The hottest City Planning Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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An indigenous nation just built a better city than California Forever

The Novelleist • 162 implied HN points • 12 Mar 26
🪑 Design City Planning
  1. We should build more cities, but they must be designed to benefit residents, not just developers or outside investors.
  2. The ideal new city needs real fiscal power — the authority to raise and keep its own revenue so it can fund services and long-term planning.
  3. That fiscal power must actually flow back to residents; real-world examples like indigenous-led towns and autonomous regions show cities can return value to people instead of outside shareholders.

San Francisco should be profitable—instead property owners are

The Novelleist • 401 implied HN points • 24 Feb 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics City Planning
  1. Private land ownership and speculation have let landlords capture rising city land values, leaving municipalities unable to collect that wealth and making housing and public projects unaffordable. This concentration of unearned land rent stalls development and shifts gains away from city residents.
  2. Taxing only the unimproved value of land (a land value tax or Georgism) would punish speculation, encourage productive use of lots, and give cities a reliable revenue stream to fund services and infrastructure without taxing improvements. Land held in trusts or leased publicly achieves similar results by keeping land value for the community.
  3. Political and legal changes centralized tax power away from cities (and limited municipal control over land), so cities are economically productive but lack money and authority to execute big plans. When a city or public trust controls land, however, it can implement master plans and capture the benefits for the public, as seen in places that retain land ownership.

Cities should own their land—like Vienna and Amsterdam

The Novelleist • 184 implied HN points • 02 Mar 26
🪑 Design City Planning
  1. When a city keeps ownership of its land, it can treat that land as a permanent public asset instead of selling it off, allowing long-term planning and control.
  2. Progressive property taxes tied to rents and apartment size can generate steady revenue that cities can immediately invest in large-scale housing and public infrastructure.
  3. Public land ownership makes it possible to build master-planned neighborhoods with housing plus shared amenities like courtyards, laundries, childcare, and healthcare, producing more stable and higher-quality living for residents.

How malls can become the midtowns of the future

Urben Field Notes • 205 implied HN points • 19 Feb 26
🪑 Design City Planning
  1. Transforming dying malls and office parks into mixed-use, transit-connected neighborhoods can create new midtowns or metroburbs with homes, shops, offices, and public spaces that are walkable.
  2. The postwar move to car-oriented strip malls and isolated office campuses destroyed the old urban mix and proximity; redeveloping these sites is a chance to restore walkability and everyday urban life.
  3. Cities must shape these projects with public streets and parks, varied architecture, limits on bulky buildings, and strong transit links so they don’t become bland, privately controlled places.

Let Cities Build Utopia—new drop!

The Novelleist • 86 implied HN points • 10 Feb 26
🪑 Design City Planning
  1. A long, deeply researched essay about the future of cities is being released as a print pamphlet, digital pamphlet, and audio essay and will be serialized across free and paid installments.
  2. Common models for “cities of the future”—autocratic, corporate, special zones, and charter projects—aren’t true utopias; the research shows companies, investors, island/counties, and tribes have sometimes built more humane, autonomous, and prosperous urban experiments.
  3. The central argument is that future cities should prioritize building utopia—focusing on quality of life, resident autonomy, and long-term resilience rather than only GDP and skyscrapers—and the project itself is an experiment in slow journalism with contributors credited and 10% of sales going back to the researchers and collaborators.
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What's the matter with SoDoSoPa?

Urben Field Notes • 97 implied HN points • 04 Feb 26
🎭️ Culture City Planning
  1. City rezoning and artists moving into cheap lofts turned old industrial buildings into desirable live-work neighborhoods. This cultural rebranding made them attractive to the creative class and developers.
  2. People were drawn to these areas because they are walkable, centrally located, and relatively affordable. Restrictive zoning elsewhere and a shortage of similar housing funneled demand into industrial districts.
  3. Post-industrial neighborhoods reveal broader economic and cultural shifts and act as symbols of urban change. They can revitalize cities but also fuel gentrification and displacement, so results differ by place.

We Need a New Movement for Independent Retail

The New Urban Order • 299 implied HN points • 06 Nov 23
đź’Ľ Business City Planning
  1. The uniqueness of independent retail in cities like Cadiz, Spain, highlights the need for a new movement supporting independent retail in American cities.
  2. While American retail may seem to be thriving, there is a concern about the homogenization of street life across cities, showcasing the importance of distinct local retail offerings.
  3. To revitalize independent retail, new solutions such as credit tenant leasing adjustments and promoting corner stores are essential, along with the need for an international movement to advocate for and support independent retail.

Expensive Cities Aren't Attractive Cities: I swear, the last post

Erdmann Housing Tracker • 295 implied HN points • 17 Dec 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics City Planning
  1. Cities that are expensive to live in often push out lower-income residents. This leads to a loss of diversity and change in community dynamics.
  2. The income levels in these cities can be misleading. Much of the high income averages come from the remaining, more affluent residents after the poorer ones leave.
  3. Simply being a popular or thriving city doesn't guarantee economic excellence. Many such cities suffer from issues that make them less appealing for all residents.

The Beginning of the End of Private Cars in American Cities

The New Urban Order • 179 implied HN points • 28 Sep 23
🏝 Travel City Planning
  1. Private car ownership in American cities is likely to decrease in the coming decades, with a shift towards a variety of mobility options like bikes, scooters, taxis, and rental cars.
  2. Diverse demographic and social trends, including remote work, declining young families, and aging Baby Boomers, are contributing to this transition away from private car ownership.
  3. The rise of car-share options, developments in autonomous vehicles, and the focus on mobility mix in some American cities are further paving the way for decreased reliance on owning cars.

What Would Hayek And Mises Think About Mamdani?

QTR’s Fringe Finance • 29 implied HN points • 11 Nov 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics City Planning
  1. Central planning often leads to negative outcomes, as seen in historical examples like Cuba and Venezuela. People may crave free services, but they usually come with hidden costs and challenges.
  2. Utopian ideas of socialism may sound good, but they ignore real-world economic issues like high rents and prices. Hayek and Mises argued that such plans don't align with everyday realities.
  3. Government-run businesses tend to lack variety and quality, which can make life harder for everyone. History shows that centralized control rarely works well in practice.

On Visiting Southampton

The Pedestrian • 337 implied HN points • 04 Apr 23
🎭️ Culture City Planning
  1. Southampton's city planning is criticized for being dangerous and stressful for pedestrians.
  2. The lack of third places for communal activity in English cities is attributed to historical climate conditions.
  3. The author suggests a radical transformation of England's infrastructure to improve livability.

Make London even greater

Wrong Side of History • 479 implied HN points • 29 Feb 24
🏝 Travel City Planning
  1. Priority should be given to building more homes in London through ideas like estate regeneration and deregulation of the housing market.
  2. Improving London's aesthetics by creating more open squares and rethinking the design of buildings and infrastructure.
  3. Enhancing transportation in London by expanding the railway system with projects like Crossrail and implementing measures to reduce car dependency and improve cycling infrastructure.

Little boxes — and they all look just the same

City Hall Watcher • 98 implied HN points • 27 Feb 23
🎨 Art & Illustration City Planning
  1. Toronto's architecture is becoming more monotonous due to recent provincial legislation affecting design approvals for buildings.
  2. City Hall is preparing for a by-election to replace Mayor John Tory, with the process set to begin after Pride weekend.
  3. The development pipeline in Toronto has seen a significant increase in proposed residential units, reaching a record high in 2021.

Moving Past the Old Urban Order

The New Urban Order • 79 implied HN points • 03 Aug 23
🎭️ Culture City Planning
  1. Remote work for federal employees is causing low office occupancy rates and potential negative impacts on regional economies and public services.
  2. The idea of place-based workers and professionals being valuable for cities is highlighted, suggesting they are essential for urban civics and progress.
  3. Transitioning to a new urban order requires downsizing or renovating real estate portfolios, empowering better talent in critical entities, and individual support for the desired urban future.

EVs are taking us for a ride

WeBeGreen • 79 implied HN points • 09 Feb 23
🌞 Climate & Environment City Planning
  1. Electric vehicles (EVs) are seen as a solution to climate change, but their production has a significant environmental impact, especially due to lithium battery production.
  2. Transportation emissions, particularly from cars, are a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, highlighting the need for sustainable alternatives.
  3. There is a pressing need to think beyond traditional car-centric urban planning and explore innovative solutions for more sustainable and eco-friendly transportation.

Expensive Cities Aren't Attractive Cities: One Last Word

Erdmann Housing Tracker • 105 implied HN points • 16 Dec 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics City Planning
  1. Expensive cities aren't necessarily better places to live. They often face issues like high housing costs and displacement of lower-income residents.
  2. Geographic inequality is a big problem, with only a few cities offering better opportunities and amenities. Many other cities have the potential to be great but aren't being developed.
  3. To make cities better, we need to focus on building affordable and accessible spaces rather than just following trends of what is currently expensive.

Manhattan Hotel Futurism

Kneeling Bus • 136 implied HN points • 14 Mar 23
🎭️ Culture City Planning
  1. Cities are facing an existential crisis as urban activities move online, disconnecting from physical spaces.
  2. New York is clinging to past eras due to powerful nostalgia, which hinders progress and adaptation to emergent forces like technology.
  3. The future city may resemble suburbs more than traditional urban areas, with less inertia to hold onto the past and more openness to embrace technological advancements.

Wanting nice cities isn't Nazism

Indian Bronson • 8 implied HN points • 23 Dec 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics City Planning
  1. Wanting nice cities doesn't mean you're a bad person. It's okay to want a clean and safe environment for everyone.
  2. Some people unfairly label those who care about law and order as extremists. We should challenge those views and believe that improvement is possible.
  3. If we want to make cities better, we need to address the real issues directly instead of ignoring them. This includes finding proper solutions for homelessness and crime.