Knowing the social makeup of a community can be crucial to making informed, equitable policy decisions. The study of demographics uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau and other sources to gain a deeper understanding of how people of different ages, ethnicities, and abilities experience urban spaces and interact with the built environment and public space. Learn how to access, interpret, and manipulate demographic data to boost your planning practice.
All Demographics Courses
Lewis Mumford on the City 3: The City and Its Region
This short documentary film is the third part of a larger series hosted by Lewis Mumford, an American historian, sociologist, philosopher, and literary critic whose studies in the 20th century included attention to cities and architecture that influences the study and planning of cities into the present day. This film takes a broader view of cities, expanding to the regional level and warning about the ill effects of the sprawling forms that most U.S. cities took on during the mid-20th century, erasing pastoral landscapes and rural communities and undermining the benefits of cities.