Cities may have loads of opportunities and energy but have also been linked to a variety of issues affecting human well-being. Traffic noise, commutes, and pollution all end up affecting our stress levels and even our sleeping habits. City planners have the responsibility to ensure that we don’t all go crazy just living our lives.

As awareness about urban development grows, different online groups have formed that are devoted to showcasing the best designs or shaming the worst. We also reached out to Professor Alan March from the Melbourne School of Design to learn more about urban planning in general. So get comfortable and be sure to upvote your favorite examples. If you want to see more, check out our other article on this topic here. 

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#1 Paris, 9th Arrondissement. These Miniature Gardens Used To Be Car Parking Spaces Until A Few Years Ago. The City Reclaimed Them, And Replanted Them With Fruit Trees And Flowering Shrubs

Image credits: silveryspoons

#2 Comfort Town, An Old Industrial Site In Kyiv Built In Response To Brutalist Soviet Era Apartments Buildings

Image credits: IngFavalli

#3 It's Never Too Late To Acknowledge The Reality That Urban Highways Are A Fixable Mistake

Image credits: Thereaper29

We asked Professor Alan March to give a few examples of what are core principles he believes help a city become more livable for its residents. “High enough density to allow services such as schools, parks, infrastructure, healthcare, etc to be provided at an affordable cost. Diverse types of housing and affordable housing. A mix of rent-to-buy, rent, and purchase options, in addition to legal structures that allow co-ownership between non-family members. The ability to move housing according to life circumstances without excessive costs such as stamp duties and other fees.”

“Low energy use, access to a range of green and other recreational spaces. Excellent schools, jobs, transit, and stable representative democracy. Help for poorer, disabled, elderly, and other people with limited life choices. A relatively equal society whereby birth circumstances in terms of location and Socio-Economic Status of parents do not set out one’s life course,” he added as important things for city planners to design for.

#4 Holland, 1982-2020

Image credits: -Johnny-

#5 The Speed Camera Lottery In Stockholm, Sweden

Drive at or under the speed limit and you'll be entered into a lottery where the prize fund comes from the fines that speeders pay. Average speed reduced from 32 km/h to 25 km/h (a reduction of 22%)

Image credits: neroina

#6 I Dont Know Why, But I Just Love When City Elements Wrap Around Nature Like This. [oc] Photo Taken In Stockholm, Sweden

Image credits: Herrkarlson

 As the popularity of walkable cities spreads, many urban areas are making streets smaller, removing parking lots, and expanding bicycle infrastructure and walkways. The most hardline advocates actually want to fully remove most cars from urban areas and replace them with robust and extensive public transportation alternatives. We wanted to know his take on the growing anti-car movement and whether it is too extreme of a solution.

#7 Luminous Pedestrian Crossing In France, When A Person Is Detected The Lights Turn On To Warn The Drivers

Image credits: Kemro59

#8 My City, Delhi Is Redesigning Its S**tty Car Centric Good For Nothing Roads, Here's Half Of A Wide A** Road Reclaimed

Image credits: Hiif4

#9 Urban Space Is Complex. But The Math Is Relatively Simple

Image credits: gfaster

“The idea of a carless city has merit. Designing the city with few or no cars will mean we emit considerably fewer greenhouse gases and have cheaper and more equitable transport via mass transit and walking (and for the many people who cannot drive for many reasons). We will waste fewer resources on car spaces and freeways, get to know our neighbors better, have lower obesity in children (eg walking to school) and adults, and have fewer accidents and other health impacts from pollution. It will depend on cities being designed properly to achieve this.”

#10 “Forget The Motor Car And Build Cities For Lovers And Friends.” - Lewis Mumford

Image credits: silveryspoons

#11 Concrete Sewer Pipes Used As Outdoor Seating

Image credits: reddit.com

#12 Edinburgh, Scotland

Image credits: mtlgrems

Lastly, for some contrast, we were curious to know if he had any examples of cities that made terrible design choices. Professor Alan March specified that Houston was a ‘good’ example of a bad city, due to “environmental degradation, huge inequality of wealth and housing provisions, gated communities for rich.” It also suffers from an overreliance on cars, as over 75% of residents have stated that they need a motor vehicle to go about their daily tasks.

#13 Vienna Gasometers, Gas Storage Tanks First Built In 1896 And Converted Into Mixed-Use Developments Between 1995 And 2001

Image credits: Coffee-ly

#14 Bin For Cyclists In Denmark

Image credits: ekernan

#15 Apartment Building With A Park At Its Center, Berlin

Image credits: archineering

The abundance of cars on the street creates congestion that had led to Houston having one of the longest average commute times in the United States. This is a result of a comparatively low urban density compared to other US cities, as services, jobs, and public facilities are rarely close together. It’s not all doom and gloom, however, the city authorities are planning to introduce more bicycle infrastructure.

#16 These Public Benches Are Reversible, So You Can Choose To Look At People, Or Boats

Image credits: BitchyOlive

#17 This Does Put A Smile On My Face

Image credits: ForteLaidirSterkPono

#18 Traffic Light With A Mirror To Allow The Drivers To See The Pedestrians/Cyclists That Are In Their Blind Spots

Image credits: Kemro59

#19 Car Wash Replaced By Beautiful New Georgian Townhouses During 2017 In Stamford UK

Image credits: TheLewishPeople

#20 Green Houses In Berlin

Image credits: throatfuckthursday

#21 My City Has Been Removing Some Street Parking And Making These "Parklets". It's A Much Better Use Of Space

Image credits: MajorChances

#22 "Gion Quarter" Kyoto, Japan

Image credits: hyperius

#23 There's A Map Of The District On This Plate In The Street

Image credits: Kemro59

#24 So We Got The Possibility To Redesign Our Street A Year Ago And We're Quite Happy With The Result

Image credits: VincZ

#25 This Is Why We Should Prioritize Infrastructure For Bicycles And Pedestrians Over Infrastructure For Cars

Image credits: TrueNorth2881

#26 With And Without Trees, What A Difference It Makes

Image credits: MopCoveredInBleach

#27 Planned City - La Plata, Argentina

Image credits: RefrigeratorNice3151

#28 Quince Street, Philadelphia. Legalize Narrow Streets!

Image credits: Urbinaut

#29 Before/After, France

Image credits: Kemro59

#30 World's Tallest Indoor Waterfall

Image credits: labitx

#31 Aerial Shot Of The Forbidden City, Beijing

Image credits: Perfect_Gas

#32 Heated Sidewalks

Image credits: unroja

#33 New Mixed Use Flats In Colombes, France Near Paris

Image credits: TheLewishPeople

#34 Barcelona Now vs. In 1990

Image credits: pichonn15

#35 Las Vegas Creatively Getting Around Laws

Image credits: dilettantedebrah

#36 Unique Types Of Urban Blocks That Are Just Amazing!!

Image credits: SophiaJohnson123

#37 Bumpy Plates For Blind People, Everywhere In France, I Hope It's The Same For The Other Countries Too

Image credits: Kemro59

#38 Metal Equipment That Allow Cyclists To Stand Up Straight While Being Stationary Waiting For The Green Light. Spain

Image credits: Kemro59

#39 Colourful Crosswalk, France

Image credits: Kemro59

#40 Anybody Know Why This Is Designed Like This? (Copenhagen Denmark)

Image credits: MopCoveredInBleach

#41 How Things Would Be Different With A Little Bit Of Rezoning And A Land Value Tax

Image credits: Not-A-Seagull

#42 Green Quarantine. Tucuman, Argentina. Photo By Diego Araoz

Image credits: reddit.com

#43 Roundabout With Some Nature In The Middle, France

Image credits: Kemro59

#44 Amsterdam

Image credits: LightEater-Neflineo

#45 This Shot I Took Of The Snow Storm In Tokyo Last Week

Image credits: C4pwner

#46 The Outer Battery, Newfoundland, Canada

Image credits: thetoxicblockmc

#47 Rack For Locking Up Skateboards And Scooters

Image credits: unroja

#48 One Of The Numerous City Canals In Leipzig, Germany

Image credits: Confident_Corner3

#49 Traffic Light Installed In Paris And Designed In Such A Way As Not To Degrade The Surrounding Landscape While Being Perfectly Functional And Efficient

Image credits: Kemro59

#50 Planned This Shot For Months Before Coming To The Us, But I Didn't Expect The Sun To Make The Rails Golden. Sometimes Photography Is Just About Being A Lucky Bastard

Image credits: wonteatyourcat

#51 A Bit Of Green In The Middle Of The City

Image credits: Kemro59

#52 Dragon Shaped Street Lights In Bethune, France

Image credits: Kemro59

#53 A Roundabout In Nantes (France) With An Underground Car Park Entrance

Image credits: Kemro59

#54 Caught Some Fire In This NYC Skyline (Oc)

Image credits: wackydaddums

#55 Tree In The Middle Of The Bike Lane (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Image credits: MarioDiBian

#56 Oh What's That? Not A Single Soul Wants To Sit In The Nft Lookin Ass Plastic "Chairs" At The Shadeless Downtown Astroturf Patch? So Weird, How Could We Have Predicted This

Image credits: _iamtherealslimshady

#57 Parking In Cairo

Image credits: Crosskimo

#58 Sights From Porto, Portugal. Miss Traveling!

Image credits: Brice_25

#59 Buffalo, NY Grid At Night

Image credits: wonjohn19

#60 Bench Design In Barcelona

Image credits: alons33

#61 Professor Carlos Moreno's Urban Theory Of ‘15-Minute City’ - A Concept Where Everyone Has Access To All Facilities And Resources Within A 15-Minute Walk Or Bike Ride

Image credits: musterduster284

#62 Traffic Light In Turkmenistan With A Very Elaborate Design, Totally In Line With The Public Lighting That Can Be Seen In The Background

Image credits: Kemro59

#63 Tip Top Of Saint Paul’s Cathedral, Great Britain

Image credits: AnotherRichard827379

#64 Design As A Tool To Revive Public Spaces!

Image credits: indiaartndesign

#65 How 7 Parking Lots Pay 1/4th The Tax Of One Building, Despite Taking 8x The Land

Image credits: Not-A-Seagull

#66 Hong Kong City Night

Image credits: FowelBallz

#67 Walking The Streets Of Winnenden, Germany

Image credits: mm0dent

#68 Controlled Access Area System In Amsterdam, Netherlands

Image credits: Kemro59

#69 Big Wooden Map Of Downtown Chicago I Made-- I Turn Urban Design & Cartography Into Art

Image credits: Inzitarie

#70 Reject Traffic Engineering Egosim, Embrace Public Space! Reggio Emilia, Italy

Image credits: tlit2k1

#71 Beautiful Design Of Hamedan City

Image credits: reddit.com

#72 Flying Low Around Germany

Image credits: Enough_Stock

#73 Those Buildings In NYC Just Keep Getting Taller

Image credits: wackydaddums

#74 In Russia, St Petersberg There Is A Apartment Building That Houses Over 18 000 People

Image credits: MrOopee

#75 Minneapolis, Mn In Summer

Image credits: mobsterman

#76 Ginza District In Tokyo

Image credits: absurdwatermelon_1

#77 Hong Kong, Night

Image credits: reddit.com

#78 Looking West From Shibuya In Tokyo

Image credits: mwerneburg

#79 Took This Picture While Eating Breakfast In Chicago

Image credits: modernmilt

#80 Union Station, Worcester, Ma {oc}

Image credits: wlavallee

#81 Faisalabad, Pakistan

Image credits: mrniceshah

#82 Buffalo, New York

Image credits: KingGizmotious

#83 Houston, Texas [3264x2448] [oc]

Image credits: matthewmccleskey