Urban nature is discussed and explored in this set of course material offered online as part of the MIT OpenCourseWare initiative. The course was originally taught by Professor Anne Whiston Spirn in fall 2012 and, as the site notes, explores “the mutual influences of ideas of nature, theories of city design and planning.” On the site visitors can read over the syllabus to check out the list of...

This report, written by Christopher Walker and Mark Weinheimer and published by the Urban Institute, demonstrates that since its inception in 1991, the National Community Development Initiative (NCDI) has had a significant impact on community development corporations (CDCs) in 23 large American cities. The 136-page report provides an overview of the NCDI and CDCs, an assessment of NCDI-funded...

The Compendium of Sustainable Development Indicator Initiatives and Publications site is jointly developed by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), Environment Canada, Redefining Progress, and the World Bank. It provides an "information base of indicator initiatives being carried out at the international, national and provincial/territorial/state levels in the context of...

The New Urbanist movement in architecture and town planning began in the United States as an effort to alleviate the pattern of urban and suburban sprawl that was a common element of post-World War II development around the country. The first place new visitors will want to start is by reading the charter statement of the group, along with a brief history of the organization, which was begun in...

Concern about the lives of the poor in the developing world continues to be a focus for a number of important organizations, including the United Nations’ Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. One area of particular interest has been improving the lives of those poor persons in urban areas, areas that are often overlooked by programs designed to alleviate the massive amounts of...

Over the past few decades, many ideas in the field of planning have become almost buzz-words in the popular press, including Sustainable Development” and New Urbanism. With the increased interest in planning, PLANetizen was created three years ago as "a public-interest information exchange for the urban planning and development community." The site features a host of frequently updated links to...

This site features resources focused on "smart growth," growth that attempts to "minimize environmental and health impacts while promoting economic prosperity." The site explains smart growth; provides links to funding sources, resources, and members of the smart growth network, a coalition of government, business, and civic organizations; collects related fact sheets, reports, grant products, and...

Among urban policy analysts, politicians, and investigative journalists, there is great concern about the viability of developing new convention centers in an attempt to "prime the pump" of an urban region. For the most part, the prevailing wisdom seems to indicate that persons coming to large conventions in a city will spend millions of dollars when they are in town, and that cities will benefit...

How are cities transformed by the creation of new transit lines? How can existing transit lines be modified to create new land use opportunities for housing and commercial properties? These subjects are covered by a 172-page conference edition of a forthcoming paper from the World Bank. The paper was authored by Hiroaki Suzuki, Robert Cervero, and Kanako Iuchi. Visitors will note that the work...

Founded during the throes of the Great Depression in 1932, the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM), was established to serve as the official nonpartisan organization of the nation's cities with populations of 30,000 or more. Each city is represented in the conference by its chief elected official, and the primary roles of the USCM are to "promote the development of effective national urban/suburban...