Planopedia

Automobile dependency is a term used to describe households who must rely on private vehicles for everyday transportation, often due to a lack of safe pedestrian infrastructure, ineffective or absent public transit options, and sprawl.

A Planned Unit Development (PUD) is a specific type of plan or development commonly associated with master planned communities and sprawl. The specific definitions of a PUD vary by jurisdiction, but the term generally refers to a flexible approach to the planning of a variety of housing types and land uses on a relatively large portion of land.

Level of Service (LOS) defines how well vehicle traffic flows along a street or road. LOS is one of the most influential metrics in planning, with critical relevance for both land use and transportation planning.

Frequently used to determine eligibility for housing assistance programs, Area Median Income measures the midpoint of an area’s income distribution.

First adopted by the Swedish parliament in 1997, Vision Zero is a strategy aimed at eliminating pedestrian deaths by improving road design and infrastructure with a focus on safety.

One of the most politically charged and controversial terms in planning, the acronym NIMBY stands for Not In My Back Yard.

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.

In the context of planning and development, an entitlement is the legal agreement between a government and a landowner to allow a proposed development.

'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.

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.

A development approval process decides whether or not to allow a proposed development project to proceed with construction. There is plenty of room for interpretation, both legal and political, about what a development approval process can or should entail.

Walkability refers to the ability to safely walk to services and amenities within a reasonable distance, usually defined as a walk of 30 minutes or less.

Born as a reaction to the crowded, dirty conditions in turn-of-the-century London and other industrial cities, the Garden City movement offers an idealized planned community designed to join elements of town and country.

Transportation Network Companies (TNCs), provide on-demand transportation services through app-based platforms to create a new level of convenience for riders—and a host of challenges for policymakers and regulators.

A by-right approval (also known as an as-of-right approval) is granted when a development proposal strictly conforms to zoning and building codes and, thus, qualifies for construction without requiring discretionary approval.

Smart growth describes an approach to planning and development that prioritizes compact built environments, designed for benefits to the economy and the environment.

Known for grand buildings and sweeping green spaces, the City Beautiful movement combined philosophy and architecture into a powerful planning ideology that still drives urban design into the present day.

Billed as an alternative to urban sprawl, infill development encourages the development of underused or vacant land in existing urban areas to increase density and place new development near existing resources and infrastructure.

Micromobility is an umbrella term encompassing a variety of small, generally low-speed vehicles and conveyances that can be electric or human-powered and privately owned or part of shared fleets.

Conservation development combines the development of land with the protection of natural resources.

'White flight' refers to the exodus of white Americans from central cities to suburbs in the early and mid-20 century, a phenomenon which led to declining tax revenue and business closures that created lasting damage to urban neighborhoods.

Some cities and regions limit the growth of sprawl by setting an urban growth boundary—a strict geographic limit on where real estate development can occur.

Another term lacking a consensus definition in the field of planning, "suburb" is usually deployed to describe residential communities outside central urban areas.

Known to some as the 'master builder' and to others as a villain in the history of New York City's development, Robert Moses was an influential and controversial city official who guided the construction of hundreds of projects in the mid-20th century.

Greenfield land has remained untouched by previous development. Some definitions of greenfield land also include agricultural land. Thus, greenfield development encroaches on the natural environment to expand the built environment.

Congestion pricing raises the cost of driving on certain roadways at certain times, reducing traffic,encouraging alternate transportation modes, and generating revenue from the use of infrastructure.

Historic preservation is a controversial, highly contested cause, with a long history of failures and successes in the United States.

Born out of the progressive ideals of the New Deal and a desire to improve the standard of living in poor urban neighborhoods, American public housing has taken several forms as political opinion about subsidized housing shifts.