urban planning

While any city would be overwhelmed by so much rain in so little time, land use in the Houston region has made a difficult situation worse.

How can we make more space for women's voices in the urban transportation sphere?

London Mayor Sadiq Khan's transport strategy for the next 25 years lays out a vision for how his city, expected to add 1.5 million people by 2041 on top of its current 9 million residents, is planning to keep moving while reducing pollution and improving quality of life. The big idea: Cars are the problem, not the solution.

Do you ever think about the ecology of the city you live in? Not just the parks and the smog. Scientists are starting to examine urban ecosystems more holistically: the trees and the concrete, natural gas lines and soil, water pipes and rivers. The natural and the synthetic feed off each other in surprising ways. We're not scientists, but we found it interesting.

This post is part of a series featuring stories and research that will be presented at the Pro-Walk/Pro-Bike/Pro-Place conference September 8-11 in Pittsburgh.

In this week's podcast, Jeff and I take on the infamous New York City "poor door," designed to keep tenants of affordable units segregated from the wealthy residents that occupy the rest of the high-rise at 40 Riverside. In the process, we take on the assumptions and methods that cities use to provide housing, and by the time we're done, we've blown a hole in the whole capitalist system.

While most people know Walt Disney as the creator of lovable characters like Mickey Mouse and movies like "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "Fantasia," Disney doesn't get as much credit for his design of Disneyland. Turns out Disney made himself an expert on the subject.

About 350 pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists are killed each year by large trucks in this country. Big freight trucks are incompatible with cities in many ways, bringing danger, pollution, noise, and traffic congestion. They park in bike lanes and have shockingly big blind spots, putting everyone around them at risk. And yet, most cities haven't found a way to reconcile the need to move goods with all their other priorities.

If you’ve ever wondered how a deep-red state like Utah has managed to build some of the most ambitious transit expansions in the country, the short answer is: Envision Utah.