World
Global issues, U.N., etc.

Still No Flying Cars: The Underwhelming Progress of Autonomous Vehicles
While we're still far from a Jetsons-style reality, understated autonomous features could be the key to safer transportation.

Watch: Electric Cars and the Grid
The YouTube channel Engineering Explained takes on one of the big questions in a post-fossil-fuel transportation future.

California-Style Rolling Blackouts Come to Texas
As bad as the power outages are in Texas, they would be much worse if the independent energy grid operator hadn't initiated rolling blackouts. In an extensive interview with CBS Austin, Bill Magness, the head of ERCOT, explains what went wrong.

Are We 'Rounding the Corner' in the Pandemic?
All the coronavirus data is moving in the right direction in most of the U.S., yet 130,000 additional Americans are projected to die from COVID-19 by June according to one widely used model.

Defining the Buzzword: What's a 15-Minute City?
What does it mean to be a 15-minute city?

Will Israel Show Us the Way Out of the Pandemic?
If vaccinations are key to ending the pandemic, Israel may get there first as it has the highest rate by far of any nation. Paradoxically, it also has the world's second-highest rate of daily new COVID-19 cases.

For the Birds: Why Designing for Birds is Good for Everyone
A new book spotlights how bird-friendly design makes for healthier and more pleasant cities for all species.

Awaiting the Mutant Storm(s)
Coronavirus infection, hospitalizations and most recently, deaths, are declining, but public health experts warn that more transmissible variant strains of the coronavirus threaten to overwhelm hospitals in the next few months.

Repositioning Black Urbanists in the History of Planning
The history of planning is dominated by a few iconic figures—all white.

Planning Trends to Watch in 2021
The nation is now tasked with the challenge of changing course in the middle of multiple, global crises. The necessity of finding a way to overcome the failures of the past and lay the groundwork for a new kind of future has never been more clear.

Post-Pandemic: Living with COVID
With coronavirus Infections decreasing and vaccinations increasing throughout the nation, health and science reporters are writing about what the end of the pandemic may look like—from a disease perspective.

Riding in Cars with COVID-19
Research suggests maximizing airflow during shared car rides vastly reduces the risk of transmission.

An American Lockdown
Words matter. Road safety advocates know that "crashes are not accidents." Similarly, calling coronavirus restrictions "lockdowns," fails to distinguish the severity among public health orders. On January 6, America experienced a true lockdown.

Expert Voices 2021: What Will Be the 'New Normal'?
Impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic are reverberating through cities around the world. The Penn Institute for Urban Research asked 20 urban experts what the lasting effects will be and how we can rebuild equitably and sustainably.

Serpentine Maze: Pop-Up Parks in the Pandemic
If the combined effects of winter's cold and the pandemic has you bummed, check out this community-building exercise in the frozen North.

New Book, 'Land,' Searches for Solid Ground
Simon Winchester's new book, Land, brings global scope to the concepts of land use.

American Automobile Manufacturers Talking Seriously About Flying Cars
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is partnering with electric aviation startup Archer to mass-produce flying automobiles, really more like helicopters or drones. General Motors also released designs for an autonomous flying car recently.

Coronavirus Daily Deaths Top 4,000 in U.S.
For the first time in the pandemic, over 4,000 Americans died on one day, January 7, from a disease that had no name before Feb. 11, 2020.

Sweden's 'One-Minute City' Reimagines the Street at a Hyper-Local Level
Rather than trying to meet all of a community's needs within a one-minute radius, Sweden's Street Moves pilot program gives residents the power to decide how street space gets used.

GE's Massive Offshore Wind Turbine Makes Waves in the Industry
With a diameter longer than two football fields, a new wind turbine design promises to revolutionize the wind energy industry.
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