The American Planning Association's Top 25 Achievements (1978–2003)

1. The American Planning Association is established
In 1978, the American Institute of Planners and the American Society of Planning Officials consolidated into one organization — the American Planning Association — dedicated to the advancement of planning.

2. Planners Press
Planners Press has published more than 100 books for professional planners and citizens since it began in 1978. Click here to see a list of the 25 best-selling Planners Press books.

3. Awards won by APA
Publishing excellence is one of APA's hallmarks — as confirmed by the many national awards for writing and design conferred over the years on Planning magazine, the Journal of the American Planning Association, and APA's preliminary conference programs.

4. Planners Training Service and Zoning Institute
For 15 years, APA and AICP offered live continuing education to meet the needs of planners through annual Zoning Institute mini-conferences and periodic Planners Training Service workshops. By the time they ended in 1995, several thousand planners, attorneys, and allied professionals had learned about neo-traditional/new urbanist planning, management skills, affordable housing, and the link between air quality, transportation, and land use, as well as planning, environmental, and land-use law.

5. Amicus Curiae Committee
Established in 1985, APA's "Friend of the Court" Committee promotes our views in important legal cases that affect the climate and conduct of planning in America. The Amicus Committee has weighed in on dozens of cases. In 2001, its brief was quoted in the Supreme Court's majority opinion in the case upholding the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency in its case with Tahoe-Sierra Preservation Council, Inc.

6. Passage of ISTEA
In 1991, after two years of behind the scenes work, APA celebrated the passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA). APA was instrumental in bringing together a coalition that became the Surface Transportation Policy Project (STPP), which continues to this day, advocating for more livable, humane, and environmentally sensitive transportation options. ISTEA marked the end to the "build first and ask questions later" approach to road building and transit.

7. Planning Commissioners Service and The Commissioner
The Planning Commissioners Service came about in 1994 when the APA Board and chapters resolved to address the needs of planning commissioners. Its first product, the training manual Planning Made Easy, has trained thousands of planning commissioners. Other products for members and nonmembers include videos, webcasts, and audio and web conferences. The national conference added a special track for commissioners and officials, and in 1995, APA launched The Commissioner newsletter. In June of this year, The Commissioner will evolve and expand. It will remain a member benefit for commissioners and also be available by subscription.

8. Youth programs
During the 1990s, APA became more aware of youth and their importance to the future of planning. That year Resources newsletter was founded; by the mid 1990s, it was reaching 600 planners and educators, and in 2001 it was converted to a website, Resources Zine. "Planners Day in School" programs flourished in the early 1990s at national and chapter conferences and in individual communities. Many planners adapted existing materials such as Box City, while others created summer camps and web-based programs, and engaged youth in planning efforts. In 2000, APA unveiled its website for children, Kids and Community. Youth Planning Charrettes, published in 1998 by Planners Press, and PAS Report 486, Youth Participation in Community Planning, assist planners with local programs. APA also participates with other organizations, such as Smart Growth America and the Chicago Architectural Foundation, in creating programs and curricula on planning for youth.

9. Merriam Center Library
The Merriam Center Library (MCL) was founded in 1932 as the Joint Reference Library for six national organizations interested in better public decision making. ASPO joined in 1938. APA took over the library in 1994 and rescued the collection when the other sponsoring organizations left Chicago. We carefully selected and retained the best materials on contemporary city and regional planning theory and practice. Historical materials were shipped to the National Planning Archives at Cornell University, with which the MCL has a close working relationship. Today, the MCL is considered one of the best special libraries in planning in the United States. It houses more than 4,200 volumes on planning and allied fields and adds several hundred new titles each year. Plans, municipal documents, and planning-related pamphlets and articles fill almost 150 file drawers. The library subscribes to more than 200 journals and newsletters. The MCL is open to members.

10. GIS workshops
Since 1995, APA has offered hands-on training in computer-based workshops in geographic information systems (GIS) and related technologies for planners at national conferences. Subsidized by private sector endowments, more than 3,000 planners have upgraded their technology skills through this program.

11. APA website
Established in the mid-1990s, and redesigned and greatly expanded in 2001, www.planning.org now attracts more than 105,000 unique visitors and about 325,000 total visits per month. Among web pages, those devoted to jobs and the APA conference are especially popular. "Daily Planning News" (the news feed that appears on the home page) has been steadily gaining favor ever since it debuted in September 2003. New elements are added to the website monthly to keep up-to-date with this fast growing medium.

12. Planning in China
APA has had a variety of exchanges with China in the last 25 years, but since 1996, its efforts to address and assist China's unprecedented urbanization have grown to a significant and effective program. Focusing primarily on education, exchange and training, APA advocates ethics, public participation, and the comprehensive nature of planning in its collaborative work in China.

13. Outreach to allied organizations
Members have always stressed the importance of building partnerships. Since 1996, APA has had a full-time coordinator and associate staff working to promote, develop, and expand our influence and visibility among allied organizations, such as other nonprofits and foundations. These partnerships have increased revenues, strengthened our advocacy, introduced new products, leveraged our political influence, and raised our public profile.

14. National Planning Conference attendance tops 6,000
With the creation of the American Planning Association came the National Planning Conference, held annually each spring. It has become the premier planning and public policy conference in the world. 1999 was a landmark year — more 6,000 planners and advocates for planning assembled in Seattle. Click here to see a list of most popular conference sessions.

15. Planning Advisory Service
In 1999, APA celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Planning Advisory Service. What started in 1949 as an inquiry-answering service for subscribing agencies, with a monthly newsletter and an occasional technical report, has developed into an essential resource for practicing planners. PAS collects the best of planning literature — to provide answers to planners in the field dealing with day-to-day problems – and gathers the unpublished plans and ordinances of numerous jurisdictions. These materials give subscribing agencies indispensable information about what their colleagues in other jurisdictions are doing to serve their constituencies. PAS Memo, once a monthly compilation of questions to the PAS staff and their answers, now addresses pressing issues in the profession today. The cutting-edge series of PAS Reports has grown to more than 525 reports, which are now augmented with CD-ROMs, DVD video, full-color printing, and web enhancements. Research staff and outside writers, funded through research grants and subscription revenues write PAS reports that analyze and synthesize the best of research literature and real world planning successes, pushing the planning envelope. PAS reports also have created strong bonds between APA and affiliated professional organizations, foundations, and state and federal government agencies, which sponsor many of the reports because of their success in reaching a broad, diverse audience.

16. Land Use Law & Zoning Digest anniversary
Also in 1999, APA noted 50 years of publishing its premier law journal of commentaries, legal cases, and legislation. In 2004, LUL&ZD (originally titled Zoning Digest) was transformed into Planning & Environmental Law.

17. College of Fellows of AICP
Originally conceived in 1997, the College of Fellows of AICP was established in 1999 to recognize the achievements of AICP members through a juried process. Since then, 278 AICP members have received the FAICP honor.

18. From Washington
To increase APA's voice on the Hill and in state legislatures, APA launched its bi-weekly electronic newsletter, From Washington, in 2000. The newsletter covers our legislative priorities, issues, and policies adopted and promoted by APA's members. Subscribers number over 1,500.

19. City Parks Forum
Starting in 2000, APA's research unit developed and ran a successful $2.5 million education program for mayors of middle-sized cities on the subject of how urban parks can help solve a number of intractable problems. CPF exemplifies APA's core mission of education and our outreach to elected officials.

20. Growing Smart
APA's research department successfully completed the Growing Smart Legislative Guidebook in 2001. It culminated a $2.5 million, seven-year effort to help states modernize the statutes that govern planning. The Guidebook provides a menu of approaches to states seeking to revise statutes based on model legislation developed in the early 20th century — the Standard State Zoning Enabling Act and Standard City Planning Enabling Act.

21. Central America-Caribbean site planning
In 2001, APA's research unit created a Spanish language course and workbook (Los Fundamentos de Planificacion de Sitios ) on the fundamentals of site planning and delivered nine training sessions in Nicaragua, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic. The HUD-funded program is an example of APA's frequent partnership with federal agencies.

22. interact
In July 2002, APA launched interact — a monthly electronic member newsletter. interact delivers the news about APA national, divisions, and chapters; alerts members to opportunities to participate in APA programs and activities, and guides readers to interesting and useful resources on the APA website. interact has become one of the primary ways that APA communicates with members.

23. Practicing Planner
Practicing Planner, the online publication of the American Institute of Certified Planners, debuted in 2003. It incorporates the features of the former AICP print publication, Planners' Casebook, and adds many more. Now in its second year of operation, it reaches about 14,000 readers each quarter.

24. APA membership tops 34,000
In 2004, for the first time, APA has more than 34,000 members. This is two and a half times the number of members in 1978 when AIP and ASPO consolidated. Strong growth in AICP membership was key to reaching this benchmark. APA had fewer than 5,000 certified professional members at the time of the consolidation. By 1999, AICP membership topped 10,000, and by 2004, reached 14,000.

25. Serving chapters, divisions, and students
At the end of our first 25 years, chapters serve members in all 50 states, topical divisions have grown to 18, and student membership is at an all-time high. Students are represented by the Student Representatives Council, and planning student organizations are active at most schools.