The challenges facing an urban world
As mentioned here on L+L before, and shouted from the rooftops by the likes of Mike Davis, the world is fast approaching the point where the majority of the human population will be found in urban areas... sometime in 2007.
via BBC — Urban

Manchester united
"Ten years ago, an IRA bomb left the centre of Manchester utterly devastated. But out of the rubble came a stunning and unexpected urban renaissance." "An opportunity to undo some of the planning mistakes of the 60s and 70s..."
via Guardian — Urban

Cul-de-Sacs: Suburban Dream or Dead End?
"Urban planners, anti-sprawl activists and architects, as well as some city managers and mayors, are opposed to cul-de-sacs. But one important group is still in love with the cul-de-sac: homebuyers."
via NPR — Urban

What Detroit Can Learn From Bangalore
A booming city’s lessons for a town in decline... and a word of caution from a once-great city right back at the boomtown.
via Planetizen — Urban

Faux Suburban Downtowns Challenge Traditional City Centers
"It's much easier to make a fake city than it is to work on real downtowns with their patchwork landholdings and planning restrictions."
via Planetizen — Urban

Cul-de-sac attack
One of the most popular features of suburbia is under attack. Homeowners Love Cul-de-Sacs, Planners Say They're Perils.
via Wall Street Journal — Urban

Downtown Revitalization Plan for New Orleans Unveiled
More on the plan for the proposed Jazz Park/District for downtown New Orleans (with images).
via Architectural Record — Urban

Interview: Mike Davis (part 2)
The second half of an in depth interview with Mike Davis - deep stuff.
via BLDGBLOG — Urban

Interview: Mike Davis (part 1)
An interview with urban-theorist and author Mike Davis about his latest book, "Planet of Slums," etc.
via BLDGBLOG — Urban

Sprawl City USA - Bakersfield, California
"At a time when many areas of the country are trying to contain sprawl, the City Council won approval this year to expand an area chosen for development outside city limits that could nearly double Bakersfield's size in the years ahead."
via USA Today — Urban

New Urbanism sweeps Britain
"Any development with Prince Charles' name attached to it is bound to stir comment. And this one is a biggie: an entirely new town to be built over the green fields of the Sherford Valley outside Plymouth in Devon."
via Gabion — Urban

Podcast - Sir Peter Hall on Australian urbanism
Once very English (40 yeras ago) now "more exotic," a discussion on Australia's cities - big box stores, creating public spaces, malls, Corbu, etc.
via ABC Australia — Urban

The Virgin Mary Is in the Details
The New Urbanist plan for Ave Maria - the Catholic university and adjoining town under construction in Florida.
via Metropolis — Urban

Interview: Paulo Mendes Da Rocha -City of Dreams
Pritzker prize winning Brazilian architect Paulo Mendes Da Rocha talks about cities and architecture.
via Newsweek — Urban

My Life Above Pottery Barn
"They have done it. They have actually managed to seamlessly fuse life with commerce, eliminate the line separating home and shop, individual and commodity. You no longer live miles down the road from Restoration Hardware. You live above it."
via SF Gate — Urban

The Man With the Plan
Andres Duany has fronted more than $150,000 of his own money to bring his New Urbanist vision to the rebuilding of New Orleans.
via Wall Street Journal — Urban

Remembering Jane Jacobs
Another compilation of links on Jane Jacobs who passed away yesterday.
via Planetizen — Urban

Jane Jacobs Speaks
Lockhart compiles a nice list of interviews, etc.
via Curbed — Urban

Room to be heard - public space
"Immigration rallies remind us why public spaces are vital."
via Chicago Tribune — Urban

What Is The New Suburbanism?
Joel Kotkin tries to define (again) what he means by "New Suburbanism."
via Planetizen — Urban

The Incredible Shrinking City
"Facing steep population decline, Youngstown, Ohio, is repositioning itself."
via Metropolis — Urban

Barcelona vs. New York
Barcelona "builds seemingly before lunch every day what New York City can't seem to accomplish in a generation." James S. Russell references the current show at the Center for Architecture, "Barcelona in Progress," saying that NY could learn a thing or two.
via Bloomberg — Urban

New Urbanism on NPR
Atlanta's new New Urban neighborhood Glenwood Park profiled to describe "the movement."
via NPR — Urban

Gehryland, USA
"Should one architect--even the world's most famous architect--be responsible for all of the buildings in two massive developments?" Grand Ave. in LA and Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn.
via Metropolis — Urban

The Sprawl Brawl
"The benefits of sprawl don't look so dumb to some."
via The Slatin Report — Urban

Trading runways for houses
Airports have become prized properties for US developers, converting airstrips into housing, commercial and mixed use developments.
via NY Times — Urban

What to do about the homeless in Los Angeles
Here is an appropriate article for those following the comments in the "Sustainable Car Parks" post. An op-ed on the issue of the homeless in LA which includes ideas on how to address the problem.
via LA Times — Urban

Revealing Chicago
Aerial photographs of the Chicago area presented on a nice interactive site - a collaboration between Openlands Project and Chicago Metropolis 2020.
via Airbag — Urban

Working Toward a New Understanding of Zoning
"Urban design thinking and practice have greatly advanced over the past 30 years. Unfortunately, conventional zoning, the crude but all-powerful regulatory tool shaping cities, has changed little. Given the need to transform land-use planning and dev
via Washington Post — Urban

More New Orleans 2.0
Archinect points to the current issue of Artforum which has published the architectural responses to Hurricane Katrina by the likes of MVRDV, Morphosis, West 8, et. al.
via Archinect — Urban