Blogs

April 2, 2021

Federal Housing Bill Creates New Support and Incentives For Planning

A bipartisan bill that would empower planners to reform zoning and development codes, create housing action plans, and modernize regulatory structures has been introduced in Congress.

April 2, 2021

Administration’s Bold Infrastructure Plan Holds Promise For Planners, But Questions Remain

Planners and communities are eager to see transformational infrastructure policy move forward in Washington. While President Biden's infrastructure plan offers much promise, there are also important questions that remain unanswered about support for planning-led solutions in any infrastructure package.

March 25, 2021

The Continued Challenges of Bias and Discrimination Within Planning Education

Uncovering JAPA: A survey of Black and Latinx planning students found that the students experienced different levels of discrimination depending on their citizenship status, race/ethnicity, nationality, and citizen status. Participants did not believe that planning education was allowing students to develop the skills to be culturally sensitive planners.

March 25, 2021

Return of Congressional Earmarks Marks New Funding Opportunity For Planners

Earmarks are back on Capitol Hill, giving planners a new pathway for securing funding for critical projects. APA's Jason Jordan breaks down what planners need to know to secure federal support for transportation project earmarks.

March 18, 2021

Move Aside and Let Communities Decide

Uncovering JAPA: Duke University seeks community input when deciding how to invest in its surrounding neighborhoods in Durham, North Carolina.

March 17, 2021

A Monumental Shift for Planners Starts with GIS

The new GIS learning plan helps build your skills to transform data to enable community leaders to better "see" planning outcomes.

March 11, 2021

Car Ownership Levels in America Follow Trends of Urban Street Griddedness

Uncovering JAPA: The grid system of American city streets has tangible implications for equity in mobility, public health, and environmental sustainability.

March 4, 2021

2020 The Year in Review: A Planning Manager's Perspective

Aimee Nassif, AICP, hosted a facilitated discussion Learning Circle, "2020 The Year in Review: A Planning Manager's Perspective On WTH Just Happened?" Here are some key takeaways and ideas you can implement into your workday from the discussion.

March 4, 2021

Making Room For the River

Uncovering JAPA: Using the Plan Integration for Resilience Scorecard (PIRS), researchers studied the Dutch city of Nijmegen to determine how integrated planning can reduce flooding vulnerability.

February 25, 2021

What Planners Should Know About the Current COVID Relief Bill

The latest coronavirus relief bill has only one legislative hurdle to clear before becoming law. With the House of Representatives expected to vote on the final legislation tomorrow, planners will see federal action on one of our four legislative priorities this week.

February 18, 2021

Urban Heat Management and the Legacy of Redlining

Uncovering JAPA: Neighborhoods that were once targets of redlining now have higher land surface temperatures than other neighborhoods in the same city. Planners need to correct past policy errors to make cities more equitable, including in urban heat management.

February 16, 2021

Chicago Sells Vacant Parcels For $1 and Nets Crime Reduction

Chicago's policy of selling vacant lots at a very low cost to adjacent landowners and other purchasers with local connections has resulted in a reduction in neighborhood crime.

February 11, 2021

Affordable Housing Without Public Subsidies

Uncovering JAPA: Why do landlords set housing rents below market? Can planners use this to expand affordable housing without public subsidies?

February 10, 2021

The Future of Planning Is Agile, People-centric, and Technologically Advanced

Petra Hurtado, PhD, APA's Research Director, explores patterns and the agility and technological innovation planners need.

February 4, 2021

Does Industrial Preservation Promote Industrial Activity?

Uncovering JAPA: How effective are industrial preservation policies in promoting industrial activity, and can planners use them as an economic development tool?

January 29, 2021

Harnessing the Economic Power of Short-Term Rentals for Growth in 2021

Sponsored Content from Granicus: Whether because of COVID concerns or in spite of them, the growth of the short-term rental market was rapid in 2020, and it looks like that trend will continue in 2021.

January 28, 2021

Early Research on the COVID-19 Pandemic and Density

Uncovering JAPA: Read some early research into whether density aggravates the COVID-19 pandemic.

January 27, 2021

Planners Secure Zoning Reform Win in Massachusetts

A new economic development bill includes provisions that will make it easier for towns and cities across Massachusetts to produce more housing by greenlighting certain local zoning changes with a simple majority vote.

January 26, 2021

Action Already Underway for 2021 Legislative Priorities

The beginning of the Biden administration and the 117th Congress have been marked with quick action on many of APA's top legislative priorities for 2021.

January 21, 2021

Surveying Restrictive Regulations: What Do Planners Know?

How do researchers inventory restrictive regulations and assess their relationship to the underproduction of housing?

January 15, 2021

Reflection for Radical Planners

A Guide for the Idealist post: Planners need to be more reflective about their practice, and radical planners might adopt different reflective frameworks.

January 14, 2021

Greenspace Resilience in the Wake of Disasters

Get recommendations for integrating proactive and resilient greenspace improvements into disaster recovery planning.

January 7, 2021

A Framework to Strengthen Transportation Planning

Uncovering JAPA: Tackle uncertainty using a robust decision-making framework for transportation planning.

January 6, 2021

Forecasting 2021: 7 Trends for Planners

APA offers insight into seven trends and spotlights helpful resources to help planners prepare for 2021 and beyond.

December 29, 2020

Planners' Activism Spurred Congress to Act for Communities

Despite an unusually contentious and unpredictable two-year session, the 116th Congress acted on several long-time APA legislative priorities.

December 21, 2020

Exploring Gaps in Guidance for Large-Scale Solar Development

The Solar@Scale team recently analyzed the existing literature on planning and zoning for large-scale solar development and identified some significant gaps.

December 18, 2020

Do Planners Know Plan Integration Can Improve Local Resilience?

APA is partnering on a research project that asks planners what they think of planning integration and its potential for building community resilience.

December 17, 2020

Tracking the Major Themes in Urban Planning Literature

Uncovering JAPA: Curious which themes are most prominent in the urban planning literature? Check out an analysis of 30 years of articles.

December 16, 2020

Planners Poised to Play Prominent Role in Presidential Transition

Planners are advising President-elect Joe Biden's transition team, which could mean more opportunities to build federal support for planning and planning-related programs in the next four years.

December 10, 2020

Exploratory Scenario Planning for Uncertain Futures

Uncovering JAPA: How can planners best use exploratory planning scenarios?

December 4, 2020

A Path to an Enlightened Planning Future

Incoming AICP President Mitchell Silver outlines upcoming changes to the AICP certification program that represent continued evolution and relevance to the needs of planners and communities.

November 24, 2020

APA Ambassadors Adapt During COVID-19 With Self-Guided Tours

Meagan Booth, an APA Ambassador in Utah, has been exploring ways to continue teaching children about planning in the midst of the pandemic.

November 19, 2020

How APA Members Can Understand JAPA's Value

How can we measure success for the Journal of the American Planning Association?

November 16, 2020

Incorporating Drones Into Planning Practice

City and regional planners are uniquely trained to consider the broader impacts to society of uncrewed aircraft systems like drones.

November 13, 2020

Reflective Planning: Navigating Idealism and Realism

A Guide for the Idealist post: The value of professional reflection is widely recognized, but how do you do it? A new book looks at how to develop reflective habits.

November 13, 2020

AICP Digital Credentials: A New Benefit for an Online World

Tips for making the most of the AICP digital credential.

November 12, 2020

Big, Open Data Offers New Tools for Transit-Oriented Development

Uncovering JAPA: How can planners use big, open data to look at transit-oriented development?

November 5, 2020

How Do Planners Understand the Terms Hispanic, Latino, and Latinx?

Uncovering JAPA: How and why should planners better understand the terms Hispanic, Latino, and Latinx?

October 29, 2020

A Driver's License Can Equal Carpooling, Safety, and Social Justice

Uncovering JAPA: How can planners make driving safer and make stronger arguments for carpooling? What if planners could also become advocates for immigrants at the same time?

October 27, 2020

Online Resources for Planning Educators

We know that planning education likely looks a bit different in 2020. Here we offer some digital resources for planning educators and their students.

October 26, 2020

APA Offers Resources for Planning Careers

APA's Career Center resources can help members who want to learn more about planning career options, those who are comfortably on their personal career path, and others at a career crossroads.

October 22, 2020

LGBTQ Communities and Historic Preservation

Uncovering JAPA: What do quantitative methods reveal about LGBTQ neighborhood development and historic preservation?

October 15, 2020

Changing Spaces Won’t Change Your Weight

Uncovering JAPA: Can making spaces more compact reduce obesity among young adults? It's not that simple.

October 14, 2020

Solar@Scale: Improving the Local Rules for Large-Scale Solar

APA has partnered with the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) on Solar@Scale, a new U.S. Department of Energy-funded project to help realize the potential benefits of large-scale solar development for cities, counties, and special districts.