Urban Design

How Downtowns Can Rebound After the Pandemic

They have to offer more than office space.

  • By Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene

Searing Heat Will Make COVID-19 Racial Disparities Worse

Urban heat islands can be 22 degrees hotter than their surroundings.

  • By Teresa Wiltz, Stateline

Advocates Rally to Tear Down Highways That Bulldozed Black Neighborhoods

The interstate highway system flattened homes and businesses in Black communities.

  • By Caitlin Dewey, Stateline

D.C.’s Hard Road to Safer Streets

As the District lagged on its Vision Zero goals, bike and pedestrian advocates in Washington turned traffic fatalities into a rallying cry, and got results.

  • By Andrew Small, CityLab

Growing Up in a Walkable Neighborhood Can Increase Adult Income

A new study finds that even considering other factors, the walkability of a child’s neighborhood has a direct correlation to increased adult earnings.

  • By Richard Florida, CityLab

America's Hottest Cities for Urban Planners

You might think planners—and urbanists in general—congregate in big coastal metros. But planning jobs are growing fastest elsewhere.

  • By Richard Florida, CityLab

The Rise and Fall of Thinking Big About Cities

A new exhibition looks back at the period of grand urban design and social reform in New York City, Boston, and Chicago.

  • By Ezra Haber Glenn, CityLab

A Quest to Reconstruct Baltimore’s American Indian ‘Reservation’

COMMENTARY | The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina is the largest tribe east of the Mississippi River, and they are fighting to preserve their culture in Baltimore.

  • By Ashley Minner, The Conversation

The Feds Are Driving A National Policy of Sprawl

COMMENTARY | "Any legislative or policymaking approach to climate that fails to see the connections between emissions, how and where we build, and our transportation infrastructure decisions, will be destined to fail."

  • By Calvin Gladney

Gentrification is Most Concentrated in Large Cities

Seven cities account for almost half the gentrification in America, according to research from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

Pedestrian Deaths in 2018 Increase to Highest Levels Since 1990

STATE AND LOCAL ROUNDUP | Ore. governor signs statewide rent control bill … Ariz. governor is “pro-vaccination and anti-measles” … and Fla. toll road expansion

  • By Michael Grass

Whoopi Goldberg Tells N.Y. Mayor Her Big Complaint With the City

STATE AND LOCAL ROUNDUP | Rapid DNA testing … D.C. mayor vetoes bill to decriminalize fare evasion … and rural Minnesota broadband.

  • By Michael Grass

Featured eBooks

Government Tech & Innovation
Management in City and County Government
State CIOs in 2020

A Tough Question in California: Whether to Rebuild in Places That Will Burn Again

Despite the clear and present dangers of the wildland-urban interface, many vow to rebuild in risky spots.

  • By Michael Grass

Railroad Crossings Are Dangerous and Ripe for Disruption

How we keep people on foot and in cars from getting hit by trains hasn't changed much in the last century.

  • By Mitch Herckis

‘Troubling’ Findings on Who Speaks Up About Housing Development

New research highlights concerns that local officials are hearing a narrow subset of views at public meetings.

  • By Bill Lucia

City in Florida Makes Scooter Intruders Think Twice

Barging into town unannounced can have competitive consequences.

  • By Michael Grass

At Crossroads for Dockless Bikeshare, Seattle Chooses to Go Big

Although Ofo is pulling its yellow bikes from the streets, leaders in the Emerald City have authorized an expansion of the popular privately operated dockless bikes.

  • By Michael Grass

A Maryland County Uses Interactive Maps to Design Bicycle Master Plan

COMMENTARY | Montgomery County's maps are expected to guide recommendations to improve cycling in the area. Planners evaluated 3,500 miles of roads and reached out to a diverse group of residents for input.

  • By Wyatt Cmar

Observing the Promise—and Annoyances—of Scooter-Share Systems

As San Francisco and other cities temporarily ban electric scooters, regulations are a work in progress.

  • By Michael Grass

Study Casts Doubt on Feasibility of Boston’s Proposed Flood Barrier

STATE AND LOCAL ROUNDUP | Virginia on path to expand Medicaid ... another jail torture lawsuit in Utah … Georgia governor talks up Atlanta’s Amazon HQ2 bid.

  • By Michael Grass

Flood Clean-up Begins in a Historic Maryland Mill Town. Again.

Unlucky topography and an intense rainstorm creates a major disaster in Ellicott City for the second times in nearly two years.

  • By Michael Grass