Fall 2010
Special Orientation Issue

Fall 2009
Volume 13 Issue 1

Spring 2009
Volume 12 Issue 2

Winter 2008
Volume 12 Issue 1

Planners know that there is no silver bullet to solving the world's problems. We attack things from all angles, from transportation to labor economics; we assume many guises, from politicians to visionaries, all in the hope that what we do today can make a difference tomorrow. In the meantime, we hope. Every day we are faced with shortfalls of resources, corruption, the negative effects of capitalism, and the consequences of previous decades of planning—or lack of planning—gone awry.

But we live in exciting times. The president-elect has taken long overdue interest in planning issues, and his stances on urban renewal and smart growth show great promise. Accelerating advances in technology have the potential to aid us in managing the earth's finite resources and to help build a global community with access to an expanding knowledge commons. Now is a time for progress and change, but also a time to think about what our visions of utopia actually entail. More and more, we are daring to put our dreams of utopia into action. Utopia, by many standards, is either unachievable, or so subjective that it is not worth discussing. But can utopia be something else, something fleeting? Is it not a permanent state, but a state of mind? Can you find utopia while crushed in a subway car, while watching your favorite dive bar be displaced by a luxury condo, or by taking part in the community effort to rebuild a decimated city around the life and lore that never died? One thing is sure: utopia is not without controversy. And maybe this is the surest sign that it exists. Utopia, then, is not a state of mind, but the states of all of our minds, working together, to ensure that we can construct our environments in such a way that we can live the way we were meant to.

With this inspired collection of utopian visions and conflicts, we hope to keep the conversation going about our brief brushes with utopia and our often naïve desires to make them less ephemeral. So keep talking about utopia.

It's worth it.

Your humble editors,
Stephanie, Andrea and Kevin
With many thanks to Sophia Lalani, Alison Mayer and Victoria Okoye for their invaluable assistance

Spring 2008
Volume 11 Issue 2

Fall 2007
Volume 11 Issue 1

Spring 2007
Volume 10 Issue 2

Fall 2006
Volume 10 Issue 1

Spring 2006
Volume 9 Issue 2

Fall 2005
Volume 9 Issue 1

Spring 2005
Volume 8 Issue 2

Fall 2004
Volume 8 Issue 1

Spring 2004
Volume 7 Issue 2

Spring 2003
Volume 6 Issue 2

Fall 2002
Volume 6 Issue 1

Spring 2002
Volume 5 Issue 2

Fall 2001
Volume 5 Issue 1

Fall 2000
Volume 3 Issue 2