Mapping Medieval Townscapes: A Digital Atlas of the New Towns of Edward I

In the waning decades of the 13th century, King Edward I was concerned with several things in his kingdom. While England was growing more prosperous, he was also concerned about the rising trend towards urbanization and about the Welsh. In an effort to deal with both situations, Edward proposed the creation of a group of ‘new towns” in both Wales and other parts of the kingdom. Out of this
desire to maintain social and political order arose such places as Conwy, Newborough, Rhuddlan, and Aberystwyth. Seven hundred years later, a group of researchers from Queen’s University Belfast, working with funds from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, created this digital atlas of those towns. Drawing on the work of archaeologists, GIS experts, and other specialists, this atlas contains copious information on each locale. Visitors can look through each interactive map, and toggle various data layers, such as town walls, trenches, streets, and so on. Along with these maps, visitors can also read about how each map was created, and download the data sets used to generate each map.

tFrom Traditional to Reformed: A Review of the Land Use Regulations in the Nation’s 50 Largest Metropolitan Areas [pdf]

In the ancient world, the king or a clutch of religious leaders had the final say of what was built in cities, and where it was built. Several millennia later, the situation is governed by a wide range of regulatory bodies and elected councils, and in some parts of the country, it is easier to start work on one’s tax returns than taking on the valiant task of understanding local land use regulations. Stepping into that mucky situation boldly are Rolf Pendall, Robert Puentes, and Jonathan Martin who have recently completed this 40-page paper on behalf of The Brookings Institution. In the survey they offer here, they find a wide variety of “regulatory regimes” in the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas. The report relies primarily on factor analysis, which might make it a bit on the technical side for some audiences, but overall it presents a fine survey and some good insights into the world of land use regulation.