Urban Development

Dallas to Address Inequity in New Land Use Plan
The ForwardDallas plan is part of the city’s effort to make address exclusionary zoning practices, increase affordable housing for all residents, and bring essential businesses and services to more areas.

Texas Cities’ Office Vacancy Rates Close to Double New York, San Francisco
A glut of office buildings in the pro-development state is leading to some of the highest vacancy rates in the country, even as population growth spikes.

Finding Beauty in Adaptive Reuse
The summer issue of Metropolis Magazine calls on designers to embrace the beauty in circularity.

New Book Analyzes America’s Poorest Communities
The similarities between the nation’s most disadvantaged areas, often rural, reveal the economic patterns that lead to chronic poverty.

How the Informal Economy Can Build Resilience
Building sustainable, equitable cities of the future, must take into account the important and often overlooked tasks performed by informal workers.

Bringing Planning Back to the People
Has the profession given in to corporate interests, and is there another way forward?

Seattle Passes Downtown Zoning Reforms
The changes, part of the mayor’s Downtown Activation Plan, make way for more residential development in the city’s downtown core.

Why Brand New Cities Won’t Solve Our Urban Problems
Building cities takes time and resources. Why not spend them on fixing the ones we have?

Could an ‘Urban Innovation Lab’ Spur Downtown Revitalization?
In his fifth article for GeekWire, Chuck Wolfe asks whether an onsite “living lab” could spur more entrepreneurship and impact downtown regeneration in Seattle.

Kaua’i County Uses Long-Range Models to Mandate Resiliency Standards
The county requires builders to assess potential flood risks using models that account for sea level rise projected as far out as 2100.

Opinion: After Rent Stabilization, More Action Needed to Make Housing Affordable
Montgomery County just passed a slew of regulatory and legislative changes aimed at improving affordable housing. One writer suggests several more.

How College Campuses Fulfill an Urbanist Dream
Most college campuses in the United States are inherently walkable, mixing various uses with diverse housing options and transit networks.

Ending Downtown San Francisco’s ‘Doom Loop’
A new public space project offers an ambitious vision—so why is the city implementing it at such a small scale?

Does Branding Play a Role in Redevelopment?
One Denver neighborhood’s massive redevelopment project includes a branding element. Is it necessary?

Harnessing Data for Community Development
Using data and insights encourages the development of a community, offering an evidence-based strategy to directly address the needs within.

Blockchains Inc Wanted a Massive ‘Smart City’ in Nevada but Couldn’t Muster the Water Rights
California Forever isn’t the only tech-investor-driven mega-project to make news in recent weeks. Blockchains Inc had designs on remaking a massive swath of land near Reno until water got in the way.

The Resiliency of Urban Wildlife
A wide-ranging research study highlights the various qualities that make animal species living in urban environments thrive—and how biodiversity improves the health of our cities.

Converting Golf Courses to Housing Never as Easy as the Market Would Like
Thousands of golf courses have closed in recent years, but the obvious redevelopment opportunity represented by many defunct courses isn’t always easy to realize.

Book Excerpt: Inclusive Transportation: A Manifesto for Repairing Divided Communities
What is your transportation story?

As Rural Areas Grow, So Do Tensions
The influx of new households to rural communities is driving up housing costs for existing residents and straining local infrastructure, sparking difficult conversations about future growth.
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