looks at the ambitions of Dallas's newly opened Klyde Warren Park. Built atop a trenched highway, the park "attempts to merge sophisticated contemporary design with walkable urbanism" while uniting two downtown neighborhoods.
CA's First Experiment in Edible Landscaping Blossoms in L.A.
Angel Jennings reports on the opening of renovated Del Aire Park in unincorporated Los Angeles County, home to the state's first public orchard.
'Fleeting Paradise' Shows the Perils of Wetland Restoration
In the Bronx, three acres of newly planted wetlands were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. As New York seeks to fortify its coast, should it rebuild this 'Paradise in the Bronx'?
Rooftop Gardens Grow in China
As this video from The Perennial Plate, a web series about sustainable food, demonstrates, rooftop gardening is becoming a global phenomenon.
Ranking the Top Landscape Architecture Programs
The Dirt reports on the 2013 landscape architecture graduate and undergraduate program rankings published recently by DesignIntelligence.
A New Year's Eve Call to Action for Urbanists
We've known for decades the better ways to do things, for greater urban health, sustainability, resiliency, vibrancy and economic success. So this year, let's resolve to have the will and skill to get past the short-term politics, the rhetoric, the market momentum, and the financial self-interest that has kept our better solutions from being realized.
Slowly but Surely, L.A. Reclaims Its River
The opening of a half-mile trail along the Los Angeles River, after a decade of funding and construction snags, marks the latest step in the city's effort to reclaim its forsaken river as a public resource.
San Francisco Exposes Privately Owned Public Spaces
San Francisco's 1985 downtown plan required large new office and hotel developments to incorporate public spaces, but the city is only now updating the requirements and reinforcing the initial goal of opening up privately owned public spaces (POPOS).
Recapping a Notable Year in Landscape Architecture
Charles A. Birnbaum marks the milestones that have contributed to landscape architecture's growing stature over the past year.

New York's Next Post-Industrial Success Story?
Michael Kimmelman tours Fresh Kills landfill, once the world's largest garbage dump, and now a model for landfill reclamation and, unexpectedly, climate change mitigation.
Brooklyn to Apply Lipstick to Elevated Expressway Pig
Nicole Anderson discusses plans to create a "funderpass" to "ameliorate the awkward neighborhood divisions caused by the BQE." Are a catchy name and new amenities enough to mend the tear in the city fabric caused by the elevated expressway?
Bodybuilding Moves to the Playground
Haya El Nasser reports on the latest trend in park design: free public 'fitness parks' that feature exercise equipment "built to withstand the rigor of weather vandalism."

Top 10 Books - 2013
Planetizen is pleased to release its eleventh annual list of the ten best books in urban planning, design and development published in 2012.
Sand Dunes Prove Their Worth Along the NY Shore
Surfers, local businesses and residents alike rallied against kicking in $7 million for an Army Corps of Engineers plan to elevate beaches and erect sand dunes in Long Beach, NY six years ago. Post-Hurricane Sandy, most regret this choice.

Landscape Architects Step Into Vacuum Left by Planners and Architects
Landscape Architecture is a field in the ascendency, writes Alan G. Brake. Its rise can be traced to the inability of Architects and Planners to engage with some of the most important challenges of our time.
Will Minneapolis Finally Get its Signature Park?
Could the nascent plan for Gateway Park satiate Minneapolitans suffering from downtown park envy?
A High Line for the Upper East Side?
Matt Chaban reports on the making of “the Upper East Side’s very own High Line." Current proposals seek not only to "re-pedestrianize" Park Avenue, but also to restore some of its turn of the century glory.
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