Building Vibrant Communities

Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, recently reelected to a second term, details his vision for repurposing vacant land and creating "America's North Coast" along the Lake Erie and Cuyahoga River waterfronts. In an interview for the Mayor's Desk series, the 39-year-old Bibb also spelled out other efforts to better leverage vacant land for housing and businesses.  

The leader of UN-Habitat details solutions to the global housing crisis, the predominant topic at the 13th session of the World Urban Forum, hosted in May in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The latest installment of the Mayor's Desk interview series features Fairbanks, Alaska Mayor Mindy O'Neall, who reflects on the special challenges of governing in a "land of extremes," on matters ranging from affordable housing to climate change.

Zoning got constitutional blessing 100 years ago in the Supreme Court case Euclid versus Ambler Realty. Dartmouth College economist Bill Fischel explains how the rules guiding development came to be – and are now being blamed for a shortage of affordable housing.

Urban planners are trying to figure out the future just like everybody else. The 2026 Trend Report for Planners looks at the top issues—from artificial intelligence to the future of work—that planning professionals must keep an eye on as they help guide growth in the world's cities and towns.

The oftentimes fast-tracked construction of data centers across the US has raised concerns about land use and water and energy consumption, as communities try to balance the promise of jobs and economic activity with long-term sustainability.

At a particularly challenging time to work in government, the Lincoln Vibrant Communities fellows program, an initiative of Claremont Lincoln University and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, builds capacity and broadens horizons for local leaders and innovators.

A conversation all about density, on the occasion of the return of an online resource, Visualizing Density, at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy website. Density is in the spotlight as cities and towns seek to build more multifamily housing to help address a stubborn affordability crisis.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, in an interview for the Mayor's Desk series, details work on housing affordability, homelessness, and other growing pains amid the city's increasing popularity. Solutions include reducing building costs, incentivizing new construction, and taking better advantage of the metro region's extensive light rail network for transit-oriented development.

Demand for walkable urbanism is stronger than ever, according to Mallory Baches, president of the Congress for the New Urbanism, an organization that has been promoting compact, mixed-use, transit-oriented development for more than three decades.