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Design for Affordability
November 2018by: Sarah Butler, Atticus LeBlancThis guide identifies four housing solutions that can improve affordability in Atlanta. -
Ten Principles for Rethinking the Mall
2006by: Michael Beyard, Mary Beth Corrigan, Anita Kramer, Michael Pawlukiewicz, Alexa BachThis report from the Urban Land Institute is intended to help planners reorient their thinking about large scale redevelopment like mall sites. -
Master the Message: 6 Time-Tested Tips for Better Communication
How to effectively tell the planning story without losing your audience.by: Lauren Middleton-Pratt July 21, 2025How to effectively tell the planning story without losing your audience. -
Laguna Beach, CA, Municipal Code
2017The city's zoning code addresses design review.Laguna Beach, CA -
Design Review
PAS QuickNotes 8This edition of PAS QuickNotes explores the use of design review as a tool for protecting community character.List price$10.00APA member & PAS subscriber$0.00 -
Designing With Teen Girls: Reclaiming Joy, Agency, and Belonging in Public Space
PAS Memo 128by: Cassandra Rice, AICP May 04, 2026This edition of PAS Memo explores how practitioners can better engage teens — especially teen girls — in the design process to create inclusive public spaces that better reflect their needs, desires, and values.List Price$10.00Member$0.00PAS Subscriber$0.00 -
Farmland Solar Policy Design Toolkit
May 2020by: Genevieve ByrneThis guide is designed to help state and local officials understand how different state and local policy options affect opportunities to site solar projects on farmland. -
Gilbert, AZ, Industrial/Employment Design Guidelines
2005These guidelines apply to all new industrial and employment developments and substantial alternations. -
Fircrest, WA, Municipal Code
2017The city's land development code establishes an administrative design review process and provides design guidelines.Fircrest, WA -
Yakima River Basin, WA, Integrated Water Resource Management Plan
Adopted 2012The Yakima River Basin Integrated Water Resource Management Plan is a forward-thinking plan that addresses current and anticipated future threats to the Basin’s water security, especially during drought years. -
Youth ARTivism: Fostering Civic Engagement Through Public Art
Journal of Urban Culture Research, 9(3), 2014This article highlights the Sustainable Thinking and Expression on Public Space (STEPS) Emerging ARTivist program that supports youth from diverse, low-income communities to improve public spaces through art. -
Philadelphia, PA, Complete Streets Design Handbook
2024This guide is for projects that impact the right-of-way in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. -
Creating Design Guidelines That Work
Zoning Practice — March 2011by: Douglas Hammel March 01, 2011This issue of Zoning Practice sets forth some fundamental principles to follow while developing design guidelines. It poses a series of key questions to be asked prior to the development of design guidelines that aim to proactively address common pain points.List Price$10.00ZP subscriber$0.00 -
Creating Staff Reports With Pizzaz
Zoning Practice — June 2023by: Bonnie Johnson, FAICP, PhD, Stephanie Kisler, AICP June 01, 2023This issue of Zoning Practice brings creativity to the staff report by drawing on research about how to foster creative work within organizations. It describes and uses two different exercises based on proven creativity-training programs. These two creative thinking skills processes can assist planners in finding their way to what is most valuable for their technical and empathetic expertise.List price$10.00ZP subscriber$0.00 -
New York, NY, Climate Resiliency Design Guidelines
September 2020This guide belongs to the Hazard Mitigation and Urban Heat Resilience collections. -
New Jersey Complete Streets Design Guide
2017This guide is designed to help public agencies and private developers implement complete streets projects in New Jersey. -
London, Canada, Complete Streets Design Manual
August 2018This guide is a tool and resource for implementing complete streets in London, Canada. -
How to Design a Great Street
May 2020This video describes some of the characteristics that contribute to a great city street, which differs based on local climate, culture, architecture, and activities. -
Improving Public Health Through Community Design
November 2017by: Gary GastonThis video explores the relationship between civic engagement, the built environment, and public health. -
Design Lights Consortium Outdoor Lighting Ordinances
April 2024This interactive map details which cities in all 50 states have enacted outdoor lighting ordinances. -
Test Concepts and Go Beyond the Screen with the Latest City-Building Video Games
From Spider-Man to Cities: Skylines, creating communities has never felt more real — and more relevant — for planners.by: Bill Jones May 16, 2024From Spider-Man to Cities: Skylines, creating communities has never felt more real — and more relevant — for planners. -
Design for Health Comprehensive Plan Review Checklists
September 2007This guide is a series of checklists that can help planners incorporate health into comprehensive plans. -
Boston, MA, Coastal Flood Resilience Design Guidelines
This guide is designed to help property owners and developers in Boston incorporate flood-resilient designs into their projects. -
Louisville, KY, Complete Streets Design Guide
2020This guide aids municipal and state agency staff in tools and methodologies for developing complete streets in Louisville, Kentucky. -
Durango, CO, Design Guidelines for Established Neighborhoods
2006This guide for property owners and developers was developed as a companion piece to the community’s updated development standards. -
Alexandria, VA, Complete Streets Design Guidelines
April 2016This guide is designed to help public agencies and private developers implement complete street projects. -
Green Building Construction and Sustainable Design
November 2015This video includes an interview that discusses the challenges and benefits to constructing prefabricated green homes. -
Equitable Development: Social Equity by Design
May 2018by: Carlton EleyThis recorded lecture looks at how to incorporate environmental justice into the planning process to practice more equitable development. -
Sustainable Design and Green Building Toolkit
June 2013This toolkit addresses how local governments can identify and remove barriers to green building within their permitting process. -
Tucson, AZ, Downtown Urban Design Reference Manual
August 2008This guide includes strategies to help reduce or moderate the effects of urban heat islands in Tucson, Arizona. -
Tactical Urbanist’s Guide to Materials and Design
2016by: Street Plans CollaborativeThis guide discusses and illustrates various materials useful for implementing tactical urbanism projects. -
Neighborhood Planning as Collaborative Democratic Design
Journal of the American Planning Association, 73(4): 373-387, 2007by: Carmen SirianniThis article discusses how local governments can function as civic enablers and capacity builders in neighborhood planning processes. -
Fayetteville, AR, Permit-Ready Building Design Program
2024This program offers permit-ready architectural designs for residential construction in Fayetteville, Arkansas. -
Street Design: Part 1—Complete Streets
Public Roads, July/August 2010by: Robin Smith, Sharlene Reed, Shana BakerThis article introduces the complete streets concept. -
Youth Voices in Community Design Handbook
2004This guide helps adults engage youth in community planning by providing background information, benefits and challenges, models and trainings, and case studies of successful projects across the nation. -
How kids can help design cities
February 2018In this Ted Talk, Mara Mintzer, an urban planner, shares her experience of including youth in designing a park in Boulder, Colorado. -
Trenton, NJ, Complete Streets Design Handbook
September 2021This guide provides specific and general recommendations for developing complete streets in Trenton, New Jersey. -
How to Design a City for Women
CityLab, 2013by: Clare ForanThis article features an effort in Vienna, Austria, to understand the different ways men and women use public transportation, and to address some of the unique challenges that women face. -
Better Site Design Code and Ordinance Worksheet
December 2017by: Karen Cappiella, Bill Hodges, Julie SchneiderThis guide outlines strategies to evaluate local development regulations for stormwater management using green infrastructure and low-impact development (LID) tactics. -
Living with Heat: A Boston Design Charrette
October 2019by: Michael HobanThis report presents information to help land-use professionals and other decision-makers implement solutions that help mitigate the effects of urban heat islands on the built environment. -
Denver, CO, Small Cell Infrastructure Design Guidelines
April 2018This guide is designed to help wireless facility applicants and installers comply with the city's preferences for small wireless facility deployment in public rights-of-way. -
Lansing, MI, 2012 Comprehensive Plan: Design Lansing
Adopted April 2012The city's comprehensive plan discusses solar installations and promotes the development of renewable energy infrastructure. -
Controlling Strip Development with Design Guidelines
Zoning Practice — November 2011by: Ross Moldoff, AICP, Sarah KorjeffDesign guidelines use illustrations and photographs to clarify what the desired type of development looks like. TThis issue of Zoning Practice discusses how Salem, New Hampshire, and the Cape Cod Commission have used design guidelines to improve the quality of development along commercial strips.List Price$10.00ZP subscriber$0.00 -
New York, NY, Active Design Guidelines: Promoting Physical Activity and Health in Design
2010This guide shares cost-effective ways that architects and designers can promote daily physical activity. -
Meridian, ID, Architectural Standards
2016This manual replaced the prior design manual in 2016 to free the design review process from subjectivity and confusing requirements.Meridian, ID -
Freeport, ME, Codes and Ordinances
2011The town code includes a design review ordinance.Freeport town, ME -
Yes, You Can Convert Vacant Retail to Housing
Rethinking ground-floor regulations to include residential uses is a controversial but doable solution to housing underproduction and a glut of empty storefronts.by: Larisa Ortiz April 30, 2024Rethinking ground-floor regulations to include residential uses is a controversial but doable solution to housing underproduction and a glut of empty storefronts. -
5 XR Technology Tools That Empower Planners to Connect Vision with Reality
These surprisingly accessible extended reality applications can help planners upskill as they connect with communities, boost stakeholder buy-in, and better plan for uncertainty.by: Sarah Bassett, Andrew Buck, AICP, Nicholas Pilarski May 01, 2023These surprisingly accessible extended reality applications can help planners upskill as they connect with communities, boost stakeholder buy-in, and better plan for uncertainty.