Land Use
Toronto Asks: How Dense Is Too Dense?
A decade of high-rise condo construction has transformed Toronto's skyline. But it appears the sky's not the limit when it comes to more skyscrapers. A proposal to build three 80-story towers designed by Frank Gehry has sparked a debate over density.
One of the Nation's Fastest Growing Cities Wants to Gobble Up 8,000 More Acres
After waiting more than five years, Elk Grove, one of the fastest growing cities in California and the country, will soon learn whether it can expand its planning area by another 8,000 acres to accommodate more residents.
Great Streets Initiative is L.A. Mayor's First Executive Directive
In a keynote speech at the Urban Land Institute’s “Transit Oriented Los Angeles” conference, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the launch of a "Great Streets" program to coordinate work on, and investment in, "the City’s largest public space asset."
Putting a Price on Stigmatized Properties
Is your property the scene of a famous murder? Or perhaps a group suicide? Andrew Khouri profiles Randall Bell, a specialist real estate appraiser, who'll estimate just how much that "doom-and-gloom" is going to hurt your bottom line.
Is Stagnation the Only Alternative to Gentrification?
David Madden laments that our current debate over gentrification, whether bemoaning a loss of authenticity or trumpeting the good that trickles down, "doesn't do justice to everything at stake." He suggests how to reorient the discussion.
Regional Plan Recommends Three Elements for Creating a Thriving Northeast Ohio
Northeast Ohio's largest regional planning effort in a generation recommends infill development, transit expansion, and land conservation as the essential elements for ensuring the area's future success.
How a Railway Near the Bastille Revolutionized How We Think About Obsolete Infrastructure
Joseph Heathcott presents a historical narrative of the decline, revitalization, and gentrification of the Parisian neighborhood surrounding the Promenade Plantée and Viaduct des Arts, the pioneering repurposing of obsolete urban infrastructure.
What Will It Take to Move Detroit's Holdout Homeowners?
Marooned in an ocean of crumbling homes, declining city services, stray dogs, and crime, as many as 10,000 Detroiters live in areas that are unlikely to rebound. What incentives can the city devise to get them to relocate?
How Do You Plan a City for the Next 90 Years?
Planners in Copenhagen are bringing new meaning to the concept of long-term planning. A 10-person team is focused solely on envisioning how the city will adapt to the next 90 years of climate change.
A Mesmerizing Interactive History of the High-Rise
Told over four parts meant to evoke chapters in a storybook using films, photos, archive materials, text, and miniature games, this "Op-Doc" is a short masterclass in the 2,500-year global history of vertical living.
What Is a Place Without the People?
In an illustrated essay, Chuck Wolfe contrasts the ideal form of the New England town with an abandoned French village, calling out the human infrastructure essential to successful urban places.
Is the Urban Swing the New Thing?
From Austin to Copenhagen, swings of varying shapes and sizes are adding a bit of whimsy, refreshment, and visual interest to urban environments. And they're not just for children!
Why Walkability is a Civil Rights Issue
The NAACP is probably not the first advocacy group you think of when it comes to supporting walking and biking. But the civil rights organization encourages increasing physical activity in minority communities to help reduce childhood obesity.
Parking Lots to Become Pedestrian Paradise in Downtown L.A. Redevelopment
In what's being called "the largest downtown land acquisition since the recession", six acres of parking lots will be redeveloped as a $750-million mixed-use complex - continuing the astonishing transformation of L.A.'s South Park neighborhood.
Will Removing Buses Improve Downtown Pittsburgh?
The Port Authority of Allegheny County is moving forward with plans to remove buses and bus stops from Downtown Pittsburgh in an effort to decrease congestion on the streets and sidewalks. The plan is supported by the presumptive next mayor.
Could Minneapolis' Skyways Actually Enliven the City's Streetscape?
Although they've been derided by urbanists near and far, Minneapolitans overwhelmingly support the city's Skyways. James Corner Field Operations embraces the skyway system as a key element in its proposal for the city's Nicollet Mall Redesign.
New Law Could Grow Urban Agriculture Across California
Community gardens and small-scale farms could soon start sprouting in California's cities thanks to a new law that allows municipalities to lower property taxes on small plots of land in exchange for at least five years of agricultural use.
Recognizing Lively Urban Spaces as the Heart of Resilient Communities
Based on lessons from recent disasters in Chicago and New York, where lively urban spaces helped communities to survive and recover, Michael Kimmelman suggests that neighborhood libraries could be designed with such a purpose in mind.
Can Better Public Housing Forestall London's "Supergentrification"?
Owen Hatherley looks to the approach to public housing pioneered in the London boroughs of Islington and Camden in the 1960's and 70's for a solution to the capital's extreme gentrification.
Ten Years On, What Does Disney Concert Hall Say About Los Angeles?
As L.A.'s iconic Walt Disney Concert Hall celebrates its tenth anniversary, Sam Lubell ponders how its shimmering stainless steel skin reflects the city's approach to architecture and urban design.
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
