James Brasuell, AICP is the former editorial director of Planetizen and is now a senior public affairs specialist at the Southern California Association of Governments. James managed all editorial content and direction for Planetizen from 2014 to 2023, and was promoted from manging editor to editorial director in 2021. After a first career as a class five white water river guide in Trinity County in Northern California, James started his career in Los Angeles as a volunteer at a risk reduction center in Skid Row. Prior to joining Planetizen, James worked at the Cal Poly Pomona College of Environmental Design, as an editor at Curbed LA, as editor of The Planning Report, and as a freelance contributor for The Architect’s Newspaper, the Urban Land Institute – Los Angeles Chapter, FORM, KCET, and the California Planning & Development Report.

A New Tool for More Flexible and Resilient Water Policies
A new book created by the Sonoran Institute explains how exploratory scenario planning can be useful to prepare for the uncertainty of water in the near- and long-term future.

How Seattle Plans to Leverage Public Resources to Protect Arts and Culture
The Cultural Space Agency, proposed in Seattle, would be a new type of public development authority, a city agency with a mission to preserve and create arts and culture in the face of gentrification.

A Flyover Tour of Indianapolis' Big Highway Expansion Project
The Indiana Department of Transportation is preparing to spend $337.8 million to improve the I-465 and I-69 interchange on the north side of Indianapolis.

Parametric Modeling for Planning in Uncertain Times
A new technology- and data-drive approach to planning could provide direction as society faces challenges of unprecedented scale.

What Biden's Win Could Mean for Land Use, Transportation, and Climate
Campaign in poetry and govern in prose, the saying goes. Now that the reality of a Biden presidency is settling in, what does it mean for how the United States plans its future?