World

Global issues, U.N., etc.

Making Places Where People Persevere

Of all the sub-topics in urban planning and design, the ones likely to generate the most anxiety are those where land use planning intersects with economic development. Ben Brown ruminates.

November 2, 2015 - PlaceShakers

7 Costumes for the Most Contemporary Form of Transportation: Hoverboards

Depending on your opinion, hoverboards are some combination of expensive, annoying, or futuristically cool. Maybe these costume ideas will help you sort out your feelings on the matter?

October 31, 2015 - Fusion

Porchfest: Your Guide to a DIY Community-Building Good Time

Scott Doyon shares his thoughts on last week's Oakhurst Porchfest. Potentially useful for anyone looking to launch their own version.

October 27, 2015 - PlaceShakers

Oil Drills

World Demand for Oil to Increase in 2016

It's the best of both worlds for OPEC as cheap oil prices increase demand while high-cost rival oil producers are forced to close down wells according to an OPEC study released Oct. 12. And it was all planned.

October 20, 2015 - Reuters

River map

Today's Cartographers Are Database Engineers

Modern maps are visual representations of millions of points of standardized data.

October 16, 2015 - The Washington Post - Wonkblog

Toyota Targets 2050 to Eliminate Carbon Emissions

Automakers are ramping up the production of fuel-cells vehicles—so much so that Toyota predicts the end of the conventional engine by the year 2050.

October 15, 2015 - Reuters

Lisbon, Portugal

The 27 Typical Patterns of Urban and Suburban Development

Most cities around the world can be broken down into 27 typical patterns of development, according to the work of a researcher at UC Davis.

October 14, 2015 - The Washington Post - Wonkblog

United Nations and World Bank Unite for Sustainable Urban Development

The United Nations agency for urban development, UN-Habitat, has announced a partnership with the World Bank to implement several Sustainable Development Goals focusing on urban sustainability, safety, inclusiveness, and resilience.

October 13, 2015 - United Nations-Habitat

Swedish Bikes

Comparing How People in 12 Global Cities Ride Their Bikes

The workout-tracking app Strava provided generous access to its data to allow a compare and contrast exercise in how people ride bikes in 12 of the most famous cities in the world.

October 9, 2015 - Vox

Point No Point

Friday Funny: The Instagram Account of Saddest Place Names Is Actually Kind of Sad

Did you know there's a place called Point No Point, in Hansville, Washington? It's quite pretty, actually, but is that reason enough to go there?

October 9, 2015 - Quartz

City Action on Climate Change

Can cities be at the forefront of tackling climate change? According to forthcoming research by Arup and the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, cities play a crucial role in addressing this pressing issue.

October 8, 2015 - Doggerel

First West Coast LNG Export Facility Gets Critical Federal OK

On Sept. 30, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the final environmental impact statement for a contentious $7.5 billion Liquefied Natural Gas export facility, pipeline, and power plant in Coos Bay, Ore. More approvals are still needed.

October 6, 2015 - Portland Business Journal

Coding for Character: Doing Away With the Zoned Out Nature of Cities

What's keeping the historic parts of your city or town from staying up-to-date and well-loved? Usually, the laws.

October 6, 2015 - PlaceShakers

Bike Commuting

How Commutes Influence Happiness, Health

More evidence is piling up that commuting by anything but private automobile can increase happiness, social capital, and health.

October 5, 2015 - Gizmodo

Ocean Grove Sidewalk

Sidewalk Cafes—Silver Bullets of Walkable Places

No single tool builds "walk appeal" as powerfully as sidewalk cafes, which are both a cause and an effect of places we love to walk.

September 29, 2015 - The Original Green Blog

Energy Factory II

A Real-Time Map of Global Air Pollution

A quick look at a real-time map of air pollution around the world shows how much healthier the air in the United States is than in China.

September 27, 2015 - CityLab

Office Building

Why We're Not Meant to Live in Boring Cities

Features like blank street facades literally turn us off, decreasing mental stimulation and bringing on restlessness and stress. Research points to worrying consequences for people who find their city, well, boring.

September 22, 2015 - Aeon

Mercedes-Benz Developing Self-Driving Limousines

Manifesting predictions that many self-driving vehicles will serve as a new form of taxi service, Mercedes-Benz recently revealed some of its plans to develop a fleet of on-demand limousines.

September 21, 2015 - Quartz

Tin Pan Alley in London

Small Clubs Make Creative Hubs: the Importance of Live Music Venues

Cities like London are losing their creative edge because the small music venues that foster it are being pushed out.

September 17, 2015 - The Guardian

On the 'Tree Wealth' of the World's Countries

A closer look at the data of a study revealing the number of trees on the planet shows several ways to compare and contrast the relative resources, in the form of trees, of countries around the world.

September 17, 2015 - The Washington Post

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.