Urban Development
California 'Coconut House' McMansion Wins AIA Award
Architectural award bestowed upon an eco-friendly California McMansion in a neighborhood of bungalows.
Smart Growth Threatens City's Character
Pasadena residents say new denser mixed-use development is threatening the character of the city.
Scotland Looks To Reform Planning Practices
Scotland may be on the cusp of overhauling its planning practices, which are now seen as cumbersome, exclusive, and outdated.
New York City's Affordable Housing Wizard
Shaun Donovan, commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, is winning cheers for his innovative thinking as he works to meet the city's ambitious housing goals.
Downtown Shopping Malls Are Ripe For Expansion
Bloomingdale's opening in San Francisco on Sept. 28 is just another sign of major retailers investing in downtowns despite the higher costs.
Florida Residents Sue To Prevent Eminent Domain
A day after Riviera Beach contracted with a developer for hotels, condos, marinas, shops and a new harbor, and 4 months after Gov. Bush signed a law outlawing government seizure of land for private development, 4 property owners filed a suit.
Charlotte Hopes For Transit-Oriented Development
While the city's light-rail system is plagued with construction delays and cost overruns, developers are waiting in the wings with plans for urban transit villages along the line.
Sprawl Isn't The Answer For Affordable Housing
An editorial from a building industry leader criticizes the Australian government's simplistic thinking on increasing the production of affordable housing.
A Smart Growth Olympics?
Chicago area boosters are touting their plan for a "compact games" as they bid for the 2016 Olympics.
Who's Rebuilding New Orleans?
The reconstruction of New Orleans is also reconfiguring the city's demographics.
A Boston Architectural Icon Turns 30
Despite a rocky start, the 30 years old John Hancock Tower has become Boston's greatest example of modern architecture.
Promoting Green 'Rebuilding' In New Orleans
The winning of a housing design competition sponsored by actor Brad Pitt end environmental non-profit Global Green USA demonstrates how eco-friendly architecture can remake New Orleans.
Public Housing Community Goes Green In Seattle
A drab World War II-era public housing project in Seattle has been replaced with what local officials hope will be an environmentally- and economically-sustainable community.
Detroit's Lafayette Park: An Urban Renewal Success Story
Designed in the 1960s as part of a wave of largely unsuccessful urban renewal projects across the U.S., this continuously thriving mixed-income and racially integrated community just east of downtown Detroit stands as a model of good urban design.
The Manhattanization Of Toronto
With the city mostly built out, and more residents looking to live in the urban core, Toronto planners and developers are busy building the city upwards.
Will New York City Go On A 'Zoning' Diet?
Following in the footsteps of cities in California, Michigan, and Massachusetts, the New York City Council majority leader is throwing his weight behind a proposal to restrict the number of high-calorie, fast-food giants in the city's neighborhoods.
A Major Setback For Atlanta's Beltline Project
Atlanta's proposed transit and recreation loop using largely abandoned rail lines as a spur to economic development was dealt a damaging blow as a suburban developer backed out of plans to build condo towers along the line.
A Clash Over Sustainable Design For Vancouver Olympics
Planners and developers are clashing over the design of Vancouver's Olympic village for the 2010 games. Some say the developers haven't gone far enough to achieve the 3 E's of sustainability.
Sea Of Sameness
This column from the UK's New Statesman bemoans the drab similarity of English towns. A report concludes that 42% of the nation's town's are essentially 'clones'.
ULI Honors Peter Calthorpe With Nichols Prize
Peter Calthorpe, an early pioneer of the new urbanism and smart growth movements, recently received the prestigious J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development by the Urban Land Institute.
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
