Social / Demographics

Street Vendor

Street Vendors Rally for Rent Cancelation in Los Angeles

Street vendors gathered in front of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works in a May Day action to their make demands heard.

May 7, 2020 - Streetsblog Los Angeles

Coronavirus Protest

The Rush to Open: California is No Exception

California was the first state to require all residents to submit to a stay-at-home order, and it appears that Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to ensure it's not the last one to relax that order, regardless of whether it meets the federal guidelines.

May 7, 2020 - Los Angeles Times

Neighborhood Development Corporation

Viral Inequality and Climate Justice

Several cities have modeled an economic recovery that centers environmental justice. Political will is necessary to ensure a safer and healthier future for all communities.

May 7, 2020 - Joan Fitzgerald

Coronavirus Public Health

San Diego City Council President Champions Equitable and Inclusive COVID Response

San Diego City Council President Georgette Gomez discusses the critical value of providing accessible and factual information and resources to the city’s diverse constituents during this unprecedented public health crisis.

May 6, 2020 - The Planning Report

Cutout paper people on wooden table and artistic shadows

Social Distancing Is Not a Novel Concept

Initial research on social isolation as a method to combat contagious disease included a high-school science fair project modeling social networks. Doctors learned that the spread of disease could be decelerated by disrupting these networks.

May 6, 2020 - The New York Times

Coronavirus

Poll: One-Third of Americans Thinking of Moving to Less Densely Populated Areas

In the midst of the pandemic, Americans are expressing a new preference for less crowded spaces, according to the results of a Harris Poll conducted last week.

May 5, 2020 - Axios

Social Distancing

Report: Expect to Live with Two More Years of Social Distancing

As a majority of states relax stay-at-home restrictions, a prestigious team of experts from the University of Minnesota, Harvard and Tulane universities warns that the coronavirus will likely last 18 to 24 more months, returning in successive waves.

May 4, 2020 - CNN

Single-Family Homes

Owner-Renter Hybrid, a Viable Homeownership Alternative?

In the co-investing model, companies are part owners of homes. While this arrangement gives potential homebuyers more options, this isn’t a real solution to the country’s housing affordability crisis.

May 4, 2020 - The New York Times

Coronavirus Hygiene

Urban Planning Resources for COVID-19

Online misinformation has been unavoidable, but the Internet is also full of tools essential for understanding the changed world of COVID-19.

May 4, 2020 - James Brasuell

Los Angeles

In L.A., Coronavirus Increases Landlord-Tenant Disputes

Los Angeles renters are facing challenges in coming up with rent payments as unemployment rates continue to rise. As a result, police are responding to significantly more calls about conflicts between landlords and tenants.

April 30, 2020 - Crosstown

California

How Public Spaces Can Better Support Houseless Communities

Project for Public Spaces urges seven tangible actions for public space managers to support unhoused people during the coronavirus pandemic right now, and moving forward.

April 30, 2020 - Project For Public Spaces

East Harlem

Urbanism Pays the Price for High COVID Death Toll in New York and New Jersey

Opponents of dense housing and public transit have seized on the disproportionate death toll originating from the epicenter of the nation's coronavirus outbreak. Is it time for the leaders of New York and New Jersey to admit they acted late?

April 30, 2020 - Slate

Chicago River

COVID-19 and Big, Dense Cities That Aren't New York

As in metropolitan New York, big, dense cities don't always suffer from coronavirus to a greater extent than their car-oriented suburbs.

April 28, 2020 - Michael Lewyn

2019 National Planning Conference

Racial Equity, Starting With Planning Departments

A recent journal article argues for planners to lead on racial equity.

April 28, 2020 - Journal Of The American Planning Association

Coronavirus COVID-19

States to Train Public Health Armies to Move Beyond Mitigation to Containment

As some governors open nonessential businesses, subjecting workers and customers to potential viral infection, others move beyond social distancing to the next steps, boxing in the coronavirus with testing, contact tracing, isolation, and quarantine.

April 27, 2020 - The Washington Post

Manhattan, New York City, New York

Density Debate Rages Alongside the Pandemic

Questions about how highly contested questions about the future of the built environment will reference COVID-19 for years to come. The question about whether that debate will achieve any actual change is still very much up for debate.

April 27, 2020 - James Brasuell

Quarantine

Pandemic and the Ills of Age Segregation

Older generations have increasingly segregated over the past century-plus of U.S. history, and the pandemic is only one more example of why that's a problem for young and old.

April 26, 2020 - Bloomberg Opinion

California Shelter-in-Place

Census Bureau Launches Data Collection Projects to Track COVID-19 Effects in Real Time

Three new projects will help provide a better sense of the economic and societal effects of the pandemic.

April 24, 2020 - U.S. Census Bureau

Social Distancing

Coronavirus Spreading to the White, Trump-Voting Suburbs

The spread of coronavirus doesn't fit a tidy demographic narrative, according to new analysis by William Frey.

April 23, 2020 - Brookings

New York City Homelessness

Late Action, Local Opposition Frustrate Emergency Homeless Shelter Plans

Some progress, but not nearly enough, has been reported as California and its cities scramble to procure temporary shelters to house homeless people during the pandemic.

April 23, 2020 - James Brasuell

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.