World
Global issues, U.N., etc.
The Sign of a Successful Bike Plan: Slow Biking
A bike plan isn't meant for the peloton. Here's how you can tell.
Friday Eye Candy: A First Peek at the Hyperloop
The futuristic transportation idea known as the Hyperloop is starting to look real. CNN Money caught up with the leaders of one of the companies working to make the dream of super-fast, efficient intercity travel a reality.
VW Scandal Obscures Diesel's Real Problem
It's easy to focus on the sensational headlines based on the fraud committed by Volkswagen, but doing so masks the deadly and ongoing problems of diesel emissions plaguing the world's densely populated cities.
Imagining Oceanscrapers
Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut has released a series of futuristic and amazing drawings that envision what sustainable, floating cities could possibly look like.
Friday Funny: The Year's Best Weather Bloopers
Take local television, add maps. What could go wrong?
Watch as the World Emits More and More Carbon
A French economist created a powerful visualization of the rise of carbon emission hot spots from a few locations in Europe to every developed and developing corner of the world.
Visualizing Global Urban Growth Through 2030
Geographer Duncan Smith mapped the predicted trajectory of worldwide urban growth from 1950 through 2030. Concentric circles of different shades show where and when growth was (or will be) the most dramatic.
Cities Lead the Way in Meeting Paris Climate Goals
To meet the U.N.’s global warming targets, city leadership is critical.
Study: Climate Change Turning World's Lakes Into Hot Tubs
The message of a new study funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation: don't forget freshwater when considering the impacts of climate change. Lakes and other bodies of water are threatened by potentially catastrophic vulnerabilities.
Friday Eye Candy: Take a Virtual Stroll Around the World
The Mapillary app allows users to upload their street-level photos into a geo-tagged sequence.
The Most Popular Planetizen Posts of 2015
The results of a year's worth of writing, reading, sharing, and commenting are in. These are the most popular Planetizen posts from the year 2015.
Cities Should Stop Electronic Warrantless Surveillance
From ALPR cameras mounted on garbage trucks to IMSI catchers such as Dirtboxes and Stingrays, local authorities have increased exponentially the amount of electronic surveillance, with little regard for the basic principles of privacy.
Rail Stations Shortchanged as Homeland Security Focuses on Airports
Rail travelers are not subject to the same degree of security measures as air travelers according to security experts, reports Ron Nixon for The New York Times. Yet far more travel by rail than plane, and rail has been a terrorist target abroad.
Land Use Policies and the Future of Cities
Land is perhaps the most fundamental consideration in every variety of planning process—the cost of land, the availability of land, the condition of land, etc. A new e-book studies the importance of land to the global urban future.
Big News From Paris: A New International Climate Accord
After two weeks of negotiating in Paris, almost 200 countries agreed to a plan to reduce emissions, though not to the level supporters had hoped. Nonetheless, the COP21 agreement may be an 'inflection point in human history,' notes The Times.
Car-Free Movement Gaining Steam in Europe and Elsewhere
Athlyn Cathcart-Keays of The Guardian-Cities chronicles the advancement of the international urban car-free movement as well as auto regulations that focus on air pollution. The most recent city to join the growing list is Oslo, Norway
Top 10 Books - 2016
Planetizen is pleased to release its list of the ten best books in urban planning, design, and development published in 2015.
Beware of Energy Rankings for Cities
In a special "Energy for Tomorrow" report, The New York Times looks at "clean city rankings" of energy efficiency and land use. But ranking cities is no easy task—"winners on one list may appears as sinners on another."
Water Resilience in Dry Climates
How can cities in dry climates become self-sufficient in terms of water? California based Dry Lands Institute is creating a digital design tool called Hazel that aims to address just that.
Four New Map Books Reviewed
Looking for the perfect holiday gift for a planner? Check out these new map books.
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
