Urban Design

Traditional downtowns are dead or dying in many US cities—what’s next for these zones?

COMMENTARY | Developers have overbuilt office and commercial space in US cities for decades. Now, in the wake of pandemic shutdowns, many downtowns face hard choices about the future.

  • By John Rennie Short, The Conversation

A need for green: Cities look to trees to improve health, climate justice

Cities and nonprofits are turning to trees as a possible solution to incoming climate crises and public health disparities.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson

Air taxis are taking off. Cities should start planning now.

A new report can help cities weigh safety, access and equity considerations when deciding where to locate air taxi hubs.

  • By Stephanie Kanowitz

Satellites Zoom in on Hottest Neighborhoods to Help Combat Urban Heat Island Effect

Satellite and population data can help cities create detailed maps so they can prepare for and respond to risks associated with extreme heat, a top weather-related killer.

  • By Daniel P. Johnson, The Conversation

Unearthing an Origin Story for Gentrification

COMMENTARY | The growth of the medieval city of Angkor involved wealthy elites pushing people off the land they had made valuable.

  • By Annalee Newitz, The Atlantic

Retrofitting Parking Garages Could Help With Affordable Housing Shortage

COMMENTARY | As Covid-19 shattered normal commuting patterns and center city parking use, some are investigating how high-rise garages and parking lots can be converted to provide space for housing.

  • By Wes Guckert

More Pedestrians Are Getting Killed By Cars

The number of pedestrians struck and killed is up 45% over the last decade. People of color and residents of low-income and rural communities are more at risk, according to new research.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

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
Featured eBooks
Road and Transit Infrastructure Trends
Federal Recovery Funds at the State and Local Level
Infrastructure at a Turning Point

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

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