Planning and Urban Design Standards Outline

Introduction

Part I: Plans and Plan Making

1. Plan Making
2. Types of Plans
   Comprehensive Plans • Urban Design Plans • Regional Plans • Neighborhood Plans • Downtown Plans • Corridor Plans • Redevelopment Area Plans • Transportation Plans • Housing Plans • Economic Development Plans • Community Facilities Plans • Parks and Open Space Plans • Critical and Sensitive Areas Plans • Hazard Mitigation Plans
3. Participation
   Role of Participation • Stakeholder Identification • Surveys • Asset Mapping • Community Visioning • Charrettes • Public Meetings • Public Hearings • Computer-Based Public Participation • Facilitation • Consensus Building and Dispute Resolution
4. Planning Movements
   The Landscape Tradition • Engineering Livable Cities • Garden Cities • City Beautiful • Practical Planning • Regionalism, 1910 to 1940 • Public Housing and Urban Renewal • Measuring and Modeling • Advocacy and Equity Planning • Urban Growth and Environmental Concerns • Statewide Land-Use Planning Programs • Redesigning Downtown • Renewed Neighborhoods, New Towns, and New Urbanism • New Regionalism • Environmental Justice • Sustainability • Healthy Cities and Communities

Part II: Environmental Management

1. Environmental Management Overview
2. Air
   Air quality • Air Sheds • Heat Islands
3. Water
   Hydrologic Cycle • Watersheds • Aquifers • Groundwater Movement and Recharge • Rivers and Streams • Floodplains and Riparian Corridors • River and Stream Restoration • Types of Wetlands • Wetlands Delineation • Wetlands Mitigation • Beach and Dune Systems • Estuaries, Flats, and Marshes
4. Land
   Soils Classification and Mechanics • Slope, Relief, and Aspect • Habitat Patches, Corridors, and Matrix • Disturbance Zones • Biodiversity Protection • Invasive Species
5. Hazards
   Flood Hazards • Erosion and Sedimentation • Hurricanes and Coastal Storms • Landslides • Sinkholes and Subsidence • Earthquakes • Wildfires • Underground Leaks • Hazardous Materials • Seiches and Tsunamis • Noise and Vibration • Multi-Hazards

Part III: Structures

1. Building Types
   Residential Types • Manufactured Housing • Office Buildings • Warehouse and Distribution Facilities • Elementary, Middle, and High Schools • Fire and Rescue Stations • Police Stations • Medical Facilities
2. Transportation
   Sidewalks • Hierarchy of Streets and Roads • Street Networks and Street Connectivity • Alleys and Driveways • Vehicle Turning Radii • Traffic Calming • Pedestrian Friendly Streets • Considerations for Determining Parking Ratios • Shared Parking • Passenger Vehicle Dimensions For Parking Design • Vehicle Circulation For Parking Design • Parking Space Dimensions • Parking Lot Design • On-Street Bikeways • Multi-User Trails • Transit Planning Process • Bus Transit • Bus Rapid Transit • Rail Transit • Intermodal and Multimodal Transit Facilities • Airport and Land Use Interface • Airports: Airside • Airports: Landside
3. Utilities
   Waste Management Overview • Transfer Stations • Landfills • Incinerators • Waste Diversion • Hazardous Waste Management • Composting • Wastewater Overview • Wastewater Collection Systems • Wastewater Treatment • Natural Treatment of Wastewater • Stormwater Overview, Runoff, and Recharge • Stormwater Treatment • Stormwater Drainage and Flood Management • Water Supply • Water Treatment • Water Storage and Distribution • Water Conservation • Wireless Infrastructure Overview • Co-Location Of Wireless Equipment
4. Signage
   Signs Generally • On-premise signs • Legal Issues In Sign Regulation
5. Parks and Open Space
   Types of Parks • Greenways and Trails • Conservation Areas • Playgrounds
6. Farms and Forestry
   Farms • Feedlots • Forestry

Part IV: Places and Placemaking

1. Regions
2. Theories of City Form
   Urban Pattern Theories • Urban Morphology • Life-Cycle Model of Land-Use Change • Early Theories: Concentric Zones, Sector Theory, and Multiple Nuclei • Recent Theories: Dispersed City, Edge City, and Peripheral City
3. Places and Districts
   Neighborhoods • Neighborhood Centers • Physical Structure Of Downtowns • Commercial Corridors • Historic Districts • Waterfronts • Specialty Retail Districts • Sexually Oriented Businesses • Arts Districts • Convention Center Districts • Industrial Parks • Office Parks • Main Streets
4. Development Types
   Mixed-Use Development • Transit-Oriented Development • Conservation Developments • Infill Development • Hope VI
5. Design Considerations
   Environmental Site Analysis • Urban Analysis • Scale and Density • Safety • Walkability • LEED • Energy-Efficient Development • Green Infrastructure • Wayfinding Systems • Streetscape

Part V: Analysis Techniques

1. Projections and Demand Analysis
   Population Projections • Economic Base and Econometric Projections • Housing Needs Assessment • Parks and Open Space Needs Assessment
2. Impact Assessment
   Environmental Impact Assessment • Fiscal Impact Assessment • Traffic Impact Assessment • Transit Impact Assessment • Traffic Sheds
3. Mapping
   Mapping Data Overview • Aerial Photographs • Topographic Maps • Cadastral Maps • Census Data and Demographic Mapping • Remote Sensing and Image Classification • Geographic Information Systems
4. Visualization
   Visualization Overview • Montage Visualization • Three-Dimensional (3-D) Visualization • Visual Preference Techniques

Part VI: Implementation Techniques

1. Legal Foundations
   Planning Law Overview • Property Rights, Police Power, Nuisance, and Vested Rights • Due Process and Equal Protection • Freedom of Religion and Expression • Eminent Domain, Takings, and Exactions • Clean Air Act • Clean Water Act • National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) • Superfund • Endangered Species Act • Safe Drinking Water Act • RCRA • Federal Transportation Laws • Federal Housing Laws • Federal Disaster Law • Other Federal Laws • State Enabling Legislation • State Environmental Policy Acts • Zoning Regulation • Subdivision Regulation • Planned Unit Development • Innovations in Local Zoning Regulations
2. Growth Management
   Adequate Public Facilities and Concurrency • Urban Growth Areas • Development Impact Fees • Transfer and Purchase of Development Rights • Smart Growth Audits • Transportation and Land Use Connection
3. Preservation, Conservation, and Reuse
   Open Space Preservation Techniques • Farmland Preservation • Land Evaluation and Site Assessment • Viewshed Protection • Historic Structures • Military Base Conversion • Brownfields • Rails To Trails
4. Revitalization and Economic Development
   Capital Improvements Programming • Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities • Tax Increment Financing • Planned Manufacturing Districts • Redevelopment Agencies • Business Improvement Districts
5. Current Planning
   Development Services • Staff Reports • Site Plan Review • Design Guidelines
6. Real Estate Development
   Financing Methods and Techniques • Financial Planning and Analysis: The Pro Forma • Development and Approval Process

Appendix

Resources

APA Chapters and Divisions

Planning Accreditation Board, Accredited University Planning Programs

Land-Based Classification System

Graphic Symbols and Drawing Annotations

APA Award-Winning Plans