Land Use
Buffalo to Get Form-Based Code
The Buffalo News praises efforts by Mayor Byron W. Brown to completely rewrite the city's 59-year-old zoning code. The Mayor's initiative, dubbed the Buffalo Green Code, would place a new emphasis on sustainability and walkable neighborhoods.
Planning for Development Around Boston's Rose Kennedy Greenway
The Boston Redevelopment Authority is looking to inject some life back into the area surrounding the relatively empty park atop the city's infamous Big Dig.
The Periodic Table of City Planning Elements
Break out the Bunsen burner: Ric Stephens has broken down the science of city planning into this handy chart of elements.
Jane Jacobs Missed the Mark on Density
Jane Jacobs is probably the most well-regarded writer on urban issues in American history. But, as economist Edward L. Glaeser argues, her stance on urban density is a little bit off-target.
Un-Eminent Domain Effort Fails
The city of Dublin, Ohio, is trying to un-eminent domain some land it acquired from a local landowner. The project it had seized the land for has since fallen apart, and the city now wants its $5 million payoff back.
The Rise of the Form-Based Code
There are nearly 300 form-based codes either enacted or in development across North America. New Urban News takes a look at the rising trend.
Some Say Tysons Corner Density Plans Create Too Many Disincentives
Citizens in Tysons Corner worry that plans to densify the city don't offer enough incentives to developers to come to town.
Why Toronto Will Never Be A Great City
Toronto Star architecture critic Christopher Hume writes that a recent controversy in the city over a proposed waterfront sports complex highlights why Toronto will never be a great city.
Why Burnham's Big Plan Worked
Aaron M. Renn reflects on the success of Daniel Burnham's plan of Chicago, and why. Perhaps it was the lack of government involvement in the planning process?
Adding Mixed Use to Cairo's Sprawling Suburbs
Developers in Egypt are looking to bring mixed-use developments to Cairo's sprawling suburbs.
Searching for the Antidote to Sprawl
A new web video series called American Makeover aims to find "the antidote to suburban sprawl." The first episode, now online, looks at Atlanta.
Could Detroit Feed Itself?
It may be one of the worst food deserts in the country, but Detroit has enough open land in the city's 103,000 vacant lots to become self-sufficient in terms of food production, argues Mark Dowie.
LEED-ND Officially Launches
LEED for Neighborhood Development, seen by many as a corrective to the green building rating system emphasizing sustainability at the neighborhood scale, is now official. Kaid Benfield was part of its creation, and has this report.
Planning to Improve Public Health
Public health was an early impetus for better urban planning. But over the years, it has faded into the background. This piece from Miler-McCune looks at how health concerns are moving their way back into mainstream planning.
Changing the World One Block at a Time
The neighborhood is the basic building block of human society, and successful efforts to make the world a better place often start right there, says Jay Walljasper.
Developers Spearhead Smart Growth Makeover
Rockville Pike, Maryland has grown haphazardly and auto-centrically for the past few decades. A group of developers has brought planners and politicians together to makeover the town with smart growth principles.
A Self-Sustaining Urban Fish Farm
The Massachusetts Avenue Project in Buffalo's West Side is an urban fish farm designed to be a completely self-sustaining ecosystem, with food for the fish grown on the premises.
Making Suburbia Sustainable
Peter Cock argues that Australia's suburbs can and should be transformed into more self-sufficient communities.
Concern for Properties Beyond Tysons Corner Metro Villages
Plans to build dense urban villages around the new Metro stations in Tysons Corner have some landowners on the fringes feeling left out.
A Precarious Playground
A new Parisian park would cause American parents to go apoplectic, with a precarious slopes and a lack of rubber bumpers. It is the latest incarnation of the "adventure playground, says Alexander Trevi of Pruned.
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
