Henry Grabar's breezy Paved Paradise is must reading for planners -- especially in California.

A new book accounts for ways major infrastructure projects bust their budgets and make mincemeat of their schedules; another predicts demographic upheaval due to climate change.

An impressive array of books on urban planning came out in 2020; Bill and Josh discuss with Planetizen Editor James Brasuell. >>read more

Leslie Kern's new book Feminist City will likely ring familiar with women planners -- and provide male planners crucial insights for making cities more welcoming and equitable for everyone.

NRDC Senior Attorney David Pettit reviews "Navigating the California Coastal Act" by Jana Zimmer >>read more

The New Urban Crisis provides a tidy, timely summary of the current urban problem, in all its enormity. >>read more

You think this is going to be another piece about the shortcomings and backfires of the California Environmental Quality Act. It's not.

Where is Robert Bruegemann when you need him?

A few years back, Bruegmann wrote Sprawl: A Compact History, an exaltation of low-density growth. It called for cities to double-down on all the conventions and mistakes of the previous 50 years. It was a disturbingly anachronistic, but it was provocative, and it was passionate.

It seems that these days there's still plenty of in urbanist literature, but, for better or worse, provocation is getting harder to come by.