Blogs

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.

October 1, 2020

Adopting Racial Equity Frameworks in Planning Organizations

Uncovering JAPA: What can planning departments do to adopt an organizational racial equity framework?

Concerned About Planning Equity? Start With Your Office

Uncovering JAPA: Step one in planning for equitable outcomes: create an equitable workplace.

Planning for Climate Change, Planning for Communities

Uncovering JAPA: Can large-scale climate action coexist with community-based planning? One JAPA author says they can and they must.

7 Ways to Plan a Stronger Climate Change Response

Uncovering JAPA: Current climate action plans are insufficient for the mounting climate crisis. Get seven principles to help bolster and fill the gaps in these plans.

Congress Looks to Planning as a Climate Crisis Solution

A new congressional climate action plan positions planning as one solution to tackling climate change. APA supported the creation of the plan by contributing ideas for how federal climate policy can set the context for effective local and regional plans.

When Climate Resiliency Is More Than an Afterthought

Uncovering JAPA: Affordable housing and resiliency must coexist. How can low-income households weather the storm?

Sustainability Plans Can Be More Than Just Talk

Uncovering JAPA: Investing in a sustainability plan means investing in the future.

A Simple Path to Sustainable Transportation

Uncovering JAPA: Shared autonomous vehicles will be part of the future, but do we need them to achieve sustainable transportation?

Simplifying Coastal Planning for Small Cities

Uncovering JAPA: How can small coastal cities plan for climate uncertainty?

Changing Climate Calls for Changing the Built Environment

Uncovering JAPA: Building water-efficient cities might let us stick to the rivers and lakes that we’re used to.

Regional Planning Can Help With Environmental Impacts of Warehouses

Uncovering JAPA: How can planning help regulate the disproportionate concentration of e-commerce-related warehouse facilities in greenfield sites?

3 Top Issues for Planners in 2020 State Legislatures

As 2020 state legislative sessions start up, here are three top issues for planners.

Revisiting Arnstein’s Ladder: Justice as Parity of Participation

Uncovering JAPA: How can planning toward participation have a transformative effect on social equity?

Street Air on Earth Day

Members of the Street Air Project have studied the air pollution problem in Bay View, California, with the goal of quantifying the issues and seeking scientific and planning-related solutions.

Meeting the Housing Challenge in Norfolk as Sea Levels Rise

Norfolk, Virginia, is facing unique housing challenges from sea-level rise. Planners there are working to give residents more housing options in low-risk flood areas.

Climate Adaptation: Climbing the Mountain Amid a Landslide

A new report assesses the current state of the climate adaptation field. Planner and author Jim Schawb says planners can bring their skills to the table and make a difference.

Planning in Uncertain Times and a New Agenda for the Future

To achieve greater social cohesion, inclusion, and safety in a society where the needs of all citizens are met, the approach needs to be comprehensive and have wide citizen support. Planning is the vehicle through which much of this vision can be achieved.

Planning for Resilience

As the triple threats of climate change, rapid urbanization, and globalization exert pressure on cities, many of those places are looking to be more resilient — now and 25, 50, or 100 years from now.

How Good Is Your Comp Plan?

At an NPC17 session, planners evaluated two city plans against the standards set out in APA's Sustaining Places Initiative.

APA Part of New Collaboration to Promote Nature-Based Solutions

The Naturally Resilient Communities partnership has created a guide of nature-based solutions and related case studies of successful projects to help communities learn more and identify those solutions that might work best for them.

Can You Sue the Government for Climate Change Impacts?

Well, a lot depends on circumstances, and environmental law is seldom a simple thing. But the answer, according to Jon Kusler, a veteran in this field, may increasingly be yes.

The Environment Is Now Front and Center in Planning

The environment is now front and center in planning, writes Tom Daniels, author of "The Environmental Planning Handbook."

Parks Without Borders: A Free Vision for Urban Space

New York City Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP, discusses his plan for creating better access to neighborhood parks throughout New York and the country.

Legislators Express Support for Brownfields Reauthorization in House Hearing

Members of Congress express support for the EPA Brownfields program’s success at revitalizing neighborhoods and spurring economic development.

A More Perfect Union: Planning in Urban and Community Forestry

The National Urban Forestry 10 Year Action Plan promotes the integration of urban and community forestry Into all scales of planning.

Senate Passes Permanent LWCF Reauthorization in Energy Reform Bill

Congress has passed a deal to permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).

A Response to the Closing Keynote: Rising Water Is Not Wicked

An analysis for planners of the closing keynote address at the 2016 National Planning Conference.

Sea Level Rise: A 'Wicked Problem,' an Amazing Opportunity

Oceanographer John Englander closed the 2016 National Planning Conference with a look at a "wicked problem" — sea level rise.

NOAA Unveils New Water Resources Dashboard

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration worked with APA and several water-related organizations to develop and combine resources into its new Water Resources Dashboard.