Chicago
Massive Chicago Master Plan Bridges Downtown Chasm
A speculative master plan for Chicago's West Loop would add a new layer to downtown's complex multi-level weaving of street strata and infrastructure with a highway cap park.
Chicagoland Interventions Show the Value in Temporary Projects
Jared Green looks at some of the innovative projects recognized by Chicago's Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) for their ability to creatively transform blighted lots into community assets.
Architecture Firms Look to Hire; But Where Are the Qualified Candidates?
After five rough years, architecture billings are on a sustained upswing. In Chicago, where the number of employed architects dropped 33 percent between 2008-2011, this means firms are staffing up to meet a growing number of commissions.
How to Win at the 'Planning Game'
Julia Vitullo-Martin reviews Alexander Garvin's new book, "The Planning Game," which examines four case studies for lessons on how shrewd investments in the public realm can revitalize a city.
Chicago's Infrastructure Trust: A Guide for Funding Projects, or Building Bad Deals?
Tim Logan dives deep on Mayor Rahm Emanuel's bold plan to help fund Chicago's infrastructure improvements with private capital. American cities need new ways to pay for projects, but can a city with a history of making bad deals provide the road map?
Chicago Policy Shift Gives Pedestrians a Leg Up
With the coming release of Chicago's new Complete Streets Design Guidelines, the city is undertaking a "seismic policy shift" in how it evaluates all transportation projects: by making pedestrians the primary mode for consideration.
Planning Chicago: An Interview with D. Bradford Hunt and Jon B. DeVries
After decades of decline, Chicago is reveling in its resurgence as America’s hottest urban center and a “port of the global age.” However, these successes conceal a city struggling with increasing inequality and a planning culture “in retreat.”
Vision for Chicago Riverwalk Set to Get Big Check from Feds
An ambitious vision for transforming a six-block segment of the Chicago River into six themed recreation areas looks almost certain to become a reality now that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has promised the project a $100 million federal loan.
America's Largest Indoor Vertical Farm Opens in Chicago
Chicagoans sure take their urban agriculture seriously. While the city focuses on converting vacant land to farms in some of the city's struggling neighborhoods, entrepreneurs are doing the same indoors.
Chicago to 'Facilitate and Accelerate' Growth in Seven Promising Neighborhoods
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has identified seven city neighborhoods as "Opportunity Planning Areas" where public resources will be directed to help shape and accelerate nascent redevelopment efforts, reports Fran Spielman.
Urban Ag Incubator Seeks to Grow Farmers in Chicago
Lori Rotenberk reports on a new seven-acre urban “accelerator farm” announced yesterday by Mayor Rahm Emanuel that seeks to fill Chicago's farmer drought and deepens the city's investment in building its agricultural sector.
Bike-Share Spreads Across Sprawling Midwest
Bike-share is continuing its march towards world domination, with seemingly every large Midwestern American city now jumping on the bike lending bandwagon, reports Angie Schmitt.
Growing Disparities Belie Chicago's Bloom
Recent exultant headlines about downtown's astounding growth overlook Chicago's troubling bifurcation into two cities — "one where optimism abounds, one where hope and opportunity are hard to find," writes Marilyn Katz.
Urban Innovation Award Winners Announced
Providence, Rhode Island's vision for improving early childhood literacy has been selected as the winner of the Bloomberg Philanthropies' Mayor's Challenge, a nationwide contest seeking innovative and replicable ideas for improving cities.
Did Demolishing Chicago's Public Housing Make Residents Better Off?
With the demolition of notorious high-rise housing projects such as Cabrini-Green over the last decade and a half, Chicago became a model for a new approach to public housing. A new study tracks former high-rise residents to see how they've fared.
What Will it Take to Transform Chicago's Riverfront?
With dozens of riverfront revitalization projects completed across the world in the past couple of decades, lessons abound for how Chicago can best integrate its waterfront and downtown. Whet Moser considers three examples.
Are Visions of a Thriving Chicago River Just Pipe Dreams?
Engineering marvel, polluted sewer, magnet for development - the Chicago River has worn many hats in its day. For its next role, can it become an "example of environmental innovation and ecological stewardship"?
Seattle and Chicago Mayors Bicker Over Bikers
Back in December, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced his aim of attracting Seattle's bikers and tech jobs while opening a new protected bike lane downtown. Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn isn't taking Emanuel's entreaties lightly.
SimCity-Style Interactive Map Seeks to Make Zoning Understandable
In an essay for Next City, Juan-Pablo Velez, member of the Chicago-based civic tech collective Open City, explains the rationale behind their latest project, which aims to make the city's zoning "digestible by humans."
Housing Boom on Tap for Downtown Chicago; Will the Bubble Burst?
Alby Gallun looks at Chicago's downtown apartment boom, which is supposed to add 4,700 units to the market by the end of 2014. Will lenders allow the bubble to burst?
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
