urban planning | Fast Company

Intelligent Cities Expo

BY Rachel Z. ArndtTue Nov 8, 2011

The new urbanism is here and it's digital. GE is working with Abu Dhabi to build a zero-emissions city; IBM is centralizing management of municipal resources with its Intelligent Operations Center for Smarter Cities software. To celebrate the planners and engineers at this Hamburg expo, we've gathered some particularly, ahem, smart urban solutions from around the world.READ»

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY | Comment

Designing A Program To Predict People's Irrational Pedestrian Decisions

BY Morgan ClendanielWed Sep 21, 2011

SAFEPED is a traffic simulator that takes into account how human beings make predictions about speed and distance, so planners can see exactly where people are going to run into the street.READ»

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY | Comment

MIT's Free Urban Planning Software Will Help Build The Cities Of The Future

BY Michael J. CorenWed Sep 7, 2011

If we are to improve the quality of life in our cities--27 of which are expected to have more than 10 million people by 2020--we will have to find a better way to build them. MIT's new software will help.READ»

MAURO MARTINO

MIT's Place Pulse: A “Hot Or Not” For Cities, To Fix Broken Blocks

BY Suzanne LaBarreMon Aug 29, 2011

When we stumble down an an unfamiliar street, we often determine quickly -- instinctively -- if it feels unsafe. We make a snap judgment about our surroundings, and it can have tremendous implications, influencing where we travel, ... READ»

URBAN PLANNING

BIG's Plan For A Stockholm Freeway Looks Like 1970s Sci-Fi

BY Alissa WalkerFri Jul 15, 2011

Freeways, man. They sever neighborhoods, terrorize nature, and create dark, ugly spaces below their unsightly underpasses. Yet cars continue to need them, and cities continue to build them. So how do we turn those hulking rivers of ... READ»

FLINT

Flint, Michigan, Re-imagines Itself In An Architecture Competition

BY Belinda LanksTue Jun 21, 2011

Like many Rust Belt cities, Flint, Michigan, has seen its share of troubles: a drop in jobs (and population figures), along with a spike in crime. But Flint has something all its own: Genesee Towers, the city’s tallest high-rise and ... READ»

SANDWICH

Think Of Buildings As Sandwiches. What Makes Them Tasty?

BY Perkins+WillMon Jun 20, 2011

In the past, urban planners spent a lot of time coloring maps. Why? To set the rules for land use: Where will the housing go? The offices? The school? Two-dimensional thinking assigned one color to each parcel to guide which uses ... READ»

URBAN PLANNING

A Primer On Turning City Blight Into Beauty [Video]

BY Suzanne LaBarreThu Jun 16, 2011

Transportation infrastructure accounts for 20% to 40% of all urban land. These systems grossly enable global warming, with transit now representing an outsize 30% of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. But for as little as $20,000, ... READ»

NEW YORK

For America's Cities, the Future Can Be Found in the Past

BY Perkins+WillSun Apr 3, 2011

“The past is not dead. In fact it’s not even past.”--William Faulkner Imaginary Cities When looking at our cities, can you see the life that you imagined leading? Where do you spend your time? Are our cities inspiring and ... READ»

EXPERTS

A Virtual Community That's Defining the Future of a Physical One

BY Paddy HarringtonWed Mar 9, 2011

Bruce Mau Design recently worked as a part of a team with HWKN architects to develop the design of a new LGBT retirement community in Palm Springs, California. The project was recently featured on Co. Design in “BOOM! Palm Springs ... READ»

LEADERSHIP | Comment

China Looks to Control Traffic Congestion With Cell Phones

BY Jenara NerenbergWed Mar 2, 2011

Beijing's unfortunate history of traffic jams provides just the motivation the government needs to start tracking vehicles more closely.READ»

LEADERSHIP | Comment

How Urban Planning Fans the Flames of Revolution

BY Jenara NerenbergThu Feb 24, 2011

The accelerating role social media played in the recent uprising in Egypt has gotten a lot of people talking, but urban planning was just as vital. READ»

PERKINS+WILL

A New Design Movement That Can Help Us Beat Obesity

BY Perkins+WillWed Feb 23, 2011

Today, obesity is poised to overtake tobacco as the leading preventable cause of death in America. More than a third of all Americans are obese and an additional third, overweight. Total U.S. health care costs attributable to obesity ... READ»

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY | Comment

Two Wheels and a Dream: Mumbai's Congestion Inspires Student-Run Bike-Sharing Initiative

BY Jenara NerenbergWed Feb 23, 2011

Cars are a leading source of pollution across India and are responsible for about 62% of the pollution in Mumbai alone. College student Raj Janagam is on a mission to change that.READ»

INFOGRAPHIC

Infographic of the Day: Who the Broadband Revolution Left Behind

BY Cliff KuangFri Feb 18, 2011

In America's rural areas, the internet barely exists as you and I know it: People can't get broadband in their house; they use dial-up modems at home; and the only place they can hope to watch a YouTube video is the local library. ... READ»

URBAN PLANNING

Creating the Perfect City Is About Illusions, Such as Shorter Blocks

BY Perkins+WillMon Feb 7, 2011

Crumbling infrastructure, two hour commutes, sprawl, economic stagnation, and obesity! These are just some of the problems facing the many increasingly unlivable American cities today. Cities like Portland, Oregon, hog urban ... READ»

URBAN FARMING | Comment

London's Urban Farming Hub Reaches New Heights

BY Jenara NerenbergWed Jan 26, 2011

The 4-story shop-turned-farm in Hackney, London, is opening its doors to cafe seekers and a potentially long-term financially-viable model of business.READ»

GIVE A MINUTE

Looking for Bold Ideas to Fix the City, New York Turns to Crowd Sourcing

BY Linda TischlerThu Jan 20, 2011

If anybody needs a feel-good moment in this winter of our discontent, it's Michael Bloomberg. When the embattled New York city mayor gave his State of the City address yesterday he hoped to take the spotlight off the issues that have ... READ»

BOSTON

Boston's City Hall Plaza, One of Country's Worst Public Spaces, to Get Green Makeover

BY Linda TischlerMon Nov 1, 2010

Boston's hostile-to-humans City Hall Plaza may soon get a tree -- and perhaps, even more than that. The EPA, in a gesture that will forever endear them to Bay Staters, has selected the frigid and loathsome brick-scape around City ... READ»

MICHAEL MURPHY | Comment

A Generation of Emerging Designers Who Design With Purpose

BY Fast Company StaffFri Oct 1, 2010

This emerging generation of designers wants to do more than create handsome and functional products. It’s out to protect the environment, improve health, reform education, and empower communities.READ»

2010 Masters of Design