• Bird’s eye view of Jackson Square

    This photo of Jackson Square, New Orleans, was shot with a drone by architect and urban designer Steve Mouzon. A photographer and author of The Original Green , Mouzon has been using a drone for urban photography for the last seven months, and is convinced that drone photography is an essential...Read more

  • Ten ways to build small-scale urbanism

    Building small has advantages in cost, time, ease of approval, ease of entry, and the character of the finished product. Small-scale urbanism has the support of multiple mini-movements, and here are ten ways to do it.
    Daniel Burnham said “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized.” Burnham made his career out of big plans, from the 1893 Chicago world’s fair, to the 1909 Plan of Chicago, to the design for the magnificent Union Station in Washington,...Read more

  • Visions of the city: I is for Ice

    Amid the recent oppressive heat wave, it may be hard to imagine when warmth feels good. But there comes a time when people put on hats and gloves and scarves and engage in outdoor activities to generate body heat, and the contrast with the cold is invigorating. The drawing above, by architect and...Read more

  • Building the Beloved Community in Atlanta

    In Martin Luther King Jr.’s home of Westside Atlanta, a nonprofit is partnering with the City and public and private organizations to transform disadvantaged neighborhoods using a new urban design plan.
    “Physical solutions by themselves will not solve social and economic problems, but neither can economic vitality, community stability, and environmental health be sustained without a coherent and supportive physical framework.” From the Charter of the New Urbanism​ Five years has passed since a...Read more