Urban Planning
Cities, transit, zoning, public spaces
16 episodes
#3086: How 2 Cities Banned Cars From Their Centers
Pontevedra and Ghent removed cars from their cores. Emergency response times actually got faster.
#3084: How Jerusalem’s Light Rail Broke Walking
Why a 90-minute walk for a package reveals everything broken about how cities manage construction.
#3008: Israel's Rail Network: Ambition Meets Geography
Why Israel's "high-speed" train isn't high-speed, and what actually determines whether rail makes sense in a small country.
#2874: China's Invisible Megacities: Linyi, Yiwu, and More
Cities larger than London or Paris that most Westerners have never heard of. Meet China's second-tier giants.
#2873: Why Israel's Negev Desert Stays Empty Despite Being 60% of the Land
60% of Israel's land is empty Negev desert. Why can't they just build there to solve the housing crisis?
#2804: Who Actually Runs Your City?
Master plans, zoning codes, and the people who shape where you live.
#2793: The 100-Meter Gradient: How Your Street Changes Your Health
Air quality and noise can shift 5-8x within a single city block. Here's how to find your enclave.
#2757: Can Cities Engineer Calm?
How much green space per person do cities actually need? The WHO says 9 sq meters minimum. Most cities don't meet it.
#2748: What Cities Look Like Without Cars
How Barcelona, Paris, and others are redesigning streets for people instead of vehicles — and what we can learn from them.
#2746: How Zoning Built the Suburbs We Hate
Why walkability advocates loathe suburbs, from Ponzi scheme infrastructure to deadly stroads.
#2745: What Do Urban Planners Actually Do?
The invisible skeleton of cities, from sewers to zoning fights. What breaks if you let cities grow organically?
#2744: What Walkability Actually Means in Urban Planning
The five D’s of walkability — density, diversity, design, destination accessibility, and distance to transit — explained.
#2717: Lower Greenville: From Streetcar Suburb to Food Mecca
How one Dallas street went from farmland to counterculture hub to dining destination.
#2655: The Crossroads That Became a World
The intersection that became the heart of a university town, from post road to modern-day agora.
#2530: Canals as Highways: The Real Pollution Math of Water Transit
Venice moves garbage, ambulances, and Amazon deliveries by boat. How does water transit actually compare to buses on pollution?
#1976: What Counts as a City That Never Dies?
From Jericho's water spring to Aleppo's Silk Road fortress, discover the secrets of 11,000 years of urban survival.