Cities & Planning

In California, and around the world, climate change is making extreme rain more likely. Here's how some cities are adapting.

Seattle Public Utilities and King County are building an underground storage tunnel to improve water quality and reduce polluted water entering the Lake Washington Ship Canal.

The gigantic drill that's digging a 2.7-mile, 30-million-gallon storage tunnel for stormwater and sewage in North Seattle has passed a major milestone.

Driving across America, you will encounter a wide variety of cultures, landscapes, people and animals. But the one consistent thing that will stay the same from Maine to California are the signs you pass on the highway. That is because America’s roads and highways have a big, fat style guide.

Pingtan Book House by architecture firm Condition_Lab nestles into the courtyard of a primary school that serves 400 children.

Editor’s note: In anticipation of the Urban History Association’s 2023 conference being held in Pittsburgh from October 26 – October 29, The Metropole is making the Steel City its Metro…

Oil made Texas an energy giant, but even this petroleum powerhouse is working hard to secure a footing beyond fossil fuels. It already generates more wind energy than any other U.S. state, and soon the mighty air that lashes its high plains will power a novel new process: the production of vehicle fuel from water.     […]

Sending green energy through networks stretching thousands of miles? The dream faces steep political and technical hurdles but many energy experts argue super grids’ time is coming.

It’s no secret our region is lacking in heavy rail transit options. Our only existing service, Sounder, is operated in such a manner that it functionally excludes anyone who isn’t traveling into Do…

Researchers have discovered ancient Roman concrete-manufacturing strategies that incorporated self-healing. Applying this knowledge toward modern cement production, they hope to improve the material’s environmental impact.

Members of a farming community who live in an old friary feel protected from the cost-of-living crisis.

The design of Fria Folket, the Library House is home to a vast book collection inside its glass and timber walls.

Some green technology, if you will.

The battery may bring long-duration, large-capacity energy storage to bases around the world.

Religion, art and politics have all led to the minimalist idea of "less is more". Dominic Lutyens explores the ideas and aesthetics behind pared-back simplicity.

On New Years' Day, several Stanford scientists joined CBS' Scott Pelley on "60 Minutes" to discuss the mass extinction crisis. No one had any good news.

Equium has developed a new thermo-acoustic heat pump core that reportedly produces 3 kW to 4 kW of heat for every kilowatt of power it consumes. It says the refrigerant-free device could generate domestic hot water at temperatures of up to 80 C.

Tollefson Plaza in downtown Tacoma confounds me. It’s an attractive space next to a bustling university campus and an art museum. It is adjacent to a pedestrian urban trail, near the city’s convent…

On December 30, Seattle Times published this "timely" article written by the paper's chief commentator of an economic boom that began a few years after the crash of 2008 and apparently came to an end when Black Lives Matter protesters shut down the East Precinct, Jon Talton: "Will Seattle ever reclaim its status as a vibrant ‘superstar city’?" Talton begins Seattle's story "a century ago," though I would have been impressed if he found a...

Across the street from Azabu Juban there's a neighborhood called Mita Koyamachou. In the middle of Tokyo it's a few streets of small homes and pre-war buildings where it seems like time has stopped. Early in 2023 demolition begins.

The New Year presents the opportunity to consider the possibilities that lay ahead for our next 365 days encircling the sun. Because at The Urbanist we are pretty obsessed with places, especially i…

A once common arrangement that can help or strain work-life balance is being sustained by a new generation of New Yorkers.

From chief heat officers to circular communities, cities are constantly serving as laboratories for bold new models. Here are a few favorites from the past year.

Supply chains are clogged and driving is getting more dangerous. 2023’s autonomous vehicles could help fix both.

Companies like Vivos and Rising S offer luxury shelters with amenities that include underground pools, gardens, horse stables, and entire villages.

Anonymous Desert 2011 A German language translation of Desert can be found here: anarchistischebibliothek.org/library/anonym-desert, and a Greek language...

The Federal Highway Administration has a chart full of answers to that question you might find useful.