community planning

urban disorder?/shutterstock

Recent theories of landscape urbanism have posed the notion of letting change happen over time. It fosters the idea of rather than creating a definitive master-plan, it tenders a set of organizational principles.[read more]

rural planning

Good rural design can take many different forms and appear on many different scales. From small-scale projects like murals or pocket parks to large-scale initiatives like creating a downtown revitalization district.[read more]

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[In a healthy environment] “people who are young, elderly, sick or poor can meet their life needs without getting in a car. People who walk more weigh less and live longer. People who are fit live longer." Is this rocket science? Can healthy communities help prevent the obesity crisis?[read more]

The United States has reached an historic moment. The exurban development explosion that defined national growth during the past two decades has come to a screeching halt, according to the latest US Census figures. Only 1 of the 100 highest-growth US communities of 2006—all of them in sprawled areas—reported a significant population gain...[read more]

The BP oil gusher should remind us that our civilization relies on unseen, not very well understood forces, especially energy and the environment, for our day-to-day economies.Our institutions and communities have recently failed stress tests that pushed system designs beyond intended limits: whether it's toxic exurban real estate assets...[read more]

With social media services allowing people to tag the locations of the photos they’ve uploaded, check-in to shops, bars and parks online, and have geolocation attached to their tweets, it’s clear that online technologies and the city are becoming increasingly integrated, with no signs of this stopping. This data is accessible and is...[read more]

                  Richard Sennett, David Adjaye, Ricky Burdett and Richard Rogers review the form and appropriation of public space around the Pantheon from a Google satellite image In a conference at LSE last week, invited panelists explored the themes and implications of the writings of...[read more]

  As noted in my previous post, there is no question that sustainable land use requires, among other things, neighborhood density.  Smart growth based on walkable neighborhoods, transportation choices, nearby amenities and the accommodation of an increasingly diverse society is the only way we can limit per-capita...[read more]

IF every acre of unprotected open space on Long Island were developed with single-family homes, the landscape could hold another 90,000 homes. On the other hand, if erected as town houses, garden apartments and apartment buildings, the same 90,000 units could be built in downtown areas, utilizing about half of the 8,300 acres — or 13...[read more]