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Article share: On AI as a tool for urban planning
Here is a quick share of an article on AI and its application to urban planning. I haven’t written about artificial intelligence here except maybe mentioning it along the lines of intelligent transport systems (ITS). There were what were termed as Expert Systems but AI now (including its potentials) is much more than the expert systems developed in the past.
Sanchez, T. (June 20, 2025) “In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking,” Planetizen, https://www.planetizen.com/blogs/135418-urban-planning-ai-prompting-could-be-new-design-thinking [Last accessed: 7/17/2025]
To quote from the article:
“Working across disciplines is essential. Collaborating with architects, landscape architects, engineers, artists, and technologists brings in diverse perspectives that can help spark new ideas. AI integrates knowledge and techniques from each of these fields. Contributing to a culture where planners feel free to experiment, where trying something new is encouraged rather than being frowned upon, is key to real innovation. Whether engaging with colleagues or prompting an AI model, creativity thrives in conversation and collaboration…
Cities should be shaped by creative thinking, and today’s challenges demand more of it than ever. Planners are in a unique position to combine deep local knowledge with new technologies, such as AI, to imagine, design, plan, and implement. AI should be seen not as a shortcut, but it has incredible potential as a partner or assistant with encyclopedic knowledge that helps planners stretch their creativity even further. As Wright advises, planners should challenge themselves with constraints to spark creativity: For instance, “What would you do if you had to write an entire zoning ordinance with 10 rules or less to make a sustainable built environment?” Such exercises encourage us to set clearer goals and find better solutions.
By combining traditional tools with emerging technologies, planners can design places that are not only functional but also vibrant, equitable, and resilient.”
What do you think about AI and its applications to urban planning including transportation and traffic?
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On transportation problems being treated like diseases
I am sharing this relatively old article on transportation problems needing treatments as if these were diseases. I say it’s ‘old’ because it’s from last year, and these days when much content is being pushed everywhere including mainstream and social media, things get old, quickly. Rewind to more than a decade ago and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) wasn’t as popularly applied as today and Artificial Intelligence (AI) seems to be everywhere now including in transportation systems.
Menard, T. (September 1, 2024) “Transportation Rx: Treating Traffic Glut Like Doctors Treat Sinus Congestion,” Planetizen, https://www.planetizen.com/features/131478-transportation-rx-treating-traffic-glut-doctors-treat-sinus-congestion [Last accessed: 4/21/2025]
To quote from the article:
“Traffic congestion is not unlike congestion that builds up in the human airways. When we see a doctor, we are prescribed a treatment that clears the backup. Similarly for roads, rather than setting up road signs and cones to redirect traffic, cities can take a more prescribed treatment approach through methods such as congestion pricing and other road pricing strategies, as well as technologies like edge computing, navigation-enabled Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) modeling, and transit signal prioritization. “
This is not the first article to allude to medicine when the topic is traffic congestion. There are others that use terminology from the human body’s circulatory system. When an artery gets blocked, a bypass can be a solution. But perhaps we don’t need bypasses and look at other. more effective ways of dealing with transportation problems.
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Caught (up) in traffic 