News, Information and Networks

College Town Issues

--NEW URL-- http://www.collegetownlife.com/college/



College Town Issues concerns itself with "preserving walkable neighbourhoods adjacent to college/university campuses", and this attractively designed site presents information about issues related to student and year-round residents living and working together in college towns across the United States. The site itself is well organised, with links to relevant reports, articles and websites. Although the focus is on the US, many of the issues addressed also have resonance elsewhere. A new College Town News column features links to articles from newspapers (public and student) related to college town issues; while the majority of these news items come from the USA, articles from the UK and Canada also feature. [GAS, 15 Aug 2005].



ENTRY NUMBER: pla-161102-01
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Planning » Resources
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Earthwire UK

http://www.earthwire.org/uk/




Supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Earthwire UK is an environmental portal providing a free daily overview of environmental news from the United Kingdom, drawing from national, regional and local media sources. Earthwire also includes press releases and news from research organisations, the public sector, and environmental organisations, with a readership ranging from government officials and journalists to students, researchers and anyone else interested in current events and the environment. Coverage of environmental issues in the UK is split across regions or alternatively via topics, with heading including Agriculture, Biodiversity, Business and Industry, Climate and Atmosphere, Coastal and Marine Issues, Energy, Environmental Impacts, Extreme Weather Events, Forests and Woodlands, Freshwater, Pollution, Public Policy, Transport, Urban Areas and Waste. The topic navigation is not as user friendly as it could be, but will hopefully improve given time. For the technically savvy, an RSS feed is available at http://www.earthwire.org/feeds/getnews_uk_rss.xml. Awarded a Sapling Commendation. [RB, 27 Aug 2006].



ENTRY NUMBER: sus-270806-01
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Sustainability » Resources
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GIS Lounge

http://gislounge.com/



GIS Lounge is a nicely designed and comprehensive GIS information portal, designed "to provide introductory text for issues relating to GIS as well as pointers to further information". It is certainly packed with lots of useful information, including a section about learning GIS, a discussion forum, career-related resources, and a reference centre. The site is edited by Caitlin Dempsey, MA, a GIS analyst for a city in Southern California. In Caitlin's words: "GIS is a powerful tool to help record, analyse and map spatial data. I'm here to help you learn more about GIS and how to use its amazing applications to benefit your work. GIS isn't just for geographers, it's for anyone." For anyone interested in GIS, GIS Lounge is certainly a useful place to start. [GAS, 12 Aug 2005].



ENTRY NUMBER: pla-051100-07
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Planning » Resources
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HUD USER

http://www.huduser.org/



HUD USER was established in 1978 by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD's) Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R), and describes itself as "an information source for housing and community development researchers and policymakers". The site is also "the primary source for Federal Government reports and information on housing policy and programmes, building technology, economic development, urban planning, and other housing-related topics". There are many useful features here, including an excellent publications section, and a bibliographic database containing 10,000 full-abstract citations to research reports, articles, books, monographs, and data sources in the areas of housing and community development. [GAS, 8 May 2006].



ENTRY NUMBER: hou-300503-01
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Housing » Resources
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New Urbanism

http://www.newurbanism.org/




According to the site, "New Urbanism is the most important planning movement this century... It is an international movement to reform the design of the built environment, and is about raising our quality of life and standard of living by creating better places to live. New Urbanism is the revival of our lost art of place-making, and is essentially a re-ordering of the built environment into the form of complete cities, towns, villages, and neighbourhoods - the way communities have been built for centuries around the world. New Urbanism involves fixing and infilling cities, as well as the creation of compact new towns and villages". The site is a content rich resource dedicated to this theme of "creating livable sustainable communities". Sections cover news, conferences and events, books, and professional services in the 'Marketplace' directory. Other sections address key issues relating to New Urbanism, including sprawl, sustainability, transport and 'pedestrian cities'. On a slow connection the pages can take a little time to load, but this downside is balanced by the site being attractively designed, copiously illustrated and full of excellent content. Awarded a Sapling Commendation. [GAS, 24 Jun 2006].



ENTRY NUMBER: urb-310803-01
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Urban Design » Resources
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Planetizen - The Planning & Development Network

http://www.planetizen.com/




Planetizen describes itself as "a public-interest information exchange provided by Urban Insight for the urban planning, design and development community". Focussed on the United States, the site is packed with features including urban planning news, job opportunities, commentary, and original articles written by active members of the planning community. An excellent site and an important resource, awarded a Sapling Commendation. [GAS, 8 Nov 2005].



ENTRY NUMBER: pla-300601-01
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Planning » Resources
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Planners Network

http://www.plannersnetwork.org/



The Planners Network (PN) is a US-based association of professionals, activists, academics and students involved in physical, social, economic, and environmental planning in urban and rural areas, "who promote fundamental change in our political and economic systems". The PN site boasts an attractive, modern appearance, together with a very intuitive layout. Highlights include extensive archives from the organisation's magazine - seen as an important means for networking among members, a source of innovative ideas, and a forum for controversial policy questions neglected in mainstream planning circles; the Student Disorientation Guide, featuring articles that challenge current planning and educational paradigms, as well as dozens of ideas for events and activities; and a series of 'Statements on Controversial Issues' from a planning perspective, such as the Israeli wall and the war in Iraq. Successfully marrying the conventional - news, events, jobs - with this more incisive content, the Planners Network provides something truly distinctive from the plethora of other planning-related resources on the web. [GAS, 9 Nov 2005].



ENTRY NUMBER: pla-091105-01
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Planning » Resources
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PlannersWeb & Planning Commissioners Journal

http://www.plannersweb.com/



The Planning Commissioners Journal's PlannersWeb site describes itself as "providing a wide variety of resources for citizen and professional planners", with particular focus on the USA and Canada. Highlights include articles to download from the Planning Commissioners Journal, together with a comprehensive and annotated section of articles on 'sprawl and growth'. There is certainly plenty of useful content here, but the sprawling layout and absence of menus makes PlannersWeb an unnecessarily complex site to navigate. [GAS, 8 Nov 2005].



ENTRY NUMBER: pla-300503-01
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Planning » Resources
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Planning Portal

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/




Set up by the UK government, Planning Portal "is intended to be the first point of call for anyone who wants to find out about the planning system in England and Wales. It is aimed at everyone, from central government and local authorities to planning professionals and the lay person". Three subsites provide access to material relevant to public, planning professional or government users; once inside, the site is packed with useful content including an introduction to the planning system, access to local development frameworks (LDFs), the forms and information needed to make a planning application, and further sections covering planning appeals, study and research. Elsewhere, there is also an impressive section of useful links and an excellent planning glossary providing a useful introduction to all the planning jargon. Awarded a Sapling Commendation. [GAS, 28 May 2006].



ENTRY NUMBER: pla-300503-02
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Planning » Resources
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Planning Resource

http://www.planningresource.co.uk/




Launched in January 2004, Planning Resource seeks to combine the strengthes of Planning magazine (replacing the previous Planning website), Regeneration & Renewal magazine, Axis magazine, Development Control Services Ltd (DCS) and the RTPI. It aims to become a one-stop shop for the planning community, and though some areas of the site are restricted to paying subscribers only (RTPI members get full access), there are also plenty of free areas to enjoy. An up-to-date 'News' section (subscribers only) brings together planning, regeneration and housing-related stories from the three different magazines, while the 'Jobs & Careers' section claims to be "the most comprehensive planning/regeneration jobs site available". Meanwhile, the excellent 'Documents' section pulls together good practice examples, documents referred to in Planning and Regeneration & Renewal, and links to planning policy and regional strategy documents, as well as providing a comprehensive annotated links directory. Elsewhere, the 'Online Community' part of the site renders Planning Resource as a place for interaction as well as information, with a well-used events diary and discussion forum. Visually, the site as a whole is neatly laid out and easy to navigate, if a little on the text-heavy side in parts. Awarded a Sapling Commendation. [GAS, 4 Jul 2006].



ENTRY NUMBER: pla-070604-02
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Planning » Resources
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