It seems the word “unprecedented” has been used so often to describe everything from the weather to public health in recent years that the only certainty is uncertainty. This makes the job of urban planners especially difficult as they try to anticipate what their cities will need in the decades to come. In the business world, a type of modeling called exploratory scenario planning (XSP) has been helping companies cope with volatility for decades. Now the idea is gaining traction among planners,...
Jul 18, 2023•22 min
The average person on the street may not know what a planning professional does, but they probably have opinions on traffic, housing, and the many other elements of daily life that planners influence. Planner Dave Amos bet on that natural curiosity when he started his planning-focused YouTube channel “City Beautiful” 10 years ago. Since then, he’s seen the community of planning content creators grow on social media and says they’re feeding an appetite that’s been there all along. This episode, A...
Jun 20, 2023•23 min
In this APA podcast - part of the Planning for Equity series - Bobby Boone, founder and chief strategist of &Access , discusses economic development strategies for combatting displacement of small minority-owned businesses. Boone shares how planners can work with small businesses, what to look out for, and how to engage owners. Episode URL: https://planning.org/podcast/planning-to-ensure-longevity-for-small-minority-owned-businesses/...
Jun 01, 2023
In this APA podcast - part of the Planning for Equity series - Daniel Besinaiz, senior comprehensive planner at the City of Colorado Springs, shares his somewhat unexpected and personal journey on learning to celebrate and embrace his Latino heritage. Hear how Daniel re-connected with his roots and applies inspiration from his heritage into his current planning work. Finally, hear how being a part of the Latinos and Planning Division has helped with his journey. Episode URL: https://planning.org...
May 25, 2023
Three-plus decades after the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, the built environment remains a maze of obstacles. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one in four Americans live with a disability . Despite what many think, disability isn’t a rare experience for only people on the edges of society — and planning for it has collateral benefits that improve quality of life for everyone. Rebekah Taussig , advocate and author of Sitting Pretty : The View Fr...
Apr 18, 2023
Every two years, the American Planning Association Transportation Planning Division publishes the State of Transportation Planning Report with the intention of highlighting innovative ideas, cutting-edge research, and interesting experiments in transportation planning in the United States. As part of the 2022 edition of the report - titled “Intersections + Identities: A Radical Rethinking of Our Transportation Experiences" - we’re bringing you a series of critical conversations with pioneers and...
Mar 29, 2023
Philadelphia is a public art epicenter — and not by chance. The city has long institutionalized investment in local muralists through programs like Mural Arts Philadelphia , a nonprofit created in 1998 by artist and executive director Jane Golden. Through more than 4,000 murals, the program has helped residents celebrate identity, tackle issues like environmental justice, and paint the change they want to see. In this episode of People Behind the Plans, Golden shares the community engagement str...
Feb 28, 2023
Every two years, the American Planning Association Transportation Planning Division publishes the State of Transportation Planning Report with the intention of highlighting innovative ideas, cutting-edge research, and interesting experiments in transportation planning in the United States. As part of the 2022 edition of the report - titled “Intersections + Identities: A Radical Rethinking of Our Transportation Experiences" - we’re bringing you a series of critical conversations with pioneers and...
Jan 18, 2023
As the old saying goes, “when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” For decades, zoning has been the hammer swung by cities at a laundry list of challenges. But this blunt tool, developed to regulate land use and density, has had profound collateral damage, planner Nolan Gray argues. Cities and planners have long been constrained by a zoning “straitjacket,” he says, preventing them from solving the problems that plague communities today: housing affordability, sprawl, segregat...
Dec 20, 2022•31 min
Every two years, the American Planning Association Transportation Planning Division publishes the State of Transportation Planning Report with the intention of highlighting innovative ideas, cutting-edge research, and interesting experiments in transportation planning in the United States. As part of the 2022 edition of the report - titled “Intersections + Identities: A Radical Rethinking of Our Transportation Experiences" - we’re bringing you a series of critical conversations with pioneers and...
Dec 08, 2022
While it’s hard to have missed the buzz that’s been building around blockchain over the last five years, it’s easy to be confused and overwhelmed by its applications. Cryptocurrency and NFTs have been in the news recently, but less has been said about blockchain’s potential in urban planning and city government. Those were the questions Mark Wheeler, CIO of the city of Philadelphia, wanted to answer when he got interested in blockchain and Web 3.0 technology. With a background in planning, Wheel...
Nov 22, 2022•29 min
One of L.A. City Council’s newest members, Nithya Raman , ran on a platform of addressing homelessness and advancing inclusivity in city government. As a former urban planner and founder of a homelessness nonprofit, she’s working to show her fellow Angelenos how issues like homelessness, traffic, and gentrification all stem from a lack of housing inventory. After a year and a half in office, Raman shares her vision for reducing homelessness, offers tips for working more effectively with city gov...
Sep 20, 2022•28 min
Every two years, the American Planning Association Transportation Planning Division publishes the State of Transportation Planning Report with the intention of highlighting innovative ideas, cutting-edge research, and interesting experiments in transportation planning in the United States. As part of the 2022 edition of the report - titled “Intersections + Identities: A Radical Rethinking of Our Transportation Experiences" - we’re bringing you a series of critical conversations with pioneers and...
Aug 02, 2022
As a growing number of cities develop mobility justice initiatives, Naomi Doerner, MUP , is helping planners navigate these efforts to address systemic inequities and barriers in transportation. Doerner, principal and director of equity, diversity, and inclusion at Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates and former program manager of Seattle's innovative Transportation Equity Program , sat down with host Courtney Kashima, AICP, to talk about what mobility justice looks like in practice, including s...
Jul 19, 2022
In this special episode of the People Behind the Plans podcast, guest host Jason Pugh, AICP, AIA, NOMA, LEED AP, president of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) , sits down with Michael Ford, AIA, NOMA, keynote speaker at the 2022 APA National Planning Conference. In this live-recorded discussion in San Diego, Ford and Pugh talk about the unique connection between hip hop, urban design, community engagement, and so much more. Ford, a licensed architect, is the creator of the...
May 26, 2022
Dahvia Lynch, AICP, the director of Planning & Development Services for San Diego County , talks about her agency’s bold plans for housing and climate change, an accessory development unit program that helped drive a 70 percent uptick in ADUs, and an agricultural conservation program that has permanently set aside nearly 80,000 acres. The agency is also taking a connected approach to housing and vehicle miles traveled, while supporting electric vehicle adoption. Episode URL: https://planning...
Apr 06, 2022
In this episode of the Resilience Roundtable series, host Rich Roths, AICP, speaks with Michael Greenberg, Ph.D, distinguished professor at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University . The two discuss the concept of cascading hazards, what they are, where are they more prevalent, how they are prepared for and mitigated against through plans at local, state and federal levels of government. Episode URL: https://www.planning.org/podcast/cascading-hazards-wit...
Dec 22, 2021
In this episode of the People Behind the Plans podcast series, host Courtney Kashima, AICP, is joined by Rasmus Astrup, partner and design principal at Danish urban design and landscape architecture practice SLA . Rasmus was a co-presenter during the 2021 National Planning Conference at a session titled, “Strategies to Combat Extreme Heat” . Rasmus and Courtney discuss the importance of biodiversity and nature-based solutions to address the needs of cities to mitigate against the effects of clim...
Oct 26, 2021
If you're not on TikTok, you might not know that urban planning is going viral. But accounts like TalkingCities , run by Paul Stout, and others are distilling complex planning topics into bitesized, easily digestible videos. And viewers are eating them up. Paul's account has more than 150,000 followers and 3 million–plus likes. He bills it as "an introduction to urban design, city planning, and architecture," an avenue for teens and adults who don't know urban planning exists to become aware of ...
Aug 18, 2021
You might not realize it, but artificial intelligence, or AI, already affects your life in countless ways. Your favorite wayfinding app? It’s powered by AI. The product recommendations you get on that e-commerce site you visit regularly? That’s AI, too. The music, movie, and TV suggestions you see on streaming platforms; the notifications from your bank alerting you to possible fraudulent activity; the wearable technology giving you health information — they’re all driven by systems that use AI....
Aug 12, 2021
Vacant lots make up nearly 17 percent of land in U.S. cities. A history of disinvestment has contributed to a significant overlap between neighborhoods with the highest concentration of vacant lots and those most threatened by the impacts of climate change. In Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) and the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) teamed up to solve this multipronged issue — one involving urban blight, community health, and a climate that's becoming hotter and wette...
Jul 08, 2021
With an unprecedented season of wildfires barely in our rearview mirror, National Fire Protection Association veteran Michele Steinberg comes on the Resilience Roundtable podcast series to talk about wildfire mitigation and prevention. Her conversation with host Jim Schwab, FAICP, revolves around the NFPA’s newest policy initiative, Outthink Wildfire. Episode URL: https://planning.org/podcast/we-need-to-outthink-wildfire-not-try-to-eliminate-it/ This episode is brought to you by Tyler Technologi...
May 10, 2021
Cherie Jzar, AICP, has worked in more than a few areas of planning — from airport, transit, and comprehensive planning to community outreach and engagement. Now she's bringing her expertise to a new type of work: building more equitable policies and practices as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Coordinator for Gastonia, North Carolina. Listen as she speaks with APA editor in chief Meghan Stromberg about her work experience, who's inspired her along the way, and the insights she's gleaned fro...
Apr 26, 2021
What is a feminist city? Who is a feminist city for? How do different groups of people experience the cities we live in now? And what does it all mean in a world inching toward recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic? Author Leslie Kern comes on the People Behind the Plans podcast series to untangle these questions with host Courtney Kashima, AICP. Leslie is the director of women and gender studies and an associate professor of geography and environment at Mount Allison University . Her latest book ...
Mar 31, 2021
According to NASA, by 2028, urban air mobility is likely to be a commercially viable market for air metro services in the U.S. In addition, companies such as Amazon, UPS, or Walmart have been experimenting with drone deliveries in cities across the country. In this episode of the podcast, Petra Hurtado, APA’s research director, talks with Heather Sauceda Hannon, AICP, associate director of planning practice and scenario planning at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and Ric Stephens, senior a...
Mar 26, 2021
In 2018, eruptions from the Kīlauea volcano caused widespread devastation to Hawaii's Big Island. It decimated more than 700 structures and uprooted more than 3,000 people. Resilience Roundtable host Jim Schwab, FAICP, talks with Douglas Le, AICP, disaster recovery officer with the County of Hawaii, to learn about the particularities of volcanic eruptions — a natural hazard few planners deal with. Douglas explains their unique geological nature, but he also describes concerns of postdisaster re...
Mar 12, 2021
Urban planner, artist, and activist Katanya Raby joins host Courtney Kashima, AICP, to talk about her work at the Office of the Mayor for the City of Chicago, her time at the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), and her post as executive director of the Al Raby Foundation. The organization aims to educate communities about its namesake, Katanya's grandfather, and carry on his legacy of fighting for civil rights and equity for those who have been disenfranchised. The two planners also...
Feb 24, 2021
Esther Greenhouse has a unique job title: built environmental strategist. She is also an environmental gerontologist, specializing in design for older adults, and she points out that the built environment often does not allow people of all ages and abilities to function at their highest level. For many, it limits functioning, which is a phenomenon known as environmental press. A big takeaway from that early work, she tells Meghan Stromberg, editor in chief of the American Planning Association, d...
Jan 29, 2021
Rodney Harrell, a planner and AARP Public Policy Institute's vice president of Family, Home and Community, thinks the biggest policy problem we face is the siloing of planning issues — separating housing from transportation from economic development from health. This disjointedness negatively affects people across the lifespan, but these impacts will become even more pronounced as our nation gets older. In fact, by 2035, the U.S. will have more people over the age of 65 than under the age of 18 ...
Jan 29, 2021
You've probably heard the term "multigenerational," but what about "intergenerational"? Matthew Kaplan, professor of Intergenerational Programs and Aging at Penn State University, outlines what that means for APA's editor in chief Meghan Stromberg, and the two discuss some of the fascinating case studies in intergenerational programming from around the world. Matt also describes how the pandemic has forced intergenerational planners and other professionals to come up with solutions for people wh...
Jan 29, 2021
