Each Friday, the Wagner Planner editorial board will publish a news roundup of recent planning news. Topics range the gamut of urban planning concentrations, but will mostly be at the discretion of the editor.

America Has Long Favored Cars Over Trains and Buses. Can Biden Change That?

“…President Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan, unveiled this week, represents one of the most ambitious efforts yet to challenge the centrality of the automobile in American life, by proposing to tilt federal spending far more toward public transportation and coax more people out of their cars. Experts say that transformation is necessary to tackle climate change, but could prove extremely difficult in practice.” (The New York Times)

 

Algorithmic Redlining Is Real. Why Not Algorithmic Greenlining?

“Cities across the United States have begun using urban planning algorithms to classify neighborhoods by market strength and investment value, and then create tailored development plans for each — plans that determine which neighborhoods receive funding for services or infrastructure upgrades. But at least one widely used algorithm encourages users to prioritize investments and public subsidies in stronger, more prosperous markets before investing in weaker, distressed areas.” (Governing)

 

Rio de Janeiro Faces Perfect Storm of Climate Change

“The state of Rio de Janeiro has recorded hundreds of natural disasters since the early 2000s; today, researchers estimate that at least 155,000 people living in over 1,300 high risk areas are vulnerable to landslides and floods. One of the most devastating, a massive storm and series of landslides in 2011, killed over 800 people, left 30,000 homeless, and exposed tens of thousands more to water-borne disease such as leptospirosis. The World Bank estimated the costs of the tragedy at over $2 billion. Yet in the decade since the disaster, too little has been invested in rebuilding depleted infrastructure, much less climate-proofing it. In 2012, the city started building four underground reservoirs and a diversion tunnel to improve the control of mild-to-medium floods, but these are inadequate to counter the looming threats.” (Foreign Policy)

 

“Train Daddy” Bonus

Can Public Transit Survive the Pandemic? London’s New Transport Commissioner Wants You to Believe It Can

“It was March 2020, and he had just left his job as head of the New York City Transit Authority, after Governor Andrew Cuomo moved him off a massive revamp of the ailing subways. Stuck in his English hometown of Plymouth because of pandemic travel restrictions, he sat feeling “frustrated and impotent” as COVID-19 decimated ridership and revenues in public transit in New York and around the world. “Had I known the full horror of what was to emerge,” Byford, 55, says grimly, “I would have put my resignation on hold and stayed to see New York City transit through the crisis.” He even reached out to the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and offered to come back, he says.” (Time)