Blogs

May 23, 2023

Immigrant and Refugee Empowerment is Social Justice

A walking tour during NPC23 highlighted the impact of local community groups as they advocate for API residents.

May 18, 2023

Do Municipalities Use Cost-Benefit Analysis for Incentive Zoning?

Uncovering JAPA: Exploring the use of cost-benefit to develop incentive zoning programs.

May 15, 2023

Practical Tips to Foster Diversity and Inclusion in Your Workplace

Understanding the barriers to diverse planners' recruitment, retention, promotion, and leadership. How employers can promote a welcoming environment and encourage access to opportunities for career growth.

May 9, 2023

Augmented: Planners in an Era of Generative AI

Understand the implications of generative AI and learn three steps for planners to take today.

May 5, 2023

Take 5: Celebrating Five Locations Honoring AAPI Heritage

Take 5: Travel the U.S. and learn about five places of significance that honor the heritage of Asian American and Pacific Islander community.

April 21, 2023

It Takes a Planner: Communicating Your Value to Policymakers

APA is launching “It Takes a Planner”, an effort aimed at building the influence of planners among state and local elected and appointed officials.

April 14, 2023

Planning for Neurodiversity: NPC23 Planners' Day of Service

Planners' Day of Service at NPC23 explored neurodiversity within the built environment and assembled Calm Kits for a local Philadelphia organization.

March 30, 2023

Enforcing Asian Exclusion Through Design and Planning Regulations

Uncovering JAPA: Three cities in Los Angeles County developed stringent development controls to encourage Anglo or Spanish heritage in response to Asian newcomers.

Creating a Collaborative Diversity-Oriented Internship Program

Equity in Practice: Five planning firms create a joint internship to help create a diversity-oriented internship program.

Tiny Yet Mighty Ways Enterprise Permitting & Licensing Software Efficiencies Add Up to Huge Savings

Sponsored content from Tyler Technologies. Learn how municipalities, after switching to an integrated permitting and licensing software, quickly discover that surprisingly small efficiency gains create enormous cost and time savings.

Reading Plans With Machines for Improved Efficiency

Uncovering JAPA: How can planners be more efficient in staying informed on current issues by using natural language processing (NLP).

Restorative Planning in Action: Lessons from Mound Up!

Equity in Practice: Community-led planning effort builds upon Memphis 3.0 to revitalize Orange Mound neighborhood.

Restoring Pueblo Housing and Rebuilding Community Value

Equity in Practice: Owe'neh Bupingeh Preservation plan guides housing improvements according to cultural values.

How to Integrate Climate Equity Into Planning

Uncovering JAPA: Apply three aspects of equity to make the climate action planning process more inclusive.

Building Community Relationships Through Pop Ups

Equity in Practice: Champaign, Illinois, planners use a pop up park to create a stronger relationship with the Garden Hills neighborhood.

GIS Prioritizes Federal Funding to Revitalize Neighborhoods

Equity in Practice: GIS helps prioritize funding for neighborhood revitalization and keeps the entire process transparent.

Challenging Storytelling and Narratives That Reinforce Inequity

Uncovering JAPA: The risk of reproducing racist assumptions or narratives in planning.

Relationship Potential Between Planning and Immigrant Affairs Departments

Uncovering JAPA: How are planners grappling with immigrant needs.

3 Ways Emerging Technology Enhances Your Connection with the Public

Sponsored content from Tyler Technologies. Discover three ways you can leverage emerging technologies to better connect with your constituents.

Implementing Transit Value Capture Schemes More Equitably

Uncovering JAPA: What can transit value capture teach us about the intersection of entrenched segregation and transportation planning?

7 Tips for Starting Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committees

As municipal planning departments adopt a fairness and equity mindset in their work with the communities they serve it highlights the state of their own workplace practices and the work needed to elevate equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) goals within the planning firms and public agencies. Offer how to get unstuck on translating the goals into action.

September 13, 2022

Do Your Planning Boards Reflect Your Community?

Spotlight on Zoning Practice: It's time to get serious about diversifying local planning and zoning boards.

How Cities Can Streamline the License and Permit Process

Sponsored content from Tyler Technologies. The move to digital solutions is often touted as more efficient and easier for both citizens and government employees. When making the switch, the City of Rancho Cordova, California found that to be true, even drawing hard data on how much time their own departments saved.

The Need for Human Experience in Big Data Research

Uncovering JAPA: The impact of community participation guiding big data use in planning.

From Data Point A to Zero Crashes, and All the Complexities in Between

Sponsored content from INRIX X GM. Vision Zero is right around the corner. The data exists, the processes and tools are in place, and now it’s up to us to drive it all forward.

Assessing Wisconsin's Digital Divide With GIS

Wisconsin uses GIS to survey residents on internet access and affordability to better direct needed resources to help eliminate the digital divide.

How to Navigate Digital Transformation in Community Development

Sponsored Content from Tyler Technologies. Local governments are bringing community development online to automate processes and effectively engage with citizens. Learn how Columbia, MO, and Temecula, CA, are driving a digital transformation.

July 18, 2022

What Comes After Zoning by Zoom?

Spotlight on Zoning Practice: Is your community ready for asynchronous public hearings?

Online Dissent: Fostering a Necessary Component to Planning

Uncovering JAPA: How can planners preserve dissent in online public engagement opportunities?

Professional Inequality Within Urban Planning

Uncovering JAPA: Planner Eun Jin Shin investigates representation and wage gaps within the planning profession.

Understanding Relocation Patterns of Older Adults

Uncovering JAPA: Who, why, and where do adults age 60 and older relocate in the U.S.?

April 28, 2022

Digital Twins: Immersive Technology to Enhance Decision-Making

The Town of Morrisville uses digital twins and smart city technology to help the community visualize scenarios and make informed decisions using qualitative and quantitative information.

University of Florida Department of Urban and Regional Planning Celebrates Women in Planning

Sponsored Content: The University of Florida Department of Urban and Regional Planning is highlighting two of our alumnae, Jennifer Krouchick and Lian Plass.

Leading the Firm: Advice from Women Business-Owners

A Q & A with two women planners who started their own businesses. Together they reflect on their personal career paths, the unique perspective women-owned businesses can bring, and their advice to the next generation of women planners.

Leading Women in Planning

In Greensboro, North Carolina, three AICP-certified women discuss their personal journeys into planning and the value of AICP.

Demystifying Artificial Intelligence in Planning

Findings from a recent APA survey demonstrate that the urban planning profession needs to understand and evaluate the risks and benefits of AI applications.

Recent Trends Around Zoning for Density

Uncovering JAPA: Understanding how major metropolitan areas have shifted their approach to zoning for density.

Hiring Neurodiverse People to Enhance Planning Teams

Awareness of neurodivergence, conditions such as ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, are on the rise, though the needs of neurodivergent people in the workplace are still widely misunderstood. Gala Korniyenko, Ph.D. co-creator of APA's Planning for Underserved Populations Interest Group shares how to broaden your EDI efforts to include the neurodiverse.

Welcoming the Voices of Planning: Advancing Equity

Last year, APA Florida’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee launched a survey to better understand the intersection of experiences and the work of planning in Florida in relation to equity, diversity, and inclusion. The survey results and a panel discussion were shared via a webinar.

Design Thinking: New Approach to Solving Planning Challenges

Design thinking instructor Thomas Fisher discusses how the practice is useful for planners to envision the future.

Six Essential Strategies for Digital Transformation in Community Development

Sponsored Content from Tyler Technologies. Learn how different approaches to digital transformation can empower constituents, connect communities, and accelerate development.

Smart Cities – Integrating Technology, Community, and Nature

For many planners, “smart city” is just a buzzword that does not connect with their community goals and is not part of their vision or toolkit. This is something that needs to change. The question is not whether planners should plan for smart cities, but rather how they can do so in equitable and sustainable ways.