Political Science - Public Policy - City Planning & Urban Development

Zoning codes dictate how and where we can build housing, factories, restaurants, and parks. They limit how tall buildings can be and where trees can be planted. They have become the most significant regulatory power of local government, ultimately determining how we experience our...

Zoning codes dictate how and where we can build housing, factories, restaurants, and parks. They limit how tall buildings can be and where trees can be planted. They have become the most significant regulatory power of local government, ultimately determining how we experience our...

Land and the policies that govern it hold an incredible but largely forgotten power over our lives. When land is wasted and squandered, we get sky-high rents, oppressed workers, ruined businesses, depleted natural resources, a polluted earth, and an impoverished society. Poor land policy...

From the hosts of The War on Cars podcast, a searing indictment of how cars ruin everything--and what we can do to fight back When the very first cars rolled off production lines, they were a technological marvel, predicted to make life easier and...

A long-time Austinite and journalist's exploration of the profound movements that have shaped Austin, Texas--charting the shifts within its vibrant music scene, the impact of rapid urbanization, and the challenges of gentrification--ultimately questioning what this city's transformation signals for American urban identity.Austin isn't what...

Former Syracuse mayor Stephanie Miner offers a candid insider look at her trailblazing time in elected office, the pressures and pitfalls of city and state politics, and the true potential of local government.Elected the first woman of a major city in New York State,...

Can messiness make our cities more liveable, lively, and inclusive?Crowded streets, sidewalk vendors, jumbled architecture, constant clamour, graffitied walls, parks gone wild: are these signs of a poorly managed city or indicators of urban vitality?Messy Cities: Why We Can't Plan Everything argues that spontaneity...

In a captivating tour of cities famous and forgotten, acclaimed historian Ben Wilson tells the glorious, millennia-spanning story how urban living sparked humankind's greatest innovations. "A towering achievement.... Reading this book is like visiting an exhilarating city for the first time--dazzling." --The Wall Street...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - "A comprehensive, entertaining, and compelling argument for how rebuilding social infrastructure can help heal divisions in our society and move us forward."--Jon Stewart NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR - "Engaging."--Mayor Pete Buttigieg, The New York...

A comprehensive history of Philadelphia from the region's original Lenape inhabitants to the myriad of residents in the twenty-first century Philadelphia is famous for its colonial and revolutionary buildings and artifacts, which draw tourists from far and wide to gain a better understanding of...

A renowned plant expert explains how we can make urgent, positive changes to our cities that protect against and reduce global warming. The conquest of new lands has been the greatest occupation of our species: for hundreds of thousands of years, humans have searched...

The "profound . . . brilliant" account of the rise of the world's slums and the failures of modern urbanization--by the world's leading urbanist (Arundhati Roy, activist and Booker Prize-winning author) According to the United Nations, more than one billion people now live in...

Ken Bernstein, a Principal City Planner for the City of Los Angeles and a national advocate for historic preservation shares how Los Angeles has led the nation in historic preservation and how other cities can do the same with his Los Angeles Times bestseller.2021...

Philadelphia's urban renewal efforts in the 1950s, which re-envisioned the city as a residential enclave, were an early example of gentrification. In West Philadelphia in the 1960s, a coalition of universities and hospitals went further, initiating K-12 public school improvements meant to attract an...

Majora Carter shows how brain drain cripples low-status communities and maps out a development strategy focused on talent retention to help them break out of economic stagnation. "My musical, In the Heights, explores issues of community, gentrification, identity and home, and the question: Are...

Segregation by Design draws on more than 100 years of quantitative and qualitative data from thousands of American cities to explore how local governments generate race and class segregation. Starting in the early twentieth century, cities have used their power of land use control...

Cities define the lives of all those who call them home: where we go, how we get there, how we spend our time. But what if we rethink the ways we plan, live in, and move around our cities? What if we didn't need...

An illuminating ramble along the American sidewalk: routinely unnoticed, yet central to daily life, neighborhood vitality, and significant legal controversies. Public infrastructure is as essential to our communities as it is easily overlooked. A case in point is the humble sidewalk: constantly taken for...

Like a modern-day Jane Jacobs, Janette Sadik-Khan transformed New York City's streets to make room for pedestrians, cyclists, buses, and green spaces. Describing the battles she fought to enact change, Streetfight imparts wisdom and practical advice that other cities can follow to make their...

From one of today's most inspired architects and urban advocates, a manifesto for architecture as a force for addressing our biggest social challenges The world is facing unprecedented challenges, from climate change and population growth, to political division and technological dislocation, to declining mental...