• ReLeaf Cedar Rapids

    Trees are such a ubiquitous part of the urban landscape that their vital role is sometimes overlooked. Nearly every New Urbanist plan makes prominent use of them, and yet the word “tree” does not appear in the Charter of the New Urbanism , observes Jeff Speck, planner and author of Walkable City...Read more

  • Higher Ground Initiative

    The stakes could not be higher for The Republic of Nauru, an eight-square-mile island nation of 12,500 people in the central Pacific Ocean. The island rises 65 meters (213 feet) above sea level, its majority indigenous inhabitants descending from a 3000-year-old Micronesian culture. Much of the...Read more

  • WeCollab

    It is now standard practice to conduct extensive public outreach in neighborhood planning. WeCollab in the St. Louis neighborhoods of West End and Visitation Park took this idea further—citizens became part of the consulting team to rebuild their own community. This effort lays the groundwork to...Read more

  • Hammond Downtown Master Plan

    Based on the past sixty years, one would expect Hammond, Indiana, to continue shrinking and its downtown to stagnate indefinitely. But the suburb of Chicago has other factors in its favor, according to Jeff Speck, who led the design team for a recent Downtown Master Plan. A commuter rail station is...Read more