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A prominent figure in the history of urban planning in New York City has passed away as The New York Times is reporting the death of architect Paul Willen at his home in Vermont on February 2nd. Willen was a staple in the city’s high-stakes world of Manhattan development schemes after his... View full entry
Those looking to spend their lives in the wonderful world of Disney may soon see their high hopes fulfilled after the 99-year-old entertainment giant announced a slate of new master-planned communities that will begin to take shape in its namesake’s one-time Southern California home. Each... View full entry
In her recent Executive Budget address, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the state will inject nearly $3 billion towards infrastructure projects that “promote equity, connectivity, and multi-modal transportation opportunities for communities all across New York State.” This move... View full entry
A new planned community in Utah will strive to make it possible for residents to meet all their daily needs within 15 minutes without getting in a car — and to serve as a model for other U.S. developers who want to build basic mobility into the foundations of their designs. — Streetsblog USA
Called The Point, the envisoned community will be located in Draper, Utah, and take up about one square mile of state-owned land. The development, master-planned by SOM, will specifically aim to reduce the need for cars by featuring extensive biking, walking, and transit systems. A... View full entry
More sad news to pass along in the closing days of another tragic year as The New York Times is reporting that influential preservationist and urban planner Donald H. Elliott passed away at his home in Brooklyn this past Thursday. Elliott was chairman of New York’s City Planning Commission... View full entry
What once was an ambitious but abandoned expansion of Downtown Los Angeles’ Convention Center and Marriott Hotel has found a second life courtesy of a new proposal backed by a slate of big-name firms, according to a report from Urbanize LA. Project renderings are emerging of a plan that... View full entry
Members of the architecture and urban planning communities are mourning the loss of Yale professor and influential New York city planner Alexander Garvin following the announcement of his death in Manhattan at the age of 80. A notoriously pedantic native New Yorker, Garvin earned both his... View full entry
Zaha Hadid Architects’ Eleftheria Square in Nicosia, Cyprus has been inaugurated. The project intends to be the city's primary gathering space, establishing new connections to unite a divided capital. Image: Laurian Ghinitoiu / Zaha Hadid Architects Eleftheria Square is located near the... View full entry
As part of its ongoing Shaping the City series, the Italian branch of the European Cultural Centre is being represented in this year’s Chicago Architecture Biennial with an upcoming conference that will begin this Friday, December 10th, hosted by the Chicago Cultural Center on East... View full entry
Despite some ongoing litigation, New York City took a major step this week toward making outdoor dining a permanent part of the city's infrastructure. On Monday, the City Planning Commission voted unanimously for a zoning text amendment that will create a clean slate for the city to develop and regulate a permanent program, and will ultimately allow more restaurants to set up outdoor dining structures across the city. — Gothamist
The amendment removes geographic restrictions on where outdoor dining spaces can be located in New York, making the application process for sidewalk and roadway eateries much simpler. The City Council and mayor will now have to approve the text amendment. Confidence that it will go through... View full entry
It’s a subject with broader relevance than one might initially assume: Perhaps 3 billion people around the world play video games; many millions are spending large amounts of their lives exploring the streets of these virtual cities. Game city design also sheds some light on real-life planning — and not just because designers of successful game cities need to think carefully about the scale, interconnection and visual appeal of what they create. — Bloomberg
The expansion of architecture into the metaverse is inevitable, with designers like Kazys Varnelis and others creating virtual worlds with the expressed intent of taking lessons learned from the digital sphere and applying them to the real built environment. Urban planners, as well as architects... View full entry
Intent on reconnecting the city’s 1.75 million residents with nature, Zaha Hadid Architects has unveiled renderings for Zugló City Centre in Budapest. The new mixed-use development will transform the city’s 14th district into a 17-ace site between Rákos Creek and historic Bosnyák... View full entry
COVID-19 also showed us the divide that we have in the city. There are BIPOC communities and communities with lower incomes that have very poor-quality public realms that we need to focus on more closely. People who live in the South Bronx need to have the same kind of opportunities to be outdoors and in quality settings in ways that they didn't before. — The Planning Report
Anita Laremont, the newly appointed Director of the NYC Department of City Planning and Chair of the City Planning Commission, when asked about her priorities in light of Mayor Bill de Blasio's term coming to an end soon: "We believe our priorities will continue to be the new mayor's priorities in... View full entry
The future of Soho and Noho is now up to the City Council. The City Planning Commission on Wednesday approved a high-profile proposal to rezone the neighborhoods, largely to allow for more residential and ground-floor retail. The proposal covers 56 blocks in the neighborhoods, largely zoned for manufacturing use — despite the area’s reputation as a prime retail destination. — The Real Deal
In support of the plan, City Planning Commission Chair Anita Laremont said: “The plan significantly advances New York City’s equity and inclusivity goals, helps to address our severe and ongoing housing crisis and serves to speed New York City's economic recovery.” According to The... View full entry
The Greater London Authority is looking for architects to form a representative body in a new scheme formally announced by London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Monday. The mayor’s Architecture + Urbanism Framework will debut next spring with a fifty-member panel taken from the design community... View full entry
