Canada

Toronto to Explore Potential High Line-Style Park
City staff will study options for transforming a defunct rail corridor into a linear park.

Montreal Shatters Stereotypes on Cold Weather Biking
A combination of infrastructure, connectivity, and quality equipment has made the Canadian city’s bike share system successful despite frigid winters and challenging geography.

Opinion: ‘Floating’ Bus Stops Endanger Blind Pedestrians
A design that places bike lanes between bus stops and sidewalks complicates mobility for pedestrians, especially people with vision impairments.

Lower Speed Limits as a Climate Action Tool
Slowing down traffic can reduce greenhouse gas emissions in addition to improving roadway safety.

Placemaking on the Halifax Waterfront
How small, incremental changes can create vibrant places.

Report Stresses Links Between Housing and Transit
A Canadian report calls for a more holistic approach to housing development policy and transportation planning.

Auditor: Toronto Greenbelt Changes Favored Developers
A series of hasty removals of land from the protected Greenbelt last year were pushed through without environmental or financial analysis.

Vancouver Poised to Increase Residential Zoning
The city council will vote on a proposal to eliminate single-family only zoning in favor of rules that would allow up to six units per residential lot.

Wildfire Smoke Takes Toll on Bike Commuters
How can people on bikes protect their lungs from the harmful effects of wildfire smoke?

How Responsible Is Climate Change for Increased Wildfires?
“Nearly all” since 2001, according to a new study on California wildfires by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Opinion: Toronto is Stifling its Outdoor Dining Program
New regulations and fees for outdoor dining patios, extended from a pandemic-era program, are making the process overly complicated and expensive for business owners.

Plan for U.S.-Canada EV Corridor Announced
U.S. and Canadian officials revealed plans for an electric vehicle charging network that will connect Kalamazoo and Quebec City with EV chargers every 50 miles.

Carzilla: How Huge SUVs and Trucks Hurt Pedestrians and Walkable Communities
Ever wonder where the supersizing of cars is going to end? Kaid Benfield dives deep into the subject and suggests five actions we can take to get to a safer spot in the road.

How Much Will That Infrastructure Really Cost?
A new tool developed in British Columbia calculates the cost of infrastructure over the entire life cycle of the project.

Using Cellphone Data to Understand Park Use
A new University of Toronto study analyzes anonymous GPS data from smartphones to track how people use and interact with green spaces.

Canada's Car Commuting Roars Back as Transit’s Rebound Remains Slow
Car commuting rates are returning to pre-pandemic levels, while public transit and active transportation rates are slower to recover.

Study: Biking Brings Happiness
A Minneapolis study showed cyclists experienced the highest rates of satisfaction during their commute.

Quayside 2.0 Rejects the ‘Smart City’
In a reversal from Sidewalk Labs’ now-defunct tech-heavy proposal, Toronto’s new plan for the waterfront development known as Quayside emphasizes greenery and nature.

How ‘Hostile Design’ Creates Unwelcoming Spaces
‘Defensive urbanism’ interventions explicitly seek to repel certain, often vulnerable, social groups from public spaces.

Banning Russian Oil, Part II
Part I occurred when President Biden banned the importation of all Russian fossil fuels on March 8. A month later, Congress passed legislation to codify the embargo. Getting the European Union onboard is proving cumbersome.
Pagination
City of Madera
City of Santa Clarita
Borough of Carlisle
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Colorado Energy Office
Pima County Community College District
City of Piedmont, CA
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.