Land use is the practice of determining how to build on, conserve, or otherwise alter land, as well as how to distribute resources and regulate development. Land use decisions dictate urban growth, development patterns, and density through infrastructure networks, zoning codes, and regulations. Key in on the latest debates in land use regulation and zoning, such as the evolution from land use-based codes to form-based codes, with Planetizen Courses that will help you understand where land use policies come from and where they're going.
All Land Use Courses
The Pruitt-Igoe Myth
The 2011 documentary film “The Pruitt-Igoe Myth” documents the rapid rise and fall of a housing complex in St. Louis. Pruitt-Igoe became a symbol for the failure of public housing policy in the late 20th century.
The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces
What makes good public spaces work, and why are some public spaces underused? Over the course of this film, William Whyte details insights into seven basic factors of successful public spaces: suitable space, interaction with the street, the sun, food, water, trees, and, finally, a term Whyte calls triangulation, or the ability of a public space to bring people together.