Hacker News with Generative AI: Urban Planning

Paris Votes for 500 More Car Free Streets (theenergymix.com)
As Paris votes to make another 500 streets car-free, the first residents are moving into a newly-built town outside Cambridge, UK, where the bicycle, not the car, is king.
Paris, Urban Planning, Transportation, Sustainability, Public Policy
20 points by Sontho 21 hours ago | 7 comments
Living Car-Free in Arizona, on Purpose and Happily (nytimes.com)
One community near Phoenix is taking a “completely different” approach to development.
Lifestyle, Arizona, Urban Planning, Sustainability
23 points by lxm 7 days ago | 2 comments
A Startup Linked to Peter Thiel Wants to Build "Next Great City" in Greenland (insidehook.com)
Startup, Greenland, Real Estate, Urban Planning, Peter Thiel
3 points by amarcheschi 7 days ago | 0 comments
Portlander creates AI-powered device to monitor street health (bikeportland.org)
If you ride on NE 26th Avenue and Wasco, you might have noticed a small square box with a camera lens peering out onto the street.
Artificial Intelligence, Urban Planning, Portland, Technology, Street Infrastructure
22 points by burlesona 9 days ago | 4 comments
Honking Complaints Plunge 69% Inside Congestion Pricing Zone (thecity.nyc)
Honking-mad motorists are laying off the horn in the core of Manhattan since the January launch of congestion pricing, data reveals — with New Yorkers’ beefs about blaring horns plummeting nearly 70% from the same time last year.
Traffic, Congestion Pricing, Urban Planning
7 points by JumpCrisscross 12 days ago | 0 comments
Small cities leaders lack a playbook for dealing with economic decline (phys.org)
The challenges facing big cities such as Detroit and Cleveland have been widely examined by experts over the decades, as each has dealt with the loss of population and major industries.
Economic Development, Urban Planning, Small Cities
20 points by PaulHoule 12 days ago | 1 comments
Congestion Pricing Is a Policy Miracle (bettercities.substack.com)
On January 5th 2025, Congestion Pricing went into effect in New York City. It was a long and winding road (as I detailed here last summer), but Governor Hochul finally made the right decision and allowed the policy to go into effect (albeit at a $9 price point vs. the initial $15).
Politics, Urban Planning
175 points by oftenwrong 13 days ago | 328 comments
Mapping Blurred Spaces – Maps in multiple dimensions (visionscarto.net)
Going into our fieldwork in Marikina City, I had the preconceived notion that spaces of home and work should be separate. However, this perspective was challenged by the realities I encountered in the field.
Mapping, Urban Planning, Anthropology, Philippines
3 points by StromFLIX 14 days ago | 0 comments
Honking Complaints Plunge 69% Inside Congestion Pricing Zone (thecity.nyc)
Honking-mad motorists are laying off the horn in the core of Manhattan since the January launch of congestion pricing, data reveals — with New Yorkers’ beefs about blaring horns plummeting nearly 70% from the same time last year.
Traffic, Congestion Pricing, Data Analysis, Urban Planning
6 points by PaulHoule 14 days ago | 1 comments
The Last Drops of Mexico City (longlead.com)
One of the world’s largest and most populated cities may run out of drinking water in the near future.
Water Scarcity, Mexico City, Urban Planning
209 points by anarbadalov 15 days ago | 215 comments
Supply constraints do not explain house price, quantity growth across US cities (nber.org)
The standard view of housing markets holds that the flexibility of local housing supply–shaped by factors like geography and regulation–strongly affects the response of house prices, house quantities and population to rising housing demand.
Real Estate, Economics, Housing Market, Urban Planning, Research
222 points by pessimizer 16 days ago | 365 comments
How is a Bike Tunnel this Freak'n Great? [video] (youtube.com)
Transportation, Infrastructure, Video, Urban Planning
28 points by ingve 16 days ago | 4 comments
Peru's Great Urban Experiment (2023) (archaeology.org)
Peru, Archaeology, Urban Planning, History
62 points by Thevet 19 days ago | 38 comments
'Let the Fire Teach Us': How L.A. Is Building Back Better (reasonstobecheerful.world)
As communities recover from the devastation of wildfires, rebuilding offers an opportunity to prioritize resilience to future disasters.
Wildfires, Climate Change, Resilience, Urban Planning, Community Recovery
4 points by PaulHoule 20 days ago | 0 comments
Chinese Towers and American Blocks (worksinprogress.co)
China builds towers in a park, while America, and nearly everyone else, builds squat mid-rise blocks. The difference comes down to regulation, not culture.
Architecture, Urban Planning, China, United States
5 points by paulpauper 20 days ago | 0 comments
Czech scientists study trees' ability to absorb traffic noise (radio.cz)
Trees do not only improve air quality by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. They can also significantly reduce noise levels by absorbing and refracting sound waves. Scientists from Brno are currently investigating how trees could be used as sound barriers against traffic noise.
Environmental Science, Noise Pollution, Urban Planning, Acoustics
27 points by mooreds 21 days ago | 1 comments
'Global weirding': climate whiplash hitting biggest cities (theguardian.com)
Climate whiplash is already hitting major cities around the world, bringing deadly swings between extreme wet and dry weather as the climate crisis intensifies, a report has revealed.
Climate Change, Extreme Weather, Urban Planning, Science, Environment
11 points by ljf 23 days ago | 0 comments
Tech Execs Are Pushing to Build 'Freedom Cities' Run by Corporations (gizmodo.com)
A billionaire-backed push to develop libertarian enclaves in Central America is being imported back to the United States, where its proponents want to lay the groundwork for their own privately run, corporately governed cities.
Corporations, Politics, Urban Planning, Central America, United States
12 points by clumsysmurf 23 days ago | 13 comments
Mapping the University of Chicago's 135-year expansion into Hyde Park and beyond (chicagomaroon.github.io)
In 1890, the newly chartered University of Chicago aimed to “remove the mind of the student from the busy mercantile conditions of Chicago.”
History, Urban Planning, Chicago, Education
209 points by speckx 24 days ago | 77 comments
Hit by heatwave, Mumbai is ignoring a quick fix to cool off (scroll.in)
On Saturday, the India Meteorological Department predicted an unusually hot day for Mumbai. The mercury soared to 37 degrees, about 3.4 degree higher than the average temperature for early March. At 3 pm, Suvarna Bandagale sat on a cement block on a footpath to catch some respite from the scorching afternoon heat. As she wiped sweat off her face, she watched pigeons flutter inside the municipality’s empty Diamond Garden in the Chembur neighbourhood. “It is always locked in afternoon,” Bandagale complained.
Weather, India, Climate Change, Urban Planning
15 points by akbarnama 24 days ago | 2 comments
Magpies and crows are using “anti-bird spikes” to make nests (2023) (audubon.org)
Humans have made the world less hospitable for birds in many ways. One obvious and intentional example of this can be found in towns and cities worldwide: anti-bird spikes. The pointy wires you might see attached to roofs, ledges, and light poles are meant to deter urban species like pigeons from landing, pooping, and even nesting where people don’t want them to. But in an avian act of poetic justice, a handful of European birds have struck back.
Nature, Animals, Urban Planning, Environmentalism
234 points by perihelions 25 days ago | 84 comments
London air pollution down since Ulez extended to outer boroughs, study finds (theguardian.com)
People in London have been breathing significantly cleaner air since the expansion of the ultra low emission zone (Ulez), a study has found.
Air Quality, London, Environmental Policy, Urban Planning
7 points by zeristor 28 days ago | 0 comments
Why Rich People Don't Cover Their Windows (theatlantic.com)
Walk down the block of a wealthy neighborhood at night, and you might be surprised by how much you can see. One uncovered window might reveal the glow of a flatscreen TV across from a curved couch; through another, you might glimpse a marble kitchen island and a chandelier. Of course, some of the curtains are closed—but many are flung open, the home’s interiors exposed, like you’re peering into a showroom.
Wealth, Privacy, Urban Planning, Architecture
8 points by ustad 35 days ago | 2 comments
Toyota completes phase 1 construction of futuristic city (nhk.or.jp)
Toyota Motor has completed the first phase construction of a futuristic city southwest of Tokyo that will weave new technologies into urban living.
Toyota, Urban Planning, Future Cities, Technology
72 points by 1970-01-01 37 days ago | 83 comments
The Moped King (streetsblogprojects.org)
Twenty years ago, e-bikes and mopeds were rare in the city, but now they are everywhere — buzzing around midtown office towers during the lunch rush, parked in long rows outside takeout spots, and, occasionally, barreling down bike lanes and sidewalks.
Transportation, Urban Planning
21 points by paulgb 38 days ago | 9 comments
NYC's Congestion Pricing Hits Revenue Target, Continues to Prove Doubters Wrong (jalopnik.com)
Data from the first month of New York City's congestion pricing scheme proves that it's still an undisputed success.
Traffic, New York, Urban Planning, Transportation Policy, Economics
14 points by rntn 38 days ago | 0 comments
The Mission is the new Tenderloin (sfstandard.com)
The Sixth Street drug market has found a new home.
San Francisco, Drugs, Crime, Urban Planning
7 points by iancmceachern 41 days ago | 0 comments
L.A. is getting fire recovery wrong. Two experts explain how to do it better (latimes.com)
One month later, two wildfire experts argue that the destruction didn’t have to be as bad as it was.
Wildfires, California, Disaster Recovery, Urban Planning
10 points by PaulHoule 42 days ago | 0 comments
A fiscal crisis is looming for many US cities (theconversation.com)
Five years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many U.S. cities are still adjusting to a new normal, with more people working remotely and less economic activity in city centers.
Economics, Urban Planning, COVID-19
38 points by rntn 42 days ago | 101 comments
The Prophet of Parking: A eulogy for the great Donald Shoup (worksinprogress.news)
Professor Donald Shoup died on February 6th. M. Nolan Gray explains how his mentor changed political economy of parking, and cities themselves, forever.
Urban Planning, Cities, Economics, Obituaries
321 points by herbertl 50 days ago | 303 comments