• Form-based codes haven't translated to gentrification, study reports

    Form-based codes have significant benefits, the question is whether these benefits are distributed equally.
    Form-based codes (FBCs) do not appear to lead to gentrification and they are associated with higher levels of multi-unit structures, according to a research paper by University of Chicago professor Emily Talen. In “ The socio-economic context of form-based codes ,” Talen notes that research has...Read more
  • How neuroscience informs architecture and urban design

    A new book covers an emerging field that provides data on human responses to places, leading to new theories on community design.
    Urban Experience and Design: Contemporary Perspectives on Improving the Public Realm , edited by Justin B. Hollander and Ann Sussman, is a collection of academic and scientific papers on cognitive research and community design. The book covers a lot of ground and is not easy to summarize, but it...Read more
  • People enjoying a walkable street

    Preference for walkable communities strong, but young families want a bigger home

    Living in a walkable community correlates to a significantly stronger reported quality of life—and that metric rose during the COVID 19 pandemic, according to a biennial poll on housing and transportation by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Less favorably for urbanists, two generations...Read more
  • The grid makes a comeback

    An analysis of US street networks since 1940 shows plunging connectivity in the last half of the 20th Century, followed by a sharp reversal of that trend in the new millennium.
    Since 2000, connected street networks have made a comeback, according to a University of Southern California analysis of US streets over the past century. “Since 2000, the grid index and its components have risen back to levels not seen since the mid-20th Century,” notes Geoff Boeing, assistant...Read more