Plans, Places, and Processes: Do You Need to Travel to Understand Them?
In recent blogs I have written about places and plans in many different locales and through time. Students often ask, “do I need to visit places to know about them”?
View ArticleCould Classic Hill Towns Be a Model for Town Planning?
Wolfe argues that the topography of a town built into a hillside or a series of hills (hillside towns in France, for example, or even Seattle or San Francisco) force cities to utilize a number of New...
View ArticleWhy Did the U.S. Allow Its Cities to Decline?
Gruber explains how "cultural bias against the city" had an effect: Publication Date: Tue, 08/02/2011
View ArticleFeature Doc on Urban Design Out Soon (Trailer)
Gary Hustwit is the director of the documentary Helvetica, which explored the proliferation of the typeface Helvetica as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives.Publication...
View ArticleTop 8 Facadist Renovations, from Melbourne to Bucharest
Whether you regard facadism (the act of retaining old building facades, while replacing other portions of a historic building with new construction) as a pejorative or a positive, there is no question...
View ArticleBerlin's Answer to Gentrification, Circa 1980
Often the central controversy surrounding modern revitalization projects, gentrification can sometimes appear to be a contemporary problem. But, as McLaren notes, the basic dilemma of displacement has...
View ArticleResurrecting Ancient Cities from the Dead
Inspired by a visit to Istanbul, where "the historic fabric of the urban landscape was so neatly woven into contemporary living," and an article on "the new possibilities to re-introduce extinct...
View ArticleThe History of GPS—Back to the First Century
Brett Brownell shares news of a new book by Boston Globe technology writer Hiawatha Bray called You Are Here: From the Compass to GPS, the History and Future of How We Find Ourselves.Publication Date:...
View ArticleMapping the Places Referenced by 224 State of the Union Speeches
Using natural language processing algorithms followed by hand corrections, Mitch Fraas andf Benjamin Schmidt "have combed through these 224 State of the Union addresses and identified 16,408 mentions...
View ArticleHow Planners Use Planning Theory
Andrew Whittmore of the University of North Carolina Department of Urban and Regional Planning identifies planning theory in everyday practice.
View ArticleNext Steps for the City of Freeways
Christopher Hawthorne reminds us that in the recent past, Los Angeles' freeways heralded a bright future. "This praise had a way of edging toward the religious. [Writer David] Brodsly called the...
View ArticleWhat If Seattle Had a Century-Old Subway?
Seattle grew by leaps and bounds from the 1870s through the early 20th century. Expecting future expansion, engineer Virgil Bogue developed a comprehensive plan to accommodate over a million...
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Four New Map Books Reviewed
Joshua Hammer reviews four coffee-table treasures that illustrate the many entertaining and intellectual cartographic forms.Publication Date: Tue, 12/01/2015
View ArticleWhat Will the 'Third Los Angeles' Look Like?
In an interview, Christopher Hawthorne discusses why L.A. may be entering its third great incarnation. "All of us continue to be disappointed by how much of the reading of L.A.Publication Date: Fri,...
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Planning History: The Roman Empire and Public Health
The Roman Empire is highly regarded for their architectural splendor and advanced use of sound urban planning techniques to make their cities livable spaces.Publication Date: Tue, 02/02/2016
View ArticlePutting Geniuses In Their Place(s)
"Taken seriously, 'Geography of Genius' is a troubling book, lauding a scant few individuals throughout history who, by a combination of talent, relative privilege, and good fortune qualify as...
View ArticleFriday Eye Candy: Historic London Visualized
Created by Expedia, Historic London visualizes how various streets in modern London looked about a century ago.Publication Date: Fri, 04/15/2016
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The 'Myth' of Family Farms
Rosenberg defines the "political mythology" of the historical family farm as an image of a stable nuclear family, conservative gender roles, and a permanent home life.Publication Date: Sun, 04/10/2016
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