Architecture

A picture of a corner store at night.

Exploring Urban Resurgence

In a wide ranging personal journey of interest to planners and interpreters of the built and natural landscapes, Chuck Wolfe weaves the interplay of the forces behind the everyday, providing fodder for problem solving in our cities and towns.

August 30, 2023 - Medium

Aerial view of Le Corbusier-designed Cité Radieuse in Marseilles, France.

What Is the City of Tomorrow?

The City of Tomorrow is the English name given to an early work of urban design by Le Corbusier, who, throughout his career, evolved a concept of city planning firmly based in rationality and order.

August 21, 2023 - Diana Ionescu

Google street view of white parking garage building in Chicago in 2018 prior to conversion to apartments

Chicago Garage Becomes 72-Unit Apartment Building

The East Lakeview project is within easy walking distance of local businesses and transit.

August 18, 2023 - Streetsblog Chicago

A sign announces the Kingston, New York Historic District

Kingston, New York Goes 100 Percent Form-Based for its New Code

Kingston recently adopted a form-based code, taking the rare step to entirely replace its old zoning code with form-based standards while also repealing parking requirements and allowing accessory dwelling units and missing middle housing.

August 16, 2023 - Times Union

View of plain building staircase with light coming in from window on landing

Editorial: Legalize Single-Staircase Buildings in California

A state bill that would allow multifamily buildings to only include one staircase could help boost the housing supply and encourage more spacious and well-designed apartments.

August 14, 2023 - Los Angeles Times

California State Capital

California First in the Nation to Limit Embodied Carbon in Buildings

California’s Building Code accomplished a first-in-the-nation step to mitigate carbon emissions from the construction and maintenance of buildings, by limiting embodied carbon in some commercial and school buildings.

August 14, 2023 - The Architect’s Newspaper

A tiny home in a residential neighborhood.

What Happened to the Tiny Homes Revolution?

Tiny homes were one of the hot button topics of the previous decade. In 2023? Not so much.

August 14, 2023 - Grist

Glass office building with multicolored Google logo on Google headquarters campus in Mountain View, California

Google Shifts Real Estate Strategy to Adaptive Reuse

The company is moving away from flashy new campuses in favor of converting existing buildings with interesting histories.

August 11, 2023 - Fast Company

An image of Downtown Nashville with the Cumberland River at dusk.

Nashville Adopts New Mass Timber Building Standards

Mass timber buildings up to 18 stories high will now be allowed in the Music City.

August 9, 2023 - Nashville

Stone windcatcher tower that provides natural air flow in Shiraz, Iran

Looking to the Middle East for Cooling Architecture

Cooling mechanisms built into traditional architecture offer lessons for U.S. builders as heat waves grow more intense.

August 7, 2023 - Time Magazine

Large empty office building floor with white walls and grey carpeting

The Death of the Office?

Despite efforts on the part of many employers to bring workers back to the office, office buildings are now the most distressed segment of the commercial real estate market.

July 24, 2023 - Curbed

Jane Jacobs

The 100 Most Influential Urbanists, Past and Present

Planetizen readers have decided the who's who of urbanism (and its discontents) in 2023.

July 11, 2023 - Planetizen

A futuristic reimagining of a D.C. street with green pathways and open waterways instead of car-filled streets.

Friday Eye Candy: AI Envisions Solutions to the Challenges Facing Cities

Phoenix reimagined for shade. Los Angeles as a place where everybody walks. San Francisco with affordable housing. AI makes a vision of the future possible.

July 7, 2023 - Chris Steins via Medium

The construction site of a new development in the Azabudai Hills neighborhood of Tokyo.

A New Tallest Skyscraper for Japan

The Toranomon-Azabudai reaches 330 meters into the sky, far lower than international standards but taller by 30 meters than the previous tallest building in Japan.

July 5, 2023 - CNN

Rosa Parks, Jane Jacobs, Frederick Law Olmsted

Vote for the Most Influential Urbanists, Past and Present

Readers sent hundreds of nominees for an updated version of Planetizen's Most Influential Urbanists list. Now's your chance to vote among 200 nominees.

June 29, 2023 - Planetizen

A conceptual rendering of the planned Tour Triangle building sticks above the Paris skyline, with the Eiffel Tower in the distance.

Paris Reinstates Historic Height Limits as Part of its New Bioclimatic Local Urban Plan

Paris’ reinstated height limits, lowering height limits allowed in 2010, are part of Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s recently released Bioclimatic Local Urban Plan.

June 25, 2023 - Dezeen

Urban sidewalk shaded by large mature trees

Cool Walkability Planning

Shadeways (covered sidewalks) and pedways (enclosed, climate controlled walkways) can provide comfortable walkability in hot climates. The Cool Walkshed Index can help plan these facilities.

June 1, 2023 - Todd Litman

Three-story apartment buildings in Takoma Village, a cohousing complex in Washington, D.C.

Building Community With Cohousing

Developers and buyers create new models for housing that hold the promise of a more environmentally friendly, connected, and multigenerational way of living.

May 10, 2023 - Urban Land Online

Old wood demolition waste, from destruction or renovation of buildings in a container on a work site in a street with a house. Wooden beams to be recycled into new building materials

The Link Between Circular Building, Affordability, and Sustainability

A growing movement seeks to reduce waste in the construction industry and focus on the long-term impact of building materials.

May 1, 2023 - Wired

Pile of Lego bricks lined up by color

LEGO Building Carbon-Neutral Factory in Virginia

The Denmark-based toy company just broke ground on a new carbon-neutral run factory in Chesterfield County near Richmond, Virginia.

April 24, 2023 - The Construction Specifier

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Websites

The best of the Internet—since 2002.

Top Apps

Planning apps for a brave new world.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

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.