Public Outreach
Digital Tool ‘Gamifies’ Planning Decisions
Interactive platforms help stakeholders visualize and understand the challenges faced by planners in distributing new housing construction, building infrastructure, and other projects.
The 'Garbage Language' of Planning
The language we use as planners can serve many purposes and often hinders good communication rather than fostering it.
Vancouver Launches a New Citywide Planning Process
The first days of public engagement for Vancouver's new citywide plan began this week in Vancouver.
Finger-Pointing Around Outreach Campaign for Southern California Toll Road
To sway public opinion, the Orange County toll road agency hired a group of consultants. Critics say the cost and service delivered aren’t acceptable.
Reaching the People: Taking an Innovative Approach to Public Engagement
This article features the innovative outreach work of the Broward County Metropolitan Planning Organization, the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, and California High-Speed Rail, among others.
Public Engagement and Bike Share Planning
New York and Chicago asked residents to suggest sites for new docking stations. Most were not put at those locations, but that doesn’t mean collecting public input is not a useful and important part of the planning process, say researchers.
Getting Started on Inclusive Planning
A toolbox for local governments to address inequality.
Comprehensive Planning Can Be All Fun and Games
Planners in an Atlanta suburb are using games tailored to adults and children to inform a new comprehensive plan.
Community Engagement Highlights from APA 2016
As I do every year at the APA National Conference, I did my best to catch as many community engagement sessions as possible. Here are highlights, takeaways, and the common threads I noticed this year.
9 Ways to Ruin a Community Meeting
An article in CityLab says organizers and facilitators should avoid a few simple mistakes to help improve community meetings.
Making Metro Cool
Michael Lejeune is the creative director for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and as such he's tasked with making transit cool in a city that long worshipped the automobile.
Strengthening the Bond between People and Placemaking
A research team at MIT Urban Studies and Planning, led by Susan Silberberg, released a paper examining “the interactions between placemaking, community participation, and the expanding ways communities are collaborating to make great public places.”
10 Lessons in More Engaging Citizen Engagement
With cities seeking to involve diverse voices in city-making to get beyond “the usual suspects,” Vancouver urbanists Brent Toderian and Jillian Glover examine how cities in their region are finding new ways to increase civic participation.
After Month of Hearings, D.C. Still Not Ready to Vote on Zoning Rewrite
After five years of work, D.C.'s Zoning Commission is not quite ready to consider changes to the city's 55-year-old zoning code. Additional public hearings have been scheduled after some groups asked for additional outreach.
Applying a "Pop-Up" Approach to the Planning Process Itself
Tactical urbanism is transforming cityscapes around the world, but what would it mean to apply a "pop-up" approach to the planning process? A recent project in Santa Monica, CA allowed participants to evaluate public realm improvements in real-time.
Civic Tech and Mobile Engagement 2.0
Community engagement efforts increasingly look to harness mobile devices and mobile applications to access, inform, and empower the public. However the mobile market is evolving at a fast pace, which complicates our understanding of what works best.
Unusual Approach to Public Engagement Produces Exciting Results in Philadelphia
Rather than bringing a powerpoint presentation and ritzy renderings to a meeting with neighborhood residents, developer Omar Blaik brought blank sheets of paper. The result? A process devoid of the usual rancor and a denser design than zoning allows.
Old School Strategies for Outreach and Communication
Looking to leverage cheap and easy social media tools to meet your citizen engagement mandate? Read. This. Now.
Are Vancouver's Leaders 'Tone-Deaf' to Residents' Vision for the City?
After less than a year on the job, Vancouver's planning manager is under fire for controversial proposals. Do the recent misfires reflect poor messaging, tight budgets, and short timelines; or a more fundamental problem with the city's leaders?
5 Glimpses Into the Future of Civic Engagement
Seeking to maximize the power of the Internet to expand public outreach efforts, a plethora of engagement platforms have proliferated in recent years. Government Technology looks at five of the most promising new models of civic engagement.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
