Exclusives
BLOG POST
Planning For Ukrainian Refugees
Millions of Ukrainian refugees are flowing into European cities. This begs the question: how can cities like Przemysl, Poland, and many others, successfully integrate displaced Ukrainians as active members of local politics, economies, and society?
FEATURE
Vital Communities: Housing Quality for Social Equality
Transit-rich, “inner ring” neighborhoods with multi-family, mid- and high-rise housing (going beyond the limits of missing middle housing) will be necessary to deliver access to high-quality, safe, and affordable housing.
FEATURE
Toward Better 'Rural Places and Planning'
The authors of the new book "Rural Places and Planning" expand beyond stereotypes of the rural to describe a more supportive approach to rural planning.
PLANOPEDIA
What Is VMT?
A measure of the demand for vehicle travel on public roadways, VMT provides a metric for evaluating the potential impact of road projects and developments and could become an increasingly useful tool for assessing road usage taxes.
BLOG POST
How Cities Are Resisting State Efforts To Increase Density
Cities are attempting to wrest back local control over land use and zoning via some ingenious—and sometimes disingenuous—strategies.
FEATURE
Best Apps for Urban Planning in 2022
Mobile apps continue to redefine the practices of planning—urban planning, regional planning, transportation planning, community planning, and rural planning included.
BLOG POST
Conservatives, Progressives, and Cities
Are liberals more pro-urban than conservatives? On some issues, yes—but in other ways, reality is more complicated.
BLOG POST
Bringing Rurality Back to Planning Culture
Michael Hibbard at the University of Oregon and Kathryn I. Frank at the University of Florida write about their recently published article in the Journal of Planning Education and Research.
PLANOPEDIA
What Is an Entitlement?
In the context of planning and development, an entitlement is the legal agreement between a government and a landowner to allow a proposed development.
FEATURE
Where Words Fail: Teach Architects and Urban Designers Like Violinists
Architects and urban designers justify or explain their work with words, and municipalities govern design with jargon-filled regulations. The outcome is often underwhelming.
PLANOPEDIA
What Is Car-Centric Planning?
'Car-centric planning' refers to urban planning that privileges the private automobile as a primary transportation mode, often to the exclusion of people who walk, bike, or use public transit.
BLOG POST
Stimulus Funds Not Enough to Guarantee Transit's Future in D.C. and L.A.
In statements that echo the alarm of March 2020, transit officials in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. recently announced plans to reduce transit service.
BLOG POST
Ballot Initiative Could Overturn California's Zoning Reforms
The "mother of all NIMBY initiatives" is seeking signatures to qualify for the statewide ballot in California.
BLOG POST
Brief: U.S. DOT Rural EV Toolkit Is Good but No Panacea
The U.S. needs more charging infrastructure to support the electrification of the transportation sector. This toolkit is a good step in the right direction. But electric vehicles and charging infrastructure are no panacea to our transportation woes.
BLOG POST
Urban Villages for the Proletariat
Compact, walkable urban villages benefit working families and organized labor by creating jobs, improving household affordability, reducing commute duration, improving economic opportunities, and creating cleaner, healthier communities.
FEATURE
Green Infrastructure Thinking for Southern Cities in 2022 and Beyond
Resilience planning requires communities to think of a well planned and maintained tree canopy as a public utility system with multiple benefits.
PLANOPEDIA
What Is Discretionary Approval?
Discretionary approval requires an appointed or elected body of officials to decide whether or not to proceed with a development. Discretionary approval is usually reserved for development proposals that don't conform to zoning or building codes, but other regulatory triggers can also create the need for a discretionary approval process.
BLOG POST
6 Surprising Ways Communities Can Grow Their Businesses Amidst the Labor Shortage
While the labor shortage has affected businesses across the country, many communities have started taking steps to support area businesses and help them thrive.
BLOG POST
Can High-Speed Roads Stop Climate Change?
Some argue that even if wider roads induce more travel, they will actually reduce pollution by speeding it up. This post addresses one such argument.
New York City School Construction Authority
Village of Glen Ellyn
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
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.
