Social / Demographics

Main Street

Is There a Perfect Density?

This post offers a critique of claims that there is an ideal, "Goldilocks density."

August 14, 2017 - Michael Lewyn

Aurora, Colorado

Aurora Rising

This rapidly diversifying community is one to watch as planning for cultural inclusion, social equity, and environmental sustainability become priorities for the American city.

August 14, 2017 - Dean Saitta

Newark

Ensuring Newark's Revival Doesn't Make it the Next Brooklyn

New Jersey's largest city is celebrating a downtown revival, but city leaders want to ensure that Newark avoids the displacement that often accompanies revitalization.

August 12, 2017 - The New York Times

Penn's Landing

Identifying the Populations Most Vulnerable to 'Extreme Heat Events'

New research published in Applied Geography is a first step toward planning for the resilience of vulnerable populations as the heat rises in urban areas.

August 11, 2017 - Scientific American

Seattle

New Levels of Car Dependence Follow Seattle's Growth

By any measure, Seattle is growing at a breakneck pace. But with those new residents come cars, and all the infrastructure and land use inefficiencies they bring.

August 10, 2017 - The Seattle Times

Homeless Bans

California Cities Continue to Criminalize Homelessness with RV Bans

Coastal cities are taking a no-tolerance approach to RVs on their streets, even as they otherwise strive to mitigate and prevent homelessness.

August 7, 2017 - Pacific Standard

Downtown Detroit

Detroit's Future

By 2040, Detroit will be bigger, more urban, older, and whiter predicts a report from the New Urban Institute that looks at trends, challenges, and assets of the Michigan city.

August 4, 2017 - CityLab

City Hall

Impacts of AVs and E-Commerce on Municipal Budgets

A new report from Urbanism Next/SCI takes you through a city’s budget—both revenues and expenditures—and describes the areas that will be affected as AVs become commonplace and e-commerce takes on an even larger role in retail

August 4, 2017 - Urbanism Next

Arizona Suburb

On Poverty's New Suburban Look

Author Scott Allard debunks lingering myths about how people experience poverty in cities. Poverty's suburbanization, he argues, has more to do with the loss of jobs than migration from "inner cities."

August 3, 2017 - CityLab

Olympic Stadium

Quebec Olympic Stadium Now a Shelter for Asylum Seekers from the U.S.

The government of Canada is scrambling to build a policy in response to growing numbers of asylum seekers crossing the border between the United States and Canada.

August 3, 2017 - The Globe and Mail

Chicago Riverwalk

Chicago Deeply Segregated, if Slightly Less So Than in the 1990s

A Chicagoan working at a downtown library noticed her black coworkers all tended to head home to the South Side after work while her white coworkers went north. She asked Chicago's Public Radio station (WBEZ) if the city was becoming more segregated.

August 2, 2017 - CNN

Brisbane, CA

Using Satellite Imagery, This AI Traces Urban Wealth

Penny is an artificial intelligence program that detects affluence from space. It also lets users experiment with how different visual forms affect its perception of an area's wealth.

July 29, 2017 - CityLab

The old and the new

The Full Story of Detroit's Decline: The Shunning

The decline of Detroit can't be completely explained by the decline of the U.S. auto industry, according to an editorial commemorating the 50th anniversary of a five-day period of rioting and protest that resonates to this day.

July 28, 2017 - Forbes

Art in the Face of Gentrification

Art and culture tend to be integral to helping disenfranchised communities self-identify, develop their identities, and organize around place-based issues. But its presence can also be used be used by real estate interests to market neighborhoods.

July 27, 2017 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

Environmental Protection Agency

How Long Will the Office of Environmental Justice Last in Trump's EPA?

Does environmental justice need its own office to help vulnerable populations impacted by pollution, or can all divisions within the EPA address the issue? The Office of Environmental Justice, established in 1993, may be shut down.

July 26, 2017 - ProPublica

Abbot Kinney, Venice

Coffee With Your Gentrification?

The Los Angeles Times published a pair of incendiary articles this week in which coffee plays an integral role in the conversation about gentrification.

July 20, 2017 - Los Angeles Times

Governor Larry Hogan

U.S. DOT Won't Investigate Potential Civil Rights Violation on Baltimore Red Line Cancellation

In the waning days of the Obama Administration, the U.S. Department of Transportation saw reason to investigate the civil rights implications of a decision to cancel funding for the Baltimore Red Line light rail project.

July 18, 2017 - Streetsblog USA

Atlanta BeltLine

An Investigation of Affordable Housing Failure on the Atlanta Beltline

An investigative collaboration between the Georgia News Lab and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has produced a scathing critique of Atlanta Beltline Inc., the organization shepherding one of the nation's most ambitious public works projects.

July 18, 2017 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Anti homeless bench

Booming Downtowns Are Squeezing Out Homeless Shelters

In downtowns across America, booming development has come at the expense of crucial homeless services that have traditionally located there.

July 17, 2017 - CityLab

Uptown Oakland

The Roots of Racial Transition

In some American cities, the white population is growing while the black population is declining. Is this a result of gentrification or of black upward mobility?

July 17, 2017 - Michael Lewyn

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.

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.