Technology

Meet the New Generation of Trains Built for Florida's Brightline
Wired takes a tour of a Siemens factory in California tasked with the task of building the rolling stock for the forthcoming, privately-funded Brightline train line in Florida.

The Rise of the Smart City
It seems like behind every corner is a smart city waiting to happen. WNYC investigates.

Lessons for Urban Planning in 2016—From SimCity 2000
A tech writer had a chance to revisit SimCity 2000 after years away from the game for contemporary lessons in planning.

Preparing for Automated Vehicles: Recommendations From NACTO
The National Association of City Transportation Officials has spoken out on the ned to begin preparing for a future of automated vehicles.

Planetizen Week in Review: June 24, 2016
The biggest news stories of a big week in planning and land use—all in just over two minutes.

Tips for Transit in the Age of Uber
Hate it or love it, Uber has changed the transportation game across this country. To boost ridership and change its public image, transit should consider taking some cues from the rideshare giant.

Summer Is Here—and So Are 'Smart Beaches'
A group of "citizen data scientists" produced a predictive analytic model that offers citizens better information about water quality on beaches along Lake Michigan in Chicago.
Smart City World Congress 2016 is Cities for Citizens
After the huge success of the 2015 edition, with more than 14,000 visitors and 105 countries attending the show, Fira de Barcelona readies the sixth edition focusing on citizens and the circular economy.

How Self-Driving Cars Could Lead to More Sprawl
Much of the focus on the potential of self-driving cars to effect change in the built environment has focused on dense, urban environments. But what is self-driving cars mostly enable continued outward expansion?

Map-Correcting App Shows 'The True Size Of' Places
Typical world maps badly misrepresent the size of countries; a new web app shows their true scale.

A Lack of Action Despite Evidence of Safety Risks Posed by Digital Billboards
The Eno Center for Transportation lays out a clear appeal for action to regulate the time, place, and manner of digital billboards.

Boston-Uber Data Partnership Falling Short of Expectations
A data-sharing partnership announced in January 2015 has so far produced underwhelming results.

7 'Smart Cities Challenge' Proposals
The Washington Post details each of the seven proposals competing for $40 million in the U.S. Department of Transportation's Smart Cities Challenge.
Did Amazon Really Just Create a Pop-up Homeless Shelter?
As cities around the U.S. scramble to figure out how to address the housing affordability crisis, one of them has now leaned on the benevolence of what some consider the least benevolent of them all.

Planning After Big Data and the Internet of Things
The exact moment when new digital and Internet technologies fundamentally changed the practice of planning is debatable, but that the profession has been irrevocably altered is not debatable.

Bike Advocates Hone Data Tools
NextCity surveys a variety of new data-collecting technologies meant to clarify the impacts of bike and pedestrian infrastructure projects.

Mapping Tool Enables Housing Action in Detroit and Beyond
A web tool that helped Detroit develop a housing plan may ultimately provide public data on every parcel in the country.

Waze vs. Residential Neighborhoods
Accounts of disgruntled residents responding by any means necessary to the flood of cars beckoned by the whims of navigation apps like Waze are spreading across the country.

Yelp for Transit? San Francisco Will Give it a Shot
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency will invite ratings from transit users via the existing MuniMobile app. That's brave.

Electric Cars Hit the Million Mark
The worldwide stock of electric cars hit an impressive, if still superficial, milestone in 2015: one million electric cars currently on the road around the world.
Pagination
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