World
Global issues, U.N., etc.
Designing Cars for Future Megacities
With the global urban population on the rise and cities expected to become densely populated mega-cities, automakers are trying to design cars for future cities.
Activism and Architecture
Architects Anu Mathur and Dilip da Cunha say that activism drives their work: "Rather than waiting for a commissioned project, we ask the first question, frame the issue and propose possibilities," say the two in an interview with PLACES.
Can Color Make Bike Lanes Safer?
A Portland study shows that bicyclists feel 50% safer when biking in a solid blue bike lane rather than just the classic dotted line. Could color make that much of a difference?
Bike Highways, Boulevards, and Infrastructure
The idea of separated bicycle lanes is growing in popularity. Tom Vanderbilt at Slate looks at the increase in investment and attention to making room for bicycles and increasing safety so more people will ride.
The Flying Car is -- Finally -- Here
Decades of expectations appear to have been finally realized in the Terrafugia Transition, the world's first street-legal flying car.
Green Buildings Can Be Noisy
Post-occupancy studies lead by UC Berkeley Center for the Built Environment show that many green strategies result in less satisfactory acoustics.
Redesigning Cities for Better Mobility
A new project aimed at reducing car reliance in world cities has paired ten architects with ten cities to create a redesigned public space that encourages a mix of transit modes.
A Driveable Future
An auto company has a new design competition to imagine a future city that is car-friendly.
Are You a Narrative or Spatial Navigator?
Jarett Walker finds out how many people can recognize north in the subway. The survey is used to explain the distinction between narrative and spatial navigation, which appear to be the two predominant forms of human navigation.
City Data Visualization Tool Wins Journalism Prize
A visual city data mapping tool called CityTracking is one of the winners of this year's Knight News Challenge, a journalism competition that seeks out innovative communication ideas for the changing news media.
Buildings Alone Do Not Constitute Regeneration
The "Bilbao Effect" is the apotheosis of the notion that a struggling post industrial city can be regenerated through set-piece art and design. But Frank Gehry, the architect of the Guggenheim, suspects the gallery was only part of a larger gestalt.
Study Shows Mixed Use Reduces Car Travel More Than Density
Smart Planet talks with transportation researcher Reid Ewing about a new study he co-authored about how different development patterns can reduce auto use.
Radar Uncovers Ancient Egyptian City
Radar imaging has revealed the layout of a now-underground ancient Egyptian city named Avaris.
Community Gardens in the Corporate World
A new community garden on the Intel corporate campus in Hillsboro, Oregon is just one of many such plots that have been added to corporate sites across the country.
Locals vs Tourists Mapped Through Photography
Eric Fischer uses Flickr geodata to visualize where photos are taken in cities, and by whom. The result is a colorful divide between tourists and locals in a variety of cities around the world.
Cairo Opens Design Competition for Its New Pedestrian Center
Cairo is revising its downtown area into a "pedestrian friendly plaza." Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif will expand the successful 'daytime pedestrian zones,' and has launched an international design competition to produce a master plan.
The Nine Cities With the Best Hope of Becoming Carbon-Neutral
Popular Science gives a brief intro to nine cities that are setting the bar for the reduction of carbon emissions. The best U.S. site? The fortuitously-named Greensburg, Kansas.
As Developing Countries Urbanize, Food Booms
A new study shows that agricultural output in the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China will be three times as great as those in the developed world. Increasing urbanization is seen as one of the drivers of this growth
Goldman's New Headquarters in New York Conveys Sobriety
Goldman Sachs' new headquarters in New York is "modern but nowhere near the architectural cutting edge; neither cheap nor extravagant; and efficient without seeming merely functional." Paul Goldberger dissects the new Henry Cobb design.
City Logos for the Entire World
GOOD points to a new project that's trying to create and collect city logos for every city on the planet.
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
