Urban Development

Denver Union STation TOD

How Form-Based Ideas Could Transform Community Planning

Let's discuss how community planning could be fundamentally reorganized to improve both efficiency and placemaking.

March 2, 2015 - Better Cities & Towns

Google Reveals Designs for New Headquarters in Mountain View

The design reveal is more than just a showcase for architects Bjarke Ingels and Thomas Heatherwick. The project also raises tough questions about how far suburban cities in the South Bay Area are willing to go to support the current tech boom.

March 2, 2015 - New York Times

Yuppies are home

Too Much Obsessing over Gentrification?

The recent glut of luxury development, gentrification, and high rents has been frequently condemned. But what factors affecting affordability might that discussion miss?

March 2, 2015 - New York YIMBY

Teotihuacan

Study: Ancient Cities Grew Much Like Modern Cities

Scientists from the Santa Fe Institute have discovered basic patterns underlying the way cities have always grown. The mechanics of "urban scaling" may have something fundamental to tell us about how large settlements evolve.

March 1, 2015 - Christian Science Monitor

San Diego Gaslamp District

Urban Planners Should Be More Like Party Planners

Urban planners like the nightlife. They like to boogie. But one researcher argues that planners should better understand how to balance the positive and negative effects of a bustling nightlife.

February 27, 2015 - Deutsche Welle

Nashville Turns to Inclusionary Zoning for Affordable Housing Relief

Nashville often gets left out of the national conversation about housing affordability and displacement. The challenge, however, has led the city's planning department to launch an effort to develop an inclusionary zoning policy for the Music City.

February 27, 2015 - The Tenessean

Money, Options Pour into Pruitt-Igoe in St. Louis—Are They Any Good?

The long shadow of 20th century urban renewal strategies color the debate over three potential redevelopment proposals for the site of the former site of the Pruitt-Igoe public housing complex on St. Louis' Near North Side.

February 27, 2015 - Next City

Cleveland Cavaliers Want the Public to Go 50-50 on Arena Renovations

The deal is not yet done, but the home team of the LeBronaissance, the most ostensible sign of Cleveland's resurgence, have reportedly asked Cuyahoga County officials to split the cost of an arena renovation.

February 26, 2015 - Northeast Ohio Media Group

Downtown Cincinnati

A Rust Belt Revival

The cities of the Rust Belt don't get much good news these days as they suffer the effects of de-industrialization. But things may be turning around in Cincinnati, where a major investment by General Electric may herald a downtown revival.

February 26, 2015 - New York Times

New Orleans Aerial

Q&A: New Orleans Planning is 'Visionary within the Envelope of Feasibility'

The following interview, as published in the 4th Edition of the Planetizen Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs, features Jason Neville, senior planner for the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority.

February 26, 2015 - Jason Neville

Coming Soon to Philadelphia's Center City: 3D Digital Advertisements

A Philadelphia City Council committee approved a controversial proposal to allow "Urban Experiential Displays" (i.e., large, 3D digital advertisements) in Center City.

February 25, 2015 - PlanPhilly

Cleveland Aerial

Developer in Cleveland Can Tax Patrons Directly

Lines between public and private blur as Flats East Bank takes on the mantle of a special tax district. If the measure goes through to completion, revenue will be used to fund public improvements.

February 25, 2015 - Cleveland Plain Dealer

Here's to the Winners of the Seaside Prize and to 'Attainable Housing'

Housing supply is offering up something that looks very different than what today's households want to buy.

February 25, 2015 - PlaceShakers

Report Finds Surging City Center Job Growth

For half a century, suburbs surpassed city centers in population and job growth. These economic and demographic trends appear to be reversing. America's cities have grown faster than outlying areas and new research that jobs are coming with them.

February 24, 2015 - Surging City Center Job Growth

Carmel Indiana Theater District

The Rise Of the Smart Growth Suburb

Most of the suburbs of the 20th century weren't designed to last more than a generation or two. As many suburbs decay, or get replaced by farther-flung rings of new bedroom communities, Carmel, Indiana is trying something different.

February 24, 2015 - New Geography

Mining the City

Rapid urbanization and climate change will make it harder for cities to provide crucial resources for their citizens. In this article, Arup consultants Amy Leitch and Laura Frost examine how the built environment can fill this emerging need.

February 24, 2015 - Arup Connect

Mumbai Slum

Allowing Higher Density to Fix Slums

Despite its economic dynamism, Mumbai is known for a lack of adequate housing. Citywide increases to maximum Floor Space Indices (i.e., Floor Area Ratios) will increase living space per resident, provided the right redevelopment takes place.

February 24, 2015 - Vox

Daytona Beach

Where Suburbs Outgrew Core Cities

In some places in the United States, mostly in Florida, some suburban cities have become the big kids on the block.

February 24, 2015 - Panethos

Dallas: City of Renters

The explosive growth of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area in recent years has mostly gone toward rental housing, and now the area has one of the lowest homeownership rates in the country.

February 23, 2015 - The Dallas Morning News

Community Support Lacking for Sound Transit's TOD Plans on Mercer Island

Development connected to a proposed light rail line through Mercer Island—connecting Seattle to the West and Bellevue to the East—has met staunch local opposition.

February 23, 2015 - The Seattle Times

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.