Building Brasília
A twentieth-century experiment in urban planning promised progress—but carried immense financial and human costs.
Bicycling Into the Future
Across centuries, bicycles have embodied hopes for speed, freedom, efficiency, and survival.
The Power of Placemaking
Why the social, political, and emotional dimensions of public spaces matter, and how people themselves play a central role in creating them.
Greening Philly’s Neglected Lots
Spearheaded by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, an urban beautification program transformed neighborhoods in the city of brotherly love.
Perspectives on Public Space: A Reading List
This list introduces some of the main debates about public space, from park politics to political protest, public expressions of sexuality to safety and security.
Daniel Burnham in the Philippines
Building on his success as an architect and planner in Chicago, Daniel Burnham took American values and aesthetics to the new US colony of the Philippines.
Where Are the Trees?
Why some neighborhoods get all the shade, and how can we make sure that changes.
The Uneven Costs of Cross-Country Connectivity
Promoted as a social and economic savior, the US federal interstate highway system acted as a tool to promote racial injustices.
Urban Planning, Then and Now
Humans have been designing cities for millennia. California Forever is just the newest entry in a long list of planned communities around the world.
Building Community and Urban Tree Canopy
Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, Black communities and other reformers in New York City recognized the ameliorative social effects of greening urban spaces.