Planning & Urbanist Links
This is a roundup of some of the most popular planning blogs, as recommended by my readers. Thanks, guys!
And since planners love tweeting even more than they love blogging (and I couldn’t possibly just pick a few to list,) you can check out my planning twitter list here.
Streetsblog is a daily news source connecting people to information about sustainable transportation and livable communities.
Since 2006, Streetsblog has covered the movement to transform our cities by reducing dependence on private automobiles and improving conditions for pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders. Our reporters have broken important stories about transit funding, pedestrian safety, and bicycle policy from day one. And our writing makes arcane topics like parking prices and induced traffic accessible to a broad audience.
Streetfilms produces short films showing how smart transportation design and policy can result in better places to live, work and play. Founded in 2006, Streetfilms has become the go-to organization for educational films about sustainable transportation, and inspires action and behavioral change worldwide. Individuals, public agencies, non-profit organizations, schools, and transportation advocacy groups use Streetfilms to educate decision makers and make change for livable streets in their communities.
The Atlantic Cities explores the most innovative ideas and pressing issues facing today’s global cities and neighborhoods. By bringing together news, analysis, data, and trends, the site is an engaging destination for an increasingly urbanized world.
This Big City is an award winning sustainable cities blog covering innovations in urban design, architecture, culture, technology, transport and the bicycle. Launched in September 2009 by Joe Peach, This Big City now features content from urbanism writers and organisations all over the world, and publishes in English and Chinese.
I’ll be commenting here on developments in public transit in the developed world, especially in North America. My goal is not to make you share my values, but to provide perspectives that help you clarify yours. Much of my work has been about analyzing public transit problems to separate the technical question from the question about values.
Planetizen is a public-interest information exchange provided by Urban Insight for the urban planning, design, and development community. It is a one-stop source for urban planning news, commentary, interviews, event coverage, book reviews, announcements, jobs, consultant listings, training, and more. Planetizen prides itself on covering a wide number of planning, design, and development issues, from transportation to global warming, architecture to infrastructure, housing and community development to historic preservation. We provide a forum for people across the political and ideological spectrum, ensuring a healthy debate on these and other important issues.
Designing a Better Urban Ecosystem [Copenhagen.] Secret Republic is a cascade of ideas centered around the sustainability of our urban environments. Contributions are welcome and encouraged.
Aaron M. Renn is The Urbanophile, an opinion-leading urban affairs analyst, entrepreneur, speaker, and writer on a mission to help America’s cities thrive in the 21st century.
In the Urbanophile he has created America’s premier destination for serious, in depth, non-partisan, and non-dogmatic analysis and discussion of the issues facing America’s cities and regions in the 21st century. The Urbanophile site began in 2006, and it has developed into one of America’s top urban policy destinations. Renn’s writings have also appeared in publications such as Forbes, the Dallas Morning News, and the Portland Oregonian. His insights on urban issues are regularly featured in the press (see Awards/Press), including by the New York Times, Time, the Economist, Swiss Public Radio, the London Daily Telegraph, and many more. And he’s also shared his insights on TV and radio, as well as through in person speaking appearances.
TheCityFix.com is an online resource for sustainable transport news, research and “best practice” solutions from around the world. Launched in 2007, the site connects a global network of writers and transport specialists, including engineers, entrepreneurs, urban planners and researchers, who explore environmentally and socially responsible ways to make cities better places to live.
This site is intended to consolidate thoughtful, constructive stories about post-industrial cities across the Rust Belt. It was developed by two former newspaper reporters with ties to five Rust Belt cities, and it is maintained with help from half a dozen others from across the region.
Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space
This blog focuses on place and placemaking and all that makes it work—historic preservation, urban design, transportation, asset-based community development, arts & cultural development, commercial district revitalization, tourism & destination development, and quality of life advocacy—along with doses of civic engagement and good governance watchdogging.
Per Square Mile is a blog about density. It’s about what happens when people live like packed sardines. It’s also about what happens when people live so far apart they can go days without seeing another soul. It’s about living amongst trees and prairies, and living in places miles away from them. It’s about the trees and the prairies, too. And lakes and streams and animals and insects. In short, this is a blog about density of all types.
NewGeography.com is a site devoted to analyzing and discussing the places where we live and work. We want to know not only what is happening, but also how you, your company and your community can best adapt to rapidly changing conditions. We welcome your writing, your thoughts on the site, and your insights on economic development, metropolitan demographics, and community leadership.
