CHICAGO -- Chicago residents weighed in on plans for the new Obama Presidential Center, as well as Jackson and South Shore Parks. City officials hosted an open house style community meeting on Wednesday at the South Shore Cultural Center.

Alternative hip-hop artist Open Mike Eagle pays homage to his childhood home, a now-demolished Chicago housing complex.

The connection between food justice and eviction defense in Oakland.

More than 650 urban planning professionals lay out in a letter to the American Planning Association how neighborhoods that were racially segregated by a range of planning policies have become further denigrated by police violence and harassment of Black people — and that planners have done little historically to help change this dynamic.

Around the country, cities and states are grappling with how zoning rules have deeply codified racial inequity and exacerbated climate change.

Black Lives Matter protests are showing how city leaders and transit agencies must reprioritize infrastructure investments, a public transit official argues.

The West Edge District of Cheyenne, WY lies between the downtown core, railroad tracks, and existing residential neighborhoods. The City did community outreach in 2012 and 2013 to include the public in shaping a vision for the area. This effort and subsequent outreach resulted in the 2014 Visionary Blueprint and 2016 Area Wide Plan. These documents include concepts for long-range visualization and zoning recommendations, but actual improvements have not been designed yet and the City has not taken any rezoning action since then.

The District is envisioned to be a trendy, pedestrian oriented mixed-use area, but the current industrial zoning doesn’t allow for mixed-uses. If the City were to simply rezone to normal mixed-use, it would make the existing industrial uses non-conforming. The City is looking for a zoning solution that accommodates existing industrial uses but also cultivates new development.

The Planning and Development Department scheduled a zoning workshop for March 25th to begin the rezoning process, but City staff began working from home on March 16th due to the Coronavirus. Not wanting to continue losing momentum, staff wanted to find a way to hold the workshop virtually. READ MORE

Creating opportunities for people and communities to engage is a first step towards building public trust, especially in shaping the experience for overlooked communities to participate.

Many addresses on the North Side are reflected in vastly different neighborhoods on the South Side. This project pairs residents with their counterparts across town to explore the divisions in their city.

New studies of Lisbon and Toronto offer the latest evidence for the power of safe infrastructure to encourage more cycling in cities — and speak to the perils of relying on historical data.

Planners of all types have a role to play in addressing racial injustice by connecting each decision to its effects on the whole community.

The pandemic changed public meetings, but only in form, not format. The current format prizes people who can show up and who have time to study proposals beforehand, stacking the deck in favor of commenters with 9-to-5 hours, access to childcare, food security and a level of comfort visiting a government building.

Building resilience through participatory mapping in informal settlements in Brazil

New Zealand’s new national urban development policy prohibits parking minimums and increases allowable building heights near transit stations. This is a watershed moment for the country’s cities and towns.

How do we reimagine streets to create more just and equitable cities? How do we ensure safe, accessible, and affordable transportation for all? What role does technology play in building more vibrant, diverse, and unified communities? Listen to this conversation between eight city builders to explore future scenarios for our streets and their social, environmental, and economic consequences.

What counts as "neighborhood character," and who gets to define it? In many cities, it's wealthy, white homeowners who have lived there for decades.

A unanimous appeals court decision this week quashed what would have represented a significant change in the city’s approach to reshaping neighborhoods. This reversal is a resounding blow to community advocates who hoped the challenge would force a deeper study of the rezoning’s racial and socioeconomic implications on Inwood — and serve as a milestone for advancing more equitable city planning.

Cities should consider barring cars from certain streets and taking some space away from drivers as part of a comprehensive strategy to get children safely to school during COVID-19.

Urban planning studies of community values have always shown green spaces to have a high priority, but sadly the spread of ill-thought urban development and infrastructure has eroded this vital asset. In the last few years more than 70 parks and green canopies have been destroyed or threatened.

A unique urban planning firm, made up entirely of Black women, is making a difference in communities of color.

In a dialogue published in our annual newsletter, two ITDP Directors, Michael Kodransky and Bernardo Baranda, discuss their respective cities in terms of mobility growth, local policy, and how the coronavirus has affected movement of people. 

This picture-perfect medieval city is celebrating its 900th anniversary, but its innovative design makes it one of the world’s most sustainable and liveable cities.

The state of Utah created Envision Utah in the late 1990s to address growth while maintaining quality of life and protecting the environment in the state. The plan set goals for 2020, so it's time to evaluate its success.

Woodruff Park is one of the few parks nationwide to employ a dedicated case manager or social worker.

Years ago, Topeka city leaders heard criticism from stakeholders that the government was not transparent. City leaders are now committed to providing the public with timely and reliable information on decisions and performance.

On Thursday, June 26, MPC and Enterprise Community Partners hosted a conversation with several community leaders to discuss the short and long term impacts of the COVID-19 on Chicago’s immigrant communities, necessary actions, and the intersections with the Movement for Black Lives.