World
Global issues, U.N., etc.
Friday Funny: Disney Planning More Vehicle-Themed Movies
If you love the transportation-related puns you've been subjected to over repeated viewings of Cars, Cars 2, and, now, Planes with your children, you're going to be excited to hear about what Disney is working on now.
Choice Slights from Frank Lloyd Wright
In a 1957 book, author Selden Rodman collected conversations with 35 of America's preeminent artists and architects. The interviews with Frank Lloyd Wright are a font of choice quotes on topics from Le Corbusier to NYC's density.
Greenwashing May Actually Be Having An Impact
Critics have decried green labeling and certification programs as 'greenwashing' - offering the sheen of environmental responsibility without having a significant impact on sustainability. But Tensie Whelan argues such programs are having an impact.
Three Feet of Sea Level Rise Very Possible by Century's End
A preview of the next major United Nations climate change report is taking a stronger stance on the role of humans in causing global warming and predicting a possible sea level rise that would endanger cities such as London, New York, and Shanghai.
Fascinating Friday: 80 Maps That Explain Everything
The battle over who can present the most compelling infographical maps is apparently escalating. The good news, no matter the result, we all win. While these 80 maps may not explain everything, they sure do say a lot.
Want to Avoid Detroit's Fate? Diversify Your Economy
"Nearly all the rich world’s industrial cities fell on hard times between 1950 and 1980," says The Economist. Why did some recover while others failed? A new paper argues that skilled workers and a diverse economy are key to overcoming adversity.
A Film You Need to Watch About Distracted Driving
Forget all the statistics you've read about the rise in distracted driving, they'll never have the potency of this film by acclaimed director Werner Herzog on the impact of texting while driving on victims, their families, and the drivers themselves.
Festival Makes Crowdfunding a Community-Building Affair
An innovative event held recently in Jacksonville, Florida used a festival as a means to bring crowdfunding to the people; providing a platform for community building and branding in the process. Could this be the future of financing public projects?
Confessions of a Failed Energy Martyr
Somewhere along the ramifying pathways of the possible, Raymond Welch became an energy consultant. In this Terrain.org guest editorial, he rants on a troubling future that he helped create.
Base Your Transit Investment Arguments on Agglomeration
Forget reducing congestion and improving the environment; a new paper makes perhaps the strongest argument yet for investing in public transit based on its ability to agglomerate, or cluster people together, raising wages and productivity.
Building Resilience Through Reconnected Communities
What has the United States lost in its journey from a nation of communities to a nation of individuals? Resilience, for one, says Scott Doyon, who suggests how we can utilize community design and planning processes to regrow social ties.
Newest Target for Hackers: Homes and Cars
As the 'Internet of Things' spreads its tentacles into more and more of our personal objects and public spaces, experts are warning of the serious, and potentially lethal, vulnerability of networked devices to hacking.
Top 10 Websites - 2013
Our annual list of the 10 best planning, design, and development websites represents some of the top online resources for news, information and research on the built environment.
Construction Toys: The Building Blocks of Design Culture
A recent book explores the ways in which the world's ubiquitous construction toys - Lincoln Logs, Legos, Meccano, etc. - have impacted budding architects, and proposes a connection between building for play and building for pay.
The Danger in Transportation Fantasizing
We hear a lot about the next leap forward in transportation, whether it be Elon Musk's Hyperloop or Tel Aviv's floating pods. But in focusing on the latest fantasy, are we harming our ability to address the problems of the present?
Sustainability: What’s In a Word?
The term "sustainability" carries so much baggage that we're no longer able to talk about what we actually need to talk about. What can we do to depoliticize it?
Old School Strategies for Outreach and Communication
Looking to leverage cheap and easy social media tools to meet your citizen engagement mandate? Read. This. Now.
The Positive Energy Potential of Suburban Sprawl
What if most cars were electrics, most electricity was generated locally, and new development was required to have solar? Would this paradigm make sprawl more energy sustainable than compact growth? A new paper argues yes.
Unrealized City Plans a Window on a Future That Would Not Be
Blogger Andrew Lynch’s collection of unrealized city plans is a catalog of could-have-beens.
The History of Modern Architecture Told Through Hollywood's Lens
Does an inordinate amount of your knowledge come from films? Then you might take pleasure in Zachary Edelson's romp through the past hundred and twenty years of architectural history as told through motion pictures.
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
