r/urbanplanning is a subreddit with 232k members. The most common kinds of discussions are advice requests and news, and the community frequently discusses urban planning, cities, housing, development, and transportation, and they frequently recommend/review mapping software, project management tools, and masters programs.
Urban planning is about making our cities and towns better—looking at the built environment, people, culture, the economy, and nature. This group is for quality discussion about planning topics like land use, the built environment, planning practice and regs, transportation, and community development. This is for high level discussion among professionals, academics, and amateurs... so no low effort meme posts, rants, or spam allowed.
Popular Themes in r/urbanplanning
#1
Advice Requests
: "The Book "Cities Without Suburbs" is Indispensable for Those Who Want to Understand How Cities/Metropolitan Areas Work in the 21st Century Despite Being ~16 Years Old. It Belongs on the Sub's Reading List"
6 posts
#2
News
: "To host the World Cup, Kansas City built a whole new transit system"
3 posts
#3
Solution Requests
: "Low-cost steps we can take to stop the surge in pedestrian deaths"
2 posts
#4
Pain & Anger
: "Why are we still building cities for cars while the future is literally being buried alive?"
2 posts
#5
Opportunities
: "Traffic safety improvements frequently die by popular vote. It’s time to stop that | We don’t hold referendums on airplane safety. The same logic should apply to street design"
2 posts
#6
Ideas
: "how can we make cities walkable again?"
1 post
#7
Money Talk
: "I want to make a lot of money, but i still want to do urban planning/design"
1 post
#8
Self-Promotion
: "The City of Miami is voting tomorrow on adopting its Bike Master plan! We need your support! Please call your commissioners or come to the meeting tomorrow at 9 am at City Hall."
1 post
Popular Topics in r/urbanplanning
#1
Urban Planning
: "Urban Planning Boardgame - Walkable City"
162 posts
#2
Cities
: "The smaller Cities in America should invest and make their streets walkable"
91 posts
#3
Housing
: "America’s teachers are being priced out of their communities − these cities are building subsidized Housing to lure them back"
50 posts
#4
Development
: "The Dutch Model for bicycle network Development"
38 posts
#5
Transportation
: "Senators Introduce Bill to Spur Housing Construction Near Transportation Hubs"
37 posts
#6
Planning
: "My 7 month job search (Urban Planning / Post Grad School)"
36 posts
#7
Looking For
30 posts
#8
Urban
: "Denmark Just Switched to Red Streetlights to Solve an Urban Crisis Most Modern Cities Still Ignore"
25 posts
#9
Zoning
: "Iowa county adopts strict Zoning rules for data centers, but residents still worry | Though the rules are among the strictest in the US, locals say they aren’t enough"
18 posts
#10
Worst
17 posts
Products Discussed in r/urbanplanning
Mapping Software
5 reviews
#1
QGIS
4.0★ from 2 reviews
#2
ArcGIS
5.0★ from 2 reviews
#3
ArcMap
5.0★ from 1 review
Project Management Tools
4 reviews
#1
Asana
5.0★ from 2 reviews
#2
ProofHub
5.0★ from 1 review
#3
Microsoft Planner
4.0★ from 1 review
Masters Programs
1 review
#1
San Jose State
5.0★ from 1 review
Flair Used in r/urbanplanning
#1
Discussion
: "Why do you think interest in the word “walkable” has jumped so much in the last 5 years?"
74 posts
#2
Transportation
: "Palo Alto pays commuters $5 to bike to work — the program has already cut nearly 3 million vehicle miles"
27 posts
#3
Land Use
: "Zohran Mamdani takes on NYC housing crisis on Day 1"
19 posts
#4
Sustainability
: "Denmark Just Switched to Red Streetlights to Solve an Urban Crisis Most Modern Cities Still Ignore"
15 posts
#5
Urban Design
: "Traffic safety improvements frequently die by popular vote. It’s time to stop that | We don’t hold referendums on airplane safety. The same logic should apply to street design"
14 posts
#6
Economic Dev
: "A Michigan farm town voted down plans for a giant OpenAI-Oracle data center. Weeks later, construction began"
10 posts
#7
Other
: "Study finds US cities have a $1 trillion infrastructure problem"
10 posts
#8
Community Dev
: "America’s teachers are being priced out of their communities − these cities are building subsidized housing to lure them back"
10 posts
#9
Public Health
: "AI data centres can warm surrounding areas by up to 9.1°C | Hundreds of millions of people live close enough to data centres used to power AI to feel warmer average temperatures in their local area"
7 posts
#10
Education / Career
: "Did I fall into the trap of the American Dream (urban planner)"
7 posts
Member Growth in r/urbanplanning
Yearly
+10k members(4.6%)
Similar Subreddits to r/urbanplanning
r/AskNYC
493k members
13.2% / yr
r/Miami
310k members
14.0% / yr
r/paris
435k members
12.1% / yr
r/pittsburgh
303k members
15.7% / yr
r/Seattle
800k members
11.6% / yr
r/Suburbanhell
120k members
7.8% / yr
r/TwinCities
246k members
22.1% / yr
r/urbandesign
368k members
5.1% / yr
r/Urbanism
89k members
39.0% / yr
r/washingtondc
505k members
14.5% / yr
About
GummySearch helps people research Reddit communities by organizing activity, growth, themes, and post-level signals into one place.
This page gives a focused view of r/urbanplanning, including current member size, discussion patterns, product reviews, and related communities to explore.
This data is synced periodically so insights stay current and useful for ongoing research.
Last updated: June 1, 2026