What's New

September 2002

Crime Prevention in Planning

Newman, Oscar. Creating Defensible Space. Washington, D.C.: Department of Housing and Urban Development, 1996.

A seminal discussion of "community-owned" space; you may not agree with everything Oscar Newman says but you have to give him credit for saying it and supporting it. From the HUD website: "Defensible Space theory encompasses a wide range of planning and design strategies that focus attention on reassigning the perceived ownership of residential space." Visit Newman's website at www.defensiblespace.com. —Reviewed in Journal of the American Planning Association, Autumn 1997.

Cultural Districts

National Capital Planning Commission. Memorials and Museums Master Plan. Washington, D.C.: The Commission, 2001.

NCPC, the Commission of Fine Arts, and the National Capital Memorial Commission are the three federal agencies responsible for the location and design of new commemorative works on federal land. Since 1997, these three agencies have been working together as the Joint Task Force to explore the issues affecting future memorials and museums. Congress has directed the National Capital Planning Commission to develop this master plan in consultation with the other two review bodies.

General

Cullingworth, J. Barry. The Political Culture of Planning: American Land Use Planning in Comparative Perspective. New York: Routledge, 1993.

J. Barry Cullingworth provides a comprehensive and accessible account of land use planning in the United States, with a unique comparative analysis of the planning process in Britain and Canada.

Government Finance

Oates, Wallace E., Ed. Property Taxation and Local Government Finance. Cambridge, Mass.: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 2001.

Based on papers presented at an Institute-sponsored conference held in January 2000 in Scottsdale, Arizona. The purpose of the conference was to provide a systematic and comprehensive review of the economics of local property taxation and to develop its policy implications.

Growth Management

Getting to Smart Growth: 100 Policies for Implementation. Washington, D.C.: Smart Growth Network/International City/County Management Association, 2002.

The newest primer in the ongoing series from the Smart Growth Network and International City/County Management Association. The publication serves as a roadmap for states and communities that have recognized the need for smart growth, but are unclear on how to achieve it.

Otto, Betsie. Paving our Way to Water Shortages: How Sprawl Aggravates Drought. Washington, D.C.: American Rivers, 2002.

This new study by American Rivers, NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) and Smart Growth America investigated what happens to water supplies when we replace our natural areas with roads, parking lots, and buildings. The water losses are staggering. Comparing the level of imperviousness in 1997 to 1982, the report finds that the potential amount of water lost to infiltration annually ranged from 6.2 billion to 14.4 billion gallons in Dallas to 56.9 billion to 132.8 billion gallons in Atlanta. Atlanta's "losses" in 1997 amounted to enough water to supply the average daily household needs of 1.5 million to 3.6 million people per year.

Historic Preservation

Fine, Adrian. Protecting America's Historic Neighborhoods: Taming the Teardown Trend. Washington, D.C.: National Trust for Historic Preservation, 2002.

Planning Administration

Larimer County Planning & Building Services. Larimer County 2001 Annual Report: Larimer County Planning and Building Services Division. Fort Collins, Colo.: The Division, 2002.

Planning Theory

Allmendinger, Philip. Planning in Postmodern Times. New York: Routledge, 2001.

This book analyzes planning from a postmodern perspective and explores alternative conceptions based on a combination of postmodern thinking and other fields of social theory. In doing so, it exposes some of the limits of postmodern social theory while providing an alternative conception of planning in the 21st century. Available as an e-book.

Reviewed in January 2002 issue of European Urban and Regional Studies

Redevelopment

Principles for the Rebuilding of Lower Manhattan. New York: New York New Visions, 2002.

New York New Visions is a coalition of 20 architecture, planning, and design organizations that came together immediately following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. This group, representing more than 30,000 individuals, has pooled the collective resources and technical expertise of over 350 professionals and civic group leaders in a pro-bono effort to address the issues surrounding the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan.

Regional Planning

Mason, Robert J. Contested Lands: Conflict and Compromise in New Jersey's Pine Barrens. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992.

The nation's first and only "national reserve," the Pinelands of New Jersey is located in the middle of the densely populated urban corridor between New York City and Philadelphia. A 15-member commission appointed at the federal, state, and local level manage the Pine Barrens. In his discussion of the implementation of the Pinelands Commission's regional plan; Robert Mason explores the changing politics of place and the associated conflicts of interest that have emerged. Reviewed by Char Miller in Environmental History Review, Spring 1993. Also reviewed in March 1993 issue of Planning magazine.

Transportation Planning

Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future. The Citizen's Plan: An Alternative to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission's Plan to complete the Mon-Fayette Toll Road. Pittsburgh: Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future, 2002.

In January 2002, Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future (PennFuture) assembled a group of national and local experts — engineers, architects, and planners — and interested citizens to begin work on an alternative to the Mon-Fayette toll road. After touring the Mon Valley, its major arterial roads, town centers and former industrial sites (brownfields), the group gathered to brainstorm possible solutions that would meet the region's transportation and traffic needs, revitalize brownfields, and strengthen communities, while avoiding the harmful environmental and economic impacts that would be caused by the toll road.