Knee deep in demolished slums , after the Slum Rehab Plan flopped, Indian officials focus on the old Mill Lands neighborhood to negotiate with land developers for the future of modern Mumbai's identity. Aside from luxury condos and hotels, how much land should be set aside for public housing and... View full entry

In light of the concerns expressed about 'a grand plan to design Palestine ', Israel is set to begin extensions of the West Bank Wall, after a High court removed a temporary injunction on building it around Jerusalem. | further reading: Securing the Wall from International Law: an initial... View full entry

Many are calling for the city's next planning chief to be a visionary as well as a leader. The search for a candidate goes on. | LATimes View full entry

Jane Jacobs addresses NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg about the rezoning of the Williamsburg-Greenpoint waterfront, mostly favoring tall high-end condos. The highlight: ", you will maybe enrich a few heedless and ignorant developers, but at the cost of an ugly and intractable mistake." more info, see... View full entry

NY Newsday presents a long editorial on the redevelopment of lower Manhattan and makes the sensible point that to fill Larry Silverstein's office space, business rents might have to be gov't subsidized. They suggest that buying out Silverstein and changing the development program could make more... View full entry

"It is hard to imagine a crueler fate for an urban planner than seeing his country taken over by a regime with a murderous hatred of cities. As Cambodia's pre-eminent architect and chief urban planner during the 1960's, Vann Molyvann laid out significant portions of Phnom Penh and designed dozens... View full entry

China's chichi suburbs: American-style sprawl all the rage in Beijing snipped series of cookie-cutter tract homes. Some are painted in pastels and are Italianate or Spanish in design, while others are more Georgian Revival. Manicured lawns and clubhouses dot the landscape. There is the occasional... View full entry

The NYT covers Rand's plans for a Palestinian state with architect Doug Suisman, who admits that for the purpose of planning, they set aside the issue of Israeli settlements. And so, understandably, Palestinian leaders find this negligence as an endorsement rather than a neutrality to the... View full entry

According to the Post, George Pataki is doing everything in his power to restore confidence in the rebuilding process. In a speech, Pataki said that the NYPD has reviewed proposed security improvements. Pataki also named James Kallstrom, a former New York City FBI chief, to oversee security... View full entry

An editorial for the Star-Ledger (New Jersey) by Richard Florida. Joel Kotkin's ephemeral city gets reworked as the magnet for the rare-breed-worker at the cutting edge of technology and creativity. creativeclass.org | previous And... the CS Monitor asks 'hitch your wagon to Estonia?' Bright... View full entry

UrbanCartography finds Sprol: "a planetary sightseeing blog. Visit some of the worst places in the world via satellite imagery. Our mission is to use the powers of space imaging to show people the visual macroscopic effects of our decisions and behavior. Since previous generations have not had... View full entry

Is the river flowing within its banks again? Ah yes, the designers carry on merrily as if in a sandbox; Pataki sends in the Wolf to clean up; Childs revs up the engines to finally get his way; Libeskind is in exile, still brandishing the height and location of the tower as his creative imprint... View full entry

The city isn't Disneyland -- that's just goofy. John King comments in the SFGate on Joel Kotkin's San Fran "exposé". updated... Update: SF's mayor looks to get some urbanism ideas from Chicago. When city leaders from across the country descend on Chicago in June for the U.S. Conference of... View full entry

Development in downtown Halifax opposed by Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia; "Tourists don't come here for the sake of seeing a stack of highrise buildings." Ms. Hinds was one of 15 people who addressed the board's appeal panel on the second day of a hearing focused on the proposed 17-storey hotel... View full entry

Fred Bernstein seems more and more like a visionary to me. Why, with all the "chaos" at ground zero, his Twin Piers idea would be well under construction by now. Then he was smart to suggest that to fill the foretold vacancy of the Freedom tower, they should move the UN to Ground Zero. Kofi Annan... View full entry