Community Engagement
Seeking Public Input on Regional and Rural Park Needs
As part of a study, the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation is conducting a survey to better understand the use of facilities like beaches, natural areas, open spaces, regional parks, trails, and local parks in rural areas.
Cities Improving Community Engagement By Paying for It
Rochester, MN, joins the ranks of cities realizing that community input is worth paying for.
Why Participatory Planning Fails (and How to Fix It)
“Having participated in several of the I-70 meetings, I got to see firsthand how community input really just meant show up, complain, and we’re going to do the opposite of what you’re asking,” says one Denver councilmember.
Tech and the Post-Pandemic City
To steer American cities into the future, public and private sectors—and citizens—must work together to build broad, lasting support around complicated issues such as transparency and data privacy.
Students Contribute to Park Design Process
As a class assignment, nearly 150 high school students shared their ideas for improvements to Sorensen Park in Lake Los Angeles, California.
Social Media Bots and the Community Planning Process
Recently published research examines the "Role of Artificial Intelligence in Community Planning"—that is, the role of automated bots on social media in corrupting participatory planning processes.
Park Planning in a Pandemic
In pursuit of a grant for park development, Los Angeles County engages community members virtually to gather input and design a new park.
Pandemic Planning Must Reconcile With the Inequities of the Past
The ongoing debate about the role of marginalized communities in the emergency planning programs of the pandemic has now been detailed on the pages of the New York Times.
Regulatory Considerations for Online Public Engagement: Ensuring the Viability of Projects
As online engagement becomes increasingly important during COVID-19, so does understanding compliance with legal requirements.
Racial Equity and Urban Climate Action
Equity is hardly mentioned in most urban climate action plans, but a few cities, like Austin, Texas, are leading the charge to center in equity in both the process and content of climate planning.
Sidewalk Labs Debuts New Generative Design Tool
A new generative tool developed by Sidewalk Labs uses machine learning and computational design to generate millions of comprehensive planning scenarios.
Engaging, Then Planning, for Equity
The interdisciplinary work of the Kounkuey Design Initiative, led by executive director Chelina Odbert, and deeply committed to the homegrown potential of neighborhoods and communities.
Diversifying Neighborhood Associations More Challenging Than Assumed
The schedule for the Neighborhoods 2020 initiative in Minneapolis has been pushed as neighborhood organizations have pushed back on the city's efforts to remake the system in a more representative form.
Op-Ed: Street Safety Is a Matter of Race
What do traffic safety and gun violence have in common? A lot, as it turns out. In both cases, hard-hit neighborhoods tend to have suffered from historical disinvestment along racial lines.
Et Tu, Portland?
Opinion: The Rose City joins the nationwide attack on neighborhood-scale public involvement—and throws its pioneering model of grassroots democracy under the bus.
Following a Failed Referendum, Nashville Transit Advocates Regroup
Last spring, voters resoundingly quashed Let's Move Nashville, a $5.4 billion plan to build out the city's transit options. The plan paid too little attention to current riders, advocates say, and they aim to do things differently.
Civic Crowdfunding to Mitigate 'Bikelash'
Public outcry about the priority given protected bike lanes on streets can be mitigated when civic crowdfunding is part of the planning process, according to this article.
Portland Throwing its Pioneering Neighborhood System Under the Bus
A muddled agenda of inclusion seems to be a rationale to eviscerate one of the Oregon city's most lauded civic assets.
Behind the Community-Building Mission of the Orton Family Foundation
The work of the Orton Family Foundation provides a leading example of community-driven revitalization at work in small towns all over the country, according to this feature in the Christian Science Monitor.
Getting Started on Inclusive Planning
A toolbox for local governments to address inequality.
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.
Smith Gee Studio
City of Charlotte
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
US High Speed Rail Association
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)
