Local Planning

Local Planning
AN ICMA GREEN BOOK
Local Planning: Contemporary Principles and Practice, the all-new

edition of The Practice of Local Government Planning, focuses
on emerging issues and future challenges, offering useful, current
examples of leading planning practices. This new edition helps
planners, and nonplanners who manage the work of planners, apply
well-reasoned strategic thinking to their planning challenges, and
helps students of the profession bridge theory and practice.
■■ A contemporary look at local planning for a new generation of

planners
■■ Contributors include a wide-ranging collection of voices—
academics, practitioners, clients, and observers of planning
Contemporary Principles
■■ Recommended for preparation for the AICP exam
■■ Perfect for graduate level introductory planning classes
■■ Written for planning directors and nonplanners in both the private
and public sectors
and Practice
ICMA Press is a leading publisher of books, reports, survey research,
Edited by
training materials, and other resources used by local government
management professionals, municipal and county associations, and Gary Hack
colleges and universities. Eugénie L. Birch
Paul H. Sedway
Mitchell J. Silver
icma.org/press
ISBN 978-0-87326-148-7
43522 08-197
An ICMA Green Book
and Practice
Edited by
Gary Hack
University of Pennsylvania
Eugénie L. Birch
Paul H. Sedway
Sedway Consulting
Mitchell J. Silver
Office of Planning
Raleigh, North Carolina
Published in cooperation with the American

Planning Association and University of
Pennsylvania School of Design
i
ICMA advances professional local government worldwide. Its mission is to create excellence in
local governance by developing and advancing professional management of local government.
ICMA, the International City/County Management Association, provides member support;
publications, data, and information; peer and results-oriented assistance; and training and
professional development to more than 9,000 city, town, and county experts and other indi-
viduals and organizations throughout the world. The management decisions made by ICMA’s
members affect 185 million individuals living in thousands of communities, from small vil-
lages and towns to large metropolitan areas.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Local planning : contemporary principles and practice / edited by Gary Hack ... [et al.].
p. cm. — (An ICMA green book)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-87326-148-7 (alk. paper)
1. City planning—United States. 2. Regional planning—United States. 3. Local
government—United States. I. Hack, Gary. II. International City/County Management
Association.
HT167.L63 2009
307.1’2160973—dc22
2008049505
Copyright © 2009 by the International City/County Management Association, 777 North

Capitol Street, N.E., Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20002. All rights reserved, including rights
of reproduction and use in any form or by any means, including the making of copies by
any photographic process, or by any electrical or mechanical device, printed, written, or oral
or sound or visual reproduction, or for use in any knowledge or retrieval system or device,
unless permission in writing is obtained from the copyright proprietor.
Printed in the United States of America

2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009
5 4 3 2 1
About the Editors
Gary Hack, AICP, is professor of urban design at the University of Pennsylvania, where
he served as dean of the School of Design from 1996 to 2008. He previously taught urban
design and served as head of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the Mas-
sachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He has practiced planning and urban design for
over forty years—as a principal of Carr Lynch Hack and Sandell in Cambridge, as manager
of research and development for Canada’s housing and urban development agencies, as
chair of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, and as a consultant to many govern-
ments and firms throughout the world. He is the coauthor of three books on site planning
and urban design, and the author of many articles. Educated as an architect and planner,
he has a PhD in city and regional planning from MIT and an honorary LLD from Dalhousie
University.
Eugénie L. Birch, FAICP, RTPI (hon), is Lawrence C. Nussdorf Professor of Urban

Research; chair, Graduate Group of City and Regional Planning, University of Pennsylvania
School of Design; codirector, Penn Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR); and coeditor,
The City in the 21st Century series, University of Pennsylvania Press. Her most recent books
are Rebuilding Urban Places after Disaster: Lessons from Katrina (2006); Growing Greener
Cities (2008), coedited with Susan Wachter; and Urban and Regional Planning Reader
(2009). Her articles have appeared the Journal of the American Planning Association,
Journal of Planning Education and Research, Journal of Urban History, Journal of Plan-
ning History, and Planning Magazine. Professor Birch has served as president, Association
of Collegiate Schools of Planning; president, Society of American City and Regional Plan-
ning History; coeditor, Journal of the American Planning Association, and chair, Planning
Accreditation Board. She has been a commissioner on the New York City Planning Commis-
sion and a member of the jury to select the designers of the World Trade Center site.
Paul H. Sedway, FAICP, has been an urban planning consultant for fifty years. For twenty
years he was an adjunct lecturer with the College of Environmental Design at the University
of California at Berkeley. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard Uni-
versity, and a master’s degree in city planning from the University of California at Berkeley.
Mr. Sedway served as national vice president of the American Institute of Planners and was
later elected to the national board of directors of the American Planning Association (APA).
He was elected to the inaugural class of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of
Certified Planners in 1999, and received the National Distinguished Service Award from APA
and was named “Planner of the Year” by its California chapter.
Mitchell J. Silver, AICP, is director of city planning in Raleigh, North Carolina. An award-
winning planner with over twenty-three years of planning experience, he is nationally
recognized for his contributions to contemporary planning issues. Before coming to Raleigh
iii
iv About the Editors
in 2005, Mr. Silver served as policy and planning director in New York City, as a principal of
a New York City–based planning firm, as a town manager in New Jersey, and as deputy plan-
ning director in Washington, D.C. He is on the board of directors of the American Planning
Association (APA) and has served as president of the New York Metro Chapter of APA. He has
taught graduate planning courses at Hunter College, Brooklyn College, and Pratt Institute, and
will begin teaching a planning course at North Carolina State University in 2009. He received
a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Pratt Institute and a master’s degree in urban plan-
ning from Hunter College. He is licensed as a professional planner in New Jersey and certified
by the American Institute of Certified Planners.
ICMA’s “Green Books” (a designation derived from the original bright green cloth covers) have
a long history as the authoritative source on local government management. They are used by
local government managers in cities and counties worldwide, by university professors and stu-
dents as textbooks for undergraduate and graduate courses, and by public safety professionals
in preparation for promotional exams. The Green Books cover the range of local government
functions, linking the latest theories and research to specific examples of day-to-day decision
making and the nuts and bolts of management. Current titles in the Green Book series include
The Effective Local Government Manager
Emergency Management: Principles and Practice for Local Government
Local Government Police Management
Local Planning: Contemporary Principles and Practice
Management Policies in Local Government Finance
Managing Fire and Rescue Services
Managing Local Government Services
Service Contracting: A Local Government Guide

Contents
Foreword xiii
Preface xv
1 The value of planning 1

From townsite to metropolis / Eugénie L. Birch 3
Why communities plan / Frederick C. Collignon 23
Planners as leaders / Alexander Garvin 25
The authority to plan / Patricia E. Salkin 34
Property rights, planning, and the public interest / Jerold S. Kayden 37
Suburban planning in a market economy / Peter D. Salins 46
From urban renewal to regeneration / Karen B. Alschuler 52
American exceptionalism revisited / Bish Sanyal 54
2 The context for local planning 59

The anatomy and soul of a place / Mitchell J. Silver 61
Serving two masters: The legal context of local planning / Anna K. Schwab
and David J. Brower 66
Planning and the community context / David R. Godschalk 69
The environment and environmentalism / Lawrence Susskind 74
Sizing up the local economy / Robert H. Edelstein 80
Real estate and the local planning context / Lynne B. Sagalyn 84
The social context of planning / Dowell Myers 89
The future of metropolitan regions / Robert D. Yaro 94
3 Contemporary concerns of planning 101

Planning in the twenty-first century / Gary Hack 103
The climate for planning / David W. Orr 109
Planning for sustainability / Stephen M. Wheeler 111
Smart growth in brief / Gerrit-Jan Knaap and Terry Moore 117
Place making / Jonathan Barnett 122
Reclaiming the history of places / Randall Mason 127
Healthy cities / Anne Vernez Moudon 134
Reusing brownfields / Nancey Green Leigh 137
Planning for natural hazards / Robert B. Olshansky 140
v
vi Contents
Revitalizing older industrial cities / Jennifer S. Vey 144

Planning for creative places / J. Mark Schuster 146
Immigration and urban development / Ayse Pamuk 154
Gentrification / Lance Freeman 159
Boomburbs / Robert E. Lang 163
Top ten planning ideas / Peter Hall 165
4 Who plans? 173

The planner’s role / Eugénie L. Birch and Gary Hack 175
Regional councils and metropolitan planning organizations / David C. Soule 180
Reforming Chicago’s regional planning / Frank Beal 181
Regional transportation and development in Atlanta / Catherine L. Ross 183
A tale of two cities / Con Howe 185
Planners as private consultants / Leslie S. Pollock 188
Collaborating to prevent sprawl / Carey S. Hayo, Frances Chandler–Marino,
and Nancy Roberts 189
Consultants breaking molds / Christopher B. Leinberger 192
BIDs come of age / Paul R. Levy 193
Los Angeles’s Grand Avenue Authority / Martha Lampkin Welborne 196
Richmond’s Neighborhoods in Bloom / George C. Galster 199
CDCs and neighborhood intervention / Paul C. Brophy 204
The university and the city / Anthony Sorrentino 206
5 Making plans 211

Plans that fit the purpose / Barry Miller 213
Planning on a crowded stage / Lewis D. Hopkins 229
The planning process / Frederick C. Collignon 232
Civic engagement / Barbara Faga 234
Omaha by design / Jonathan Barnett 242
Planning Cheyenne / Matthew J. Ashby 249
Champaign’s system of plans / Bruce A. Knight 251
The Saint Paul on the Mississippi Development Framework / Ken Greenberg 253
Strategic planning for community transformation / John Shapiro 258
Renewing Washington’s neighborhoods / Julie Wagner 261
Stapleton’s public-private planning / Thomas A. Gougeon 266
6 Putting plans to work 271

Transforming policy into reality / Paul H. Sedway 273
Public-private partnerships / Lynne B. Sagalyn 282
Zoning codes: Form and function / Daniel R. Mandelker 287
Chicago’s zoning reform / Alicia Berg and Thomas P. Smith 291
Transferable development rights in San Francisco / George Williams 296
From zoning to smart growth / John D. Landis and Rolf Pendall 298
Regulating greenfield development / Thomas Jacobson 307
Preserving agricultural land / Thomas L. Daniels 312
Negotiated development / Robert H. Freilich 315
Design review / Brian W. Blaesser 319
Contents vii
Eminent domain / Dwight H. Merriam 325

The aftermath of Oregon’s Measure 37 / Robert Stacey 329
Financing public infrastructure / James B. Duncan 332
Impact assessment / Michael B. Teitz 335
7 Planning for urban systems 341

The systems of the city / Martin Wachs 343
Planning for global climate change / Timothy Beatley 350
Infrastructure planning / Paul R. Brown 356
Planning for accessibility / Randall Crane and Lois M. Takahashi 359
Twelve ideas for improving mobility / Susan Handy 364
Pedestrian and bicycle planning / Bruce S. Appleyard 366
Transit-oriented development / Robert Cervero 374
Promoting housing affordability / Rachel G. Bratt 377
Curitiba, Brazil: Systems planning pioneer / Evandro Cardoso dos Santos 385
The urban watershed / Rutherford H. Platt 388
Water in the urban environment / Thomas L. Daniels 392
Greenways and green infrastructure / Karen Hundt 400
Parks and recreation / John L. Crompton 403
Intelligent cities, virtual cities / Michael Batty 408
8 Managing planning 413

The planning manager / Steven A. Preston 415
Planners and politics / Roger S. Waldon 430
Planning ethics / W. Paul Farmer 433
Planning leadership / Paul Zucker 439
The role of the planning director / Fernando Costa 444
Diversity in the planning profession / Mitchell J. Silver 446
GIS and beyond / Richard K. Brail 449
Planners as communicators / Mitchell J. Silver and Barry Miller 456
For further reference 461

Contributors 477
Index 483
viii Contents
Sidebars Comprehensive Community Revitalization

Program: Principles for success 259
Chapter 1 The value of planning
Treatment of local comprehensive plan Chapter 6 Putting plans to work
elements in model statutes 36 Types of public-private arrangements 283
Important cases in land use law 40 State growth management programs 299
Chapter 2 The context for local planning Other influences on greenfield

development 310
The role of the federal government 66
Equity and just compensation 326
Leading state growth management
programs 68 Chapter 7 Planning for urban systems
The role of the champion 73 Essential urban systems 343
Environmentalism and sustainability 79 Externalities in urban planning 346
Limitations on the classification of economic Access and transportation planning 360
activity 81 Arlington County, Virginia: A transit-oriented
Input-output studies 82 success story 375
Externalities 83 Major issues in watershed management 390
The American Community Survey 89 The Safe Drinking Water Act 394
Institute for Urban Planning and Best management practices for construction
Development of the Paris Ile-de-France sites 397
Region 95 Clean Water Act programs that influence
The future of regionalism 98 urban water 399
Metropolitan visioning 99 Potential community-wide benefits of parks
and recreation services 406
Chapter 3 Contemporary concerns of
planning Chapter 8 Managing planning
Local governments and global warming 113 Planning management skills 416
Preparing brownfields for reuse 138 Leadership traits of effective planning
Farmington’s Civic Theater 148 managers 417
Revitalizing Paducah through the arts 150 Components of a strategic planning

process 420
The economic impact of the arts and
culture 153 Budgetary approaches used in public
agencies 421
Accidental cities 164
Compensation levels for planners 422
Chapter 4 Who plans? Appraisal methods 423
No sidebars “You want me to do what?” 432
Chapter 5 Making plans AICP Code of Ethics and Professional
Creating the technical foundation for Conduct 435
planning 215 APA Ethical Principles in Planning
The planning “family tree” 215 (excerpt) 438
Essential qualities of a comprehensive Sources of personal and organizational
plan 218 power 440
Downtown planning and market Leading from anywhere within an
demand 222 organization 442
Innovative communication strategies for Los Angeles Department of City Planning:
planning processes 236 Mission statement, vision, and strategic
points 443
Six essential elements of civic
engagement 238 Organizational efforts to promote diversity
and address critical needs 448
Transparency 239
Smart mobs 454
Planners’ terms or people’s words? 250
Eight steps to effective communication for
The Fact Sheet format 250
planners 458
Contents ix
Tables 1–13 Philadelphia’s Society Hill 19
2–1 Tools for environmental planning 78 1–14a Rush Street Bridge, Chicago (circa
1890) 28
4–1 Comparison of characteristics of
Neighborhoods in Bloom target areas and 1–14b Burnham and Bennett Plan of
the city of Richmond as a whole 201 Chicago 28
5–1 Plan types and characteristics 214 1–14c Chicago’s new bridge and the
widened North Michigan Avenue in the
5–2 Typical issues addressed in a
1920s 28
comprehensive plan 220
1–14d North Michigan Avenue in the early
5–3 How various organizations and entities
twenty-first century 28
use different types of plans 230
1–15 Victor Gruen’s 1956 plan for Fort
6–1 Examples of public-private projects in
Worth 29
North America 284
1–16 Riverside, Illinois, a model for
6–2 Formats for public-private project
suburban design 30
implementation 286
1–17 Brooklyn’s Shore Parkway 30
6–3 Floor-area ratios (FARs) in downtown
San Francisco 297 1–18 Integrated planning in Columbia,
Maryland 31
6–4 Characteristics of selected growth
management and smart growth tools and 1–19 The “Chinese Wall,” an elevated
programs 300 viaduct in Philadelphia 33
6–5 Leading counties in farmland 1–20 Market Street, Philadelphia 33

preservation, 2007 314 1–21 Aerial view of Phoenix, Arizona 48
7–1 Key trends and likely impacts from 1–22 Yerba Buena Gardens, San
climate change 351 Francisco 53
7–2 Urban watershed management goals 2–1 Anticipated skyline of Raleigh, North
and strategies 391 Carolina, in 2010 64
8–1 Proportion of minority members in 2–2 A state capitol building 67
the American Planning Association, the 2–3 Southeast Orlando Plan 71
American Institute of Certified Planners, and
2–4 Citizen participation in public
the U.S. population, by percentage 447
hearings 72
2–5 Consequences of development
Figures
pressures and mismanagement of natural
1–1 The growth of U.S. cities in six maps: resources 75
1790 through 2000 4 2–6 Consequences of sprawling,
1–2 Site plans for Philadelphia and decentralized metropolitan growth
Boston 6 patterns 75
1–3 Public Land Survey System 7 2–7 Three strategies for adaptive
1–4 Plan for Washington, D.C. 7 environmental management: bike lanes
(Kansas City, Mo.), high-density residential
1–5 Early twentieth-century industrial
development (Charlotte, N.C.), and green
slums in Pittsburgh 8
buildings (Fukuoka, Japan) 76
1–6 Frederick Law Olmsted’s design for
2–8 New housing construction 85
Boston’s Emerald Necklace park system 9
2–9 A home in Cuyahoga County, Ohio 86
1–7 The 1909 Plan of Chicago 11
2–10 Aerial view of San Francisco’s Mission
1–8 Regional Plan Association’s Regional
Bay neighborhood 87
Plan of New York and Its Environs (1929) 13
2–11 Ethnic diversity reflected in high-
1–9 Design of Radburn, New Jersey
school demographics 90
(1929) 13
2–12 Ethnic diversity in community life 91
1–10 Queensboro Houses, New York
City 15 2–13 Mobility as a planning issue in
communities with aging populations 91
1–11 U.S. highway system 16
2–14 Adirondack Park in New York
1–12 Kevin Lynch’s image of a city 18
State 96
x Contents
2–15 Megaregions 99 3–27 The urban development in Vauban,

3–1 Reused textile mill in Lowell, Freiburg 169
Massachusetts 106 3–28 East Bay Regional Park District,
3–2 Sawmill Community Land California 171
Trust’s mixed-use neighborhood in 4–1 Regional councils in the United
Albuquerque 116 States 180
3–3 Portland, Oregon’s 2040 plan 119 4–2 Metropolitan planning organizations in
3–4 Stockholm, Sweden, on Lake the United States and Puerto Rico 181
Mälaren 120 4–3 Comparison of total units of local
3–5 Charleston, South Carolina, a government in five U.S. regions 182
polycentric metropolitan area 120 4–4 Georgia Regional Transportation
3–6 The Village at Shirlington in Arlington, Authority 184
Virginia 124 4–5 Community planning areas, Los
3–7 Mizner Park in Boca Raton, Florida 125 Angeles and New York City 185
3–8 Reston Town Center in Reston, 4–6 Organizational charts of planning
Virginia 125 functions, Los Angeles and New York
City 187
3–9 Clarence Perry’s diagram of a walkable
neighborhood 126 4–7 Pasadena Hills (Florida) Vision
Plan 191
3–10 Modern Confectionery Lofts project in
Portland, Oregon 129 4–8 Corona del Mar business improvement
district 194
3–11 Historic district regulation and the
culture of preservation in Charleston, South 4–9 Philadelphia’s Center City District’s
Carolina 130 proposed improvements for a new civic
plaza 195
3–12 Cambridge City Hall Annex in
Massachusetts 131 4–10 Grand Avenue Project, Los
Angeles 197
3–13 A santuario, or chapel, in the village
of Chimayó, New Mexico 133 4–11 Richmond, Virginia’s home prices,
1990–1991 to 2003–2004 (constant
3–14 A “walking school bus” 136
quality) 202
3–15 Atlantic Station in Atlanta,
4–12 “Before” and “after” images
Georgia 139
of housing rehabilitation through
3–16 Kobe, Japan, before and after Neighborhoods in Bloom 203
a catastrophic earthquake and fire in
4–13 Trolley Square in Cambridge,
1995 143
Massachusetts 205
3–17 Milwaukee Art Museum 147
4–14 University of Pennsylvania’s thirty-
3–18 Valley Falls Heritage Park, year campus plan 208
Cumberland, Rhode Island 151
5–1 Washington, D.C.’s Vision for Growing
3–19 Two Rivers Folk Festival in Chepstow an Inclusive City (2004) 216
on the English-Welsh border 152
5–2 Comprehensive plan future land use
3–20 Giglio Festival in Williamsburg, map for San Juan Bautista, California 219
Brooklyn 152
5–3 San Leandro, California, residents
3–21 Immigration in the United States, taking part in a “General Plan Fair” 222
1900 to 2006 155
5–4 Options for reuse of Denver’s former
3–22 GIS analysis of foreign-born residents Stapleton Airport site 225
at the census-tract level, San Francisco Bay
5–5 A Washington, D.C., planning
Area, 2000 157
official consulting with a community
3–23 Barracks Row in Washington, D.C. 162 organizer 238
3–24 Boomburbs, 2000 163 5–6 Public outreach for the Atlanta
3–25 Tram network in Freiburg, BeltLine plan 240
Germany 167 5–7 “Before” and “after” illustrations
3–26 ULTra, an innovative form of personal of existing trails along creeks in Omaha,
rapid transit (PRT) 168 Nebraska 244
Contents xi
5–8 Design guidelines for a civic place 6–12 Preserving natural resources with
district in Omaha 245 outright prohibitions on development 308
5–9 Diagram of zoning guidelines for 6–13 Farmland and agricultural
mixed-use centers in Omaha 247 production 312
5–10 Four walkable neighborhoods in 6–14 New Jersey Pinelands 313
Omaha 248 6–15 Map for managing growth in
5–11 Watercolor of the Saint Paul on the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania 314
Mississippi vision 254 6–16 Single-family dwelling at the heart of
5–12 Paradigm shift affecting design of the Kelo v. City of New London 326
city planning for Saint Paul 255 6–17 Land readjustment in Bangkok,
5–13 Linked urban villages anchored Thailand 328
by key public spaces in the Saint Paul on 6–18 The aftermath of Oregon’s Measure 37
the Mississippi Development Framework 331
256
6–19 Increased pressure on public
5–14 Using the framework to assess the fit infrastructure brought on by new
of emerging proposals 257 development 333
5–15 Comprehensive Community 6–20 Aerial view of the Centre City
Revitalization Program (CCRP) in the South redevelopment Project in San Diego 334
Bronx 260
6–21 How tax increment financing
5–16 Vision planning and problem-solving works 335
workshops within the CCRP planning
6–22 How impact assessment enables
process 261
planners to compare alternative
5–17 GIS maps of urban problems in futures 336
Washington, D.C., 2000 262
7–1 Flood evacuation zones in New York
5–18 GIS maps for solutions targeting City 353
Washington, D.C.’s urban problems 264
7–2 Solar mallee trees in Adelaide,
5–19 Aerial view of the former Stapleton Australia 354
Airport site 267
7–3 Façade-mounted solar water heating
5–20 Development framework for the system in Malmö, Sweden 355
Stapleton Land Use Plan 269
7–4 Behavioral model of service use 363
5–21 Former control tower of Stapleton
7–5 Bicycle boulevard 368
Airport in Denver 270
7–6 Bus equipped with bike rack 369
6–1 Modular zoning 274
7–7 Sidewalk plan to accommodate
6–2 Plan for a transit station area in
pedestrians, seating, displays, and traffic
Pleasant Hill, California 279
buffers/furniture 369
6–3 Public-private partnership: Belmar in
7–8 Bicycle box 370
Lakewood, Colorado 282
7–9 Sidewalk master plan 372
6–4 Front-yard averaging to remedy gap-
toothed look of street 294 7–10 Ranking system to establish priorities
for pedestrian projects 372
6–5 Streetscape lacking height limits 294
7–11 Mockingbird Station in Dallas,
6–6 Development with blank walls facing
Texas 374
street 294
7–12 Fruitvale Transit Village in Oakland,
6–7 Driveway in front yard 295
California 374
6–8 Building and parking requirements for
7–13 Amory Street Residences in Roxbury,
pedestrian-oriented street 295
Massachusetts 379
6–9 Display windows and store entrances
7–14 Northgate Apartments in Burlington,
adjacent to sidewalk 295
Vermont 381
6–10 San Francisco’s Transbay Transit
7–15 Egleston Crossing in Boston,
Center 298
Massachusetts 382
6–11 Santana Row in San José,
7–16 Franklin Station Townhomes in South
California 305
Minneapolis, Minnesota 383
xii Contents
7–17 Tubes at bus stops in Curitiba, 8–3 Los Angeles planning director Gail
Brazil 386 Goldberg and high school students 427
7–18 Aerial view of Curitiba, Brazil 387 8–4 A planner listening to angry citizens
7–19 Anacostia River Watershed in voice their concerns 431
metropolitan Washington, D.C. 389 8–5 Protestors in Coney Island, 2007 433
7–20 Nine Mile Run Watershed in 8–6 Planning director and staff viewing
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 389 plans for community 445
7–21 Components of a comprehensive 8–7 Touring Veterans Memorial Stadium
urban storm-water runoff management 446
program 397 8–8 Redevelopment process for the St.
7–22 Notice on sewer grate to prevent Elizabeths Hospital campus in Washington,
pollution 399 D.C. 448
7–23 Greenway system in Chattanooga, 8–9 Web-based, real-time traffic flow map
Tennessee 401 in Seattle, Washington 450
7–24 Smooth, wide walkways in Tennessee 8–10 HAZUS-generated maps from
Riverpark, Chattanooga 402 Louisville, Kentucky, and Escambia County,
7–25 Evolution of the parks and recreation Florida 451
field 403 8–11 Paint the Town as used in the
7–26 User benefits paradigm 404 Puget Sound region and in a Florida
community 452
7–27 Community benefits paradigm 405
8–12 What if? used to illustrate three land
7–28 Virtual London through Google
use scenarios 453
Earth 411
8–13 A CommunityViz screenshot
7–29 Information-rich/information-poor
design for a hypothetical Brooklyn
populations in Greater London through
neighborhood 454
Google Maps 411
8–14 Lecture series in Raleigh, North
7–30 Real-time tracking of a child’s
Carolina, to kick off the city’s comprehensive
movements 412
plan 457
8–1 Scott Davies, planning and zoning
8–15 Item from LivingStreets.com,
director, Harvey County, Kansas 416
a blog about Raleigh’s urban living
8–2 Assistant planner Roger Shores of movement 458
Montrose, Colorado 424
Foreword
P
lanners today work in an environment that might seem unrecognizable to the men
and women who created the first ICMA book on planning, published in 1941. Sprawl,
traffic congestion, industrial “ghost towns,” suburban “boomburbs,” dwindling water
supplies, an increasingly restrictive regulatory environment, and—overshadowing every-
thing else—the amorphous threats posed by global warming all are concerns that a new
generation of planners must confront, sometimes with little guidance from historical prec-
edent. At their disposal are powerful tools unknown fifty years ago: geographic informa-
tion systems, the Internet, three-dimensional modeling software, and complex and creative
financial partnerships.
But underlying these concerns and the advances in planning resources are certain val-
ues that endure: public health, economic vitality, visionary leadership, social equity, a sense
of place. To this list should be added sustainability, a relatively new word in the popular
lexicon but a watchword for planners from the beginning. This book, itself a departure from
historical precedent, seeks to draw the connections between long-standing values and prin-
ciples, and the innovations being developed and yet to be developed as planners address
unfamiliar problems and exploit emerging opportunities.
Our hope is that this wide-ranging collection of voices will demonstrate the breadth of
planning challenges, the diversity of solutions, and the lessons from the past that can carry
communities successfully into an uncertain future.
ICMA and APA are pleased to present to a new generation of planners a new look at
local planning.
ICMA and APA thank the editors, who worked long and hard to plan and coordinate
the work of many authors. Gary Hack, dean, School of Design, University of Pennsylvania,
served as senior editor. Eugénie L. Birch, chair, Department of City and Regional Planning,
School of Design, University of Pennsylvania; Paul H. Sedway, founder, Sedway Consulting;
and Mitchell J. Silver, planning director, city of Raleigh, contributed countless hours and
invaluable assistance and wisdom to the project. We also thank the authors, who responded
enthusiastically to our invitation. Special appreciation goes to the planning professors and
practitioners who provided guidance and support behind the scenes as members of the
advisory board:
• Karen Alschuler, principal, Perkins & Will
• Uri Avin, vice president, PB PlaceMaking
• Fernando Costa, assistant city manager, Fort Worth
• Susan Handy, professor, University of California–Davis
• Lewis D. Hopkins, professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Dowell Myers, professor, University of Southern California
• Arthur C. Nelson, presidential professor and director of metropolitan research,
University of Utah xiii
xiv Foreword
• Ayse Pamuk, associate professor, San Francisco State University

• Peter J. Park, manager, Department of Community Planning and Development, Denver
• Rolf Pendall, associate professor, Cornell University
• Steve Preston, deputy city manager, San Gabriel, California
• Ethan Seltzer, professor and director, Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning,
Portland State University
• David C. Soule, associate director, Center for Urban and Regional Policy, Northeastern
University
• Bruce Stiftel, professor, Florida State University
• Lawrence E. Susskind, professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Finally, we are extremely grateful for the generous financial support of the Grosser
Research Fund of the University of Pennsylvania School of Design.
Bob O’Neill Paul Farmer

Executive Director Executive Director
ICMA APA
P r e fac e
T
his first edition of Local Planning builds on a long tradition of ICMA publications in
the planning field beginning with the first edition of Local Planning Administration,
prepared in 1941 by Ladislas Segoe and his colleagues. Three editions of the “Green
Book” have followed, edited by leading academics and practitioners, most recently under
the title The Practice of Local Government Planning. The volume has grown in size and
influence, and has been joined by parallel publications: Management of Local Planning and
The Practice of State and Regional Planning, both also published by ICMA.
Over the Green Book years, planning has become institutionalized in municipal, county,
regional, and many state governments. Thousands of special authorities and public-private
development entities have been created that employ planners. Increasingly, nonprofit orga-
nizations and private sector development firms are undertaking planning efforts that shape
cities and towns. Planners also can be found in consulting firms, law firms, architecture
and landscape architecture firms, engineering firms, environmental groups, land trusts, and
other organizations providing services for the built and natural environment. These changes
attest to the success of the planning idea—that foresight, rationality, and imagination can
help us improve the quality of life in the places we inhabit. It no longer seems appropriate
to assume that local governments are solely responsible for local planning.
The new series with the title Local Planning reflects this shift in the context for plan-
ners. It also reflects the explosion of knowledge and sources of information for planners.
Past editions of the Green Book sought to summarize the essential techniques for com-
prehensive planning, urban design, transportation planning, housing planning, economic
development, urban design, and other substantive areas in which planners worked. Today,
as these fields have acquired their own trajectories, there are many textbooks on each of
these subjects. It would be foolhardy to try to condense what is known in any of these areas
into a brief chapter. Instead we have tried to convey how to think about these subjects—
offering a vocabulary, central concepts, examples of approaches that have been tried, and
lessons learned from several decades of planners’ efforts. We also outline the challenges
that planners will face over the next several decades, which will demand new ideas and
responses.
Planning is, ultimately, a highly applied activity. It is not devoid of theory, but the
theories that matter are those that help guide planners in their daily efforts to improve the
urban condition. This volume is focused on “theories in use,” as Donald Schon called them,
as distinct from “espoused theories.” To achieve this, we have drawn together a wide-rang-
ing group of individuals to write sections of the book—academics, practitioners, clients,
observers of planning, and many who straddle these lines. We have sought to preserve the
authors’ voices in explaining how they think about and tackle the planning issues they face.
Hence, the book is meant to be consulted as needed, rather than read from cover to cover. It
may be a useful primer for those studying for AICP examinations, and for individuals join-
ing planning commissions and boards. If there are contradictions between the individual
sections, they reflect genuine differences in the field and in how planners frame their tasks.
xv
xvi Preface
As we have edited the various pieces, we have been struck by how large a role politics
plays in planning at all levels and in all places. It is the proverbial elephant in the dark room,
understood only partially by planners as they face their routine challenges. Most planners
have been schooled to believe that they are above politics, but those who are effective under-
stand that they can never be separate from it. Public engagement may be seen as a way to rec-
ognize this and produce better plans, or as an essential part of the political campaign needed
to ensure that those plans are passed and carried out. Planners’ effectiveness and job tenure
often depend on how well planners understand their political milieu and respond to the many
ethical dilemmas along the way.
Local Planning is organized into eight chapters, roughly spanning from context to applica-
tions. The first three chapters—”The Value of Planning,” “The Context for Local Planning,”
and “Contemporary Concerns of Planning”—describe the historical, governmental, legal, and
community context of planning, and present the challenges that planners will need to address
in the decade ahead. Following them, three chapters are focused on the act of making and
carrying out plans: “Who Plans?” “Making Plans,” and “Putting Plans to Work.” Although, as
many of the authors assert, you cannot really make effective plans without deciding how to
implement them, and implementation techniques cannot really be effective without plans, we
preserve the distinction between them for clarity and out of convention. Chapter 7 looks more
closely at “Planning for Urban Systems,” and the final chapter, “Managing Planning,” focuses
on planning’s organizational and ethical dimensions. Each chapter contains sections written
by many authors who share their insights on local planning.
The book has been a true collaborative effort of its four editors—Eugénie L. Birch, Paul
H. Sedway, Mitchell J. Silver, and me—and almost a hundred authors who were asked to
distill their ideas into impossibly short pieces. It would not have been possible without our
extraordinary project manager, Amy Montgomery, who kept the project—and, importantly,
the editors—on track. She has our eternal gratitude. Chris Witt aided her in tracking down
and organizing the illustrations. Christine Ulrich of ICMA shepherded the project from start to
completion, and helped us keep focused on the purpose of the book. We thank her especially
for taking the risk on a format and contents that broke with past traditions. We are also grate-
ful for the deft and sympathetic editing of the many pieces, each in a different voice, provided
by ICMA’s editors, Sandra F. Chizinsky and Jane C. Cotnoir.
The project was made possible by funding from ICMA and the Grosser Research Fund of
the University of Pennsylvania School of Design. We also wish to thank ESRI for permission to
reprint the map found on page 157.
Gary Hack
Senior Editor
CHAPTER
1
The Value of Planning
From Townsite to Metropolis
Planning as a profession has been shaped equally by practice
and research.
—Eugénie L. Birch
FOCUS ON
Why Communities Plan / Frederick C. Collignon

Planning is a necessity, not a luxury.
Planners as Leaders / Alexander Garvin

Planners must be judged by the quality of the change they effect and
the depth of their influence.
The Authority to Plan / Patricia E. Salkin

The value given planning by the body politic is reflected in a broad
array of legislation.
Property Rights, Planning, and the Public Interest / Jerold S. Kayden
Balancing private property and public needs is planning’s essential
challenge.
Suburban Planning in a Market Economy / Peter D. Salins
Suburban problems demonstrate that regulation is no substitute for
true planning.
From Urban Renewal to Regeneration / Karen B. Alschuler
Successful planning requires a partnership between planners,
key institutions, and the public.
American Exceptionalism Revisited / Bish Sanyal
U.S. planning is viewed in the context of global experience.
1
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11255-01_CH01.indd 2 12/22/08 2:36:16 PM
3
From townsite to metropolis

Eugénie L. Birch
The planning profession emerged in the late nineteenth century as a systematic
response to urban conditions and challenges. By the mid-1930s, practitioners had
defined the field’s fundamental area of expertise: the management of urban growth
and development. They have spent every decade since perfecting the tools and tech-
niques used in the service of that end.
Planning has been affected by social, economic, political, environmental, legal,
and aesthetic trends. In the early twentieth century, for example, planners puzzled
over how to relieve overcrowding in cities; a hundred years later, they found them-
selves struggling with metropolitan sprawl. In the 1920s, planners used zoning to
create order in chaotic cities, separating noxious industrial areas from emerging
residential districts; by the 1990s, planners attempting to enliven neighborhoods and
downtowns were revising zoning regulations to allow for a mix of uses. Thus, plan-
ners are as much creatures of their times as they are shapers of their surroundings.
Like the members of many professions, urban planners derive their knowledge
from both practice and research. As planners gain more experience, their work in the
field leads, in cyclical fashion, to broader theories and deeper skills. Planners share a
six-part worldview, however, that distinguishes the profession. They are committed to
• Improving human settlements (or, in today’s parlance, building healthy communities)
• Helping communities envision a desirable future
• Recognizing and addressing diverse needs
• Employing multidisciplinary approaches
• Promoting and engaging in inclusive decision-making processes
• Linking plans with collective action.
Urban planners strive toward these goals in neighborhoods, towns, cities, and regions.
Planning is an artifact of its history. Roughly speaking, the formative periods of
U.S. planning can be divided into four eras:
• From the colonial period to the second half of the nineteenth century, when what is
now known as urban planning emerged in response to the industrialization of cities.
• From the late nineteenth century through the 1920s, when practitioners put the
foundations of the field in place: they defined its basic focus; developed its first theories,
methods, and products; and established the first professional planning organizations.
• From the economic collapse of the 1930s through the massive urbanization
of the post–World War II years. During this period, planning became a
broader field: it began to encompass redevelopment, to shape growth through
transportation and regulation, and to address social issues.
• From the 1970s to the present. During this period, planners confirmed the basic
values of the field, solidified their expertise, and focused on addressing the
challenges of a metropolitan nation.
From colonial town to industrial city

During the first two centuries of continuous European settlement on the North
American continent, planners focused first on creating the towns and cities, and later
on making room for growth and industry. Often acting as surveyors or engineers
(“city planner” as a professional name doesn’t emerge until the twentieth century),
they laid out towns, subdivided land, and designed essential infrastructure (usually
wells, drainage ways, and open spaces). This early work established many of the
urban patterns inherited by successive generations of planners.
11255-01_CH01.indd 3 12/22/08 2:36:16 PM

4 The Value of Planning
Figure 1–1 This

series of maps
shows the growth of
U.S. cities from 1790 Urban 1790
5%
through 2000.
Rural Boston Salem
95% (Marblehead
Providence (
(
Philadelphia ( Newport
Northern Liberties( New York
(Baltimore
(Charleston
Total population: 4,000,000

13 states
2 cities with 25,000 or more
1820
Boston
(Salem
(
Philadelphia
Northern Liberties(Southwark
(
Washington(Baltimore
(Charleston
(New Orleans

Urban
23 states 7%
1 city with 100,000 or more
6 cities with 25,000 or more Rural
93%
1860
Boston
Newark
New York
Philadelphia Brooklyn
Chicago
Baltimore
Cincinnati
St. Louis
New Orleans Urban

20%
33 states
8 cities with 100,000 or more Rural
31 cities with 25,000 or more 80%
Source: Eugénie L. Birch
11255-01_CH01.indd 4 12/22/08 2:36:16 PM

The Value of Planning 5
L
L
L
2000
L
L
Urban
L
L
79%
L
L L
L L
Detroit L
L L
L
LL
L L
L
Rural
L
L L L LLL
LLL L
L
LL
LL
L
LL
21%
L L L
L
L
L
LL
L L L L
L
L
L
New York
L L L L
L L L L
LL
LL
L
L
L
L L
Chicago L
L
L
L
L
L Philadelphia
L L
L LL
LL L L
L L
L L L L
LL
L L
L L L L L
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L L Los Angeles L L L
L
L
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LL L L L
L L
L
LL L L
L LL
L Phoenix L L
L L
L
San Diego L L
L
LLL
L
L
L L L L
L L L
Dallas
L L
L
L L
San Antonio L
L
L
LL
L
Houston
L LL
L
L
L
L
1970
LL
L
L L
L L L
L
L
L
L
Total population: 281,400,000 L
L
50 states L
L
L L
244 cities with 100,000 or more L L LL
Detroit
L
L L
1,507 cities with 25,000 or more L L L Cleveland L
L L
New York L
L
L
L
L L LL
L
L
L
L Chicago L
Philadelphia
L
LL L
L L L L
L
L
Washington Baltimore
L
L L
L L
Urban L
L LL
L
74% L L
L
LLL Los Angeles L
L
L
L L
L
L L
L L
L
Rural L Dallas
L
L
26% L L
L
L
L Houston L
L
L
L

50 states
Urban L
1920
51% L
L
L LL
Detroit L
L L L
L LLL
L L
Boston
L L Cleveland
L LL
LL
Rural L Chicago L
LL L LL
New York
L
L
L
L LPhiladelphia
49% LL
L L
L
Pittsburgh L
Baltimore
L
LL L
St. Louis L L
Urban L
35% Los Angeles
L
L
L
LL
L
L L
Rural
65% 48 states
1890 68 cities with 100,000 or more
L
L
L Boston
L
L
Cleveland
L L
New York
L
L
Chicago Brooklyn
L L
Philadelphia
San Francisco L L L ( Ten most populous cities
L
L
Baltimore
Cincinnati
St. Louis
Ten most populous cities with 100,000 or more
L
Cities having 100,000 population or more
L
States in the Union
Total population: 62,000,000 States not yet in the Union
44 states
N 0 500 1,000 2,000 Miles
11255-01_CH01.indd 5 12/22/08 2:36:25 PM

Figure 1–2 Philadelphia and Boston, both British colonial cities, had quite different site
plans: one was orthogonal (left) and the other organic (right).
Source: Courtesy of Historic Urban Plans, Inc., Ithaca, N.Y.
National customs, religious and social compacts, mercantilist demands, and

handed-down urban design traditions informed the location and shape of the earliest
American settlements. Many plans, for example, had European precedents: the Laws
of the Indies,1 regulations that governed Spanish settlement patterns, determined
the form of St. Augustine, Florida, and of several cities in the West and Southwest.
British land tenure practices and the notion of “the commons” informed the designs
of Boston, New Haven, and Philadelphia (see Figure 1–2). But British practice did
not dictate a strict format: some British colonial towns were characterized by regular
street grids and parks, a pattern that dates to antiquity, while others responded to
geography and topography, connecting port to hinterland and placing public open
space at the edge of the city.2
After independence, the cities on the eastern seaboard flourished. In the new
territories to the west, the principal challenge was rapid and systematic land devel-
opment. Cities west of Pittsburgh followed the Public Land Survey System (PLSS),
which came into effect through the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest
Ordinance of 1787 (see Figure 1–3).3 Under the PLSS, land was divided into six-
mile-by-six-mile townships, then further subdivided into one-square-mile (640-
acre) units. As is clear from the plans for Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, and Seattle,
property was created and conveyed by subdividing the mile-square grid. The
federal government used land sales to developers to replenish the U.S. Treasury,
and it gave land grants to infrastructure providers to promote the settlement of the
western frontier and to encourage the construction of a national system of canals
and railways.4
In 1790, Congress authorized the creation of a new capital, Washington, D.C., and
hired French military engineer Pierre-Charles L’Enfant and surveyors Andrew Ellicott
and Benjamin Banneker to lay it out. Their scheme placed the Capitol building and
the president’s house on the high points, fronting a grand open space, the Mall. They
created a system of diagonal, plaza-accented avenues overlaid with a gridiron street
plan; the result was a distinctly hybrid European-American plan (Figure 1–4).
While Washington was under construction, several rapidly growing East Coast
cities also instituted plans for the orderly subdivision of land in order to ease market
transactions. Under the Commissioners’ Plan of 1811, for example, New York City
organized all property above Canal Street into easy-to-divide 200-foot-wide blocks
of varying length. Boston, as it expanded into the South End and Back Bay, laid out
gridiron street patterns.
11255-01_CH01.indd 6 12/22/08 2:36:39 PM

Figure 1–3 Under the Northwest Ordinance (1787), the federal government established the
Public Land Survey System, a means of subdividing publicly owned land. The PLSS applied
to lands west of Pittsburgh (left) and laid out plots in one-square-mile units (right).
Source: National Atlas of the United States® and Bureau of

Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior
The foundations of local planning

The late nineteenth century saw the completion of the nation’s network of towns
and cities, stretching from coast to coast and bound together by rivers, canals, post
roads, trails, and railways. It was during the same period that the United States
transformed itself from a primarily mercantile and agrarian economy to an industrial
behemoth.
Technological innovations in transportation and building construction—as well
as a rapid influx of population from rural America and abroad—helped cities become
centers of opportunity. By 1890, according to the U.S. Census, 35 percent of the
Figure 1–4 The

plan for Washington,
D.C., highlighted the
Capitol and the
White House by
situating them on
high points proxi-
mate to a large open
space, the Mall. The
designers overlaid a
grid on diagonal
avenues to create a
hybrid American-
European design.
Source: Library of Congress
11255-01_CH01.indd 7 12/22/08 2:36:40 PM

Figure 1–5 In the

early twentieth century,
substandard housing,
unsanitary conditions,
and heavy pollution
plagued industrial
slums such as this
Pittsburgh district.
Source: Pittsburgh Survey 1914
nation’s 62 million inhabitants lived in cities, the drivers of the new economy. Cities
accommodated factories, tenements, rail and shipping yards, and warehouses, while
offering access to centrally located financing, marketing, and communications facili-
ties. However, their explosive growth—Chicago’s population grew tenfold within a
generation—yielded massive slums plagued by poor sanitation, congested streets,
inadequate open space, and industrial pollution from nearby factories. Local govern-
ments were ill-prepared to address the needs of burgeoning populations. Moreover,
many had fallen prey to corruption, often under the leadership of political bosses
who swapped services and franchises for votes or bribes.
Change comes to America’s cities

In response to harmful urban conditions, numerous citizens’ groups mounted
improvement campaigns, advancing new laws and special programs to cure urban ills.
Among the most effective initiatives were settlement houses: located in the nation’s
worst slums, settlement houses offered education and a wide range of social services;
they also became hotbeds of social agitation, fueled by writers whose novels and field-
based research informed reform legislation. Professional responses to rampant city
problems followed. Several professions, including engineering, architecture, landscape
architecture, law, health, education, and social work, emerged or expanded, and their
practitioners developed skills and authority through their work in municipalities.
In response to dangerous urban conditions, numerous citizens’ groups mounted

improvement campaigns, advancing new laws and special programs to cure urban ills.
In the regulatory arena, reformers crafted zoning ordinances and public health,
housing, and building codes. New York, the nation’s most populous city, was the
leader in such efforts, passing landmark legislation that included the Tenement
House Law (1901), which established minimum standards for housing, and the
Zoning Resolution (1916), which limited land uses and the intensity of development.
New York also pioneered special programs: it constructed the nation’s first land-
scaped public park, Central Park (1859); created model tenements and subdivisions
11255-01_CH01.indd 8 12/22/08 2:36:42 PM

Figure 1–6 Frederick Law Olmsted designed Boston’s Emerald Necklace park system to
provide drainage and open space for the metropolitan area.
Source: Courtesy of the Frances Loeb Library, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University
financed by foundations and limited-dividend companies (from the 1850s onward);

developed vast infrastructure facilities, including extensive subway lines (beginning
in 1904) and high-capacity water systems (1842 and from 1907 through 1917), and
supported civic decoration through the Municipal Art Society (1893) and the New
York City Art Commission (1898).
Other fast-growing areas also contributed ideas that would deeply affect the
course and content of urban planning. In 1919, for example, to deal with environ-
mental concerns in the Boston area, Massachusetts formed the Metropolitan District
Commission, possible the first agency of its type in the United States. The commis-
sion consolidated responsibility for regional sewerage, water, and open space in
thirty-seven cities and towns, and four counties. At the heart of its activities was
the 1,000-acre Emerald Necklace park system (1878–1896), designed by Frederick
Law Olmsted, the nation’s preeminent designer of parks, parkways, and residential
communities. By conceiving of drainage, open space, and land use as an integrated
system, Olmsted had created a powerful formula for civic improvement (Figure 1–6).
Innovations that had important implications for urban planning also emerged
in the Midwest. Chicago pioneered new approaches to construction, including the
balloon frame (1833), which permitted mass production of inexpensive single-family
dwellings, and the steel structural skeleton (1890), which allowed proliferation of the
skyscrapers that would define the twentieth-century downtown. Chicago was also
home to the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, whose site plan was designed
by Olmsted and whose architecture was overseen by Daniel Burnham. Known as the
“White City,” it epitomized the growing City Beautiful movement. According to the
adherents of this movement, three principal elements brought order to cities: civic
centers, formally arranged complexes that included city halls, post offices, public
libraries, state capitols, railroad stations, and opera or concert halls; open-space sys-
tems (parks linked by parkways and boulevards); and circulation systems (street and
rail). Notably, City Beautiful advocates aimed not to just beautify their cities with
these measures but also to reform them.
However, the most far-reaching development affecting urban planning originated in
Detroit and was the product of an industrialist, not a planner. Henry Ford’s inexpensive
Model T car, first released in 1908, triggered a consumer trend that would transform
11255-01_CH01.indd 9 12/22/08 2:36:43 PM

American land use patterns. For early urban planners, the management of downtown
densities, the flow of motorized vehicles, and far-flung suburban expansion became
central concerns.
The rise of professional planning organizations

Amid the changes wrought by rapid urban growth, activists created national organi-
zations focused on city improvement, among them the National Municipal League
(1894), the American Society of Municipal Improvements (1894), the National
League for Civic Improvement (1900), and the American Park and Outdoor Art Asso-
ciation (1897).5 Some members of these organizations attended the first National
Conference on City Planning and the Problems of Congestion (NCCP)—convened
in Washington, D.C., in 1909, by the leaders of New York City’s Committee on the
Congestion of Population. The meeting was so fruitful that the group met annually
for the next twenty-five years to explore city planning practices.
The NCCP looked far and wide to find exemplary work. From Europe, its
members learned about German zoning laws and about English experiments with
public housing, slum clearance, and urban decentralization. Most notable among
the English initiatives was the garden city, conceived by Ebenezer Howard (author
of Garden Cities of To-Morrow) and first executed at Letchworth in 1903. The garden
city approach called for the construction of satellite towns of limited size, which
were to be located outside London and other British industrial cities. Each garden
city would have its own “green belt” of undeveloped land at its periphery, and
would be connected by rail lines to the center. The garden city concept captured
the imagination of many Americans.6 The NCCP also reviewed the models of urban
centralization offered by Paris and Vienna. Both cities had undertaken major rede-
velopment projects in the nineteenth century, modernizing their street, water, sewer,
and open-space systems and adding cultural institutions, high-density residential and
commercial buildings, and hygienic food distribution centers.
The NCCP also stayed abreast of developments in U.S planning: City Beautiful–
inspired projects in Washington, D.C. (1901), Cleveland (1903), and San Francisco
(1905), and Kansas City’s park system, which grew incrementally (1893–1920).
Members celebrated the nation’s first comprehensive urban plan, the Plan of Chicago
(1909). Devised by Daniel Burnham, the chief architect of the World’s Columbian
Exposition, and sponsored by the city’s Commercial Club, an elite businessman’s
group, the plan addressed circulation (regional and local highways and streets), open
space (regional and city parks linked by parkways in a single system), and down-
town development (a civic center and cultural facilities).7 On the strength of this
plan, Chicago created a plan commission; distributed Wacker’s Manual of the Plan of
Chicago (1912), an exemplary explanation of the work (Figure 1–7); and proceeded
with the plan’s implementation.8
While united by their common interest in these various projects, the members of
the NCCP held widely differing views on planning. Broadly speaking, the organization
fell into two camps: those who focused on the societal role and functions of planners,
and those who focused on the physical, social, and economic forces that shaped
neighborhoods, cities, and regions—differences that later observers would describe as
“planning theory” and “theories in planning.” No two figures represented the divisions
in the NCCP more vividly than the fiery Benjamin Marsh, the executive secretary of
New York’s Committee on the Congestion of Population, who promoted planning as
a means of improving social welfare, and the deliberative Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.,
son of the great parks planner, who viewed planning as a guide to physical growth and
development, reasoning that this approach was most likely to gain public acceptance.
Ultimately, Olmsted and his followers took control of the incipient city planning move-
ment. Their judgment proved accurate: their proposals, although revolutionary, served
municipal governments’ needs to manage land use, rationalize capital investments,
and accommodate the automobile.
11255-01_CH01.indd 10 12/22/08 2:36:43 PM

Figure 1–7 The 1909

Plan of Chicago, the
nation’s first compre-
hensive plan, incorpo-
rated regional open
space and circulation
systems for a new,
centrally located civic
center.
Source: Courtesy of the Commercial Club of Chicago
Over time, the NCCP gathered a broad range of members, including interested
citizens and professionals (e.g., landscape architects, architects, engineers, and
lawyers). It employed an executive director; held annual meetings; sponsored a
magazine, The City Plan (1915–1918); and published the proceedings from its confer-
ences. In 1917, a small group within the NCCP formed a subsidiary, the American
City Planning Institute (ACPI), a forerunner of the American Institute of Certified
Planners (AICP). The goal of the ACPI was to establish urban planning as a profes-
sion: strict entry requirements ensured that only qualified practitioners could join.
(Notably, the ACPI did not seek state licensing, as other professional organizations
had.) To disseminate best practices, the ACPI published a journal, City Planning
Quarterly (a predecessor of the Journal of the American Planning Association). The
organization’s members also contributed to the eighteen-volume Harvard City Plan-
ning Studies Series, which was published between 1918 and 1973, helping to lay
the foundation of the field’s knowledge base. Finally, to formally transmit planning
expertise, the ACPI created university-based courses. Harvard and the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign offered the first city planning courses, and in 1929,
Harvard offered the first city planning degree, followed by MIT (1932) and other
universities.9
By 1930, all but four states had authorized municipal planning commissions that had
three clearly delineated functions: creating comprehensive plans, administering zoning
codes, and establishing capital budgets.
Most important, NCCP members, ACPI members, and their allies successfully
lobbied state and local governments to make planning a routine part of municipal
government. By 1930, all but four states had authorized municipal planning com-
missions that had three clearly delineated functions: creating comprehensive plans,
administering zoning codes, and establishing capital budgets. By this time, practition-
ers had also agreed on the form and content of the comprehensive plan: it was to be
based on expert analysis of demographic, economic, and physical conditions, and
was to embody a long-term vision of future land use, circulation, and open space.
11255-01_CH01.indd 11 12/22/08 2:36:43 PM

In the first three decades of the twentieth century, more than a hundred such plans
were crafted; among the most exemplary was the Official City Plan of Cincinnati,
Ohio (1925).
Advances in planning
In 1927, in his address to the annual NCCP conference, John Nolen, the president of
the NCCP, celebrated the field’s progress.10 He noted that nearly 400 of the nation’s
municipalities had planning commissions, more than 500 had adopted zoning
regulations, and thirty-five model suburbs and city extensions had been created. He
attributed the growth of planning to several factors: the U.S. Department of Com-
merce had disseminated model state enabling laws for zoning and city planning; the
U.S. Supreme Court, in Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co. (272 U.S. 365 [1926]),
had upheld zoning; and, in a country that was definitively urban (more than half of
the 106 million Americans lived in cities), there was rising demand for planning.
By the end of the 1920s, practitioners had developed a strong foundation for
urban planning. They had established norms for physical development, worked out
the components of the comprehensive plan, and were propagating the view that
planners were neutral, technical advisers to clients and the public. As they codified
standards, they argued for the separation of land uses, promoted auto-oriented
circulation schemes (hierarchal arrangements in cities and limited-access highways
in suburbs), and advocated multiparcel superblocks in dense urban areas. In devel-
oping comprehensive plans, they followed a standard, five-step “planning process”
(later known as the “rational decision-making model”):
1. Undertaking a detailed survey of existing conditions
2. Articulating goals
3. Identifying problems
4. Evaluating and selecting alternatives to address the problems
5. Implementing the resulting plan.
Advances in planning were taking place in a booming economy: according to
the U.S. Census Bureau, 40 percent of households had telephones and radios, and in
the period between 1905 and the late 1920s, motor vehicle registrations had risen to
27 million. Federal, state, and local governments were investing in streets, highways,
parkways, bridges, and tunnels, opening up land in cities and suburbs for residential
development. Planners, who enthusiastically applauded these changes as a means
of relieving urban congestion, quickly developed expertise in managing traffic and
overseeing suburban expansion.
In this environment, the field exploded with new ideas that quickly found their
way into practice. The Regional Plan Association’s Regional Plan of New York and its
Environs (1929), for example, offered a circulation model in which spokes reached
outward from the central business district, and highways were arranged in concen-
tric rings surrounding the center (Figure 1–8). This well-publicized pattern became
universal in later U.S highway construction. In its plans for Radburn, New Jersey
(1929), the Regional Planning Association of America (RPAA), an informal group of
designers and writers, applied the principles of the English garden city to motor-age
America: the RPAA pioneered the neighborhood unit (housing clustered around an
elementary school to promote a walkable, sociable community) and hierarchical
circulation networks (specialized streets for different kinds of traffic) (Figure 1–9).
Over the next half-century, influential developments such as Greenhills, Ohio (1935);
Greendale, Wisconsin (1936); Greenbelt, Maryland (1937); the British New Towns
(1940s–1960s); Reston, Virginia (1964); and Columbia, Maryland (1964), adopted
these ideas. Today’s plans for “walkable urban places” represent their continuation.
The end of the 1920s found the planning profession at equilibrium: its practition-
ers knew what to do and how to do it, and their prescriptions were being adopted in
11255-01_CH01.indd 12 12/22/08 2:36:45 PM

Figure 1–8 When

the Regional Plan
Association pub-
lished its Regional
Plan of New York
and Its Environs in
1929, it envisioned a
transportation
system focused on
the center, featuring
“spokes” and
“wheels.” Later
transportation
planners adopted
this form for the
nation’s highway
system.
Source: Regional Plan

Association of New York
Figure 1–9 Trans-

atlantic exchanges
inspired the design
of Radburn, New
Jersey (1929),
whose planners
aspired to create a
British-style garden
city in the United
States.

11255-01_CH01.indd 13 12/22/08 2:36:45 PM

most cities. But the Great Depression and, later, World War II, unleashed transforma-
tive forces that not only reshaped American life but also pushed urban planners to
adapt to new conditions and challenges.
Planning in the New Deal and beyond

When the New York Stock Exchange crashed on October 29, 1929, the losses equaled
the total U.S. expenditures for World War I and reflected widespread weakness in
the American economy. The stock market failure ushered in a depression that lasted
until World War II. Capital dried up, businesses collapsed, and unemployment soared,
reaching 25 percent in 1933.11 Cities, which were viewed as responsible for the public
welfare, were unable to meet the needs of the jobless. Private charitable organizations
were equally overwhelmed. As the situation worsened, the U.S. Conference of Mayors
and other organizations (e.g., charitable organizations at the local and national levels,
municipal governments, and churches) demanded help from state and federal govern-
ment. President Herbert Hoover responded weakly; his successor, Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, developed the New Deal, a recovery program that employed a four-pronged
approach to stabilizing the economy:
• The construction of public works (such as stadiums, educational institutions,
theaters, government office buildings, and airports), many of which were
concentrated in cities, and of public housing and experimental new towns (such
as Greenbelt, Maryland; Greendale, Wisconsin; and Greenhills, Ohio)
• Support for the private residential market (through the Homeowners Loan
Corporation and Federal Housing Administration [FHA] mortgage insurance)
• The correction of regional inequities and the protection of natural resources
(through entities such as the Tennessee Valley Authority and the National
Resources Planning Board)
• The employment of workers, predominantly men, in a number of special
programs (such as the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress
Administration).
In addition to laying the foundation for the modern welfare state, the New Deal
dramatically enlarged opportunities for urban planners: they wrote FHA underwrit-
ing manuals; designed public housing and new towns (see Figure 1–10); inventoried
natural resources and wrote state plans to protect them; identified sites for airports,
schools, and other public works (and commissioned public art to adorn them); and
documented conditions in slums and other blighted areas.
The New Deal also changed the practice of planning, adding new theories—
derived from the social sciences and from urban design—to the repertoire of planners.
When University of Chicago sociologist Louis Wirth asserted that dense urban envi-
ronments led to social alienation, planners produced density-reducing plans.12 When
Wirth’s associate, Ernest Burgess, suggested that the typical urban land use pattern
was a series of concentric rings surrounding the downtown, planners incorporated this
idea into their thinking, only to revise it when economist Homer Hoyt demonstrated
that the prevailing form consisted of wedges radiating outward from downtown.13
Planners also debated and adapted contrasting architectural ideas from Le Corbusier
(the superblock) and Frank Lloyd Wright (every household on a plot of land). Le
Corbusier’s ideas found expression in public housing, Wright’s in suburban zoning.
Planners disseminated their ideas widely by publishing articles in trade magazines
such as The American City, Survey Graphic, and Fortune. They also employed the popu-
lar medium of the day—the cinema—sponsoring a magnificent film, The City (1939),
which was screened at the New York World’s Fair to large, receptive audiences.
Professional organizations also evolved during this period. In the early 1930s,
public administration advocates formed the American Society of Planning Officials
(ASPO) to assist local governments that wished to enhance the capacity of their
11255-01_CH01.indd 14 12/22/08 2:36:47 PM

Figure 1–10 New

Deal public housing
arrangements aimed
to provide a safe
and sanitary
environment large
enough to be
insulated from the
surrounding
deleterious condi-
tions, as this view of
Queensboro Houses
in New York City
indicates.
Source: Courtesy of the Frances Loeb Library, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University
planning departments. To provide a forum for citizens’ concerns, in 1934 the NCCP
and the American Civic Association formed the American Civic and Planning Asso-
ciation, which later became the National Urban Coalition (1971–1988). In 1938, the
ACPI renamed itself the American Institute of Planners and became independent of
the NCCP in order to focus on professional development.
By 1941, municipal planning had become sufficiently widespread to merit its
own comprehensive handbook, Local Planning Administration, which was published
by the International City Managers’ Association (ICMA).14 A compilation of best
practices that reinforced the role of the planner as a neutral technical expert, the
volume reiterated the importance of comprehensive planning, zoning, and capital
budgeting. In the following years, two major volumes rounded out the coverage
provided by Local Planning Administration: F. Stuart Chapin’s Urban Land Use
Planning (1957) and T. J. Kent’s The Urban General Plan (1964).15
When Local Planning Administration appeared, the Census Bureau reported
that 48 percent of the nation’s 132 million people lived in urban areas, but they
were concentrated in the East and Midwest;16 among the nation’s ten most populous
cities, Los Angeles was the only one located outside these regions. The bureau also
reported that only 44 percent of America’s 35 million households owned their own
homes,17 and a shocking 45 percent of all dwellings lacked plumbing. In 1941, the
nation entered World War II, triggering huge changes in the U.S. urban profile. Mas-
sive flows of population and financial resources went to new areas of the country.
Blacks and other rural inhabitants left the South for defense jobs in the nation’s
industrial cities, or migrated to the military installations (especially the air and naval
facilities) of the West and Southwest.
With peace, American industry resumed production of consumer goods, espe-
cially automobiles; 10 million returning veterans formed families and had children at
historically high rates; and the capital markets turned pent-up savings into low-cost,
11255-01_CH01.indd 15 12/22/08 2:36:47 PM

federally insured mortgages. New land development patterns emerged as the nation’s
middle-class households bought cars and sought housing in outlying areas. Through-
out the 1940s and 1950s, mass-production builders (like William Levitt, of Levittown
fame) met the increased demand, rapidly constructing inexpensive single-family
homes; the U.S. Census reported that three-fifths of all homes built in this period
were in the suburbs. Annual housing production peaked in 1950 at 1.9 million. How-
ever, suburbs were quickly overwhelmed by the problems associated with growth,
from the proliferation of poorly laid out developments to the high demand for public
services such as schools, water, sewers, and streets.
Several postwar federal policy initiatives also had major effects on metropolitan
development: the Housing and Slum Clearance Act of 1949 launched an ambitious,
two-decade-long urban renewal program; the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 built
the nation’s interstate highway system (Figure 1–11); and a constellation of envi-
ronmental laws (1970s and onward) added requirements for clean air and water. To
administer these new programs, Congress created two new cabinet-level agencies:
the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) (1965) and the Depart-
ment of Transportation (1966). In 1970, the federal government also created the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an independent agency charged with the
protection of human health and the environment.
These programs had powerful results. By the mid-1960s, the federal government
had spent $1 billion undertaking urban renewal in 777 cities, leveraging $7 billion
in private spending.18 By the 1970s, states had constructed more than 30,000 miles
of the interstate highway system, and the real estate industry had produced more
than 28 million new dwellings that developers built in the newly accessible suburbs.
Although in 1980 the U.S. Census Bureau classified 69 percent of the 203 million
Americans as urban, more people lived in the suburbs than in cities (38 percent vs.
31 percent).19
As households moved to the suburbs, retail followed. As early as 1924, ACPI
founding member J. C. Nichols had built Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, one of
Figure 1–11 Under the

Federal-Aid Highway
Act of 1956 and its
successors, the United
States developed more
than 41,000 miles on
expressways linking all
parts of the nation.
Source: Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation
11255-01_CH01.indd 16 12/22/08 2:36:49 PM

the nation’s first shopping centers, but the concept did not take off until in the 1950s
and 1960s. Planner Victor Gruen designed the prototypical enclosed, air-conditioned
shopping center—Southdale in Edina, Minnesota—that was emulated nationwide.
By 1972, 13,000 shopping centers had depleted downtown retail.20 In an attempt to
bolster downtowns struggling against suburban competition, many cities created
pedestrian malls and parking garages. In some cities, such as Minneapolis, Minne-
sota, and New London, Connecticut, remnants are still visible today.
Suburbs were quickly overwhelmed by the problems associated with growth, from the
proliferation of poorly laid out developments to the high demand for public services
such as schools, water, sewers, and streets.
Along with providing funding for urban redevelopment, the federal government
mandated in the 1954 housing act that all communities have a “workable program”
of planning and development control, including a comprehensive plan, zoning regu-
lations, housing code enforcement, complete surveys of redevelopment needs, and
“maximum feasible citizen participation”; this last requirement provided the founda-
tion for today’s advocacy planning, citizen engagement, and environmental justice
movements.21 Through its “701” program established by the act, the federal govern-
ment provided support to make the development of workable programs possible.22
The program allowed local governments to hire thousands of planners and, for more
than twenty-five years, provided a steady funding stream for planning by states,
federal disaster areas, councils of governments, metropolitan regions, and American
Indian reservations. Between 1954 and 1980, the 701 program allocated more than
a billion dollars (in 2001 dollars) and produced more than 20,000 master plans and
associated reports; funding peaked in the mid-1970s at $300 million annually.23 The
program also designated 5 percent of its budget for research and supported many
pioneering studies, including the landmark The Costs of Sprawl (1974) and The Fiscal
Impact Handbook (1978).24
Additional support for comprehensive planning and research emerged in the
1960s as the result of mandates included in the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1962
calling for “3 C’s planning”—that is, planning that was continuous, comprehensive,
and collaborative. Amendments to the legislation in the mid-1970s designated a
new entity, the metropolitan planning organization, as the responsible agent for the
required planning in the nation’s 300 metropolitan areas. The transportation fund-
ing also supported massive modeling studies in the Detroit, Chicago, New York, and
Philadelphia areas.
These postwar programs encompassing urban renewal and transportation had an
enormous impact on the field of planning. First, the number of practitioners, especially
public sector employees, skyrocketed, establishing today’s employment profile that
is dominated by public planners. Second, the federal program experience with urban
renewal and transportation dramatically changed planners’ theories and practice.
Contemporary planning
The roots of contemporary planning date as far back as the mid-1950s, when
challenges to traditional planning arose from many directions. Practitioner Martin
Meyerson questioned the field’s emphasis on physical planning, its faith in the
comprehensive plan, and its ability to define the public interest; political scientists
Charles Lindblom and Alan Altshuler rejected the rational decision-making model;
and lawyer Paul Davidoff insisted that planners should not be neutral technicians
but advocates for underrepresented groups.25 In the best-selling Death and Life of
Great American Cities (1961), journalist Jane Jacobs forcefully condemned the entire
field and particularly decried current urban renewal practices, arguing that citizens,
11255-01_CH01.indd 17 12/22/08 2:36:50 PM

not professionals, should plan neighborhoods and cities.26 Jacobs’s prescription for
lively, sociable, and safe places involved short blocks, high densities, and mixed land
uses. Meanwhile, sociologist Herbert Gans’s Urban Villagers (1962), a portrayal of
the rich social connections in Boston’s Italian neighborhoods, admonished planners,
when judging slums and blight, to look beyond physical conditions to social net-
works.27 In the 1960s, these critiques; riots in Detroit, Newark, and other cities; the
rise of the civil rights movement; and President Lyndon B. Johnson’s urban-focused
Great Society programs all helped accelerate changes in the planning profession.
Planners expanded their expertise in the areas of housing and community
and economic development. They crafted neighborhood, downtown, and citywide
renewal plans to supplement the traditional comprehensive plan. Transportation
planning also evolved, particularly in the wake of Robert Mitchell and Chester
Rapkin’s pioneering study Urban Traffic: A Function of Land Use (1954), which
traced the connections between land use and the massive highway programs of the
1950s.28 Several new methods emerged, including the systems approach to problem
solving and the widespread adoption of modeling to explain and predict metropoli-
tan growth. Urban designers focused on making places more humane, memorable,
economically valuable, and safe. Among the books that generated new approaches
to improving the physical environment were Kevin Lynch’s Image of the City (1960),
Oscar Newman’s Defensible Space: Crime Prevention through Urban Design (1972),
Jonathan Barnett’s Urban Design as Public Policy (1974), and William H. Whyte’s
Social Life of Small Urban Spaces (1980).29
Environmentalism also entered the lexicon of planning, spurred by Rachel
Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) and by subsequent grassroots initiatives, notably the
annual nationwide celebrations of Earth Day that began in 1970.30 Recognition of the
negative effects of automobile traffic, industrial pollution, and suburban expansion
led to the passage of landmark federal legislation that set the first national envi-
ronmental standards and for the first time mandated local compliance. These laws
included the Clean Air Act (1970), the Clean Water Act (1972), the Safe Drinking
Water Act (1974), and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,
and Liability Act (1980). Through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
(1969), which required the disclosure and mitigation of the environmental impacts
Figure 1–12 Kevin

Lynch helped urban
planners visualize the
components of a city,
indicated as landmarks,
districts, nodes, edges,
and paths.
Source: Kevin Lynch, Image of the City (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1960)
11255-01_CH01.indd 18 12/22/08 2:36:50 PM

of federal actions, Congress also created a process for ensuring that such actions
were not undertaken without appropriate consideration of wetlands, coastal zones,
and endangered species.31 Many states developed regulations patterned on NEPA
that applied to sizeable state and local projects. As noted earlier, in 1970, Congress
created EPA to oversee compliance with environmental laws; and in the early 1970s,
a few municipalities and states—notably Petaluma, California; Ramapo, New Jersey;
and Oregon—pioneered strong laws to contain suburban growth.
The laws created an armature for environmental planning practice. Using Ian
McHarg’s Design with Nature (1969) and other guiding texts,32 planners questioned
conventional development. They crafted environmentally sensitive plans, undertook
environmental impact studies and brownfields remediation programs, and developed
a range of growth management techniques.
Urban planners also engaged in historic preservation to rehabilitate notable dis-
tricts and to foster economic development. In the 1960s, New Haven, Philadelphia,
and Providence pioneered the use of urban renewal funds to preserve colonial-era
neighborhoods. In the 1970s, the National Trust for Historic Preservation began its
popular Main Street program, which reinvigorated downtowns through preservation
planning.
Most important, citizen participation became a critical element of the planning
process. It was also a major focus of the aspects of planning theory that focused on
communication, representation, and power. Political scientist Sherry Arnstein’s 1969
article “A Ladder of Citizen Participation,” which delineated its several steps from
public meetings to empowerment, characterized the thinking of the period.33
In the mid-1970s, Congress passed the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (1975)
and the Community Reinvestment Act (1977), legislation designed to eliminate
racial and gender discrimination by monitoring mortgage-lending practices. In 1986,
as part of massive federal tax reforms, Congress provided incentives for private
market action in building affordable housing; among the incentives was the
Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program—which, by 2000, had resulted in the
creation of as many tax-credit low-income housing units as there were public
housing units. And in the 1990s, HUD established several programs, most notably
HOPE VI, in an effort to redevelop distressed public housing projects as mixed-
income communities.34
Figure 1–13 Planner

Edmund Bacon
imagined the restora-
tion of Philadelphia’s
Society Hill district
(left) that today has
become a neighbor-
hood of choice (right).
Source: Prints and Photographs Division, Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress, and Eugénie L. Birch
11255-01_CH01.indd 19 12/22/08 2:36:50 PM

In the 1970s, federal-local relations took a sharp turn: beginning with Richard M.
Nixon’s administration, federal legislation drastically revised urban policy, curtailing
urban renewal and public housing programs in 1973 and substituting formula-driven
block grants for cities in 1974. In 1993, President Bill Clinton instituted empower-
ment zones—which, by providing tax relief for businesses in the zones, were
intended to spur job creation in distressed communities.
In the 1980s, local planning blossomed. State and local governments jumped
into growth management, with more than half the states adopting some form of
control on sprawl. Designers created and debated the new urbanism, an urban
design movement that promotes the construction of traditional, walkable, mixed-
use communities; the new urbanist approach is now widely accepted by real estate
developers. In the late 1990s, downtowns that had been decimated by the loss of
commercial and retail functions began to reinvent themselves, and succeeded in
attracting residential, entertainment, and cultural activities.
Between 1990 and 2005, Congress passed a series of transportation acts—the
Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA, 1991), the Transportation
Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21, 2001), and the Safe, Accountable, Flexible,
Efficient Transportation Equity Act—A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU, 2005)—that
continue to affect metropolitan planning. These acts not only widened the range of
purposes for which transportation money could be used, but also expanded the plan-
ning domain to include accessibility and energy conservation as well as mobility.
As a result of this legislation, a number of cities, including Cleveland, Phoenix, and
San Diego, have expanded or built transit systems and undertaken transit-oriented
development.
By 2006, the Census Bureau reported that the U.S. population was more than
300 million, reflecting a 48 percent increase since 1970, and 79 percent of the popu-
lation lived in urban areas. The census revealed three dramatic changes that had
reshaped the nation’s urban profile since 1970:
• Major shifts in the regional distribution of the U.S. population: among the
nation’s twenty-five most populous cities, those in the West (up 43 percent) and
South (up 53 percent) have grown at the expense of those in the North (down
7 percent) and Midwest (down 14 percent).35
• An increase in racial and ethnic diversity and in immigrants between 1970 and
2000: according to the U.S. Census, in 1970 the white population was 87 percent
and by 2005 it had dropped to 75 percent (with non-Hispanic whites recorded
at 66 percent). In the same period, the percentage of foreign-born residents
increased from 4 to 12 percent.36
• A rate of land consumption that is disproportionate to the rate of population
growth: over the thirty-year period between 1970 and 2000, the land area of
Austin, Texas, for example, increased by 249 percent (from 72 to 252 square
miles), and that of San Antonio increased by 122 percent (from 184 to 408
square miles); these rates were greater than the rates of population growth for
those communities: Austin’s was 161 percent and San Antonio’s was 75 percent.
The disparity between the rates of land consumption and population growth
stems from two principal sources: a rate of household formation that outpaces
the rate of population growth, and an increase in the average size of a dwelling
unit (from 1,375 square feet in 1970 to 2,057 square feet in 2000).
By the first decade of the twenty-first century, the planning field had become a
large tent, accommodating special interests from urban development to environmen-
tal protection, preservation, and planning for global climate change. It has come a
long distance from its nineteenth-century origins, yet its central preoccupations are
unchanged: thinking comprehensively, focusing on the long term, broadening par-
ticipation in decisions, and pursuing improvements to quality of life. In the course of
its history, planning has become widely accepted as a necessity, not a luxury.
11255-01_CH01.indd 20 12/22/08 2:36:52 PM

Notes
1 Available at University of Miami, School of revised versions of this handbook, known as
Architecture, arc.miami.edu/Law%20of the Green Book, every decade since.
%20Indies.html (accessed February 20, 2008). 15 F. Stuart Chapin Jr., Urban Land Use Planning
2 John William Reps, The Making of Urban (New York: Harper, 1957); T. J. Kent Jr., The
America (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Urban General Plan (San Francisco: Chandler
Press, 1965). Publishing, 1964).
3 See the National Atlas of the United States®, 16 Frank Hobbs and Nicole Stoops, Demographic
Public Land Survey System, nationalatlas.gov/ Trends in the 20th Century (Washington, D.C.: U.S.
articles/boundaries/a_plss.html#two) (accessed Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce,
February 20, 2008). November 2002), 11, 33, census.gov/ prod/
4 Neither the canals nor the rails were national 2002pubs/censr-4.pdf (accessed April 16, 2008).
systems; they were built in localities by 17 Ibid., 124, 125.
individual investors, who often used money 18 Scott Cohen, “Urban Renewal in West
from land sales to help pay for their invest- Philadelphia: An Examination of the University
ments. The land sales occurred because the of Pennsylvania’s Planning, Expansion, and
transportation made the land valuable. Community Role from the Mid-1940s to the
5 In 1904, the National League for Civic Mid-1970s” (thesis, University of Pennsylvania,
Improvement and the American Park and April 1998), 43, archives.upenn.edu/histy/
Outdoor Art Association combined to form the features/upwphil/cohen_s_thesis.pdf (accessed
American Civic Association. April 16, 2008). Figures are in 1964 dollars.
6 Ebenezer Howard, Tomorrow a Peaceful Path to 19 Hobbs and Stoops, Demographic Trends in the
Real Reform (London: Sonneschein, 1898; repr., 20th Century, 11, 33.
London: Routledge 2003); Ebenezer Howard, 20 “A Brief History of Shopping Centers,”
Garden Cities of To-Morrow (London: Sonne- International Council of Shopping Centers,
schein, 1902; repr., Cambridge: MIT Press, 2006, icsc.org.
1965). 21 See William Peterman, Neighborhood Planning
7 Jon A. Peterson, The Birth of City Planning in and Community-Based Development: The
the United States, 1840–1917 (Baltimore, Md.: Potential and Limits of Grassroots Action
Johns Hopkins Press, 2003). (Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage, 2000), 39.
8 Walter D. Moody, Wacker’s Manual of the Plan 22 “701” represents the number of the provision in
of Chicago (Chicago: H. C. Sherman, 1912), the law requiring local plans as a condition of
encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/10418 federal urban renewal funding. With passage of
.html (accessed February 20, 2008). this provision, planners and other officials
9 Donald A. Krueckeberg, “The Story of the began to refer to these documents as “701
Planner’s Journal, 1915–1980,” Journal of the plans.” The term is synonymous with compre-
American Planning Association 46 (January hensive, general, or master plans.
1980): 5–21; Eugénie Birch, “Advancing the Art 23 James Hoban, “My 30 Years at HUD,” Planning
and Science of Planning: Planners and their Magazine, August 2001, planning.org.
Organizations, 1909–1980,” Journal of the 24 Real Estate Research Corporation, The Costs
American Planning Association 46 (January of Sprawl: Environmental and Economic Costs
1980): 22–49. of Alternative Residential Development
10 John Nolen, “Twenty Years of City Planning Patterns at the Urban Fringe (Washington,
Progress in the United States,” in Planning D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1974);
Problems of Town, City and Region: Papers and Robert W. Burchell and David Listokin, Fiscal
Discussion at the 19th National Conference on Impact Handbook (New Brunswick, N.J.:
City Planning (Philadelphia, Pa.: William F. Center for Urban Policy Research, Rutgers
Fell, 1931), 1–44. University, 1978).
11 Robert VanGiezen and Albert E. Schwenk, 25 Martin Meyerson, “Building the Middle-Range
“Compensation from before World War 1 Planning Bridge to Comprehensive Planning,”
through the Great Depression,” Compensation Journal of the American Institute of Planners
and Working Conditions (Fall 2001): 20, 22, no. 2 (1956): 58–64, repr. in A Reader in
bls.gov/opub/cwc/archive/fall2001art3.pdf Planning Theory, ed. Andreas Faludi (New
(accessed February 20, 2008). York: Oxford, 1973), 127–138; Charles
12 Louis Wirth, “Urbanism as a Way of Life,” Lindblom, “The Science of ‘Muddling
American Journal of Sociology 44 (July 1938): Through,’” Public Administration Review 19
1–24. (Spring 1959): 79–88, repr. in Faludi, A Reader
13 Ernest W. Burgess, “The Growth of the City,” in in Planning Theory, 151–168; Alan Altshuler,
The City, ed. Robert E. Park, Ernest W. Burgess, “The Goals of Comprehensive Planning,”
and Roderick D. McKenzie (Chicago: University Journal of the American Institute of Planners 31,
of Chicago Press, 1925); Homer Hoyt, One no. 3 (1965): 186–197, repr. in Faludi, A Reader
Hundred Years of Land Values in Chicago in Planning Theory, 193–209; Paul Davidoff,
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1933). “Advocacy and Pluralism in Planning,” Journal
14 Ladislas Segoe, Local Planning Administration of the Institute of American Planners 31, no. 4
(Chicago: International City Managers’ (1965): 331–338, repr. in Faludi, A Reader in
Association [ICMA], 1941). ICMA has issued Planning Theory, 277–296.
11255-01_CH01.indd 21 12/22/08 2:36:52 PM

26 Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great ments of economic, social, and other impacts of
American Cities (New York: Random House, 1961). large-scale developments.
27 Herbert J. Gans, Urban Villagers: Group and 32 Ian McHarg, Design with Nature (Garden City,
Class in the Life of Italian-Americans (Glencoe, N.Y.: Natural History Press, 1969); Real Estate
N.Y.: Free Press of Glencoe, 1962). Research Corporation, The Costs of Sprawl.
28 Robert B. Mitchell and Chester Rapkin, Urban 33 Sherry R. Arnstein, “A Ladder of Citizen
Traffic: A Function of Land Use (New York: Participation,” Journal of the American
Columbia University Press, 1954). Planning Association 35 (July 1969): 216–224.
29 Kevin Lynch, Image of the City (Cambridge, 34 Eugénie Birch, “Hopeful Signs: U.S. Urban
Mass.: MIT Press, 1960); Oscar Newman, Revitalization in the Twenty-first Century,” in
Defensible Space: Crime Prevention through Land Policies and Their Outcomes, ed. Gregory
Urban Design (New York: Macmillan, 1972); K. Ingram and Yu-Hung Hong (Cambridge,
Jonathan Barnett, Urban Design as Public Policy Mass.: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 2007),
(New York: Architectural Record Press, 1974); 286–326.
William H. Whyte, Social Life of Small Urban 35 Birch, “Hopeful Signs,” 290.
Spaces (Washington, D.C.: Conservation 36 U.S. Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract
Foundation, 1980). of the United States: 1972 (Washington, D.C.:
30 Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (Boston: Houghton U.S. Department of Commerce, 1972), Table 89;
Mifflin, 1962). U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the
31 NEPA and subsequent state environmental United States: 2008 (Washington, D.C.: U.S.
impact disclosure laws also required assess- Department of Commerce, 2007).
11255-01_CH01.indd 22 12/22/08 2:36:52 PM

FOCUS ON administer zoning and subdivision regula-

tions, and budget to pay for improvements.
Why communities Although most communities develop their

plans through extensive citizen participa-
plan tion, few of your neighbors, co-workers, or
friends are likely to know exactly what local
Frederick C. Collignon planning is. They may have run up against
a zoning ordinance when they tried to
No time is more exciting and challenging remodel, attended a public meeting about a
than the present for metropolitan com- nearby project, or voted on a bond issue for
munities. In 2006, the population of the community improvements. But they prob-
United States reached 300 million, and it ably do not have a broad understanding of
is expected to pass 400 million well before how planning touches their lives or of why
2050.1 In most metropolitan areas, the rate communities plan.
at which land is being consumed is greater
than the rate of population growth. While
Communities plan in order to make
urban areas in the North and Midwest are
informed choices about the future—
losing population and employment, those in
that is, to create and maintain places
the West and South—where there are fewer
where people want to live, work,
geographical (and, in some cases, regula-
and conduct business.
tory) constraints on growth—are gaining
residents. Major changes are occurring in
where people are choosing to live and work:
There is a simple answer: communities plan
suburbs and exurban areas are capturing
in order to make informed choices about
more and more residents and jobs at the
the future—that is, to create and maintain
same time that downtowns are becoming
places where people want to live, work, and
more attractive.
conduct business. Specifically, communities
The makeup of the U.S. population is chang- use planning to
ing as well. As of 2006, the country was • Anticipate contingencies, such as
home to 37.5 million immigrants, accounting shifts in the policies of higher levels
for 12.5 percent of the total U.S. population— of government; prepare for potential
more than at any time since the 1920s.2 shocks, such as a natural or technological
Americans are living longer, and in many disaster; and take advantage of oppor-
different kinds of households. In general, we tunities, such as an influx of high-tech
are more highly educated, but there are wid- companies
ening disparities in income. These and other
• Promote growth while protecting valued
social, economic, and demographic changes
aspects of the current built and natural
are greatly affecting the amount of land we
environments
occupy; our ability to conserve open space;
• Coordinate the long-term investments
how much we travel and by what means; and
and actions that will be needed to
our need for infrastructure, housing, and a
achieve the agreed-upon goals
wide range of public services, from parks
and schools to libraries, community centers, • Coordinate land use regulation,
and facilities for senior citizens. transportation, utilities, and other
governmental functions and services
Every day, news headlines highlight urban
• Balance and integrate public and private
problems: sprawl, congestion, a shortage of
sector activities
affordable housing, decaying infrastructure,
not-in-my-backyard conflicts, environmental • Resolve conflicts between different areas
risk, and many more. These conditions cry within the community and between
out for communities to think about their neighboring communities
futures: to engage in planning. Communities • Ensure that local policies are in step
must plan for future growth and develop- with those of state, regional, and federal
ment, plot investments in capital projects, entities
11255-01_CH01.indd 23 12/22/08 2:36:52 PM

• Fairly distribute both the benefits and In the case of residents, the importance
burdens of growth, and protect the of various community features will differ
interests of those who have the fewest depending on age, income, education, pro-
resources fession, and cultural background. Residents’
• Assess previous planning efforts, identify needs and expectations also shift over
errors or weaknesses, and change time: for example, concerns about obesity
direction as needed are strengthening the demand for walkable
streets; an aging population, with a higher
• Document collective agreements about
prevalence of disability, is increasing the
the future of the community, outline
need for more accessible streets and build-
strategies for achieving them, and
ings; and the use of cell phones is requiring
set forth individual and governmental
new communications infrastructure. None-
actions that will be required to
theless, most citizens want
implement those strategies.
• Adequate and affordable housing, with
Given the complexity of these tasks, it is sufficient choice to meet a wide range of
clear that a well-planned community does preferences
not result from disparate, unrelated efforts,
• A good transportation system that
but from the collective and coordinated
provides easy access to work, school, and
actions of many individuals and organiza-
other destinations
tions over time. Every well-planned place
has a cadre of planners: people who help • Good schools—and, to ensure the
shape and advance community aspirations community’s continuing competitiveness,
by working with elected officials, govern- opportunities for lifelong learning
ment agencies, businesses, civic groups, • Public services at acceptable levels of
neighborhood associations, and nonprofit quality and cost
organizations. These planners may work in • A healthy and well-maintained environ-
the public, private, or nonprofit sectors. They ment that is safe from crime, clean and
may be professional planners employed well maintained, and adequately prepared
by local government or consulting firms; to cope with natural or technological
citizens appointed to planning commissions; hazards
or advocates working for special-interest
• Protection of property values—which,
groups. Whatever their background or affili-
for most families, are the largest
ation, these planners understand growth,
components of wealth
development, and design, and they know
how to engage in serious discussion about • Good architecture, urban design, and
planning issues. They have the skills help natural amenities
resolve conflicts, and to assist with the col- • Diverse and accessible cultural, retail,
lective decision making that is the basis of a sports, and recreational opportunities
well-planned community. • Institutions and services to meet the
needs of the most vulnerable members of
the population.
A well-planned community does not
• A healthy business climate that will
result from disparate, unrelated efforts,
attract and sustain economic growth.
but from the collective and coordinated
actions of many individuals and In some cases, differences in preferences
organizations over time. may spark conflict. For example, a commu-
nity may be split over whether to develop
an abandoned industrial waterfront site as
It is important to note that planning does a community recreational amenity or as an
not solely benefit the community at large: it upscale residential and retail center. Similarly,
also benefits individuals and entities. In fact, some segments of a community may support
it is because plans are derived from individ- the development of low-priced retail as a
ual interests that residents, businesses, and means of creating jobs and increasing busi-
nonprofit organizations choose to actively ness tax revenues, while others may believe
engage in planning. that such projects will lead to disorderly
11255-01_CH01.indd 24 12/22/08 2:36:52 PM

growth and threaten the traditional character public, private, and nonprofit—that make up
of the community. Planning provides a way a community. Planning helps communities
to address such conflicts and help keep the sustain their desirability as places to be.
community focused on its larger goals.
Notes
Businesses have other planning concerns.
1 U.S. Census Bureau, “Projected Population of the
Businesses are highly diverse: some create United States, by Race and Hispanic Origin: 2000 to
products and services for a local market, 2050,” Table 1a, census.gov/ipc/www/usinterimproj/
and others compete nationally or globally. natprojtab01a.pdf (accessed April 13, 2008).
2 U.S. Census Bureau, 2006 American Community
While each kind of business has its particu- Survey: Data Profile Highlights, factfinder.census.gov/
lar needs, businesses generally want a home/saff/main.html?_lang=en (accessed April 12,
2008); Migration Policy Institute, MPI Data Hub, “Size
favorable business climate that offers
of the Foreign-Born Population and Foreign Born as
• Cheap, safe, and convenient access to a Percentage of the Total Population, for the United
States: 1850 to 2006,” migrationinformation.org/
viable markets
datahub/charts/final.fb.shtml (accessed April 12, 2008).
• Good transportation for freight and
consumers (although technology is
changing the nature of transportation
FOCUS ON
demands)
• Access to a labor pool with appropriate
skills
Planners as leaders
• The opportunity to be part of a “business Alexander Garvin
cluster”—a geographic concentration
of related businesses that includes Planners are in the change business. A plan-
suppliers, financial and accounting ner’s work should be judged by the quality
services, and other specialized facilities and depth of its influence on people’s lives.
and services that will foster business
expansion and efficiency Many marvelous planners were not trained
as professional planners, and many planners
• Affordable rents, taxes, fees, and
with professional training have had little
regulatory requirements influence on their surroundings. The dif-
• Reliable public services ference between the two is the sometimes
• Attractive environments for employees mysterious quality of leadership. To under-
and customers. stand the role of leadership in planning, it
may be instructive to look at some historical
Employers in the nonprofit sector—cultural examples of how planners have helped bring
and faith-based institutions; nonprofit orga- about change.
nizations that provide services or play advo-
cacy roles; educational institutions; medical The political and economic context
facilities; local, state, and federal agencies;
of planning
and public authorities, such as port and
airport authorities, utility districts, and Planning in the United States is based on
transportation authorities—also want good two operative factors: a pluralistic, represen-
transportation access, a skilled labor pool, a tative democracy and a well-regulated free-
safe and attractive environment, good public market economy. In practical terms, this
means that American elected officials make
services, and a predictable future to secure
decisions based in large part on what they
their long-term investment in buildings and
believe the voters will support. In keeping
property. While some of these entities are
with the American economic system, most
not subject to the same regulations that
construction occurs on private property, in
pertain to the private sector, it is essential
response to private market demand, and is
to include them in planning endeavors: as
tenanted by private citizens and organiza-
residents and businesses become more and
tions. Developers try to anticipate demand
more footloose, institutions are increasingly
by building in places where people would
likely to serve as anchors for a community.
like to live, work, or shop. When they are
In sum, planning confers important benefits successful, they make a profit—their reward
on individuals, and on the various entities— for the financial risk.
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Of course, this is a somewhat idealized view When considered closely, even famous plans
of how American towns and cities are built, turn out to be more about process than about
and there are exceptions, both benign (eco- achieving a fixed goal. Daniel Burnham’s
nomic incentives) and not (corruption). But 1909 Plan of Chicago, for example, was
by and large, more than those of any other originally intended as a plan for every part
nation in the world, the American political of the city. However, much of what Burnham
and economic systems are designed to be proposed—grand axial boulevards and civic
responsive to individual choice. Moreover, centers—was initially discarded as impracti-
both systems are intentionally kept highly cal. Although many of the projects recom-
fragmented. On the political level, power is mended in the plan were eventually
divided between national, state, and local implemented, transforming the city and
governments and between the executive, triggering billions of dollars in private
legislative, and judicial branches. In the investment, implementing the changes took
economic realm, the government encour- years of advocacy and political effort. In
ages competition, preventing monopolies other words, some aspects of the plan were
and prosecuting cartels that grant any one enacted only when they proved politically
entity too much control. Within either the and economically feasible. As Burnham him-
political or the economic system, a variety self said, “When particular portions of the
of constituencies may face off. Such care- plan shall be taken up for execution, wider
fully bounded conflicts are intended to pro- knowledge, longer experience, or a change
vide checks on the power of any one actor. in local conditions may suggest a better
Of course, the government also intervenes solution.”1
to enforce laws, to coordinate, to regulate,
and to create projects for the public good.
Baron Haussmann, the great nineteenth- Planning is a fluid and dynamic process:
century planner of Paris, succeeded in cities are constantly changing, often in
imposing a plan only because he had the unexpected ways, and planning must
support of Emperor Napoleon III, who had continuously respond to new realities.
helped design it. Even with the emperor’s
support, however, Haussmann faced fierce
opposition every step of the way and was Burnham’s proposal to construct a bridge
eventually forced to resign. In America, across the Chicago River at Michigan Avenue
this sort of planning is impossible. In New and to widen Pine Street, which was to be
York, Robert Moses, so often depicted as an renamed North Michigan Avenue and trans-
autocratic power broker, accomplished what formed into a wide boulevard, illustrates just
he did, not through raw power but through how complicated the planning process is and
compromise, political acumen, savvy, oppor- just how many people need to be involved
tunism, and sheer energy—and even then, he (see Figure 1–14a on page 28). Burnham
accomplished only a small part of what he didn’t invent the idea for the bridge; Chica-
had set out to build. goans had been proposing similar projects
since the early 1880s. In 1896, Burnham had
Implementing Burnham’s plan proposed a tunnel under the Chicago River
for Chicago to connect Michigan Avenue and Pine Street.
In 1905, a committee of the city council
To understand American planning, one must
voted to build a bridge to achieve the same
first make a distinction between planning
end. Both of these plans died.
and making a plan. Too many planners
believe that the end result of planning is In 1906, the Merchants Club (a business
a static plan. But planning is a fluid and association that, in 1907, merged into the
dynamic process: cities are constantly Commercial Club) sponsored Daniel Burn-
changing, often in unexpected ways, and ham and Edward Bennett to prepare a plan
planning must continuously respond to new for Chicago. Burnham had been a member
realities. The best planning anticipates these of Chicago’s political and business establish-
new realities and shapes the changes in a ment for more than two decades. His reputa-
way that benefits the public, while making tion as a planner had been enhanced by his
the most efficient possible use of resources. work on the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposi-
11255-01_CH01.indd 26 12/22/08 2:36:53 PM

tion in Chicago and by his subsequent plans and boulevard could move from concep-
for Cleveland, San Francisco, and Manila. tion to reality. And it took decades more for
Burnham’s firm spent three years produc- developers, lenders, architects, and builders
ing the Plan of Chicago, which included to recreate the avenue and construct new
proposals for a Michigan Avenue bridge and buildings with new uses. Ultimately, what
for North Michigan Avenue (Figure 1–14b). emerged bore little resemblance to the
To carry out the plan, the city established watercolor renderings illustrating Burnham’s
the City Plan Commission—which, under the original plan. Although Burnham was an
leadership of businessman Charles Wacker, essential figure and his plan the essential
published booklets, sponsored presenta- document in the process, the planning and
tions, and lobbied in favor of the plan. implementation of this single improvement
engaged thousands of people: bankers,
The published plan faced opposition from
politicians, real estate speculators, judges,
property owners along Pine Street, who did
lawyers, developers, civic organizations,
not want their buildings condemned to make
architects, and voters.
way for the widened avenue. Meanwhile, Chi-
cago’s business and political elites organized
Building public constituencies
political support for the Michigan Avenue
proposals. In 1913, the Chicago city council The length of the planning process in
authorized the condemnation of property Chicago, and the large number of people
along Pine Street, and the issuance of a involved, reflect the nature of the political
process. It took time to develop a constitu-
bond to cover both the cost of the property
ency to support the idea, to organize and
and the construction of the new bridge and
lobby for the improvements, to foster the
boulevard. The city began condemning the
political will to face down property owners
property in 1916 and spent the next two years
and other local interests that opposed the
fighting off a series of lawsuits by outraged
new bridge, and to build support for the
property owners, most of whom wanted more
taxes and bonds required to pay for the
money for their property. It was not until 1918
improvements. A variety of interest groups
that the city completed the property acquisi-
contributed to the process and eventually
tion and began demolition and construction.
agreed on a physical design that met the
By 1920, the bridge and the new boulevard
functional, physical, political, financial, and
were complete (Figure 1–14c).
aesthetic requirements of all the partici-
The city began to rebuild North Michigan pants. Forty years is a long time to build a
Avenue even before the bridge was com- bridge and widen a street—but, by the end of
plete. This work was shaped, in large part, the process, thousands of entities and indi-
by Chicago’s 1923 zoning ordinance, which viduals had had their say, and every legal
allowed buildings along the avenue to rise to requirement had been fulfilled. The final
264 feet along their street wall, and permit- result perfectly met Chicago’s needs—and
ted towers set back from the street to rise transformed the city.
higher still. During the 1920s, the combination
Those involved fell into roughly three cat-
of zoning and pent-up demand created an
egories: private interests (such as property
enormous building boom. As a result, North
owners and real estate developers); public
Michigan Avenue was transformed from a
officials (such as the mayors who supported
narrow thoroughfare lined by warehouses
the project); and private organizations (such
and small shops into the Magnificent Mile—a
as the Commercial Club) that lobbied in the
stretch of skyscraper office buildings, depart-
name of the public good. Yet it cannot be
ment stores, elegant hotels, and high-end said that everyone involved was a planner
shops. The building boom continued through and that the plan was simply the handiwork
the decades; today, North Michigan Avenue is of thousands. Burnham’s work really was
the premiere shopping, residential, and busi- essential to the outcome.
ness address in Chicago (Figure 1–14d).
Thus, it took nearly forty years—from the Planners as integrators of ideas

1880s to 1920—of planning, advocacy, elec- What made Burnham unique and extra-
tions, court battles, political jockeying, and ordinary was his ability to look beyond
construction before the plan for a bridge competing interests and single functions to
11255-01_CH01.indd 27 12/22/08 2:36:53 PM

Figure 1–14a The Rush

Street Bridge, Chicago
(circa 1890), one block
west of Michigan Avenue,
accommodated only one
lane of traffic in each
direction.
Source: Courtesy of the

Chicago Historical Society
Figure 1–14b The

Burnham and Bennett
Plan of Chicago
envisioned a straight-
ened two-level riverfront
with a new Michigan
Avenue Bridge.
Source: Daniel Burnham

and Edward Bennett, Plan
of Chicago (1909)
Figure 1–14c By the late 1920s, the new bridge and Figure 1–14d By the start of the twenty-first
widened North Michigan Avenue had already begun to century, North Michigan Avenue had become the city’s
spark massive private development. premiere retail and office district.
Source: Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society Source: Alexander Garvin
11255-01_CH01.indd 28 12/22/08 2:36:53 PM

integrate a variety of interests, functions, on Yosemite and Niagara Falls; and his
and influences and so create a compelling— hundreds of lectures, articles, and park
and transformative—vision. Successful proposals, Olmsted did more to reshape the
planners are integrators: they know how to American landscape than any other indi-
address a variety of needs, satisfy a variety vidual. His parks reorganized the ways that
of interests, develop a comprehensive cities worked, attracting new development
vision, and imagine how the effects of a and connecting the rest of the city through
project will spill over, transforming the parkways. His suburbs created a new model
surrounding area or the city as whole. for civilized living (see Figure 1–16 on page
30). In short, Olmsted saw city, suburb, and
Integrative visions are not always success-
the natural environment as an integrated
ful at first. After the Great Fire in 1666, the
whole, and his work reflected the fullness
architect Christopher Wren produced a plan
and complexity of that vision.
for the reconstruction of London, but it was
never implemented. In 1956, the architect The twentieth century saw the rise of
Victor Gruen—one of the most influential large public bureaucracies and a resulting
planners of the twentieth century and demand for public administrators capable
inventor of the modern enclosed shopping of thinking in integrative ways. None was
mall—proposed a plan for Fort Worth, more talented than Robert Moses, who
Texas: A Greater Fort Worth Tomorrow (Fig- once said, “Our watchword should be that
ure 1–15). Apart from the idea of a ring road we found our city a wilderness of stone
surrounding the central business district, and steel, crowded and inaccessible, and
the plan was not implemented. that we opened it to light and air, planted
with the green of parks and the laughter of
Frederick Law Olmsted, the greatest plan- playgrounds, and carved out wide spokes of
ner of the nineteenth century and perhaps rims for parkways and expressways to make
America’s greatest planner ever, was the the city and country one.” This philosophy
quintessential integrative thinker. Through guided Moses for decades. Holding as many
his designs for Manhattan’s Central Park as a dozen public positions at once, he laid
and Boston’s Emerald Necklace; his plans out highways and parkways that were lined
for Riverside, a suburb in Illinois, and for and punctuated by parks; demolished slums
Sudbrook, a suburb in Maryland; his reports to build new housing projects permeated
Figure 1–15 Victor Gruen’s 1956 plan for Fort Worth advocated a pedestrian environment, with underground
services and multilevel garages, all accessible from an expressway loop encircling the downtown.
Source: Victor Gruen, A Greater Fort Worth Tomorrow (1956)
11255-01_CH01.indd 29 12/22/08 2:36:56 PM

Figure 1–16 Frederick Law Olmsted’s plan for Riverside, Illinois, created a tree-lined public realm that became
a model for suburban design.
Source: Alexander Garvin
by light and air; constructed playgrounds For-profit developers can also bring an inte-
and parks throughout the city; and created grated vision to their work. In planning the
Lincoln Center and New York’s first genuine new town of Columbia, Maryland, the devel-
convention center. In fact, he remade New oper James Rouse assembled a team of
York in a manner that was nothing short of expert advisers—leading thinkers in educa-
astonishing. At the same time, he embodied tion, sociology, government, health, psychol-
all the flaws and risks of public bureaucracy: ogy, family life, planning, and more—to help
lack of political accountability, disregard him create the ideal environment. Conceived
for local concerns, and rigidity in the face as an alternative to the “formless places
of opposition. Although Moses found the without order, beauty, or reason” that Rouse
word planning repugnant, his combination saw being “splattered across the land-
of vision, practicality, entrepreneurship, and scape,”2 Columbia was carefully designed as
ability made him a planner of the highest a collection of small neighborhoods, each
order (see Figure 1–17). with their own community facilities. Each
Figure 1–17 Brooklyn’s

Shore Parkway is typical
of the way that Robert
Moses combined financing
for roads, bridges, and
parkland to pay for a much
improved quality of life.
11255-01_CH01.indd 30 12/22/08 2:36:58 PM

group of neighborhoods supported a village result has been a total transformation of

with its own shopping facilities and houses the Center City District: it is cleaner, safer,
of worship, and the villages, in turn, sup- more congenial, and more vibrant. Levy—and
ported a town center with office space and a other talented leaders of BIDs, such as
shopping mall. All this was set in a land- Daniel Biederman of New York’s Bryant Park
scape of generous parks, verdant woods, Restoration Corporation and 34th Street
and lovely public spaces (Figure 1–18). Partnership—have demonstrated that a
Columbia was integrative planning at its gifted manager can develop a comprehen-
best: a fully realized vision of ideal suburban sive view of the issues and opportunities
life. Unfortunately for Rouse, however, it was within a district and integrate them into a
a financial failure: the lenders foreclosed on vision that transforms a part of the city.
the Rouse Company and later had to write
off millions of dollars in losses. Professional planners
One recent development in cities has been Professional planning was born in the
the rise of public-private partnerships, early decades of the twentieth century; it
entities that link the government’s powers arose from the need to coordinate chaotic
to the private sector’s entrepreneurial skills urban growth—for example, to ensure that
and relative freedom from constraints. the infrastructure could support the new
Opportunities for such partnerships have populations flooding into cities—and to cre-
given rise to a new generation of civic ate visions that would guide future develop-
entrepreneurs who are particularly skilled ment. In 1914, the Newark Plan Commission
at creating business improvement districts hired Harland Bartholomew as its secretary
(BIDs). In the hands of a talented leader and engineer, making him the first full-
such as Paul Levy, executive director of time municipal planning employee in the
Philadelphia’s Center City District, a BID can United States. Bartholomew later became
become a planning tool capable of trans- the primary planner for St. Louis, and his
forming a downtown. In 2006, the Center firm, Harland Bartholomew and Associates,
City BID had a budget of more than $14 mil- became one of the country’s most active
lion devoted to sanitation, security, and mar- and influential planning firms.
keting for the district. But the BID has also
worked with the Philadelphia police depart- Bartholomew came to the job from an
ment on new law enforcement practices; engineering background, and he approached
has helped establish a community court to his job from an engineer’s perspective.
deal promptly with quality-of-life offenses; Armed with statistics on demographics,
has worked to create opportunities for the economics, traffic, growth trends, and more,
homeless; releases a constant stream of Bartholomew and his colleagues undertook
market research on the downtown housing, elaborate studies and developed projections
retail, and office markets; and lobbies for to determine how a city would grow and
policies and projects that will strengthen what changes to infrastructure and regu-
the competitiveness of downtown. The lations would make that growth possible.
Figure 1–18 At
Columbia, Maryland,
James Rouse demon-
strated that private
developers, without
government assistance,
could provide a model of
integrated planning.
11255-01_CH01.indd 31 12/22/08 2:37:00 PM

Bartholomew called his approach “scientific”; compelling vision of the future of their city.
others used the phrase “the City Efficient” to The models showed Philadelphia as it existed
refer to his work—contrasting it, perhaps sim- at the time, but it had parts that could be
plistically, with the City Beautiful movement flipped over to show what each section of
associated with Burnham and his followers. the city could become. From 1949 to 1970,
But no matter what the name, the idea was Bacon led the most sophisticated planning
to provide the rational, coordinated planning process in the nation, creating highly visible
that cities needed in order to grow. changes that included demolishing the Broad
Street Station and railroad viaduct (known
Bartholomew was particularly effective in locally as the Chinese Wall) and replacing it
implementing his recommendations because with the shops and offices of Penn Center
he recognized that plans not only had to be (Figures 1–19 and 1–20); expanding the shop-
conceived, but also had to be implemented. ping district by constructing the Market East
When his firm undertook planning for a city shopping complex; and, in perhaps his most
or town, it sent a staff member to live in that extraordinary achievement, renewing Society
place, full-time, for three years. The staff Hill, which became the most desirable neigh-
member worked closely with local govern- borhood in Philadelphia.
ment agencies and with a citizens’ advisory
committee, discussing proposals and help- Planners as skilled generalists
ing to generate political support. The final
In the brochure for the Better Philadelphia
recommendations came complete with price
Exhibition, Edmund Bacon wrote that the
tags and a strategy for funding the improve-
purpose of the exhibition was “to gain the
ments. Bartholomew’s employees were so
confidence of a public made cynical by
successful that when they finished, the
utopian futuramas and the inertia of local
jurisdictions they had worked for often hired
politicians.”4 This assertion—that the role
them away from him.
of the planner is to look out for the public
In the wake of Bartholomew’s work—and interest—is an ideal prescription for mod-
thanks in large part to his efforts—the role ern planners, whether they come from the
of professional planner became an accepted planning profession or not. Planners must
part of the municipal landscape, and it balance public and private interests, general
remains so to this day. Every major city has and local concerns. They must also prove
a planning department under the leadership their value to society by advancing feasible
of a planning director. In some cases, the projects of import—and then ensuring that
planning department provides a platform for those projects are completed.
visionary and integrative leadership. Perhaps more important, planners must be
Edmund Bacon, executive director of Phil- entrepreneurs. Their objective must be to
adelphia’s City Planning Commission from create and shape change. That means look-
1949 to 1970, raised the role of professional ing for opportunities to do things differently,
planner to a new level of visibility. Educated taking note of shifts in society or in markets,
as an architect, Bacon first worked as a and taking the initiative to create a new real-
ity rather than being swept along by events.
housing advocate and later joined a group of
young Philadelphia reformers (known as the Over the past century, society has become
Young Turks) who were determined to bring vastly more complex. Every field of knowl-
an end to the corrupt Republican machine edge has advanced in leaps and bounds
and drag Philadelphia into the modern era. as our research methods have improved,
Bacon, a Philadelphia native, later said, “In our technologies have advanced, and we
1940 or 1941, I made a vow that come hell systematically amass new data and new
or high water, I would make Philadelphia as knowledge. The result is a society of incred-
good as I could.”3 ibly talented and well-informed specialists.
The planning field alone includes experts in
One of Bacon’s first planning efforts was
architecture, civil engineering, transporta-
helping to organize the Better Philadelphia
tion, public safety, public health, finance,
Exhibition of 1947. Mounted in space donated
law, and more.
by Gimbel’s department store, the exhibition
used three-dimensional models, accompa- One unfortunate consequence of specializa-
nied by text, to present Philadelphians with a tion, however, is a fragmented approach to
11255-01_CH01.indd 32 12/22/08 2:37:01 PM

Figure 1–19 Trains used to enter Philadelphia on an elevated viaduct, dripping soot and making a terrible
racket as they made their way into the old Broad Street Station. Property owners avoided building
anywhere near this rail viaduct, known locally as the “Chinese Wall.”
Source: Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society
Figure 1–20 As a result of Edmund Bacon’s efforts, the “Chinese Wall” was demolished and replaced by
Penn Center, which triggered massive private investment on Market Street.
11255-01_CH01.indd 33 12/22/08 2:37:02 PM

examining issues and making decisions. Take, noble, logical diagram once recorded
for example, an ordinary city street. The will never die, but long after we are
design, placement, and construction of the gone will be a living thing, asserting
roadway and sidewalk are determined by the itself with ever growing insistency.5
transportation department, which is focused
on keeping traffic moving smoothly. The Bacon expressed the same idea slightly
gutters are controlled by the agency that is differently: “Create a figure that is so
responsible for sewers. The water pipes are overpowering that people forget alterna-
installed by the water department. The fire tives.”6 Burnham, Bacon, and Olmsted all
department wants to be sure its trucks can understood the power of a great figure.
get through. The police are concerned about Bartholomew, for all his talents, never did. It
public safety. The sanitation department is the planner’s greatest weapon.
wants to be sure it can pick up the garbage.
The transit authority needs places for its Notes
buses to park; in a large city, there may be 1 Daniel H. Burnham and Edward H. Bennett, Plan
a subway underneath. And this list doesn’t of Chicago (Chicago: Commercial Club of Chicago,
1909), 2, encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/
even mention the private property that fronts
pages/10417.html (accessed March 24, 2008).
the street, which is of concern to landlords, 2 From a statement by James W. Rouse before a com-
retailers, tenants, and other parties. mittee of Congress in support of the New Communi-
ties Section, Title II of the Housing Bill for 1966, as
cited in Morton Hoppenfeld, The Columbia Process:
The Potential for New Towns (Letchworth Hertford-
What society needs in planning, and shire, England: Garden City Press Limited, 1971), 3.
3 Edmund Bacon, interview with author, August 20,
elsewhere, is not more specialists; it
1998.
needs skilled generalists. 4 Edmund Bacon, phone conversation with author,
October 5, 2001.
5 Despite the fact that there is no known source for
this quotation, it was quoted in a 1918 Christmas card
What society needs in planning, and else- from Wilis Polk to Edward Bennett as a statement
where, is not more specialists; it needs Daniel Burnham made in 1907, and it has always been
attributed to Burnham.
skilled generalists. Planners must be able to
6 Edmund Bacon, interview with author, November 22,
grasp many viewpoints and ways of under- 1998.
standing the world, and knit them together.
This does not require being an expert in
every field; that would be impossible. But it
FOCUS ON
does require the ability to understand the
fundamental issues in a variety of fields, and
the relationships between them. Planners
must be able to speak the language of archi-
The authority to plan
tects, bankers, engineers, public servants, Patricia E. Salkin
politicians, and citizens. They must be fluent
in the language of finance, market analysis, Planning is perhaps the single most impor-
politics, design, and more. They must be tant function of local government in the
able to divine what is feasible and what is United States. Residents depend on local
not. They must be effective communicators— government officials to ensure, through
able to write clearly, speak effectively, planning, the sustainability of their neigh-
and convey ideas through images. Finally, borhoods and communities. As is noted in
planners must be diplomats, able to forge the statutes of New York State, “Significant
compromises among disparate groups. decisions and actions affecting the immedi-
ate and long-range protection, enhance-
Drawing on all these skills, a planner must
ment, growth and development of the state
be able to create a compelling vision that
and its communities are made by local gov-
captures the public imagination. This is what
ernments.”1 This responsibility calls for the
Burnham meant when he said,
development and coordination of various
Make no little plans; they have no types of plans—including, but not limited to,
magic to stir men’s blood and will not comprehensive land use plans, master plans,
be realized. Make big plans; aim high capital improvement plans, emergency
in hope and work, remembering that a plans, and transportation plans.
11255-01_CH01.indd 34 12/22/08 2:37:04 PM

Local planning authority comes from a State governments adopt planning

variety of federal, state, local, and regional Today, according to the American Planning
sources. While the focus in this article is on Association, ten states make local planning
municipal authority to develop a comprehen- optional; twenty-five states make it condi-
sive land use plan—which is the central plan- tionally mandatory (i.e., local governments
ning function for municipalities—a multitude are required to develop a plan only if they
of other plans are authorized, and sometimes choose to create a planning commission);
required, by various levels of government. and fifteen states make it mandatory.7
Unfortunately, these plans are not always
coordinated with the comprehensive plan. For The content of the comprehensive plan and
example, although the state and federal gov- the level of detail at which the subjects are
ernments require plans to address hazards addressed vary considerably. Some state
such as hurricanes, flooding, earthquakes, statutes provide no guidance or mandates,
and wildfires, the effectiveness of such plans while others are more prescriptive. New
often hinges on their being synchronized with York law, for example, suggests a wide
local land use plans and zoning.2 The lack of range of elements that may be included in a
mandated intra- and intergovernmental plan comprehensive plan; California law requires
coordination is perhaps the greatest weak- every municipality to create a general plan
ness of local planning in the United States. that includes, at a minimum, the following
elements: land use, circulation, housing,
The Standard City Planning conservation, open space, noise, and safety.8
Enabling Act A few states, such as Oregon, require local
Local governments’ authority to shape their land use plans to be consistent with the
growth and development originated in the state plan and policies.9
1920s, when various states adopted enabling
legislation for planning. Most followed the Legal significance of the
guidance offered in the Standard City comprehensive plan
Planning Enabling Act (SCPEA), which was One of the SCPEA’s most significant influ-
developed by the U.S. Department of Com- ences was its endorsement of optional rather
merce in 1928. Written by prominent leaders than mandatory planning.10 The notion that
in the planning field—including Cincinnati planning is optional led, in turn, to the con-
zoning lawyer Alfred Bettman and Edward troversial view that planning, or the adoption
M. Bassett, the author of the New York City of a comprehensive plan, is not necessarily a
zoning ordinance—the SCPEA covered six prerequisite to the adoption of zoning laws—a
main subjects: view that has been confirmed by the majority
• The organization and power of the of state courts.11 Nonetheless, it is common
planning commission, which was tasked practice for zoning and other land use con-
with preparing and adopting a master plan3 trols to be consistent with the comprehensive
• The content of the master plan plan. Thus, the plan is the foundation for the
legal actions that are designed to implement
• The adoption of a master street plan by
the goals set forth within it.
the governing body
• The approval, by the planning commission, Some states, including Arizona, California,
of all public improvements Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey,
• Control of the private subdivision of land and Oregon, mandate consistency between
zoning regulations and the comprehensive
• The establishment of a regional planning
plan.12 Because of the legal significance of
commission and a regional plan.4
the plan, some state statutes and case law
Under the model set forth in the SCPEA, specify that the adoption and amendment
local planning was dominated not by elected of the comprehensive plan is a legislative
officials but by appointed officials—who, it rather than an administrative function. The
was felt, would be better able to evaluate modern trend is for courts to view the com-
planning issues from a nonpartisan perspec- prehensive plan as either a significant factor
tive.5 The SCPEA remains a strong influence, or the governing principle in land use regu-
and many state enabling acts are still based lation.13 Because the comprehensive plan
on this model.6 is central to land use control, it is essential
11255-01_CH01.indd 35 12/22/08 2:37:04 PM

for local governments to exercise their • Ensure that citizens who would be
authority to develop comprehensive plans, affected by planning decisions were given
to ensure that other local and regional the opportunity for early involvement in
plans reflect the goals and principles of the the planning process
comprehensive plans, and to design their • Address the interrelationships between
comprehensive plans to take into account employment, housing, fiscal health,
the relationships between their jurisdictions transportation, environment, and social
and neighboring local governments. equity
• Offer governments a range of planning
National efforts to reform tools to manage growth and change
planning law • Link the timing, location, and intensity
Over the years, several groups have of development with planned or existing
promoted updating the model planning infrastructure
legislation to accommodate contemporary
• Help local governments monitor the
concerns. In the 1970s, the American Law ongoing performance of planning systems.16
Institute produced A Model Land Develop-
ment Code, but the code had little practical The guidebook recommends that state
impact because most state officials, plan- enabling statutes reflect a three-tiered
ners, and associated professionals were approach to the elements of local com-
preoccupied with the new environmental prehensive plans: some should be manda-
statutes and regulations of the era.14 Regret- tory, others should be mandatory with an
tably, they failed to see the connections opt-out alternative, and still others should
between land use law and environmental be optional. (See the accompanying sidebar
law, perhaps because these areas of the law for a list of elements in each category.) The
arose at different times and were designed guidebook also calls for local governments
to address different—and apparently that are preparing plans to consider issues,
unrelated—problems.15 opportunities, and needs associated with
the larger region.17
In 2002, the American Planning Association
set out to modernize the SCPEA and issued Regional planning
the two-volume Growing Smart Legislative
As it has become increasingly clear that the
Guidebook: Model Statutes for Planning and
impacts of local land use decisions know no
the Management of Change. The result of a
political boundaries, local governments have
seven-year study, the model statutes were
begun to engage in voluntary intergovern-
designed to
mental cooperation in the area of land use
• Bring certainty and efficiency to the planning. Most states grant broad statutory
development approval process authority to local governments to cooperate
• Promote planning through a mix of with neighboring communities; joint compre-
“carrots” and “sticks” hensive plans are among the results of such
Treatment of local comprehensive plan elements in model statutes
Mandatory Optional
Issues and opportunities Agriculture, forest, and scenic
Land use preservation
Transportation Human services
Community facilities Community design
Housing Historic preservation
Program implementation Subplans
Mandatory with opt-out alternative Source: Stuart Meck, ed., Growing Smart Legislative
Economic development Guidebook: Model Statutes for Planning and the
Management of Change (Chicago: American Planning
Critical and sensitive areas
Association, 2002), 7-61.
Natural hazards
11255-01_CH01.indd 36 12/22/08 2:37:04 PM

cooperation. It is increasingly common for also Ruth Knack, Stuart Meck, and Israel Stollman,
“The Real Story behind the Standard Zoning and
local comprehensive plans to include state- Planning Acts of the 1920s,” Land Use Law & Zoning
ments acknowledging that the municipality Digest 48 (February 1996): 4, planning.org/
exists as part of a larger region, and for local growingsmart/enablingacts.htm (accessed
April 20, 2008).
land use decisions to reflect this perspective. 5 Stuart Meck, ed., Growing Smart Legislative Guide-
book: Model Statutes for Planning and the Man-
While publicly authorized regional plan-
agement of Change (Chicago: American Planning
ning agencies have existed since the early Association, 2002), 7-11.
decades of the twentieth century, they have 6 Rodney L. Cobb, “Toward Modern Statutes: A Survey
of State Laws on Local Land-Use Planning,” in Mod-
proliferated in the past several decades.
ernizing State Planning Statutes: The Growing Smart
The federal and state governments have Working Papers, vol. 2 (Chicago: American Planning
promoted regional planning agencies (e.g., Association, 1998), 21.
the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, the 7 Ibid., 23.
8 See New York Town Law, § 272-a, and California
Adirondack Park Agency, and the New Government Code, § 65300, et seq.; see also Daniel
Jersey Pinelands Commission) by grant- J. Curtin and Cecily Talbert, Curtin’s California Land
ing them limited authority to plan for the Use and Planning Law, 27th ed. (Point Arena, Calif.:
Solano Press, 2007), chap. 2.
protection and preservation of natural or 9 Oregon Revised Statutes, § 197.250. For a discussion
environmentally significant resources, or of the Oregon system of land use planning and control,
to review specific local and state actions. see Edward J. Sullivan, “Oregon Blazes a Trail,” in
State & Regional Comprehensive Planning: Implement-
(Metropolitan planning organizations, for ing New Methods for Growth Management, ed. Peter
example, are the federally recognized review A. Buchsbaum and Larry J. Smith (Chicago: American
bodies for transportation planning.) In other Bar Association, 1993).
10 Daniel R. Mandelker, Land Use Law, 5th ed. (Lexis/
cases, regional planning agencies have been
Nexis, 2003).
established by statute or otherwise autho- 11 Stuart Meck, “The Legislative Requirement That
rized to provide extralocal perspectives Zoning and Land Use Controls Be Consistent with an
on trends and resources in a multijurisdic- Independently Adopted Local Comprehensive Plan:
A Model Statute,” Washington University Journal of
tional region. Depending on the legislation Law & Policy 3 (2000): 295, 305.
establishing these regional planning entities, 12 Mandelker, Land Use Law, § 3.16.
they may or may not have the authority 13 Edward J. Sullivan, “The Evolving Role of the Com-
prehensive Plan,” Urban Lawyer 32 (2000): 813, and
to develop binding land use plans for their Edward J. Sullivan, “Comprehensive Planning,” Urban
areas of jurisdiction. Lawyer 36 (2004): 541.
14 American Law Institute, A Model Land Development
Code: Complete Text and Commentary (Philadelphia,
Enabling, not limiting Pa.: American Law Institute, 1976).
In most cases, the design of a comprehen- 15 See, generally, Patricia Salkin, “The Next Generation
of Planning and Zoning Enabling Acts Is on the Hori-
sive plan is limited only by the creativity of zon: 2002 Growing Smart Legislative Guidebook Is a
local officials and their political will. Federal Must Read for Land Use Practitioners,” Real Estate
and state mandates and enabling legislation Law Journal 30 (2002): 353.
16 Meck, Growing Smart Legislative Guidebook.
for planning can provide guiding principles, 17 Ibid., 7-62.
a broad outline of plans, and sometimes fis-
cal incentives; ultimately, however, it is the
community itself that must determine how
FOCUS ON
to become, and to remain, the kind of place
it wishes to be.
Property rights,
Notes
1 See New York Town Law, § 272-a, dos.state
.ny.us/lgss/townlaw.html#272a (accessed April 21,
planning, and the
2008).
2 Patricia E. Salkin, “Effective Disaster Mitigation
Depends upon Well-Coordinated Local Land Use
public interest
Planning and Zoning,” Real Estate Law Journal 34
(Summer 2005): 108. Jerold S. Kayden
3 It should be noted that in some contexts (and
depending on the age of the document), the terms
“comprehensive plan,” “master plan,” and “general “After all, if a policeman must know the
plan” are used interchangeably. Constitution, then why not a planner?”1
4 U.S. Department of Commerce, A Standard City Plan-
Posed in a dissenting opinion issued in 1981
ning Enabling Act (Washington, D.C.: Government
Printing Office, 1928), planning.org/growingsmart/pdf/ by U.S. Supreme Court Justice William J.
CPEnablingAct1928.pdf (accessed April 20, 2008); see Brennan, this rhetorical question warned
11255-01_CH01.indd 37 12/22/08 2:37:04 PM

planners to learn what the Constitution has that interplay began with the creation and
to say about property rights, planning, and elaboration of the modern regulatory state.
the public interest. Like many foundational During the first decades of the twentieth
texts, however, the Constitution is hardly century, a fast-growing, rapidly industrial-
a model of clarity: broad phrases, many of izing nation found itself beleaguered by
which are subject to interpretation, establish incompatible, cheek-by-jowl land uses and
basic principles. References to property are found salvation in scientific city plan-
sparse. The term private property is men- ning solutions. As systematic legislative
tioned only once—in the Fifth Amendment’s approaches to land use control supplanted
just compensation clause, which states that case-by-case application of nuisance law, the
“private property” shall not “be taken for Supreme Court emerged as the crucial arbi-
public use, without just compensation.”2 ter of how much government intervention
The word property alone, without the modi- was constitutionally acceptable. Testing new
fier private, appears twice, in the Fifth and techniques such as zoning against the endur-
Fourteenth Amendments, which guarantee ing principles of the Constitution, the Court
that government shall not deprive persons developed a stance that tolerated significant
of “life, liberty, or property, without due interference with property rights, especially
process of law.”3 Hardly self-defining, private when those rights involved a change from an
property and property have gained meaning existing use to a higher and better use.
through a long skein of opinions issued by
the U.S. Supreme Court. The 1915 Hadacheck v. Sebastian opinion
is a classic example of this stance.7 J. C.
Since the beginning of the twentieth century, Hadacheck was thrown into jail for operat-
the Court has issued thirty-eight opinions ing a brickyard in Los Angeles in violation
that collectively define its interpretation of a local ordinance. He claimed that his
of the Constitution with respect to property eight-acre tract, used for brick making, was
rights, planning, and the public interest. worth $800,000, whereas if it were used
In none of these opinions does the Court for residential or any other purpose (and he
expressly define private property as such; claimed that there were no purposes other
direct definitions have come from state than brick making to which it could be put),
common and statutory law and from seminal it would be worth $60,000. Although C. E.
legal texts written by renowned jurispruden- Sebastian, the Los Angeles chief of police,
tial scholars. These sources have seen prop- did not dispute Hadacheck’s contention that
erty as a set of rights—or, metaphorically, as a the property would lose value if put to any
bundle of sticks representing, individually, the other use, he denied that the ordinance as
rights to use and transfer property, and the applied would “’entirely deprive Hadacheck
right to exclude others from it.4 of his property and the use thereof.’”8 In
Notwithstanding Sir William Blackstone’s language so sweeping that it still causes
muscular evocation of an owner’s “sole constitutional land use law experts to catch
and despotic dominion” over this thing their breath, the Court heartily endorsed
called property,5 property rights have the government’s exercise of the so-called
never been conceived as absolute and police power, which gives it the authority
unlimited. Most often, the common law to protect the health, safety, morals, and
of nuisance (sic utere tuo ut alienum general welfare of society:
non laedes, translated as “use your own
It is to be remembered that we are
property in such a manner as not to injure
dealing with one of the most essen-
that of another”), developed and applied
tial powers of government,—one that
by common-law judges, has for centuries
is the least limitable. It may, indeed,
limited what owners could do with their
seem harsh in its exercise, usually is
sticks.6
on some individual, but the imperative
necessity for its existence precludes
The interplay between property any limitation upon it when not
rights and regulation exerted arbitrarily. . . . There must be
The true definition of property arises from progress, and if in its march private
the interplay between property and gov- interests are in the way, they must
ernment regulation. In the United States, yield to the good of the community.
11255-01_CH01.indd 38 12/22/08 2:37:05 PM

The logical result of [Hadacheck’s] On its own, Pennsylvania Coal might be read
contention would seem to be that a as undermining Hadacheck’s ample endorse-
city could not be formed or enlarged ment of government regulation—a view that
against the resistance of an occupant was, in fact, vigorously expressed by Justice
of the ground, and that if it grows at Louis Brandeis in his dissent. Read in the
all it can only grow as the environ- context of other 1920s opinions, however,
ment of the occupations that are usu- Pennsylvania Coal may be better understood
ally banished to the purlieus.9 as declaring an outer limit—the complete
destruction of a property interest—to
During the 1920s, the Court issued eight Hadacheck’s otherwise expansive dictum.
opinions that, taken together, approved
Four years later, in Village of Euclid v.
new methods of government restriction on
Ambler Realty Co., the Court decisively
private property while drawing the line at
affirmed the constitutionality of comprehen-
extreme deprivations. Two opinions, Penn-
sive zoning. Ambler Realty owned sixty-
sylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon10 and Village of
eight acres in Euclid, Ohio, and wanted to
Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co.,11 stand out. The
develop the tract for industrial uses—which,
Pennsylvania Coal decision is best known for it claimed, would yield a value of $10,000
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes’s declaration per acre, versus $2,500 or less per acre if
that “if regulation goes too far it will be rec- used for residential purposes, as called for
ognized as a taking.”12 The case addressed by Euclid’s zoning regulations. In its general
a state statute, known as the Kohler Act, exposition, Euclid sounded like Hadacheck—
which forbade coal companies from con- only more so:
ducting subsurface mining in ways that
caused houses located on the surface to Building zone laws are of modern ori-
subside, even where the coal company had gin. They began in this country about
expressly retained the subsurface rights at twenty-five years ago. Until recent
the time that it had sold the surface rights years, urban life was comparatively
to the homeowner. Because the Kohler Act simple; but with the great increase
made it “commercially impracticable” to and concentration of population, prob-
lems have developed, and constantly
mine the coal, the Court concluded that the
are developing, which require, and
law had “very nearly the same effect for
will continue to require, additional
constitutional purposes as appropriating or
restrictions in respect of the use and
destroying” the property right to mine the
occupation of private lands in urban
coal.13 In such an extreme case, in which the
communities. Regulations, the wis-
property interest was effectively destroyed,
dom, necessity and validity of which,
the Court found an unconstitutional taking,
as applied to existing conditions,
even as it recognized the nature of the
are so apparent that they are now
balancing act:
uniformly sustained, a century ago,
Government hardly could go on if, to or even half a century ago, probably
some extent, values incident to prop- would have been rejected as arbitrary
erty could not be diminished without and oppressive. Such regulations are
paying for every such change in the sustained, under the complex condi-
general law. As long recognized, some tions of our day, for reasons analo-
values are enjoyed under an implied gous to those which justify traffic
limitation, and must yield to the police regulations, which, before the advent
power. But obviously the implied of automobiles and rapid transit street
limitation must have its limits, or the railways, would have been condemned
contract and due process clauses are as fatally arbitrary and unreasonable.
gone. One fact for consideration in And in this there is no inconsistency,
determining such limits is the extent for, while the meaning of constitu-
of the diminution. When it reaches a tional guaranties never varies, the
certain magnitude, in most if not in scope of their application must expand
all cases, there must be an exercise of or contract to meet the new and dif-
eminent domain and compensation to ferent conditions which are constantly
sustain the act.14 coming within the field of their opera-
11255-01_CH01.indd 39 12/22/08 2:37:05 PM

Important cases in land use law
Case Holding
Welch v. Swasey, 214 U.S. 91 (1909) Upheld height limits
Murphy v. California, 225 U.S. 623 (1912) Upheld a prohibition on billiard halls
Reinman v. Little Rock, 237 U.S. 171 (1915) Upheld a ban on livery stables
Hadacheck v. Sebastian, 239 U.S. 394 (1915) Upheld a ban on brick manufacturing
Cusack Co. v. City of Chicago, Upheld a billboard ordinance
242 U.S. 526 (1917)
Pierce Oil Corp. v. City of Hope, Upheld an ordinance prohibiting oil
248 U.S. 498 (1919) storage within 300 feet of dwellings
Perley v. State of North Carolina, Upheld a requirement preventing removal
249 U.S. 510 (1919) or burning of waste timber
Wall v. Midland Carbon Co., Upheld a ban on carbon manufacturing
254 U.S. 300 (1920)
Block v. Hirsh, 256 U.S. 135 (1921) Upheld rent control
Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, Overturned a ban on subsurface mining
260 U.S. 393 (1922)
Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., Upheld comprehensive zoning
272 U.S. 365 (1926)
Zahn v. Board of Public Works, Upheld a residential zoning restriction
274 U.S. 325 (1927)
Gorieb v. Fox, 274 U.S. 603 (1927) Upheld rules on building setbacks
Miller v. Schoene, 276 U.S. 272 (1928) Upheld a decision requiring trees to be
destroyed in order to save other trees
Nectow v. City of Cambridge, Overturned a zoning provision as applied
277 U.S. 183 (1928)
Berman v. Parker, 348 U.S. 26 (1954) Upheld the exercise of the power of
eminent domain
Goldblatt v. Town of Hempstead, Upheld an ordinance regulating gravel
369 U.S. 590 (1962) mining
Penn Central Transportation Co. v. Upheld a historic preservation ordinance
New York City, 438 U.S. 104 (1978)
Kaiser Aetna v. United States, Overturned an attempt to impose the
444 U.S. 164 (1979) right of public access to a dredged pond
Agins v. City of Tiburon, Upheld a zoning ordinance that restricted
447 U.S. 255 (1980) density
San Diego Gas & Electric Co. v. City of A dissent by Justice Brennan in favor of
San Diego, 450 U.S. 621 (1981) compensation if regulation effects a
taking
Loretto v. Teleprompter Manhattan CATV Held that a regulation authorizing
Corp., 458 U.S. 419 (1982) permanent physical occupation is an
automatic taking
Williamson County Regional Planning Held that owners must seek a final
Comm’n v. Hamilton Bank, decision about permitted development
473 U.S. 172 (1985) from the government before going to
court and must seek compensation
remedies from the state, if available
MacDonald, Sommer & Frates v. County Held that owners must seek a final
of Yolo, 447 U.S. 340 (1986) decision about permitted development
from government before going to court
11255-01_CH01.indd 40 12/22/08 2:37:05 PM

Important cases in land use law

Keystone Bituminous Coal Ass’n v. Upheld a restriction on coal mining
DeBenedictis, 480 U.S. 470 (1987)
First English Evangelical Lutheran Church Held that compensation must be paid for
v. County of Los Angeles, the period of time that a regulation
482 U.S. 304 (1987) effects a taking
Nollan v. California Coastal Commission, Held that a taking occurs when there is no
483 U.S. 825 (1987) essential nexus between a development
condition and the purpose behind it
Pennell v. City of San Jose, 485 U.S. 1 (1988) Upheld a rent control provision
Preseault v. ICC, 494 U.S. 1 (1990) Held that an owner’s takings challenge of
a federal rails-to-trails statute was
premature
Yee v. City of Escondido, Held that a rent control ordinance for
503 U.S. 519 (1992) mobile homes did not effect a physical
taking
Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, Held that denial of all economic use is
505 U.S. 1003 (1992) usually a taking
Dolan v. City of Tigard, 512 U.S. 374 (1994) Held that there must be a rough
proportionality between a government-
imposed condition on proposed
development and the impact of that
development
Suitum v. Tahoe Regional Planning Held that an owner’s takings claim
Agency, 520 U.S. 725 (1997) was ripe
City of Monterey v. Del Monte Dunes, Ltd., Upheld a takings judgment in which a
526 U.S. 687 (1999) jury had considered whether denial of
development permission was reason-
ably related to legitimate government
purposes
Palazzolo v. Rhode Island, Held that the existence of a regulation at
533 U.S. 606 (2001) the time an owner acquires property
does not preclude a subsequent
takings claim
Tahoe-Sierra Preservation Council Upheld a moratorium
v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency,
535 U.S. 302 (2002)
Lingle v. Chevron U.S.A. Inc., Limited the application of reasonable
544 U.S. 528 (2005) relationship analyses to physical inva-
sion circumstances
Kelo v. City of New London, Upheld government exercise of eminent
545 U.S. 469 (2005) domain for economic development
purposes
tion. In a changing world, it is impos- conform to the Constitution, of course,

sible that it should be otherwise. But must fall.15
although a degree of elasticity is thus
imparted, not to the meaning, but to Reviewing the heart of the Euclid ordinance—
the application of constitutional prin- its exclusion of business, industry, and,
ciples, statutes and ordinances, which, most controversially, apartment houses
after giving due weight to the new from single-family residential districts—
conditions, are found clearly not to the Court accepted the village’s planning
11255-01_CH01.indd 41 12/22/08 2:37:05 PM

justifications as “sufficiently cogent to lation regulating the use of environmentally

preclude us from saying, as it must be said sensitive lands. By the 1970s, a swamp that
before the ordinance can be declared uncon- would have been a terrific location for a sub-
stitutional, that such provisions are clearly division in the 1950s had metamorphosed
arbitrary and unreasonable, having no sub- into a wetland that needed protection from
stantial relation to the public health, safety, dredging and filling.
morals, or general welfare.”16 The Court did
It was in the burgeoning suburbs that the
not insist upon irrefutable arguments to but-
disadvantages of growth were felt most
tress the regulatory action, and reminded all
strongly. Increased traffic congestion,
that if the validity of the legislation is “fairly
crowded classrooms, and vanishing open
debatable,” the legislative judgment should
space fomented calls for growth controls that
prevail.
sometimes capped outright the annual num-
Zoning—a manifestation of Progressive Era ber of housing units to be developed20 or that
enthusiasm for scientific solutions to social tied building approval to the availability of
problems, and the object of popular sup- adequate infrastructure.21 Through the intro-
port from a coalition of business groups duction of subdivision exactions and impact
and professional organizations—entered fees, the costs of constructing the infrastruc-
the body politic.17 At least with respect to ture needed to serve growth were shifted to
this category of regulatory enthusiasm, new, rather than existing, development.22
the Supreme Court deferred to pragmatic
Change itself appeared to be destabilizing.
problem solving, reserving its disapproval
Historic buildings and neighborhoods, once
only for extreme cases. A somewhat more
seen as candidates for urban renewal’s bull-
cynical explanation is that the justices of
dozer or as teardown opportunities for more
the time did not view land use regulation
profitable development, were now seen as
as a threat to private property but as a
social and economic assets. Historic preser-
potential means of increasing its value.
vation laws prohibited owners from alter-
Euclid, for example, can easily be read as
ing or demolishing landmarks and historic
a decision supporting the property rights
neighborhoods without first seeking permis-
of the homeowners whose properties
sion from locally appointed commissions.
surrounded the Ambler parcel—and who
had apparently been able to persuade This expanded regulatory regime of environ-
local officials to prohibit the incursion mental laws, growth controls, and historic
of industry and multifamily housing into preservation ordinances placed new pressures
their neighborhood. The Court’s thinly on private property rights. The conceptual
veiled—and, through today’s lenses, unset- evolution that relabeled a swamp as a wetland
tling—disgust for “parasitic” apartment left the owner with the identical physical
buildings makes this reading all the more parcel but with greatly reduced development
persuasive.18 opportunities. The landowner whose property
was ready to be developed for housing had to
Rejoining the debate absorb or pass on to subsequent buyers the
costs associated with the provision of roads
It would be many decades before the
and water and sewer facilities. The owner of
Supreme Court would resume a frenetic
a newly designated landmark building still
engagement with property rights, planning,
owned the building, but would no longer
and government regulation. The reemer-
enjoy an unfettered ability to alter or demol-
gence of the Court’s interest in property
ish it in search of greater profit.
rights began in 1978 and followed upon
society’s emerging ambivalence about Not surprisingly, the change from pro-
growth. That ambivalence had three roots: growth to ambivalent-about-growth atti-
environmentalism, dissatisfaction with the tudes, and the resulting application of
by-products of growth, and concern about heightened regulatory restrictions, led to
rapid change. The environmental movement opposition from individuals and groups that
had hit full stride by the late 1960s, spawn- were financially, politically, or intellectually
ing national interest in goals such as clean sympathetic to expansive private property
air, clean water, and the protection of endan- rights. Starting in the early 1980s, the protec-
gered species.19 That interest propelled the tion of private property gained traction as a
enactment of federal, state, and local legis- political, economic, and legal imperative.
11255-01_CH01.indd 42 12/22/08 2:37:05 PM

Special-interest groups, riding under the ban- it: henceforth, Brennan said, judges would
ner of “wise use,” among others, appeared.23 consider factors such as the character of
The Wall Street Journal editorialized on the governmental action and the economic
behalf of aggrieved property owners. Legal impact of the regulation (particularly its
scholars provided deeper intellectual content— effect on the owner’s distinct, investment-
as well as cover—for the growing property backed expectations). The Court provided
rights movement.24 Private lawyers and no generic guidance as to how such factors
conservative legal organizations searched should be weighed against one another. In
for opportunities to bring lawsuits that were the specific factual setting of Penn Central,
designed to expand constitutional protection because the owner had earned a reasonable
for private property under the Fifth Amend- return on its primary expectation—ownership
ment’s just compensation clause.25 of the terminal itself—and might be able to
transfer the newly unusable development
rights above the terminal to adjacent prop-
The reemergence of the Court’s interest erties, the Court concluded that there was
in property rights began in 1978 and no taking.
followed upon society’s emerging
How did Penn Central change the defini-
ambivalence about growth.
tion of private property? The short answer
is, very little. The opinion recapitulated the
core constitutional conclusion introduced
The Court’s vigorous reentry into the
in the early twentieth century: in order to
property rights arena—which consisted of
further public interests, government can
twenty-one opinions between 1978 and
significantly restrict private property rights.
2005—obviously demonstrated interest but
Consistent with the 1920s cases, Penn Cen-
failed to produce paradigm-shifting pro-
tral considered the most malleable aspect
nouncements. Beginning in 1987, a steady
of private property to be its financial value,
parade of cases ruled in favor of specific
especially when such value is speculative
property owners;26 nevertheless, the justices
rather than firmly grounded. Newly ascer-
not only passed up repeated opportunities
tained public goals, such as preservation of
to dramatically expand the reach of pri-
historic buildings and neighborhoods, would
vate property, but also continued to affirm
be no more troubling to the Court than the
government’s power to greatly restrict pri-
newly ascertained goals served by zoning
vate property. Cautious, case-by-case judg-
when it emerged in the 1920s.
ment prevailed over sweeping, bright-line
rules. Frustrated property-rights advocates What about the celebrated cases of the
ultimately turned to federal and state legis- 1980s and 1990s that seemed at first to
latures for relief that was not forthcoming burnish property rights? In the 1992 case
from the Court.27 of Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council,29
for example, the Court announced that
The gold standard for the case-by-case
when regulations go so far as to deny an
approach was Justice William Brennan’s
owner all economically viable, beneficial,
1978 regulatory takings magnum opus, Penn
productive, or feasible use of property—that
Central Transportation Company v. New York
is, when there is a 100 percent diminution
City.28 In that case, New York City’s land-
in value—then the owner has in all likeli-
marks preservation commission had awarded
hood suffered a regulatory taking. But how
landmark status to Grand Central Terminal, a
many examples of a 100 percent wipeout
1913 Beaux-Arts masterpiece. Penn Central,
would one encounter in real life? And even
the owner of the terminal, wanted to build a
in the case of such a draconian outcome,
skyscraper above the terminal or to replace
the Court equivocated: if the background
it entirely but was denied permission by the
principles of a state’s prevailing property or
commission. The commission’s refusal pre-
nuisance laws would have already prevented
vented the company from realizing millions of
the owner from doing what the new law
dollars in annual lease revenue.
prohibits, such background principles would
In its six-to-three decision favoring the city, insulate the new law from unconstitution-
the Court accepted the base position articu- ality. On the factual record before it, the
lated in Pennsylvania Coal—that a regula- Court could not declare that David Lucas,
tion could go too far—and elaborated on the appellant, had suffered a taking, and
11255-01_CH01.indd 43 12/22/08 2:37:06 PM

Lucas had to seek relief in subsequent state tory impositions that authorized physical
judicial proceedings. invasions of private property.
The Court’s decision five years earlier in Even the so-called compensation remedies
Nollan v. California Coastal Commission,30 cases failed to create a significantly more
which held that a regulation that does not favorable climate for property rights. After
“substantially advance” legitimate state a long warm-up, with four attempts to reach
interests constitutes a regulatory taking, the issue—including a table-setting dissent
seemed at first to suggest heightened judi- by Justice Brennan in San Diego Gas &
cial scrutiny of local planning activities. In Electric Co. v. City of San Diego (1981)34—the
that case, the coastal commission had made Court definitively held, in First English
approval for construction of a new house Evangelical Lutheran Church v. County of
on the California coast conditional on the Los Angeles,35 that if a regulation effects a
owners’ agreement to allow the public to taking, the owners are entitled to compensa-
walk up and down their beach. What made tion for the period of time that the regula-
the Court’s constitutional pronouncement tion unconstitutionally took their property.
especially ominous was the suggestion, in Although this remedy could indeed have a
a footnote to the opinion, that the phrase chilling effect on government regulators, the
“substantially advance” meant something high bar for proving a taking and thus get-
more than “rationally advance” or “reason- ting to the remedy should preserve the con-
ably advance”—implying that government fidence to pursue local planning efforts.36
land use regulations might now be subject Two twenty-first-century cases suggest that
to some form of intensified judicial review. the Court will continue to give wide berth
Heightened scrutiny had previously been to local planning, even when it interferes
reserved for cases involving government substantially with the exercise of individual
discrimination against minorities or infringe- property rights. In Tahoe-Sierra Preservation
ments upon fundamental constitutional Council v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency,37
rights. If heightened scrutiny truly applied, it the Court held that a thirty-two-month mor-
would disrupt the traditional presumption of atorium temporarily denying a landowner
validity that had protected land use regula- all economically viable use of land is not an
tion since the days of Euclid. automatic taking under relevant precedents.
Although the decision surely pleased local
governments that use moratoria to achieve
Beginning in 1987, a steady parade of governmental ends, the highlight was its
cases ruled in favor of specific property rhetorical positioning. Justice John Paul
owners; nevertheless, the justices not Stevens, the Court’s most reliable vote in
only passed up repeated opportunities favor of land use planning, wrote the major-
to dramatically expand the protected ity opinion. He observed that “moratoria . . .
domain, but also continued to affirm are used widely among land use planners”
government’s power to greatly and cited favorably the “consensus in the
restrict private property. planning community” supporting moratoria
as “an essential tool of successful develop-
ment.”38 The process of planning takes time
and effort, and keeping development in its
Nollan’s seed, however, never bore much
place while planning occurs is a reasonable
fruit. In the 1994 case of Dolan v. City of
imposition on property owners. Land use
Tigard,31 in which government approval of a
regulations, Stevens noted, are “ubiquitous,”
hardware-store expansion had been made
usually “impact property values in some tan-
conditional on the owner’s agreement to
gential way,” and would become “a luxury
provide public access to a floodplain and
few governments could afford” if a finding
a pedestrian/bicycle pathway, the Court
of regulatory taking were automatically
appeared to limit the Nollan analysis to
applied.39 Tahoe-Sierra, in short, was a rude
cases involving “a requirement that [the
awakening for anyone who thought that the
owner] deed portions of the property to
Court’s pendulum swung in one direction.
the city.”32 Eleven years later, in Lingle v.
Chevron U.S.A. Inc.,33 the Court definitively Kelo v. City of New London40 was another
limited the Nollan/Dolan analysis to regula- rhetorical, as well as pragmatic, affirmation
11255-01_CH01.indd 44 12/22/08 2:37:06 PM

of planning powers in the face of property the courts, in concert with private market
rights. The Court’s controversial, five-to-four forces.
majority opinion, again authored by Justice
Stevens, cited the virtues of comprehensive, Notes
thorough, and careful planning for economic 1 San Diego Gas & Electric Co. v. City of San Diego, 450
development purposes as sufficient justifica- U.S. 621, 661 n.26 (1981), dissenting opinion of Justice
Brennan.
tion for a city to exercise the power of emi- 2 U.S. Constitution, Fifth Amendment.
nent domain. Although the outcry following 3 U.S. Constitution, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.
that opinion was sharp and sustained—the 4 Over the course of centuries, private property has
been conceptualized by legal scholars as a physical
notion that the government could take a thing (Sir William Blackstone’s view) or as a divisible
nonblighted single-family house, against the set of legal relationships (W. N. Hohfeld’s view),
owner’s will, to further so-called higher and although such conceptions have, more recently,
received criticism. See, for example, Michael A.
better land uses was hard for the public to Heller, “Three Faces of Private Property,” Oregon Law
swallow—the majority found that this exer- Review 79, no. 2 (2000): 417, 429–431, law.uoregon
cise of power advanced a public use, as is .edu/org/olr/archives/79/79olr417.pdf (accessed April
21, 2008).
required by the just compensation clause. 5 2 William Blackstone, Commentaries.
6 One could almost refer to nuisance law as part
Future jurisprudence and parcel of foundational property law, as Justice
Antonin Scalia himself virtually did in his 1992 Lucas
If the past is truly prologue, then the v. South Carolina Coastal Council opinion.
Supreme Court’s roughly 100-year record of 7 Hadacheck v. Sebastian, 239 U.S. 394 (1915).
8 Ibid., 408.
engagement with property rights, planning, 9 Ibid., 410.
and the public interest reveals an evolution- 10 Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, 260 U.S. 393 (1922).
ary, rather than a revolutionary, pattern. 11 Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., 272 U.S. 365
(1926).
The self-regulating, nonjudicial interplay 12 Pennsylvania Coal, 415.
between political and private market forces 13 Ibid., 414.
took precedence, and the Court reserved its 14 Ibid., 413.
15 Village of Euclid, 386–387.
disdain only for extreme cases. Owners con- 16 Ibid., 395.
tinued to enjoy their property rights, subject 17 See Charles M. Haar and Michael Allan Wolf, “Euclid
to limitations crafted by planners seeking to Lives: The Survival of Progressive Jurisprudence,”
Harvard Law Review 115, no. 8 (2002): 2158,
protect the public interest. Because own- 2182–2184.
ers accepted the modern view that land 18 The Court noted, “With particular reference to apart-
rights no longer extended uninterrupted ment houses, it is pointed out that the development
of detached house sections is greatly retarded by the
from the center of the Earth to the moon, coming of apartment houses, which has sometimes
and because government regulators largely resulted in destroying the entire section for private
recognized that tacking as close as pos- house purposes; that in such sections very often the
apartment house is a mere parasite, constructed
sible to the line dividing constitutional from in order to take advantage of the open spaces and
unconstitutional would not yield a politically, attractive surroundings created by the residential
or even judicially, sustainable outcome over character of the district.” See Village of Euclid, 365.
19 See Jerold S. Kayden, “National Land-Use Planning in
the long haul, the Court’s need to intervene America: Something Whose Time Has Never Come,”
was practically mitigated. Washington University Journal of Law & Policy 3
(2000): 445, 461, discussing clean air and water.
Future environmental, economic, social, and 20 Construction Industry Assoc. v. City of Petaluma, 522
technological challenges will place novel F.2d 897 (9th Cir. 1975), cert. denied, 424 U.S. 934
(1976).
pressures on the relationship between 21 Golden v. Planning Board of Ramapo, 30 N.Y.2d 359,
private property and public needs. The 334 N.Y.S.2d 138, 285 N.E.2d 291, appeal dismissed,
409 U.S. 1003 (1972).
question is whether such pressures will
22 See Alan Altshuler and José Gómez-Ibáñez, Regula-
escape satisfactory solutions outside of tion for Revenue: The Political Economy of Land Use
the courtroom, forcing the Court to play a Exactions (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution
Press, 1993), 16–46.
more prominent role in defining the nature
23 See John Echeverria and Raymond Booth Eby, eds.,
and extent of private property. Given the Let the People Judge: Wise Use and the Private
record of the twentieth and early twenty- Property Rights Movement (Washington, D.C.: Island
Press, 1995).
first centuries, there is little to suggest that
24 See, for example, Richard A. Epstein, Takings:
the Court will make a different contribu- Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain
tion in the coming years. In all likelihood, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1985).
25 California attorney Michael Berger, who argued the
the nature and extent of private property
First English, Preseault, and Tahoe-Sierra cases,
will continue to be determined, first and has been the top litigator in Supreme Court cases
foremost, by political forces rather than by addressing private property rights; the California-
11255-01_CH01.indd 45 12/22/08 2:37:06 PM

based Pacific Legal Foundation is active as primary or Since the 1960s, however, this long-standing
amicus curiae counsel in many regulatory takings cases.
26 First English Evangelical Lutheran Church v. County of
and sensible division of labor has been
Los Angeles, 482 U.S. 304 (1987); Nollan v. California overturned by two accelerating trends: the
Coastal Commission, 483 U.S. 825 (1987); Lucas v. increasing professionalization of planning,
South Carolina Coastal Council, 505 U.S. 1003 (1992);
Dolan v. City of Tigard, 512 U.S. 374 (1994); Suitum v. which has transformed public planning into
Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, 520 U.S. 725 (1997); a mainly regulatory enterprise, and the rise
City of Monterey v. Del Monte Dunes, Ltd., 526 U.S. of self-governing suburbs. The growing role
687 (1999); Palazzolo v. Rhode Island, 533 U.S. 606
(2001). of government regulation at the expense of
27 See Jerold S. Kayden, “Hunting for Quarks: Consti- private planning decisions has had negative
tutional Takings, Property Rights, and Government
impacts in the urban core, but it has wrought
Regulation,” Washington University Journal of Urban
and Contemporary Law 50 (1996): 125, 138–139. its greatest harm in the nation’s suburbs.
28 Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City, 438
U.S. 104 (1978). Throughout much of history, governments
29 Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, 505 U.S. used their powers and resources to establish
1003 (1992).
30 Nollan v. California Coastal Commission, 483 U.S. 825
cities as centers of public administration, com-
(1987). merce, and the arts. Governments provided
31 Dolan v. City of Tigard, 512 U.S. 374 (1994). the essential, life-sustaining elements of
32 Ibid., 385.
33 Lingle v. Chevron U.S.A. Inc., 544 U.S. 528 (2005).
urban regions—designing and funding roads,
34 San Diego Gas & Electric Co. v. City of San Diego, 450 and constructing water, sewer, and transit
U.S. 621, 636 (1981), dissenting opinion of Justice systems. Moreover, much of the land in urban
Brennan.
35 First English Evangelical Lutheran Church v. County of centers has traditionally been dedicated to
Los Angeles, 482 U.S. 304 (1987). institutional functions: government facilities,
36 See Daniel Pollak, Have the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5th museums, libraries, parks, universities, places
Amendment Takings Decisions Changed Land Use
Planning in California? CRB-00-004 (Sacramento: of worship, and the like. Few private entities,
California Research Bureau, March 2000), for a even in recent times, have had either the
discussion of the results of a survey of local officials.
funds or the inclination to build the extensive
37 Tahoe-Sierra Preservation Council v. Tahoe Regional
Planning Agency, 535 U.S. 302 (2002). infrastructure needed to sustain a metropolis.
38 Ibid., 337–338. In most cities of consequence this work has
39 Ibid., 324.
40 Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005).
been done according to a carefully conceived
plan, and thus the need for city planning.
FOCUS ON
The growing role of government regulation
Suburban planning at the expense of private planning

decisions has had negative impacts in
the urban core, but it has wrought its
in a market greatest harm in the nation’s suburbs.
economy Until the modern era, the plans of all the

great cities of the world—as well as those
Peter D. Salins
of the not so great—were the work of kings,
princes, popes, presidents, prime ministers,
Governments and markets have always
and entrepreneurial public officials. While
shared responsibility for urban develop-
city planning is as old as cities themselves,
ment. From the earliest cities on record
planning as a discrete profession (apart
through the first half of the twentieth
from architecture, engineering, or public
century, governments designed and built
administration) is fairly new. In the United
the city’s infrastructure, and markets
States, the professionalization of public
(i.e., private real estate interests, including
planning began in the 1920s. Today, plan-
entrepreneurs, architects, and develop-
ning agencies operate in nearly all American
ers) designed and built its commercial and
municipalities, and many of the staff in
residential structures. While private develop-
these agencies were educated according to
ment was often guided by minimal govern-
guidelines adopted by recognized national
mental constraints (on characteristics such
planning organizations.
as building heights, setbacks, and density),
its actions were relatively free of govern- As public planning agencies became increas-
mental interference. ingly institutionalized, planners’ professional
11255-01_CH01.indd 46 12/22/08 2:37:06 PM

judgment replaced the myriad individual deci- on the World’s Columbian Exposition, held
sions of developers and consumers, some- in Chicago in 1893, and his 1909 Plan of Chi-
times skirting the line established by the Fifth cago inspired the City Beautiful movement
Amendment’s clear and succinct injunction— and energized planning in central cities
”nor shall private property be taken for public across the nation. Like most city planning
use, without just compensation.” Neverthe- of the late nineteenth and early twentieth
less, after a century of litigation, planning has centuries, City Beautiful planning initiatives
largely passed constitutional muster. The U.S. complemented private investment instead
judiciary at all levels, including the Supreme of overriding it. The majestic public parks,
Court, has gradually expanded—in limited but stately boulevards, and palatial public mu-
significant increments—the range of govern- seums, libraries, and government buildings
ments’ planning powers. Along the way, the that sprang up in America’s cities under the
courts have blessed increasingly intrusive influence of the City Beautiful movement
development regulations, a wide variety of triggered a massive wave of real estate
housing and other development subsidies, entrepreneurship and development in every
and, most controversially, governmental major metropolis across the country.
taking of private property for purposes other
than public use.
Armed with their enlarged jurisdictional Suburbanites looked to planning to
and constitutional warrants, public plan- protect the idyllic environment that
ning agencies have become ever bolder in had drawn them out of the cities, and to
exercising their regulatory functions. In the keep out most low-income and minority
urban core, planners have coupled regula- households that wished to follow.
tion with ambitious blueprints for extending
or upgrading local infrastructure—creating
transit systems, restoring waterfronts, and While cities were being shaped by planning,
developing amenities to support in-town liv- the suburbs were being formed largely by
ing. In the suburbs, where planning agencies political expedience. Although Ebenezer
have generally failed to plan for, or even to Howard’s 1902 Garden Cities of To-Morrow1
recommend, investments in the communi- introduced an idealistic planning paradigm
ty’s physical infrastructure, the regulation ostensibly realized in model communities
of development has become virtually the like Radburn, New Jersey (1929), or in more
planner’s only function. recent ventures such as Reston, Virginia
(1964), a list of every American suburb ever
Divergent planning paths in city planned and built according to Howard’s rec-
and suburb ommendations would not fill even a single
page. Moreover, almost all model communi-
Despite their relative youth, America’s major
ties were developed by the private sector
cities have a venerable tradition of far-
rather than as governmental initiatives.
sighted planning. For example, the imprint
of Philadelphia’s 1682 plan, drawn up by The earliest suburbs were simply the outly-
Thomas Holmes and William Penn, remains ing neighborhoods of cities, or new com-
clearly visible today. The plan for Savannah, munities that sprang up at the city’s edge.
conceived by James Oglethorpe in 1733, not If a suburb happened to be within a city’s
only is intact but has made Savannah one of municipal limits, it was simply incorporated
the country’s most beloved cities. Pierre- into the municipal fabric and was thereby
Charles L’Enfant’s distinctive plan for Wash- subject to the prevailing planning blueprints.
ington, D.C., created in 1791, has successfully Suburbs outside this cordon line almost
absorbed a fifty-year boom in office, hous- always sought or accepted annexation to the
ing, and institutional development. New central metropolis.2
York’s more prosaic (but highly functional)
As long as such suburbs remained integral
gridiron plan, laid out by its city commis-
parts of a city, they benefited from the city’s
sioners in 1807, helped the city become the
planning initiatives—specifically, from the
nation’s leading commercial center.
extension of municipal roads, sewers, transit
The most influential expression of vision- systems, parks, and educational facilities. But
ary city planning, however, took hold in the in the late 1920s, many new suburbs in the
nation’s heartland. Daniel Burnham’s work East, South, and Midwest persuaded their
11255-01_CH01.indd 47 12/22/08 2:37:06 PM

state legislatures to prevent annexation and commitment to shaping the urban form
to allow them to incorporate as independent through new public investment. And despite
municipalities. Because the most sought- having chased after federal housing and com-
after state-delegated power given to these munity development subsidies that, as Jane
fledgling urban fragments was the authority Jacobs famously noted, often did far more
to regulate land use and development, the harm than good,3 and despite having used
ensuing proliferation of municipalities was eminent domain to underwrite private devel-
a key factor in the emergence of modern opment projects that the market shunned,
American planning practice. planners in most of the larger U.S. cities focus
on sensible strategic goals. The extension
In the decades after World War II, as increas-
and redesign of roadways, parks, libraries,
ing numbers of city dwellers fled to the
educational and recreational facilities, transit
suburbs, the paths of planning in cities and
systems, and water and sewer systems are
suburbs diverged radically. Once the flight to
intended to enhance the cities’ functioning,
the suburbs had reached tidal proportions,
while also invigorating their economies and
the orientation of planning practice in cities
achieving important aesthetic goals.
and suburbs changed in response. In the
cities, political, civic, business, and profes- While planners may have committed egre-
sional leaders looked to effective planning gious blunders in the worst urban rede-
as one of the primary means of stemming velopment plans of the 1950s and 1960s,
the jurisdiction’s demographic and economic they have learned from their mistakes and,
erosion. Suburbanites, on the other hand, in their best contemporary efforts, have
looked to planning to protect the idyllic revitalized dying city neighborhoods and
environment that had drawn them out of the created vibrant new commercial centers.
cities, and to keep out most low-income and For example, Portland, Oregon, moved its
minority households that wished to follow. riverfront expressway in the late 1970s and
used a variety of land use and infrastructure
Planning in the contemporary city initiatives to create RiverPlace, a lively new
Although planners in major American cities commercial and residential district between
today do not hesitate to avail themselves of the Willamette River and the historic down-
regulatory powers, they have an abiding town. Chicago continues to fulfill Burnham’s
Figure 1–21 Rapid growth surrounding Phoenix, Arizona, illustrates the challenges facing urban planners in
the twenty-first century.
Source: Richard Walters
11255-01_CH01.indd 48 12/22/08 2:37:06 PM

vision for the downtown river and lakefront, households and leading businesses than
but it is also investing in vital new residential their poorly planned suburban counterparts.
and business centers outside the Loop. New
Modern suburban planning was greatly
York, in the wake of 9/11, is planning for a
facilitated by the Supreme Court’s 1926 rul-
comprehensive rebuilding of Lower Manhat-
ing in Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co.
tan. And in Philadelphia, the formerly seedy
(272 U.S. 365 [1926]), which validated zoning
and dangerous neighborhoods around the
as a means of
University of Pennsylvania are being trans-
formed through institutional investments • Separating obviously incompatible
complemented by city initiatives. land uses (“excluding from residential
sections offensive trades, industries, and
Planning in the contemporary suburb structures likely to create nuisances”)
Rather than being driven by a comprehen- • Curtailing excessive density (“to

sive or strategic vision, planning in many minimize . . . the evils of over-crowding”)
of America’s suburbs is only marginally • Establishing minimum levels of
dedicated to the creation of actual plans and architectural consistency (“fixing the
rarely attempts to achieve ambitious public height of buildings within reasonable
goals. Instead, under the guise of protect- limits, [specifying] the character of
ing public health and welfare, suburban materials”)
planners have become accomplices to • Allowing light and air into streets that
what economists refer to as “rent-seeking” were being darkened by the construction
behavior, which occurs when an individual, of tall buildings.4
organization, or firm seeks to benefit by
manipulating the economic environment In recent decades, however, what were once
rather than by making direct investments. reasonable zoning standards have evolved
For example, if an interest group persuades into devices to exclude unwanted households
a governmental unit to adopt regulations or enterprises and to impose a deadening
that confer on it some form of unique eco- uniformity. Separation of land uses has
nomic benefit, it is engaged in rent seeking yielded vast expanses of single-family homes,
and the governmental unit is complicit. which are occasionally bisected by strip malls
along arterial roads; multifamily housing
In the small suburban municipalities where has been largely banished. Minimizing “the
the majority of metropolitan-area resi- evils of over-crowding” has come to mean
dents now live, planning powers have been setting large minimum standards for lot
harnessed by homeowners to protect their sizes. In Long Island, for example, Levittown’s
financial privileges and way of life; by public one-eighth-acre properties are now a quaint
officials to generate a favorable tax base; historical artifact, as municipal requirements
and by developers to shut out competi- have escalated from a quarter-acre to a half-
tion—all at the expense of the welfare of acre, and to one-, two-, and often five-acre
the larger metropolitan area. In affluent minimums. “Fixing the height of buildings”
suburbs, planning has also been designed— has been used to justify rigid design stan-
covertly but consciously—to exclude low- dards that often make new homes larger or
income and minority households. Indeed, in more expensive than they need to be.
many suburban municipalities, the desire
to secure the regulatory powers that would Compounding the excesses of current
permit rent seeking—thinly disguised as zoning practice are increasingly rigid
planning—has driven the decision to incor- subdivision regulations that require private
porate. However, because each municipality developers to design and construct much
controls only a small piece of the overall of the new suburban infrastructure—at a
suburban fabric, individual suburbs have minimum roads, but generally sewer, water,
only fitfully achieved their objectives, while storm drainage, and even electricity and
collectively generating dysfunctional and telephone systems as well. Developers may
unattractive regional environments. To also be required to set land aside for parks,
compound the irony, as metropolitan demo- schools, and other public facilities, which
graphic and development trends mature, the often serve areas much larger than the
better-planned central cities are attracting tract to be subdivided. Local planning
a greater share of their region’s affluent boards establish stringent standards for
11255-01_CH01.indd 49 12/22/08 2:37:08 PM

each infrastructure element and for the • Higher density, so that many community
overall layout of subdivisions. facilities are within walking distance of
each other
While the demands of subdivision regulation
are apparently reasonable, implementation • Balanced transportation options, offering
in most jurisdictions has generated two a choice of auto, transit, and walking
extremely undesirable outcomes. First, since • A range of housing choices, with a variety
each subdivision is laid out without regard of dwelling types and prices
to its surroundings, the result is a wildly • Energy efficiency, to be achieved by
incoherent tapestry of adjacent subdivisions minimizing travel and space conditioning
stretched across the entire suburban region.
• Land conservation, to be achieved by
Second, requiring developers to absorb the
limiting the footprint of development and
entire burden of building local infrastructure
preserving key natural features
makes housing increasingly unaffordable.
• Greater access to retail, educational,
It was not always so. Until shortly after entertainment, recreational, medical, and
World War II, all municipal infrastructure social service facilities
was designed and paid for by municipalities,
• Neighborliness and civic participation.
often in conformance with a local com-
prehensive plan. The cost of building the The Ahwahnee Principles aren’t revolution-
infrastructure was funded by borrowing, and ary; they merely invoke an older paradigm
the debt service was paid through future that once guided the development of most
property tax revenues. While the quality American small towns and early suburbs,
of infrastructure planning under the old and that has largely vanished from the sub-
system varied widely, this approach ensured urban landscape. Despite the appeal of the
some level of visual and functional coher- principles, their authors’ strategy of regulat-
ence across the municipality (especially if it ing such development into existence, and of
was tied to local planning for schools, parks, relying on private entrepreneurs to build it,
and other public services), and definitely will at best sprinkle American metropolitan
contributed to housing affordability. In the areas with a relatively small number of new
contemporary suburb, local unwillingness to urbanist enclaves—mostly upscale communi-
increase debt and property taxes has made ties in the inner suburban ring.
publicly constructed infrastructure infea-
sible in most places, with the result that A better approach to reforming suburban
existing residents effectively set the entry planning would begin with a careful look at
price for newcomers, usually at a level well the positive qualities of pre–World War II
above that which they had faced. suburban communities developed before
modern suburban planning regulation.
Comparing “pre-regulatory” suburbs such
A new planning paradigm
as Merrick, Long Island; Oak Park, Illinois;
In the 1980s, the dysfunctionality of contem- Shaker Heights, Ohio; and Takoma Park,
porary suburban planning began to gener- Maryland, with neighboring “post-regulatory”
ate a powerful backlash among a coalition suburbs represents an instructive “natural
of affluent, environmentally conscious experiment” in alternative planning frame-
suburban residents; enlightened developers; works. The older communities are architec-
and—most significantly—architects and turally stimulating, furnish their residents
planners. At a 1991 conference at the with varied transportation and housing
Ahwahnee Hotel in Yellowstone Park, a options; consume relatively little energy or
group of architects and planners outlined a land; are served by a wide range of commer-
set of fifteen “community principles”—known cial, recreational, entertainment, and medical
as the Ahwahnee Principles—that challenged facilities, and provide many opportunities for
the prevailing suburban planning paradigm neighborly interaction and civic participation.
in very specific terms. The principles, which The post-regulatory communities, in contrast,
have been incorporated into many state and are architecturally monotonous; require
local planning policies, support the use of cars for even minor shopping or
• High-quality community design, as social trips; have their stores, eating places,
reflected in the architectural quality of and services arrayed along miles of ugly and
structures, streetscapes, and public spaces inconvenient “road-towns”; are profligate
11255-01_CH01.indd 50 12/22/08 2:37:09 PM

in their use of energy for automobile travel Appropriately located stores and services
and space conditioning, and gobble up vast should be permitted among residential
stretches of land. structures, an arrangement that is far
superior to today’s unattractive strip malls.
If we wish to replicate the best features of
Careful attention should be given to the
pre-regulatory suburbs, we need to restore
some of the policies that shaped their devel- design quality of the municipal infrastruc-
opment. First, when it came to public sector ture—which should include, for example, the
planning and investment, older American careful orchestration of structure heights,
suburbs did not grow “on the cheap.” the construction of tree-lined streets and
Drawing on their lessons calls for more boulevards, and the use of attractive paving
planning—not less—across suburbia. Ideally, and street furniture. The automobile would
county or regional agencies should take the be properly recognized in the design of pub-
lead, and planning should focus primarily on lic streets and in parking requirements—but
the suburban infrastructure—that is, on road, wherever possible, the new suburbia should
transit, water, sewer, solid waste, and utility be laid out to facilitate public transportation
systems. These systems must be designed (probably by bus), cycling, and walking.
at the municipal or multimunicipal level, and
must be financed primarily through public Balancing planning and the market
borrowing, to be repaid by the incremental How can the urban and suburban communi-
property tax revenues generated by the ties of the future strike the proper balance
resulting new development. between government-initiated planning and
the private market? The short answer is
that the current responsibilities of govern-
Planners should return to a narrower ment and private development need to be
focus on health and safety, and leave precisely reversed, restoring the historical
decisions about the size, type, and paradigm. Governmental entities—municipal
location of most structures to the or multimunicipal—should prepare compre-
dynamics of the real estate market. hensive plans and build the primary public
infrastructure, thinking in the broad and
visionary ways that Daniel Burnham urged
Then, most of the regulatory apparatus a hundred years ago, and private develop-
associated with current subdivision regula- ers should be free to shape and site the
tion needs to be jettisoned; in its place—as community’s residential and commercial
in the past—there should be an “official structures according to the preferences of
map” establishing the location and form of
their tenants or purchasers. This division of
essential infrastructure. The new municipal
labor does not preclude the regulation of
or multimunicipal plans should also address
structures and site design to foster health,
the location and construction of schools
safety, and a modicum of architectural
(which many communities now shift to the
consistency, or the occasional strategic use
budgets of developers), parks, and other
of eminent domain to accomplish publicly
government amenities and services.
beneficial development projects. America’s
Finally, as local governments take greater big cities, by and large, have gotten the
control of community-wide planning and balance right. America’s suburbs are where
infrastructure, they should also emulate the the new division of responsibilities is most
pre-regulatory suburbs in significantly scal- urgently needed.
ing back zoning constraints on the design
of sites and structures. Planners should Notes
return to a narrower focus on health and 1 Ebenezer Howard, Garden Cities of To-Morrow
safety, and leave decisions about the size, (London: Sonneschein, 1902; repr., Cambridge: MIT
type, and location of most structures to Press, 1965).
2 The nation’s greatest municipal annexation was New
the dynamics of the real estate market. Lot York City’s 1898 consolidation, which enlarged the
sizes should not be unreasonably large, and city by 300 square miles and two million people.
zoning should permit apartment houses, 3 Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American
Cities (New York: Random House, 1961).
garden apartments, and townhouses to 4 Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., 272 U.S. 388
be artfully grouped with detached homes. (1926).
11255-01_CH01.indd 51 12/22/08 2:37:09 PM

FOCUS ON most famous—and infamous—urban renewal

efforts would not be repeated in most cit-
From urban renewal ies today; nor are the underlying political
agendas or notions of social engineering
to regeneration likely to make a comeback. The original

motivation behind urban renewal, however,
has returned: to make bold physical changes
Karen B. Alschuler in the pursuit of public purposes.
Empowered by the Housing Act of 1949, As the damage wrought by urban renewal
planners became active participants in the became clear, public development initiatives
Urban Renewal program. A new set of power- were scaled down, and many more parties
ful tools allowed public development entities were invited to the table. Special-purpose
to plan for the acquisition, clearance, and agencies—including downtown development
reconstruction of blighted residential neigh- authorities, community development corpo-
borhoods, and eventually to apply those rations, public development authorities, port
tools to commercial, industrial, and institu- authorities, and transit authorities—were
tional renewal. The bold yet often contro- created to undertake development initia-
versial actions of urban renewal brought a tives, while planners retreated to a sideline
growing realization that in too many cases, role as reviewers from the comfort of urban
healthy communities had been replaced with planning departments or regional agencies.
sterile, unwelcoming, and repetitive resi- In the 1960s, public participation became a
dential single-use blocks or had been wiped fine art, and it was often hard to tell who was
out altogether by nonresidential uses. As in charge. There was much focus on revital-
strategies for public development evolved, ization, a “friendlier” approach than urban
planners played key roles in broadening renewal that was characterized by more
participation, adapting to local needs, and limited interventions, including the creation
inviting savvy development partners to the of downtown malls, cosmetic changes to
table. Today, the focus is on regeneration: streets, preservation of distinctive areas,
the creation of healthy, diverse, accessible, and bland, superficial design improvements
and sustainable communities. to neighborhoods. Every undertaking faced
In planning, as in all creative endeavors, the minute scrutiny that included public hear-
most exciting discoveries, collaborations, ings, submissions to regional agencies, and
and advances occur at the intersection of environmental impact reports.
professional disciplines. In the realm of pub-
lic development, twenty-five years of experi-
ence with public-private partnerships has To avoid repeating past failures, cities
yielded some important lessons, built a body opted to share the risks and rewards
of experience, created and refined methods of development through public-private
and tools, and produced leaders with the partnerships.
initiative, wisdom, and self-confidence to
combine public and private resources in the
In the 1970s, urban renewal evolved into
service of urban regeneration.
redevelopment—which, because it brought
private landowners, developers, and down-
From public urban renewal to town business interests to the table, was
public-private redevelopment regarded as having greater chance of suc-
For the generations of planners who were cess. This was because the private partners
inspired by the underlying message of brought an entrepreneurial spirit long
Jane Jacobs’s 1961 classic, The Death and missing in urban agencies; moreover, they
Life of Great American Cities, the phrase had some funds to invest in major public
urban renewal connotes ill-considered, improvements. Mayors rediscovered pride in
oversized, anti-urban initiatives that bring their cities and brought into play large tracts
a deadly sameness to formerly distinctive, of underused public land. To avoid repeating
fine-grained neighborhoods.1 The whole- past failures, cities opted to share the risks
sale demolition that characterized the and rewards of development through public-
11255-01_CH01.indd 52 12/22/08 2:37:09 PM

private partnerships. Private parties may to be effective partners for downtown initia-
have taken a disproportionate share of the tives. Such entities frame and implement
long-term benefits in early public-private catalyst projects, offer an increased level of
projects, but scores of projects were built, public services, and bring together talented
renewing many fallow districts. Although professionals to forge effective and equitable
in early stages, the sharp negotiators were partnerships.
nearly all on the private side of the table, as
Local governments have had extensive
the decade progressed, planners, lawyers, experience with partnerships involving
and market economists begin to populate transportation authorities, many of which
the public side of the table. control key parcels along transit lines and
In San Francisco, private developers were in downtowns. More recently, public agen-
invited to assist in the redevelopment of Yerba cies have had increasing experience forging
Buena Gardens—although, as was the case partnerships with medical or educational
in many redevelopment initiatives, several institutions, which often own key parcels
rounds of deal making were required before and have an interest in promoting comple-
the right partners were found (Figure 1–22). mentary development. Base closures across
In Boston’s South End Urban Renewal Area, the United States have also become the
private investors and developers were invited focus of public-private planning and devel-
to finish a long-stalled project with a series of opment partnerships.
fine-grained moves, including adaptive reuse In determining whether to pursue a public-
of the remaining historic fabric. private development opportunity, public
In large and medium-sized cities, particularly officials and policy analysts should ask a
in the East and Midwest, special-purpose number of questions:
business-based organizations, such as • Is a partnership needed to get the
downtown development corporations and project started, to persevere during
business improvement districts have proved implementation, or to sustain the quality
Figure 1–22 Included within Yerba Buena Gardens, an award-winning public facility laid out on two blocks in
downtown San Francisco, are gardens, a waterfall, several public art installations, the Yerba Buena Center for
the Arts, a children’s museum, an ice-skating rink, a bowling alley, and several restaurants.
Source: Steve Proehl
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of management and operations once the • Broadening the focus: Experience

project is in place? suggests that more and more
• What strengths and resources can partnerships will move beyond specific
each party bring to the table: land real estate projects to encompass
or the ability to assemble it? Public essential public services and the
infrastructure? Private expertise? The environment upon which those services
ability to obtain up-front funds without depend. New partnerships may, for
recourse to the general fund? example, address diversity, parks and
other public spaces, schools, and
• Who are the right partners?
transportation.
• Who should lead the effort?
• Engaging the community: The new
• How should the partnership be structured? realities of public-private development
• Can the local government handle the risk? involve active and extensive community
• Does the local government have the involvement early in the planning
political will and professional expertise process, opportunities for risk taking
to negotiate a deal that will incorporate involvement by communities, and
safeguards to the public purse and will direct community involvement in the
negotiation of benefits.
hold up under public scrutiny of deal
points to share future benefits? The planner, whether public or private, plays
a pivotal role in the long-term success of
Conceptual plans may be drafted by public
each new development initiative. A savvy
entities but must be flexible enough to
planner will take the lead in creating the
accommodate private interests. Public buy-
vision and ensuring that it is rooted in a
in will be essential, and creative design will
holistic, long-term view of community needs.
often be necessary to capture the public
He or she will build a team with the range
imagination. In recent years, design compe-
of expertise needed for regeneration, and
titions have greatly elevated public expecta-
shine a spotlight on best practices from
tions, which has affected the negotiations
other jurisdictions. Cities renew, redevelop,
between public and private partners.
and regenerate in ever-changing ways. What
does not change is the constant need for
Regeneration: The next challenge
imaginative and skilled professionals to give
Public development has entered a period of structure to that process.
tremendous opportunity and experimenta-
tion. An international focus on the regenera- Note
tion of cities suggests that the opportunities 1 Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American
for public-private cooperation may lie in the Cities (New York: Random House, 1961).
following areas:
• Adding new partners: The next frontier
for the transformation of the urban FOCUS ON
fabric and for suburban densification
may come from new approaches to old
sites and buildings. Key players will be
American
large institutions, such as hospitals
and universities; developers of older, exceptionalism
master-planned communities; and public
agencies with underused lands. Thus far,
five or six large development firms have
revisited
dominated the field of public-private Bish Sanyal
partnerships, but there is a pressing
need to support and develop a new, To discuss what U.S. planners need to know
expanded generation of development about global change, it may be worthwhile
partners who appreciate the potential to review planners’ past attitudes toward
of older sites. Attention to areawide the world beyond American borders. A
sustainability will also bring in new quick review reveals three distinct phases.
actors and investors. The first phase, between 1850 and 1910,
11255-01_CH01.indd 54 12/22/08 2:37:11 PM

was inward looking: planners defined the which Eleanor Roosevelt played a key role;
problems they faced as unique to the and U.S. planning assistance in newly decol-
nation and as requiring solutions that were onized nations all created a new awareness
particularly appropriate for the American of the world outside the United States. The
system of governance.1 Given that early city dominant sentiment of the time was that
planning in the United States reflected a the United States had a mission: to spread
number of European practices, this attitude the benefits of democracy and capitalism in
is perplexing. For example, the French Beaux a world that faced an increasingly polarized
Arts tradition spurred the City Beauti- choice between communism and capitalism.
ful movement, and the British garden city The astonishing rate of economic growth in
movement was similarly influential. The the post–World War II era made the United
plan for Washington, D.C., reflected Italian States a showpiece for the world, and U.S.
influences, and zoning practices were based, planners cherished the moment, exporting
in part, on German models.2 Nevertheless, ideas and technical know-how without any
“planning conversations”3 emphasized the worry about the possible pitfalls of global
particularities of the U.S. context: a federal interconnectedness.6
and decentralized system of governance
with local control; a democracy without a
feudal past; a market economy relatively Although the United States had been
free of state regulations of the kind common connected to the outside world through
in Europe; and a polity made up of active the slave trade and through massive
and independent citizens engaged in numer- immigration, Americans were proud to be
ous civic enterprises. different from the rest of the world, and
they were busy undertaking nation- and
Although the United States had been con-
city-building in their own particular way.
nected to the outside world through the
slave trade and through massive immigra-
tion, Americans were proud to be different
The sharp rise in oil prices that immediately
from the rest of the world, and they were
followed the 1967 Arab-Israeli War marked
busy undertaking nation- and city-building
the beginning of the third phase in the
in their own particular way. This pride in the
American way of planning was illustrated, in way American planners viewed the world.
the early twentieth century, by the argu- Domestically, the era was one of social
ments made by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. turmoil. U.S. soldiers were returning from
in response to the proposals of reformer Vietnam, which by then had proved to be an
Benjamin Marsh regarding the housing of unwinnable war, and the nation was begin-
new immigrants. Olmsted held that Ameri- ning to experience an utterly new form of
can planners were not inclined to follow the economic malaise for which the economists
European tradition of “socialist housing”; had to devise a new term: stagflation, mean-
nor were U.S. cities eager to adopt the kinds ing simultaneous increases in inflation and
of strict land use controls that would violate unemployment, which in the past had been
the freedom of American citizens to use inversely linked.7 The Watergate scandal in
private property in pursuit of prosperity and the early 1970s further eroded the extro-
happiness.4 verted optimism of the 1950s.
With World War I, however, American plan- Three other factors contributed to a darken-
ners began to broaden their sights. The ing American mood. First, by the mid-1970s,
end of World War II ushered in the golden many of the newly decolonized nations that
age of planning both in the United States had initially adopted democratic systems of
and abroad (1944–1966), and the focus of governance had been taken over by authori-
planning took a sharp outward turn.5 The tarian regimes, thereby undermining a key
Marshall Plan, which lay the foundation for assumption of American foreign policy: that
the reconstruction of Europe and Japan; capitalism and democracy go hand in hand.8
America’s lead role in the design of new Second, to the dismay of working-class
global institutions such as the World Bank; Americans, many manufacturing plants
the adoption, by the United Nations, of the began shutting down their U.S. operations
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in and moving them to developing nations,
11255-01_CH01.indd 55 12/22/08 2:37:12 PM

many of which were under military rule.9 States, which would continue to nurture
Third, in sharp contrast to the decline of technological progress and economic
the U.S. economy, Japan—a nation that the growth.11
United States had defeated in a devastating
However, by the early 1990s, two sharply dif-
war only thirty-odd years before—was show-
ferent camps emerged among U.S. planners.
ing signs of vigorous economic growth.10
“Neoliberals” cheered the expansion of the
Meanwhile, the cold war was still raging, and
market and blamed earlier regulatory plan-
in 1977, the Soviet Union invaded Afghani-
ning for the slowdown of the U.S. and global
stan. Moreover, Iran, a former ally, had
economies in the 1970s; they also advocated
become a theocracy hostile to the United
further expansion and integration of the
States, signaling a change in geopolitics
global economy, pointing to the benefits
whose repercussions have yet to be fully
that such changes conferred on developing
understood.
nations and in decaying areas within rich
To counteract deepening pessimism about nations.12 On the other end of the spectrum
the state of both the nation and the rest of were planners who saw increased global-
the world, President Ronald Reagan prom- ization as exacerbating the socioeconomic
ised a new “morning in America”—an oppor- inequalities that had surfaced with the first
tunity for the nation to return to its role as wave of U.S. deindustrialization in the 1970s.
“a shining city on a hill” and to serve as a The critics of globalization backed their
model for the rest of the world. In this view, arguments with evidence of rising inequal-
America was not to turn inward and become ity even within prosperous “global cities”
isolationist; quite the opposite. It would such as London, New York, and Tokyo.
lead the expansion of a globally integrated Further, they argued that footloose capital
market of ideas, technological innovations, and new telecommunications technologies
and increased flows of capital and commodi- had reduced governments’ ability to plan,
ties. America was not alone in its quest for thereby increasing the vulnerability of cities,
the revival of a global market. The United regions, and even nations—including the
Kingdom and, surprisingly, communist China United States—to unpredictable fluctuations
(under the new leadership of Deng Xiaoping, in the global economy.13 The Seattle riots of
who followed Mao Zedong) joined with the 1999, which disrupted the annual meeting
United States to create a new momentum of the World Trade Organization, confirmed
for economic growth. that antiglobalization was not a fringe
movement but a mobilizing force subjecting
global capitalism to new scrutiny in the wake
America would lead the expansion of its triumph at the end of the cold war.
of a globally integrated market
More recently, environmentalism has begun
of ideas, technological innovations,
to draw attention to both the costs of global
and increased flows of capital
industrial expansion and the benefits of a
and commodities.
globally unified effort to halt environmental
degradation. The advocates of environ-
In this new initiative, government had a mental regulation who helped draft the
role in planning cities, regions, and nations, Kyoto Protocol are opposed by advocates of
but the dominant themes were deregula- technological solutions, mostly in the United
tion, public-private partnerships, and entre- States, who draw on historical evidence to
preneurial planning—that is, planning that demonstrate how technology—not govern-
courted private investment. These ideas mental regulation—can continuously rede-
were further legitimized by the collapse fine what are usually considered the limits
of communism in the Soviet Union and of existing resources.14
Eastern Europe in 1988. In 1989, political
economist Francis Fukuyama wrote about What now?
the “end of history,” triumphantly predict- What do American planners need to know
ing that the whole world would eventually about global change? First, planners who
become one market, democratically man- craft public policies must understand that
aged by nation-states but led by the United globalization is subject to a multitude of
11255-01_CH01.indd 56 12/22/08 2:37:12 PM

influences: finance, trade, production, immi- global interconnections cannot be resolved

gration, and cultural symbols, to name a few.15 unilaterally—or even bilaterally. Multilateral
Each source of influence has distinct features institutions, such as those that the United
and effects. For example, the flow of capital States helped to create after World War II,
has a very different impact than international are necessary to craft and enforce a new
migration, even though both are elements of set of rules to spread the costs as well
globalization. Moreover, the interconnections as benefits of globalization.22 The United
among the various factors that influence glo- States must not abandon multilateralism
balization have become stronger and more out of fear of losing national sovereignty.
complex, making it more difficult to control Although many existing international insti-
outcomes through policy making.16 tutions have become overly bureaucratic
and need drastic reforms, the United States
Second, planners need to be aware that
must continue to play a role in such institu-
global interconnections have both positive
tions so that it can continue to influence
and negative effects.17 On the positive side,
those reforms.23
there have been significant economic gains
from international trade, the dissemination
of scientific knowledge and technological
Current circumstances call for
know-how, and greater understanding of the
a questioning of what are considered
diversity of cultural norms. On the negative
“local problems”; and the federal
side, globalization has increased uncertainty government’s guidance on such problems
and vulnerability among those who are least has to be crafted in recognition not
able to protect themselves against fluctuat- only of American traditions, but also
ing markets and unforeseen changes. of global competition.
Third, planners need to understand that
global integration is not inevitable; nor is
it destined to create “a flat world.”18 Global Second, the American planning tradition,
interconnections are not born out of a “nat- rooted in local control and in distrust of
ural” evolutionary mechanism; they result central guidance from the federal gov-
from socially constructed processes that ernment, needs to be revised in light of
can be influenced by social interventions, changing circumstances. In the face of
such as planning. Thus, national govern- competition from the nationally planned
ments and international institutions—such as economy of China and the supranation-
the International Monetary Fund, the World ally planned economies of the European
Trade Organization, and the International Economic Union, is it a good business
Labour Organization—continue to be critical strategy for the United States to rely on a
players despite the increasing mobility of completely decentralized planning system
capital.19 Nor has global interconnectedness in which numerous local authorities com-
reduced the autonomy of all governments pete to attract private investment? This
to plan, or led to the homogenization of is not to say that planning in the United
planning styles around the globe, as some States must be as centralized as planning
had predicted.20 The persistence of hetero- in other nations. Current circumstances,
geneous approaches to planning in the face however, call for a questioning of what
of global interconnectedness is due only in are considered “local problems”; and the
part to cultural differences among nations; it federal government’s guidance on such
is also the result of variations in the political problems has to be crafted in recognition
powers of different constituencies, including not only of American traditions, but also of
planners, in different settings.21 global competition. There is a growing need
for metropolitan planning and for a more
Implications for U.S. planners active federal role in energy policy and
health care policy, both of which will ulti-
What are the specific implications of
mately affect American competitiveness.
these trends for U.S. planners? First, in
contradistinction to earlier periods, U.S. Some have argued that global changes
planners now need to acknowledge that in may not be as important for local land use
most instances, problems resulting from planners, as, say, for planners working at
11255-01_CH01.indd 57 12/22/08 2:37:12 PM

the international level.24 In reality, however, 6 David M. Kennedy, “Imagining America: The Promise
and Peril of Boundlessness,” in Anti-Americanisms in
local planners are the ones who feel the World Politics, ed. Peter J. Katzenstein and Robert O.
consequences of global interconnections Keohane (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2007),
most vividly. Inflows of immigrants, outflows 39–54.
7 Gerald K. Helleiner, International Economic Disorder
of industrial jobs, changing microclimates, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1981), 1–21.
fluctuating housing prices, and rising trans- 8 Robert A. Packenham, Liberal America and the Third
portation costs are all local manifestations World: Political Development Ideas in Foreign Aid and
Social Science (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University
of global interconnections. Add the current Press, 1973).
concerns for security against terrorism, and 9 Bennett Harrison and Barry Bluestone, Deindus-
trialization of America: Plant Closings, Community
it will be apparent why U.S. planners must
Abandonment, and the Dismantling of Basic Industry
move toward a new view of their role—one (New York: Basic Books, 1982).
that no longer emphasizes how their nation 10 Chalmers A. Johnson, Japan: Who Governs? The Rise
of the Developmental State (New York: W. W. Norton,
is either different from or better than oth- 1995).
ers. It is time to recognize the need to work 11 Francis Fukuyama, “The End of History?” The
with planners in other nations to address National Interest (Summer 1989): 3–18, wesjones
.com/eoh.htm (accessed February 8, 2008).
shared problems. 12 Greg Grandin, “What’s a Neoliberal to Do?” The
Nation, March 10, 2003, 25–29.
Joint problem solving requires mutual 13 Joseph E. Stiglitz, “Globalism’s Discontents,” in The
trust. Establishing that trust is a huge chal- Globalization Reader, ed. Frank J Lechner and John
Boli (Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishing, 2000),
lenge—particularly in the wake of September
200–207.
11 and amid the ongoing armed conflicts in 14 Robert Solow, An Almost Practical Step towards
the Middle East. In difficult times such as Sustainability (Washington, D.C.: Resources for the
Future, 1997).
these, it is likely that some planners would 15 Ulrich Beck, What Is Globalization? (Cambridge, UK:
prefer to look inward, to regain the sense of Polity Press; Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishing,
predictability of the early years of planning 2000).
16 Suzanne Berger, How We Compete: What Companies
in the United States. Others may prefer around the World Are Doing to Make It in Today’s
to “stay the course,” continuing to battle Global Economy (New York: Currency Doubleday,
against external forces that they perceive 2006).
17 Amartya Sen, “How to Judge Globalization,” The
as threatening the American way of life. To American Prospect 13 (January 2002): 1–14.
me, neither of these two options is feasible 18 Thomas Friedman argues that globalization has a
leveling effect on global income distribution in The
any longer. The world is very different now
World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Cen-
than it was after World War I, World War II, tury (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006). For
or even at the end of the cold war. To be a critique of Friedman, see John Gray, “The World Is
Round,” New York Review of Books, August 11, 2005.
effective, planners need to understand the 19 Kofi Annan, “The Role of the State in the Age of
multiple and intricate ways in which the Globalization,” in The Globalization Reader, ed.
United States is now interconnected to the Frank J. Lechner and John Boli (Oxford, UK: Blackwell
Publishing, 2004), 240–243; and Richard Jolly, Louis
rest of the world, to abandon any vestiges Emmerji and Thomas G. Weiss, The Power of UN
of an us-versus-them mentality, and to begin Ideas: Lessons from the First 60 Years (New York:
to cultivate a new perspective in which the United Nations, 2005).
20 Jeffrey G. Williamson, “Globalization, Convergence
phrase “public interest” refers to a public and History,” Journal of Economic History 56 (June
beyond our borders.25 1996): 191–196; Christopher Pollitt, “Justification by
Works or by Faith? Evaluating the New Public Man-
agement,” Evaluation 1, no. 2 (1995): 133–154.
Notes 21 Bishwapriya Sanyal, “Hybrid Planning Cultures:
The Search for the Global Cultural Commons,” in
1 Eric Foner, Who Owns History? Rethinking the Past in Comparative Planning Cultures (New York: Routledge,
a Changing World (New York: Hill and Wang, 2002). 2005), 3–28.
2 Anthony Sutcliffe, Towards the Planned City: Ger- 22 Will Hunt, A Declaration of Independence: Why
many, Britain, the United States and France, 1780–1914 America Should Join the World (New York: W. W.
(New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1981). Norton, 2003).
3 The term planning conversations was first used by 23 Morten Boas and Desmond McNeill, Global Institu-
Robert Fishman, an urban historian, to describe the tions and Development: Framing the World? (London
key issues of concern for the professional community. and New York: Routledge, 2004).
See Robert Fishman, ed., The American Planning Tra- 24 This point is argued most pointedly by Klaus
dition: Culture and Policy (Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Kunzmann in the German context, and it was raised
Wilson Center Press, 2000). by Edward Blakely in his keynote address to the
4 Jon A. Peterson, The Birth of City Planning in the American Planning Association in 2002. See Klaus
United States, 1840–1917 (Baltimore, Md.: John R. Kunzmann, “Planning Education in a Globalized
Hopkins University Press, 2003), 227–245. World,” European Planning Studies 7, no. 5. (1999):
5 Peter Hall, Cities of Tomorrow: An Intellectual History 549–555.
of Urban Planning and Design in the 20th Century 25 Peter Singer, One World: The Ethics of Globalization
(Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing, 1988), 324. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2002).
11255-01_CH01.indd 58 12/22/08 2:37:12 PM

The Context for
CHAPTER
2
Local Planning
The Anatomy and Soul of a Place
Good planning is based on an understanding of tangible and intangible
community characteristics.
—Mitchell J. Silver
FOCUS ON
Serving Two Masters: The Legal Context of Local Planning /

Anna K. Schwab and David J. Brower
State mandates shape local planning.
Planning and the Community Context / David R. Godschalk

The charismatic planner seizes the opportunities that local politics
presents.
The Environment and Environmentalism / Lawrence Susskind

Community resilience emerges as a planning goal.
Sizing Up the Local Economy / Robert H. Edelstein

Planning in a dynamic economy is often informed risk taking.
Real Estate and the Local Planning Context / Lynne B. Sagalyn

Real estate, property values, and governmental policy—all mutually
dependent—form a backdrop for local planning.
The Social Context of Planning / Dowell Myers

The clients of public planning have competing and changing needs.
The Future of Metropolitan Regions / Robert D. Yaro

Economic, environmental, and mobility issues demand regional
planning, but the definition of regional planning remains elusive.
59
11255-02_CH02.indd 59 12/22/08 2:37:40 PM

11255-02_CH02.indd 60 12/22/08 2:37:41 PM
61
The anatomy and soul of a place

Mitchell J. Silver
Every person, dead or alive, has a unique DNA. So does every city, town, village,
and hamlet. Local planning is about the uniqueness of a place: not just its physical
appearance, but its social fabric, its cultural identity—its soul.
I am not the first person to compare cities to living organisms. Planners and
sociologists have described parks as the lungs of a city, streets and mass transit
as the circulatory system, and downtowns as the heart. Kate Ascher’s The Works:
Anatomy of a City brilliantly illustrates how infrastructure and transportation sys-
tems work in New York City.1 We are keenly aware of the built environment, and we
can learn what lies below the ground, but what about the spirit and soul of a city?
In January 2007, Matt Ehlers, a reporter with the News & Observer, a local paper
in the Triangle Region of North Carolina, wrote an article questioning whether the
city of Raleigh has a soul.2 The article unleashed a citywide debate—and a series
of letters to the editor that went on for months. And in the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina, journalists and planners alike talked about saving the soul of New Orleans.3
Local planning is about the uniqueness of a place: not just its physical appearance,
but its social fabric, its cultural identity—its soul.
Throughout my career, I have made a point of sharpening my ability to quickly

assess the anatomy and soul of a place. This talent was particularly useful when,
as a planning consultant, I had to form an immediate impression and offer expert
advice—literally overnight. I had to quickly evaluate the physical characteristics of a
place, listen to multiple stakeholders, diagnose problems, and recommend treatment.
I continue to believe that every place has both a physical anatomy and a soul.
So while colleagues focus on physical form and rational plans to revitalize places by
changing their physical character, I’ve taken a different approach: I’m part doctor,
part detective, and part evangelist.
The planner as doctor

Like many young planners new to the profession, I struggled to define who I was
and what I did as a planner. In 1993, I was the team leader in the graduate planning
studio at Hunter College in New York City. The team had been assigned to develop a
plan for Harlem—and as I strolled down Lenox Avenue, staring at the endless blocks
of abandoned buildings, I realized that Harlem had a soul: an empty soul at the
time, but a soul waiting to be revived. For the first time in my career, I began to see
cities as living places, with both a visible and an invisible side—a soul. That thought
became the inspiration for a plan called “Lift Every Voice: A Community Plan for
Central Harlem”—which, in 1994, was selected by the American Institute of Certi-
fied Planners as one of the best student plans of the year.4 The plan brought together
Harlem’s physical, spiritual, and cultural attributes to create a comprehensive blue-
print for change—and, along with similar plans that I developed in the years that
followed, contributed significantly to the renaissance that unfolded in Harlem in the
late 1990s.
So at the tender age of thirty-three, I realized that if places had anatomies, then
planners could be viewed as doctors. Whenever someone asked me what I did for a
living, I would proudly state that I was a doctor for cities. Surprisingly, the analogy
worked. People understood my role right away.
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62 The Context for Local Planning
It is said that doctors develop hunches about their patients the instant they walk
into the examining room. Talented planners also have such instincts, and like physi-
cians, planners build up their skills over the years. Nevertheless, planners do not rely
solely on initial impressions: they test their hunches by looking carefully at data and
by spending time in the field to confirm or disprove what they suspect.
The planner as detective

So where is this leading? To clarify the context of local planning, I want to describe
how I discover both the anatomy and the soul of a place. As my example, I’ll use my
recent experience as planning director for the city of Raleigh, North Carolina.
Raleigh is located in a part of the country I knew very little about, and it had
a culture that was foreign to me. As a newcomer and as someone who would be
expected to offer guidance on how to move the city into the future, I knew my first
order of business was to uncover the essentials of the local planning context. I gave
myself three months to develop this knowledge. After the first three months of diag-
nosis, I spent the next three months testing and confirming my observations.
My initial hunch was that Raleigh is a suburban southern city that thrives on its
reputation for hospitality, trees, and greenways. Although Raleigh is a medium-sized
city (with an estimated population of 356,321 in 2006, it is slightly larger than Pitts-
burgh, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Tampa),5 it has a small downtown that is viewed
less as an economic engine than as a challenge to expand the vibrant central business
district given the existing size of the downtown core. I discovered a desire for plan-
ning leadership, a desire to manage growth, and a desire to catapult Raleigh into the
twenty-first century. Nevertheless, I felt that change might be difficult: many Raleigh
residents seemed committed to preserving the city as a charming green paradise.
Regional context and history

I first examined the city’s regional context. What role did Raleigh play within the
region? What was its economy based on? What had been its population trends over
the past fifty years, and what were the projections for the future?
Next I considered Raleigh’s history. Established as the state capital, Raleigh was
platted in 1792 as a grid with five green squares. But only two of those squares are
still parks today, and downtown Raleigh is the only place within the city limits that
maintains an orthogonal grid. Streets in the older parts of the city sometimes inter-
sect at odd angles, and visitors must take care when navigating because thorough-
fares may change names several times.
Although Raleigh is more than two hundred years old, I discovered that it is a
relatively “new” city: for the first century and a half of its existence, it was bound
by tradition and remained largely unchanged. Most of the growth occurred in two
waves: during the 1950s and 1960s, when the creation of Research Triangle Park
transformed the region into an employment magnet for research and technology, and
between the 1980s and the present, when the city’s outstanding colleges and univer-
sities, low crime rate, excellent school system, mild climate, and low cost of living
helped make Raleigh one of the fastest-growing cities in the country.
The anatomy of Raleigh

The anatomy of a place is relatively simple to trace. I look for patterns of any type.
Maps are the best tools. Land use maps are good, and a series of land use maps cre-
ated over time is even better. Even a cursory look at a land use map can tell you how
well a city is planned, what its circulation patterns are, and where the downtown
and the employment areas are. A close look at variations in road and development
patterns will offer other clues. In some cities, for example, low-density residential
areas near downtown may be historic resources—areas that either are gentrified
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The Context for Local Planning 63
or will be soon. I spent countless hours touring the city and observing details: the
denominations of churches, the types of schools, the layouts of subdivisions, the
maintenance of properties, and the patterns of how residents travel, shop, and play.
What did I see in Raleigh? I saw a rolling terrain with beautiful lakes, creeks,
and streams. Many major thoroughfares are generously lined with trees and land-
scaped buffers; in fact, there are trees everywhere. (A visiting landscape architect
called Raleigh’s development pattern “rural urbanism.”)6 Between the abundance
of trees, the lack of visual landmarks, and the changing street names, getting lost is
a fact of life for newcomers. Locals rarely give you an address for an event. Instead
they ask you to meet them at Ed’s Diner, Pam’s Kitchen, or the McKimmon Center.
The city has many names, including the Capital City, the City of Oaks, and the City
in a Park. Many visitors have described Raleigh—and its neighbor, Cary—as more
like resorts than cities.
I saw very few historic buildings in the two-hundred-year-old downtown (their
demolition having started in the 1960s to make way for parking decks and other
modern buildings). I saw very few industrial areas. There were several at-grade
railroad crossings in the downtown, which was surprising for a medium-sized
twenty-first-century city. Single-family neighborhoods, both rich and poor, were a
stone’s throw away from thirty-story downtown buildings. The thoroughfares run-
ning through downtown were oversized, and the sidewalks were undersized. And,
as noted earlier, the downtown was small for a city of 128 square miles and nearly
400,000 residents.
Most of the city is low in density. Within the city limits are two suburban areas:
the first-ring suburbs immediately outside the 110-block downtown core but inside
the “beltline” (a loop that encircles the older part of the city), which were developed
on a street grid; and a ring of newer suburbs outside the beltline, which were devel-
oped with limited street connectivity and cul-de-sacs. More than half of the existing
homes were built after 1980.
Development regulations limit clear cutting, control storm-water runoff, and
protect the city’s water supply. On the other hand, there are no hillside preservation
regulations: it is common in hilly areas to see new sites graded flat, with retaining
walls as high as two stories to hold back the earth.
The soul of Raleigh

To gain insight into Raleigh’s values, I carefully reviewed the zoning code and policy
documents such as the comprehensive plan. I was interested not only in what they
contained but also in what they did not contain. In the case of the zoning code, for
example, I looked for elements beyond the basic components of a zoning ordinance:
were there special districts, conservation zones, or inclusionary zoning provisions?
Were there references to the appearance of the city, such as anti-monotony standards
or other design guidelines? Did the residents want to control every aspect of design,
as if they were a citywide homeowners’ association? Were the standards mandatory
or voluntary? I then examined the comprehensive plan: what were its elements and
how was it used? The answers to these questions offered a glimpse of the politics,
culture, and traditions that had shaped the city.
What did I find after poring over these documents and checking their relevance
in the field? The anatomy of Raleigh flows from the way it was laid out: a hierarchy
of centers that range in scale from neighborhood to regional and are linked by green
corridors. There are no distinctive architectural characteristics, but the vision laid
out by the founders—to maintain Raleigh as a wooded paradise—remains intact
today, thanks to miles of greenways, parks, and tree-lined thoroughfares. Raleigh still
lives up to its reputation as the City in a Park and the City of Oaks. Appearance is
a priority: it has been enshrined in the comprehensive plan, design guidelines, site
plan review, conservation districts, and tree ordinances.
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The local culture must be respected by seeking compromise, not confrontation,

and planners should avoid saying no whenever possible. “Voluntary” is usually
preferred to “mandatory”—an insight that is helpful when recommending plans and
policies. Proper etiquette is appreciated.
The vision laid out by the founders—to maintain Raleigh as a wooded paradise—remains
intact today, thanks to miles of greenways, parks, and tree-lined thoroughfares.
Faith is an essential part of the local culture. All city council meetings start with
a prayer—not just Christian prayers, but prayers from various faiths.
Race is probably the most complicated part of Raleigh’s soul. Racism and segre-
gation played a role in Raleigh’s history, but the city leaders of today share a desire
to be transparent, fair, and responsive. Members of the black community want to
share in the city’s prosperity and play a larger role in the political process. In some
cases, black leaders have called for certain entitlements to correct past mistakes,
level the playing field, and create opportunities for self-empowerment. The new
challenge is how to accommodate the Hispanic population, which is the fastest-
Figure 2–1 The growing ethnic group in the city.
downtown renais-
sance in Raleigh is The planner as evangelist
under way and will
alter the skyline by The insights I have described cover only a fraction of what I found during the first
2010. The physical six months on job. I continue to learn. One of the more challenging aspects of under-
form of a city often standing a place is reading its soul—the invisible qualities that make a place unique.
reveals subtle clues Like an evangelist who aspires to lead someone to rebirth, spending time to under-
about the city’s stand what make a place tick, why local traditions evolved, or how certain neigh-
social, economic, borhood stereotypes are formed is vital to leading a place to change. Every place
and cultural under- has a different soul, and investing the time to find out what it is shows that you are
pinnings, and in a fervently committed to the eternal prosperity of that place.
larger sense, its
“soul.”
Source: City of Raleigh
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Conclusion
As a planner trying to use the skills of a doctor, detective, and evangelist, I add a few
details every day to my picture of Raleigh’s anatomy and its soul. Raleigh is emerg-
ing as a new twenty-first-century city—a medium-sized city with big-city amenities.
Its defining physical feature is its natural environment: it is a wooded paradise, a
city in a park. Raleigh also has a soul—even if, unlike New York or New Orleans, it
doesn’t wear its soul on its sleeve. Raleigh’s soul shines through in its culture, in the
charm of its people, and in the outstanding quality of life.
Places as large as a region and as small as a village have similar structures and
systems to address the needs of everyday life. Understanding how these structures
and systems relate to each other, and to daily life, is essential to planning; it is also
fundamental to adapting and sustaining our environment in the face of global, eco-
nomic, and technological change. The reverse is also true: planners must understand
the global and regional influences that set the context for planning. An understand-
ing of a place—based on a combination of intuition, examination, and reflection—is
essential equipment for a planner who hopes to guide its growth.
Notes
1 Kate Ascher, The Works: Anatomy of a City 5 U.S. Census Bureau, American Community
(New York: Penguin Press, 2005). Survey, 2006, factfinder.census.gov/home/en/
2 Matt Ehlers, “Where’s the Soul?” News & official_estimates.html (accessed April 22,
Observer, January 30, 2007. 2008).
3 See Jay Tolson, “Saving the City’s Soul,” U.S. 6 Plenary remarks from Mark Johnson, FASLA,
News & World Report, February 19, 2006, Sustainability Conference, Raleigh, North
usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/060227/ Carolina, March 24, 2007, ncsudesign.org/
27soul.htm (accessed March 11, 2008). content/index.cfm/fuseaction/calendar/
4 Mitchell Silver et al., “Lift Every Voice: A mode/1/eventtype/ALL/month/3/day/1/
Community Plan for Central Harlem” (New year/2007 (accessed May 6, 2008).
York: Hunter College Planning Studio, Spring
1993).
11255-02_CH02.indd 65 12/22/08 2:37:43 PM

FOCUS ON government’s “master” establishes the legal

context for most local government activities,
Serving two including planning.

This hierarchical relationship between local
masters: The legal governments and the states was established
through the Tenth Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution, which divides power between
context of local the national and state governments—and
fails to mention local governments at all:
planning “The powers not delegated to the United
States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by
it to the States, are reserved to the States
Anna K. Schwab and David J. Brower
respectively, or to the people.” Under the
Tenth Amendment, states are sovereign
Local planners serve the community, but
units; only certain enumerated powers—
their work takes place within a well-defined
including interstate commerce, national
legal context that is dominated by two
defense, and foreign affairs—are reserved
“masters”: the state government and the
to the national government. Local govern-
local government.
ments are “creatures of the state”:1 their
very existence depends on state approval
State government: The source of of a charter or some other form of official
local government power state recognition, and they act only as
According to long-standing legal principle, agents of the state.
local governments in the United States
have no inherent power and may act only Dillon’s Rule
on authority granted by the state. A local The most definitive expression of the rela-
government cannot, for example, regulate tionship between local governments and the
business, direct traffic, collect taxes, or plan states was made by Judge John F. Dillon, a
for the community’s growth and develop- nineteenth-century jurist. In 1872, Judge Dil-
ment without specific state authority to lon published his influential Treatise on the
do so. The notion that the state is the local Law of Municipal Corporations, according
The role of the federal government
In addition to attending to the requirements set by state and local government,

planners must also take heed of federal constitutional provisions that establish
parameters for local government action—in particular, the takings clause of the Fifth
Amendment, which states that private property shall not be taken for public use
without just compensation, and the due process clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth
Amendments, which state that no person shall be deprived of property without due
process of law. Various programs devised by Congress also affect local planning
practice: examples include the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, a
federal statute that prohibits zoning or other land use laws that discriminate against
religious assemblies or institutions, and the Community Development Block Grant
(CDBG) program, which supports local development efforts in impoverished or
underserved neighborhoods.
In some states, local governments must prepare a plan to be eligible to participate in

certain state programs. This is also true of some federal programs. For instance, as a
condition of local participation, the CDBG program (administered by the U.S. Depart-
ment of Housing and Urban Development), the Clean Water Act of 1972 (administered
by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency), and the Disaster Mitigation Act of
2000 (administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency) all require the
preparation of a local plan that meets program guidelines.
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Figure 2–2 Local planners serve their very tion of local autonomy;4 amid concern about
immediate local “masters” but at the same time are states “meddling” in local affairs,5 many
affected very directly by the state constitution, laws, states passed home rule legislation, which
and administrative provisions. allowed local governments greater inde-
pendence and authority. Today, most states
have home rule provisions that grant fairly
broad authority to local governments: under
these provisions, local governments are
allowed to pass ordinances, enter contracts,
acquire and dispose of property, hire and
fire employees, and perform myriad other
functions without explicit legislation grant-
ing them authority to do so. Some states
include the definition of home rule in their
constitutions and define the forms it may
take in legislation. In other states, the extent
of home rule is defined simply by statute.
Home rule may provide great flexibility to

local governments for managing growth and
development within its boundaries. However,
even in states with the most liberal inter-
Source: Jay Spooner
pretation of home rule, no local government
is completely independent of its state. All
to which a local government may exercise states reserve certain powers over substan-
only those powers granted to it by the state tive local issues, especially those they think
legislature in express words; those powers should be addressed uniformly statewide.6
necessarily or fairly implied in or incident Thus, although home rule authorizes a wider
to the powers expressly granted; and those scope of local activity, the essential principle—
inherent powers essential to the accom- that a local government derives all its
plishment of the governmental unit’s objec- authority from the state—remains firm.
tives and purposes.2 Thus, under what came
to be known as Dillon’s Rule, any powers not The police power
explicitly granted to local governments are
Among the most fundamental powers
implicitly denied.
granted to local governments by the state
Dillon’s Rule reflects concerns, prevalent at is the general “police power,” an inherent
the time it was created, about corruption attribute of governmental sovereignty.7
and mismanagement in local governance; The police power confers the authority, and
it also indicates a strong judicial faith in in some instances the affirmative duty, to
state legislatures. Although Judge Thomas protect the public health, safety, morals,
Cooley, a contemporary of Dillon’s, asserted and general welfare. Moreover, the police
an inherent right to local self-governance,3 power gives local government the authority
Dillon’s Rule has prevailed essentially intact to move proactively, without waiting until
since it was first issued. And although the a problem is manifest. Thus, the authority
rule has been strictly interpreted, it does not granted a local government under the police
necessarily prevent local governments from power allows it to plan: a local government
adopting innovative and creative methods may, for example, establish building codes,
for dealing with contemporary issues. safety standards, and sanitary requirements,
and set limits on land uses that have the
Home rule potential to damage the well-being of the
Initially, the authority to act was delegated community.8
to local governments piecemeal, through
state enabling acts that granted very The power to plan
specific powers. During the first decades of Many states delegate the authority to plan
the twentieth century, however, the political through enabling acts modeled on the Stan-
pendulum began to swing back in the direc- dard State Zoning Enabling Act of 1924 and
11255-02_CH02.indd 67 12/22/08 2:37:44 PM

Leading state growth management programs
In addition to requiring local governments to adhere to state goals, some states exert
more direct oversight over local government land use decisions. Six states are gener-
ally considered to be leaders in growth management: Florida, Maryland, New Jersey,
Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.
• Florida requires the state, with the governor as chief planning officer, to prepare
and maintain a comprehensive plan, and it mandates consistent regional policy
plans prepared by regional councils; the state Department of Community Affairs
ensures that local governments adopt comprehensive plans, and encourages
regulations that are consistent with these plans. Florida originated two important
innovations in growth management: concurrency requirements, which ensure that
infrastructure and services are in place before new development impacts are felt,
and the practice of mapping areas of critical state concern, where development
must be reviewed and approved by state agencies.
• Maryland require municipalities and counties to adopt comprehensive plans that
are consistent with state policy, including smart growth policies that are designed
to promote concentrated development, discourage development in environmentally
sensitive areas, conserve resources, and streamline regulations. State oversight is
focused on interjurisdictional coordination, ensuring consistency between plans
and regulations, and targeting state and federal funding to projects that are consis-
tent with state and local plans.
• New Jersey’s growth management system calls for the creation of a state develop-
ment and redevelopment plan, and requires local plans to be consistent with this
plan. The state’s planning process is based on “cross-acceptance,” which encour-
ages governments at all levels to suggest modifications to any other plan, including
the state plan.
• Oregon’s state-administered land use planning system is based on statewide
planning goals and detailed regulatory guidelines. Urban growth boundaries and
the protection of agricultural and resource lands are the best-known features of
the system. Localities must adopt and maintain a comprehensive plan that meets
state goals. The state agency approves local plans by acknowledging that they are
consistent with state goals, periodically reviews the plans, and provides technical
assistance and grants.
• Vermont requires local land use regulations to be based on state policies; regu-
lations are reviewed by state agencies. The state recently refocused its growth
management law to channel new growth into state-accepted growth centers, where
development must adhere to smart growth principles. The growth centers are
given priority in state funding and are authorized to use tax increment financing.
• Under Washington’s growth management program, localities whose size or growth
rate exceeds a specified level and that are located in urbanizing counties must pre-
pare local comprehensive plans that are coordinated with other local plans, must
adopt regulations that are consistent with the plans, and must address the siting
of essential facilities and the preservation of open-space corridors. Urban growth
boundaries protect natural resource lands and critical environmental areas. Locali-
ties are authorized to use concurrency requirements and transfers of development
rights to implement their plans.
Source: Paul Sedway
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the Standard City Planning Enabling Act of Notes

1928, both promulgated by the U.S. Depart- 1 City of Tacoma v. Taxpayers of Tacoma, 357 U.S. 320
ment of Commerce (see “The Authority to (1958), questions whether local governments are
indeed merely creatures of the state. For further
Plan,” in Chapter 1). Although a number of
exploration of this issue, see Russell W. Maddox and
states have since adopted legislation that Robert F. Fuquay, State and Local Government,
embraces different approaches to local 4th ed. (New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1981), 289–290.
2 These powers are not inherent per se, but are
planning, the enabling legislation of many
inherent in the delegation of a particular power.
states still bears a strong resemblance to For instance, the authority to construct swings is
the model acts. inherent in the authority to create a public park.
3 David J. McCarthy Jr. and Laurie Reynolds, Local Gov-
In keeping with the Standard State Planning ernment Law in a Nutshell, 4th ed. (St. Paul, Minn.:
Enabling Act (1928), which made planning West Publishing, 2003).
4 Ibid.
optional, some states do not require plan-
5 Maddox and Fuquay, State and Local Government, 289.
ning; others, however, go beyond enabling 6 For discussion of the relationship between Dillon’s
and require local governments to plan. Still Rule, home rule, and growth management, see Jesse
others mandate planning only for selected J. Richardson Jr., Meghan Zimmerman Gough, and
Robert Puentes, Is Home Rule the Answer? Clarifying
regions. The North Carolina Coastal Area the Influence of Dillon’s Rule on Growth Manage-
Management Act, for example, requires ment (Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution,
planning—which is largely based on environ- January 2003), brookings.edu/reports/2003/
01metropolitanpolicy_richardson.aspx (accessed
mental protection goals—only for those local May 6, 2008).
governments that are located in the twenty 7 Police power in this context does not refer to the
counties that make up the state’s coastal power bestowed on public safety officers but to the
broader governmental responsibility for maintaining
zone. Washington State’s growth manage-
order and tranquility.
ment act was crafted to strike a balance 8 Michael S. Grossmann, Alan D. Copsey, and Katharine
between local control and the need for some G. Shirey, Advisory Memorandum: Avoiding Unconsti-
consistency in planning: twenty-nine coun- tutional Takings of Private Property (Olympia: Office
of the Washington State Attorney General, December
ties (which contain 95 percent of Washing- 2006), atg.wa.gov/takingsmemo.aspx (accessed
ton’s population) are required to meet the May 6, 2008).
full set of the act’s planning requirements, 9 Robert H. Freilich, From Sprawl to Smart Growth: Suc-
cessful Legal, Planning, and Environmental Systems
including the preparation of comprehensive
(Chicago: American Bar Association, 1999).
plans and development regulations. The
ten remaining, less populated counties are
required to undertake planning only for criti-
cal areas and natural resource lands. FOCUS ON
The local government “master”

When it comes to planning, the majority of
Planning and the
states see themselves primarily as delega-
tors. Many recuse themselves altogether community context
from involvement in development decisions,
leaving local governments and market David R. Godschalk
forces to regulate land uses. As a result,
land use planning in the United States Local plans must meet government needs
has traditionally been a local government while responding to the community context:
responsibility. Unfortunately, local govern- the intricate and evolving mix of influences—
ment decision making has often been driven from history to geography, structures, and
by self-interest—often to the detriment of institutions—that shape community life and
the larger region.9 form. Communities are dynamic entities:
growing and declining, dealing with old
As the planner’s second master, the local problems and confronting new issues. Lead-
government issues the guiding principles ers change; needs change; agendas change.
that the planner must follow in formulating
To be effective, planning must keep pace.
and implementing local policy. It is the local
master that most directly influences the Typically, communities change gradually—
character of growth management within but the arrival or departure of a major
the community and determines the tools employer, sudden increases or decreases in
that will be used to implement local land growth rates, or significant improvements or
use policies. declines in environmental quality can signal
11255-02_CH02.indd 69 12/22/08 2:37:45 PM

forthcoming large-scale changes. Planning Two planning approaches:

support systems that analyze shifts in fac- Comprehensive and strategic
tors such as land use, economic activity,
There are many types of local plans, includ-
and environmental quality allow planners to
ing comprehensive plans, transportation
advise communities about looming contex- plans, housing plans, economic develop-
tual issues.1 The best plans, and those most ment plans, and disaster recovery plans.
likely to be implemented, capture the atten- The focus here, however, is on two different
tion of community leaders and help them approaches to planning: (1) conventional
deal with contextual shifts. comprehensive planning, in which plans
are periodically prepared and regularly
Politics and planning updated, and (2) strategic planning, in
In monitoring the context, the planner which plans are specially prepared to
serves both as pulse taker and agenda set- respond to unique circumstances. Some-
ter. Although these roles are not taught in times the two types are combined; for
typical planning school courses, effective example, the preparation of a conventional
planners learn them rapidly on the job. comprehensive plan may be motivated by a
However, any attempt to balance these special circumstance.
roles with the belief that local planning
should be apolitical reveals a contradic- Conventional comprehensive planning
tion: while the canons of professional The goal of conventional comprehensive
planning practice emphasize the objectiv- planning is to meet twenty-year future needs
ity and apolitical nature of plan making, for land, housing, transportation, and public
politics is, in truth, the backstory of many facilities; the anticipated extent of these
famous plans. Because planning and local needs is based on long-range population and
politics are closely interwoven, it makes economic projections. The comprehensive
sense to discuss them as parts of the plan is typically revised every five to seven
same puzzle. years to account for intervening changes
and to extend the planning horizon another
Planning lore is replete with examples of twenty years.5
dazzling successes accomplished by masters
of community context. In 1964, the cover of In a number of states with smart growth
Time magazine pictured Edmund Bacon, the laws, such as Florida, local governments are
executive director of the Philadelphia City required to prepare, periodically update, and
Planning Commission, who rode to fame formally adopt comprehensive plans contain-
on the strength of his bold schemes—devel- ing specific elements.6 In other states, the
oped jointly with Mayor Joseph Clark—to preparation of a comprehensive plan is a
redevelop Philadelphia’s declining central matter of local option: state statutes enable,
but do not require, planning.7 Regardless of
city.2 Robert Moses, a brilliant public official
whether a plan is required or optional, how-
with an astute grasp of New York City plan-
ever, planners must be sensitive to context—
ning, politics, and development, cut through
including political agendas—in order to ensure
red tape to build a raft of public projects,
that the plan is actually implemented.
ranging from bridges and expressways to
swimming pools and parks.3 Daniel Burn-
Strategic planning
ham, who would later create the famed Plan
of Chicago, was able to build the World’s Strategic planning responds to pressing
Columbian Exposition of 1893 because of his circumstances not anticipated in the time-
alliance with the Chicago business com- tables for conventional plan making. The
munity, which wanted Chicago to rival Paris recovery plans prepared for the Gulf Coast
and New York as world-renowned metropo- states in the wake of Hurricane Katrina are
lises.4 In each of these historic examples, a examples.8 Other examples include
charismatic planner seized opportunities • The plans created to prepare a city for an
and used politics to pave the way for plans. international event (e.g., the rebuilding
Most local plans are made in less dramatic that transformed Barcelona, Spain,
circumstances, but they face the same need: before the 1992 Olympics)
recognizing threats and taking advantage of • The plans developed to respond to
opportunities. large-scale redevelopment (e.g., the
11255-02_CH02.indd 70 12/22/08 2:37:45 PM

transformation of the former Stapleton jobs and had seen its population decline
Airport in Denver, Colorado, into a new from 116,000 to 82,000.
mixed-use community)
The city’s most recent comprehensive plan
• The plans undertaken in response to a had been prepared in 1951 and updated
major local economic boom (e.g., the in 1974. To deal with urban decay and
development boom that occurred in inspire the city’s discouraged and apathetic
southeast Orlando, Florida, in the 1990s citizens, city government and Youngstown
and 2000s, which made it possible State University joined forces to prepare a
to develop plans for a new urbanist new plan; their goal was to build consen-
neighborhood (see Figure 2–3).9 sus for a vision based on the realities of
Strategic plans often call for new Youngstown’s current context. The mayor
approaches to planning and implementation, and the university president championed
or for the development of new institutional the new initiative and hired Urban Strate-
arrangements—such as collaboration with gies, Inc., a planning and urban design con-
regional, state, or federal agencies—that sulting firm, to guide the planning process.
will give the local government access to the To bring underlying issues to light and to
financial resources and political power nec- develop a common vision, Urban Strategies
essary to tackle the new problems. Because
proposed a unique community consultation
of their high visibility and unique impact
process that started with focus groups and
on the community, strategic plans demand
workshops with community leaders and then
especially high sensitivity to the needs and
broadened to involve the general public.
expectations of stakeholders and a high
Local politicians supported the process, in
level of stakeholder involvement.
part because they saw it as an opportunity
to identify citizens with leadership skills who
Three planning cases
could be of help in moving the vision forward.
The three cases in this section demonstrate
how context influences planning. Two of the Gradually widening the circle of participa-
cases describe strategic planning processes; tion gave the consultants an opportunity
the third describes a conventional planning to take the community’s pulse. First they
process. met with elected officials; then they held
one-on-one interviews with residents who
Youngstown, Ohio represented a range of community interests;
By 2000, Youngstown, Ohio—once a thriving finally, they held leadership workshops.
center for the steel industry—had become a Eventually, the leadership group numbered
symbol of civic failure. Over the past several 250 and included many of the city’s most
decades, this Rust Belt city had lost 50,000 influential citizens—who, in turn, became the
Figure 2–3 The

Southeast Orlando Plan
is a strategic initiative to
guide the development
of 19,000 acres projected
to house more than
80,000 people into a
sustainable land use
pattern that is based on
natural and circulation
networks.
Source: Peter Calthorpe and

William Fulton, The Regional
City, 242. Copyright© 2001.
Reproduced by permission
of Island Press, Washington,
D.C.
11255-02_CH02.indd 71 12/22/08 2:37:45 PM

Figure 2–4 Citizen par-

ticipation in public hear-
ings has been an integral
part of the planning pro-
cess for decades.
Source: Don Bayley
vision’s champions. In 2002, between 1,200 control over land use and densities. The
and 1,400 people came to a public meeting city responded by agreeing to a collabora-
and supported the new vision—which called tive neighborhood planning program that
for Youngstown to become a model medium- involved three elements: a neighborhood
sized city, in recognition of its smaller size. planning office that reported directly to
the mayor; the distribution of neighbor-
In 2003, after the council adopted the prin-
hood “planning toolboxes”—including
ciples, plan preparation began. Again, the
geographic information system (GIS) maps
community was involved, this time at the
and planning data; and the approval of
neighborhood level. Volunteers performed
$4.7 million in funding to support neighbor-
neighborhood assessments, and meetings
hood planning.11
were held in neighborhood clusters through-
out the city. In 2005, some 1,300 residents The first task of the neighborhood planning
attended the presentation of the 2010 com- office was to build trust among neighbor-
prehensive plan, which garnered favorable hood groups that had battled the city—and
reviews and was adopted by the city council. each other—for decades. Through a demo-
Youngstown put in place a planning process cratic process that included all affected
that succeeded, over the course of several groups, the neighborhood planning office
years, in confronting the city’s new context assisted in the development of neighbor-
and building the political consensus to deal hood visions. The city reviewed each
with it. neighborhood plan to ensure coordination
with the overall city plan. The partnership
Seattle, Washington
between the city and the residents yielded
Unlike Youngstown, Seattle faced too much neighborhood plans that met the citywide
growth rather than too little; it also had goals of the comprehensive plan.
to comply with a state planning mandate.
In 1994, under the requirements of the The neighborhood plans called for hundreds
state’s 1990 Growth Management Act, the of new public projects—enough to generate a
city adopted a comprehensive plan called potential fiscal crisis if implemented. In 1998,
Toward a Sustainable Seattle.10 The plan the new mayor, elected with neighborhood
designated portions of the city as “urban support, championed the plans, raising the
city’s neighborhood plan implementation fund
villages” with differing mixes of density and
from $1.5 million to $4.5 million per year. The
land uses; it also included an urban growth
mayor also placed bond measures on the bal-
boundary to contain development and pro-
lot that totaled some $470 million—for librar-
tect rural areas. But when the plan to trans-
ies, community centers, and parks and open
form Seattle’s core into a dense network
space; all the measures were passed.
of urban places was published, citizens
revolted: the failure to adequately involve Between 20,000 and 30,000 residents
citizens in the visioning process fueled a participated in the planning process. Seattle’s
neighborhood rights campaign to regain strategic investment in this process empow-
11255-02_CH02.indd 72 12/22/08 2:37:46 PM

The role of the champion
Often, a local “champion” will serve as a bridge between government planners and the
community. A champion may be an individual—an elected official, a business leader, or
the chair of a planning board, for example—or a cadre of organized supporters. Champi-
ons are valuable because they can pursue a more aggressive advocacy and/or mediat-
ing role than government planners, who are expected to remain above the political fray.
The champion may also be a consultant, who has no political baggage or axe to grind.
In addition to providing a fresh perspective, the consultant often can speak more
candidly than a local government employee.
ered citizens, transforming them into a new more legal suits followed, on grounds such
political force. In turn, they voted to invest as failure of environmental protection or tak-
their tax money in the implementation of ings of property rights.13 Since that time, the
neighborhood visions, and elected city coun- county has not only developed more effective
cilors who supported neighborhood planning. growth management tools, but also learned
The controversy and distrust sparked by the to involve its constituencies in planning more
original comprehensive plan was overcome effectively. Recent planning processes have
through collaborative planning based on been more participatory and less combative.
widespread democratic participation.
Most of the county’s urban areas are pro-
jected to be built out by 2020. The Lee Plan
Lee County, Florida
seeks to balance growth management, pro-
In the face of explosive growth, a fragile tection of natural resources, diversification of
natural environment, and the demands of a the economic base, and investments in public
state planning mandate, Lee County, Florida, facilities. Rather than simply applying these
followed a more conventional planning principles on a broad countywide scale, how-
process.12 Under the Florida Growth Man- ever, the planners worked with stakeholders
agement Act, the county must review its in each of the county’s twenty-two planning
comprehensive plan every seven years; as communities to prepare land use policies that
part of the review, it must respond to issues
were based on maintaining each community’s
raised by citizens, elected officials, and the
desired local character. Thus, the planners
Florida Department of Community Affairs
were able to build consensus in support of
(DCA). The review report for the 2004
the overall comprehensive plan proposals by
Lee Plan addressed such issues as trans-
first resolving the close-to-home issues.
portation, density reduction, groundwater
protection, development regulation, the
Guidelines for planning practice
new urbanism, and smart growth, which it
categorized according to whether the issues What can be learned from these examples?
were regional, countywide, or local (i.e., sub- The Youngstown case highlights the ability
county), or had been raised by the DCA. of local leaders to revitalize a declining city
through a consensus-based planning pro-
Lee County’s attempts to manage growth had cess that created a cadre of champions. The
generated intense controversies in the past, Seattle experience highlights the danger of
including hotly contested court challenges
moving too fast with a bold new plan, and
brought by both developers and environmen-
then having to rebuild consensus through a
tal groups. The DCA contended that the 1989
neighborhood-level collaborative process.
Lee Plan did not discourage urban sprawl, did
The Lee County experience highlights the
not provide a specific future land use map,
ways in which regular and systematic com-
did not set an adequate level of service stan-
prehensive planning increases understand-
dards for public facilities, and did not comply
ing and helps to reduce community conflict.
with various other state criteria. A stipulated
settlement agreement required the county Some suggested guidelines for planning
to adopt a revised plan in 1990. However, include the following:
11255-02_CH02.indd 73 12/22/08 2:37:47 PM

• Study the context: Systematically analyze period balances the need for more frequent updating
against the cost of a more frequent turnaround.
the local political scene and development
6 David R. Godschalk, “State Smart Growth Efforts
situation. around the Nation,” Popular Government 66 (Fall
• Identify the issues: Highlight circumstances 2000): 12–20.
7 American Planning Association (APA), Planning for
that can affect the course of growth and Smart Growth: 2002 State of the States (Washington,
development. D.C.: APA, February 2002), planning.org/growingsmart/
states2002.htm (accessed May 6, 2008).
• Consult with and develop leaders: 8 See Eugénie Birch and Susan Wachter, eds., Rebuild-
Network regularly with community ing Urban Places after Disaster: Lessons from
leaders; seek to understand their Hurricane Katrina (Philadelphia: University of
concerns and to involve them in planning. Pennsylvania Press, 2006).
9 See Southeast Orlando Sector Plan, at cityoforlando
• Don’t get too far ahead of the community: .net/planning/cityplanning/ProjectSEPlan.htm
Be patient when initiating new or (accessed May 6, 2008).
10 See City of Seattle, Toward a Sustainable Seattle
unfamiliar planning processes. (Seattle, Wash.: Department of Design, Construction,
• Build trust in the planning process: and Land Use, December 2005), seattle.gov/DPD/
Planning/Seattle_s_Comprehensive_Plan/
Maintain openness and transparency by
ComprehensivePlan/default.asp (accessed May 6,
sharing information and treating planning 2008).
as a community-wide learning opportunity. 11 Carmen Siranni, “Neighborhood Planning as Col-
laborative Democratic Design: The Case of Seattle,”
• Link plans with decision-making Journal of the American Planning Association 73,
schedules: Ensure that local plans fit into no. 4 (December 2007): 373–387.
the timing of public decisions on budgets 12 The Lee Plan and its development are described at
lee-county.com/dcd/ComprehensivePlanning/
and capital improvements.
planningmain.htm (accessed May 6, 2008).
• Develop participatory visions: Build 13 See David R. Godschalk, “Negotiating Intergovern-
consensus by involving stakeholders mental Development Policy Conflicts: Practice-based
Guidelines,” Journal of the American Planning Asso-
throughout the community. ciation 58, no. 3 (Summer 1992): 368–378.
• Encourage planning champions: Facilitate
the development of planning advocates
who are willing and able to articulate
FOCUS ON
community-wide goals over the long
haul.
Context-based planning can be challenging,
The environment and
but it is never dull. Communities are in flux,
and planners—who are in a unique position to environmentalism
match an understanding of future opportuni-
ties with the current rhythms of the commu- Lawrence Susskind
nity pulse—have lively and important roles as
facilitators of visioning and agenda setting. Environmental concerns have received
increasing attention in the United States
since the 1970s. This attention derives, in
Notes
large part, from three sources: (1) edu-
1 For a discussion of the use of planning support
systems in decision support and vision creation, see cational efforts, symbolic appeals, and
“Overview of Building Planning Support Systems,” in lobbying undertaken by a range of non-
Urban Land Use Planning, 5th ed., ed. Philip Berke, governmental organizations; (2) corpo-
David Godschalk, and Edward Kaiser (Champaign:
University of Illinois Press, 2006), 85–286. rate efforts to increase market share by
2 Available on the Web at time.com/time/magazine/ appealing to environmentally conscious
article/0,9171,876419-5,00.html (accessed May 6, consumers; and (3) the explosion in schol-
2008).
3 See Hilary Ballon and Kenneth T. Jackson, eds., arly research documenting environmental
Robert Moses and the Modern City: The Transforma- threats to public health and human survival.
tion of New York (New York: W. W. Norton, 2007). For
a more critical view of Moses, see Robert A. Caro, The
Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York The costs of mismanaging
(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1974). natural resources
4 For an engaging discussion of the challenges of
building the Chicago World’s Fair, see Erik Larson, Decisions about the use of natural
The Devil in the White City (New York: Vintage Books, resources, and regulatory or spending deci-
Random House, 2004).
5 Revising a comprehensive plan is a cost- and labor- sions designed to protect health and safety,
intensive effort. The five- to seven-year revision allocate costs and benefits in ways that are
11255-02_CH02.indd 74 12/22/08 2:37:47 PM

rarely distributed evenly across the popu- waste disposal. But many decisions about
lation or across geographic areas. While using resources and managing waste cannot
it is difficult to calculate these costs and be addressed by individuals; they must be
benefits in a precise (and noncontroversial) addressed collectively. If a community needs
way, there is no longer any debate about a sewage-treatment plant, for example, no
the damage that can result from failure to individual, no matter how highly motivated,
manage natural resources effectively, par- will single-handedly construct and operate
ticularly when the impacts are concentrated it. Instead, the plant will be constructed
in specific locations or fall on vulnerable as a public good. Collective action usually
segments of the population. In fact, the requires the imposition of enforceable stan-
field of environmental planning emerged, dards, the adoption of powerful incentives,
in large part, in reaction to the extreme or both. In part, this is a response to the
costs created by mismanagement of natural “free rider” phenomenon, which assumes
resources and development pressures. that every person will pursue his or her own
Recently, ecological economists have begun self-interest—even if that produces environ-
to calculate the benefits of “nature’s ser- mentally reckless decisions—because each
vices”; such calculations assign a monetary assumes that his or her individual action will
value to basic ecological functions, such as not be significant enough to be noticed.
the cleansing performed by wetlands. This
Merely encouraging consumers and busi-
should make it easier to make effective
nesses to be guided by an ethic of sustain-
resource allocation decisions.
ability is not enough: collective action at the
Individual and collective neighborhood, municipal, state, federal, and
responsibility for the environment international levels is essential to develop
sustainable resource management practices.
Many environmental concerns can be Nevertheless, it is often unclear how best to
addressed only by encouraging individuals collectively pursue environmental protec-
to change their behavior: to set their tion or sustainable development. Given this
thermostats lower; drive less; reuse or uncertainty, it may be wise, in the short run,
recycle as much as possible; and use their to treat each environmental policy decision
purchasing power to demand more ecologi-
cally sustainable production, shipping, and
Figure 2–6 Across the country, sprawling, decentral-
Figure 2–5 The emergence of environmental ized metropolitan growth patterns are exacerbating
planning is a reaction to the costs of development traffic, environmental, tax, and municipal service
pressures and the mismanagement of natural delivery imbalances, and increasing racial and social
resources. polarization.
Source: Simon Alvinge Source: David McShane
11255-02_CH02.indd 75 12/22/08 2:37:48 PM

Figure 2–7 Communi-

ties are using a variety of
strategies for adaptive
environmental manage-
ment, including bike lanes
along major thorough-
fares (Kansas City,
Missouri), high-density
residential development
along transit corridors
(Charlotte, North
Carolina), and green
buildings (Fukuoka,
Japan).
Source: Missouri Bicycle Federation/Brent Hugh
Source: Governing Magazine/Zach Patton
Source: Hiromi Watanabe, photographer/Emilio Ambasz, architect
11255-02_CH02.indd 76 12/22/08 2:37:49 PM

as an experiment: that is, when the risks of ment, offering incentives for innovation, and
doing nothing are worrisome, but the likely ensuring that all information is shared.
costs and benefits of taking action are hard
to estimate because of the complexity of A values-based approach
the systems involved, we should probably
Many conflicts over the use of natural
take small steps in what we believe to be the
resources, the siting of necessary but nox-
right direction. If we commit to monitoring
ious facilities, and the pattern and style of
what happens as a result of each move and
development can be traced to differences
assume that continuous adjustments will be
in values. For example, some members of
needed, we can move in the right direction
the public take a utilitarian view of natural
even if we don’t know exactly where we
resources: they believe that such resources
are trying to go. This approach is known as
should be drawn on as needed in order to
adaptive environmental management.
foster economic growth. Others advocate
an ethic of environmental stewardship, in
Environmental planning which resources are carefully husbanded to
at the local level ensure their availability for future genera-
A distinction is often made between tions. Similarly, whereas some members of
government-led environmental protec- a community may be comfortable taking
tion and a market-driven approach. Under environmental risks in order to proceed
the government-led model, government with development, others prefer taking
precautions to minimize environmental risk.
agencies set specific resource management
Finally, some local constituencies assign the
and public health objectives, specify the
highest priority to the preservation of indi-
means that will be used to achieve them
vidual property rights, whereas others are
(including the choice of acceptable tech-
willing to sacrifice those rights (with or with-
nologies), and mandate reporting timetables
out appropriate compensation) to achieve
and testing procedures. This approach also
community-wide objectives. Municipal gov-
presumes that government agencies will
ernments need to find ways of reconciling
allocate the funds and personnel needed to
these competing views to win broad-gauged
ensure enforcement. Under the market- political support for environmental policies
oriented approach, consumers and inves- or resource management decisions.
tors, rather than government agencies,
decide whether, how, and when to invest in Collaborative environmental
environmental protection. decision making
In practice, however, there is really no choice The era is long since past when formal
between the two approaches. The public hearings were held merely to ratify deci-
expects the government to set and enforce sions that had already been made. Since the
1980s, in the face of growing public demand
standards to protect health and safety. At
for direct involvement in environmental
the same time, the ingenuity of private
decision making—and the willingness of the
entrepreneurs is essential to the invention
courts to grant standing to an increasingly
of increasingly effective ways to meet such
broad set of plaintiffs—stakeholder groups
standards. Business wants the predictability
of all kinds have been invited to engage in a
and level playing field provided by environ-
range of environmental planning activities.
mental protection standards and even-
Public participation or civic engagement,
handed enforcement. “First movers” who
dispute resolution, consensus building, and
are committed to innovative green technolo- other collaborative approaches to environ-
gies need government subsidies—that is, mental decision making are now par for the
incentives—to support their entrepreneurial course. Sharp differences remain, however,
efforts. In short, a balance between regula- between collaborative processes that are
tory and market mechanisms is necessary purely advisory and those that guarantee
to ensure both fairness and efficiency. Thus, genuine joint decision making. Engage-
government must formulate environmental ment that is limited to figurehead advisory
protection objectives while simultaneously groups, selected by agencies that intend to
unleashing the power of the market, stimu- make all final decisions on their own, is quite
lating investment in research and develop- different from collaborative processes that
11255-02_CH02.indd 77 12/22/08 2:37:53 PM

Table 2–1 Tools for environmental planning
Tools and their purposes

Modeling: What is the
current situation?
How do the relevant Forecasting: What Decision analysis: What
How the tool is used systems work? might happen? should we do?
By the agency on Case studies, cost- Scenario casting, Expert
its own benefit analyses, Delphi exercises, risk brainstorming
system dynamics assessment, sustain-
models ability (ecological
footprint) analysis
In collaboration Multiagent inter- Joint fact finding, Charrettes, policy
with stakeholders active models impact assessment dialogues, consen-
sus building
invite self-identified stakeholders to partici- and more effective mitigation of adverse

pate in consensus building. environmental impacts—have spilled over
to the local level as well. On the other
Tools for environmental planning hand, even though tens of thousands of
Planners must be familiar with a growing impact assessments have been prepared,
array of environmental tools. Table 2–1 offers there has been little improvement in their
a partial list of the techniques that are regu- accuracy; nor has there been an increased
larly used in local environmental planning, commitment to choosing the least envi-
three of which—impact assessment, sustain- ronmentally harmful course of action
ability analysis, and joint fact finding—are when decisions have to be made. Much of
discussed in this section. the forecasting has relied on very simple
(and not very well-grounded) models. The
Impact assessment—the analysis of the public continues to demand more reliable
environmental or socioeconomic effects of assessments, based on in-depth studies of
various project designs or policy options— human-ecosystem interactions, but even
has been part of environmental plan- after hundreds of lawsuits, there is no clear
ning since the enactment of the National mandate for meeting technical standards of
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 excellence.
and dozens of related state environmen-
Sustainability analysis, sometimes called
tal review procedures. Other regulations
ecological footprint (EF) analysis, calcu-
require similar but more limited assess-
lates the “draw” on ecologically productive
ments in advance of decision making. What-
land and marine areas required to sustain
ever the source of the requirements for an
a population, manufacture a product,
assessment, planners need to be able to
or undertake a particular activity.1 Such
forecast multiple types of impacts; to scale,
assessments use an accounting procedure,
weight, and integrate them; to suggest
similar to that used in life-cycle analysis, in
appropriate mitigation strategies; and to
which the projected consumption of energy,
interact with an array of stakeholders who
biomass, building materials, water, and
want to participate in such investigations
other resources is converted to a normal-
and to help make decisions that are based
ized measure of the land area required
on their findings.
to produce or sustain whatever is being
The public participation requirements proposed. A per capita calculation of the
embedded in NEPA have forced federal land area required (per capita EF) is then
(and many state) agencies to consider a used to portray relative consumption levels.
richer set of project and policy options and EF analysis offers the potential to evaluate
more extensive mitigation strategies than long-term carrying capacity and to address
they would otherwise have pursued. Higher the policy implications of above-average
public expectations—for participation consumption levels.
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Environmentalism and sustainability
The start of the twenty-first century marked a seminal shift in public policy from a
focus on environmental protection to a focus on sustainability. Minimizing the adverse
environmental impacts of proposed development, infrastructure investment, or public
policy is no longer enough if such initiatives undermine the long-term sustainability
of key ecological systems. We can no longer take the narrow view, limiting our focus
to arbitrarily defined project areas, thinking primarily of the current moment, and
tending mostly to short-term budgetary effects. Instead, decisions about resource
use and waste management must take into account ecosystem-wide effects, cross-
media impacts (i.e., the ways in which efforts to protect one resource inadvertently
undermine efforts to protect another), and the implications of our actions for future
generations.
At the heart of this transformation is the concept of resilience. When we plan human
settlements and try to manage natural resources, our goal should be to increase the
capacity of ecological and built systems to respond effectively to surprises (including
disasters), both man-made and natural.
Joint fact finding (JFF) draws together con- are emerging in which historical roles and
tending interest groups to ask questions and responsibilities are reassigned.
to engage in joint modeling and collabora-
In the intergovernmental arena, for example,
tive data assessment in advance of decision
the hierarchy may be clear in theory, but
making. In the first step of JFF, known as
practice is closer to a “marble cake” than to
conflict assessment, planners engage in
a layer cake. In large part, federal agencies
extensive interviewing of prospective stake-
rely on the states to implement national
holders to generate a credible list of experts
programs or to adopt regulations that are
and nonexperts who will be involved in each
sometimes more demanding than federal
environmental planning process and will
law—and states, in turn, often cede respon-
scope out the issues of greatest concern.
sibility to local governments to make key
Next, experts work with stakeholders and
decisions about resource allocation.
government agency staff to jointly frame
questions, design data-gathering proce- The traditional approach, in which the
dures, review preliminary findings, explore boundaries of the “problem shed” were
the policy implications of these findings, and determined by political and legal author-
evaluate how sensitive the findings are to ity, is giving way to temporary, negotiated
slight changes in key analytic assumptions agreements that transcend geopolitical
and data gaps. JFF stands in stark contrast boundaries. Long-standing governmen-
to more traditional approaches, in which tal entities and their boundaries won’t be
technical experts determine what analyses erased any time soon, but that doesn’t
are required, conduct the analyses, and mean that environmental planners can’t
submit the results to decision makers. In bring together institutional actors and other
today’s more participatory environment, all stakeholders to work out ad hoc power-
planners should have the skills to conduct sharing arrangements for environmental
JFF efforts.
management. Such arrangements can take
a number of forms, including intergovern-
New kinds of partnerships
mental agreements and memorandums of
Intergovernmental arrangements continue
understanding.
to move away from the stratified or “layer
cake” model, in which federal agencies have The fact is, it doesn’t matter which level of
one set of responsibilities, states another, government or segment of society is in the
and local governments still another. Simi- lead or handles particular tasks, as long
larly, the boundaries between public and as they are all working together. A team of
private, and between government and civil scholars at the Massachusetts Institute of
society, continue to blur. New partnerships Technology has dubbed this the PENs—
11255-02_CH02.indd 79 12/22/08 2:37:54 PM

Public Entrepreneurship Networks—model. Note

Effective partnerships need to include 1 Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees, Our Ecological
Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth
• Pioneers who recognize opportunity, (Gabriola Island, B.C.: Canada New Society Publishers,
seize initiative, and catalyze action by July 1995).
making commitments
• Public-venture capitalists, public officials
who understand and embrace risk and FOCUS ON
can pull together the necessary financial,
social, and human capital to meet
project-driven needs
Sizing up the
• Superintendents who provide a setting
in which innovation can flourish local economy
by fostering formal and informal
relationships
Robert H. Edelstein
• Mediators who build consensus on goals Planners often need to identify the eco-
and facilitate the resolution of conflicts nomic forces that will affect a community,
that threaten to stall new ventures and to determine how those forces might
• Stewards of the common good who interact with planning policies. This article
maintain high standards of responsible focuses on economic base analysis, a
behavior and bring together disparate powerful tool that can be used to evaluate
groups in support of agreed-upon the workings of the local economy. Used
actions. properly, economic base analysis can yield
valuable information for planners. The
In the environmental planning field, as long technique also has pitfalls, however, which
as each of these roles is handled effectively, will be outlined as well.
environmental planning objectives can be
An understanding of the local market for
achieved.
space and facilities begins with an assess-
ment of the larger metropolitan area as a
No right answers, only functioning economic unit. An economic
informed agreements base analysis is fundamental to this assess-
Environmental planners must get used to ment. The ideal macromarket analysis
preparing plans, policies, and programs in generates basic information about the
local economy, identifies economic chal-
conjunction with others: experts and non-
lenges, and documents the local approach
experts, participants with conflicting values,
to stimulating economic development. It
and agencies and organizations with conflict-
can be used to assess the decisions that
ing mandates. Such endeavors can be time-
the area has made to achieve sustained,
consuming and frustrating, but any attempt
orderly growth. A full-fledged market study
by a single agency or policy maker—no mat-
ter how knowledgeable or confident—to act • Includes an inventory of land uses and
built space
unilaterally will lead to political opposition,
legal challenges, and deadlock. Although • Assesses the political climate for growth
communication can be difficult in the midst (including the degree of resistance to
of conflict, the only way to succeed is to growth)
facilitate face-to-face conversation. • Evaluates the potential for economic
development
As this article has made clear, multiparty
• Suggests incentives that may be needed
problem solving is at the heart of envi-
to realize the potential
ronmental planning. Professional plan-
ners must balance science and politics, • Identifies constraints to be overcome.
reconcile conflicting values, help a variety
of stakeholders take account of con- Fundamentals of economic
stantly changing roles and relationships, base analysis
and take responsibility for championing The objective of an economic base study is
sustainability. to provide a factual basis for determining
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the potential for future economic growth. By into account a number of additional factors,
identifying the sources and levels of employ- including past trends, coming changes in the
ment and income in a metropolitan area, the industry, and the likelihood that local enter-
analysis makes it possible to evaluate the prises will capture their share of potential
area’s level of economic stability and to pin- markets. The analyst will also need to con-
point risk factors. Unfortunately, many eco- sider whether past multipliers remain valid,
nomic base studies are mere extrapolations and whether past ratios of employment to
of current trends; such studies are of doubt- population, land use, and built space will
ful or limited value to local planners. prevail. Each of these ratios introduces
opportunities for error. In short, economic
Economic base analysis makes a distinction
base analysis requires subtle attention to
between “basic” and “nonbasic” activi-
both subjective and objective trends, and
ties: basic activities are those that produce
goods or services for export outside the the quality and usefulness of the study will
urban area; nonbasic activities result from depend largely on the skill and expertise of
expenditures that are made as export earn- the people who undertake it.
ings circulate through the local economy Although critics have (legitimately) ques-
(see sidebar below). Theoretically, it is tioned the validity of the techniques used,
basic (export) activities that allow nonbasic economic base analysis is often the best
(local) activities to be undertaken: without available tool for short-run and even long-
export earnings, community residents and run forecasting.
businesses would not have the necessary
resources to make local expenditures. Eco-
Limitations of economic base studies
nomic base analysis generates a “multiplier”
that captures the additional economic activ- Economic base studies (as well as input-
ity that is generated by export earnings. output studies, which are described in the
accompanying sidebar) suffer from five
The first step in an economic base analysis drawbacks that limit their applicability and
is to delineate the market area and classify usefulness for local planning. There are two
economic activity into basic and nonbasic technical problems: first, income and employ-
activities, sector by sector. Growth pro- ment multipliers are often assumed to be con-
jections for basic industries become the
stant, regardless of the size of the geographic
foundation for growth projections for the
area under consideration or the intensity of
total local economy. The usefulness of such
industrial development; second, local wages
projections depends, however, on the skill
are assumed to be constant—again regard-
and judgment of the analyst in constructing
less of the size of the area. Economic base
multipliers and ratios.
studies also rest on two assumptions that
Conducting an economic base analysis for may be misleading: that the only way for a
a large metropolitan area will require the city to grow is by increasing its exports, and
market analyst to interview employers; that the only way to increase total employ-
estimate the future number of employees; ment is by increasing the demand for labor.
estimate future business revenues; and take Finally, economic base analysis implies that
Limitations on the classification of economic activity
For the purposes of economic base analysis, the simplest way to distinguish between
forms of economic activity is to classify each industry as either an export (basic) or a
local (nonbasic) industry. For example, if the steel industry is assumed to be an export
industry, all the employees of steel producers would be counted as export workers. If
restaurant meals are assumed to be local goods, all restaurant employees would be
counted as local workers. The drawback to this method is that some steel may be used
locally, and some restaurant meals may be consumed by visitors from outside the
area. Despite this limitation, a base study will often provide an accurate forecast of
local economic trends.
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a community’s fate is largely in the hands of changes in economic activity occur), shifts in
“outsiders” who demand the exported goods. supply and demand will cause shifts in wages.
Exports as the sole source

Constant multipliers
of economic growth
The assumption that the economic base
The economic base approach assumes that
multiplier is constant may not be accurate,
a community can grow only by increasing its
particularly if an area grows substantially,
exports—an assumption that is now known
creating local economies of scale. The local
to be incorrect. Local economic growth may
economy may grow large enough to gener-
result from a decrease in imports (i.e., the
ate substantial internal consumption of substitution of local inputs), an increase in
what before may have been export prod- the productivity of labor, or an increase in
ucts, causing the multiplier for the export intraregional trade.
industry to increase. For example, if the local
computer industry grows to the point where Consider, for example, the largest economic
it can support its own chip-maker, local unit that we know of: the economy of the
planet, which has grown despite the absence
computer firms will spend less on imported
of opportunities to export to other worlds.
inputs and more on locally produced goods.
Economic growth has occurred for two
Therefore, an increase in computer exports
reasons. First, technological advances have
will generate a larger increase in total local-
increased output per worker, increasing
area income.
real income per capita. Second, changes in
A second source of error is a change in the information, production, and transportation
relationship among local economic sectors. technologies have increased trade between
Again using the computer industry exam- economic regions. An increase in trade gen-
ple, if local wages increase, the computer erates real income growth because it allows
industry may substitute imported capital each region to specialize in the production
equipment for labor (an exchange known of goods for which it has a comparative
as factor substitution). Because the funds advantage. The same phenomenon occurs
at the local level: increases in labor produc-
spent on importing capital equipment will
tivity may increase trade within a metropoli-
decrease the fraction of export income that
tan area, increasing per capita income and
is spent locally, an increase in the level of
enhancing the growth of the local economy
exported computer goods may increase total
without increasing exports.
local economic activity less than a constant
economic base multiplier would suggest.
Focus on demand
Because they are based on the assumption
Constant wages that growth occurs when demand increases
An economic base study assumes that local for local labor, economic base studies focus
wages are fixed. While this assumption may on the demand side of the labor market. But
be true for small geographic areas—and in the an increase in the supply of labor may also
case of small changes in economic activity—in change the employment equilibrium and
the long run (or even in the short run, if large lead to economic growth.
Input-output studies
An input-output study, sometimes used as an alternative to an economic base study,

generates a complete accounting of the transactions between firms and households in
the local economy. This approach has two advantages over the economic base study.
First, instead of assuming that every industry has the same multiplier, the input-
output analysis derives a multiplier for each export industry. Second, an input-output
study measures the volume of exports directly—rather than indirectly, as most base
studies do. Because input-output studies are substantial undertakings, however—
requiring detailed information on trade flows and industrial inputs—they are generally
infeasible for local planning programs.
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To increase employment, a community can those that may have a large bearing on how
focus on demand—cutting business taxes, well policies, plans, and programs fare:
improving the industrial infrastructure, or • Macro risks. Macro risks stem from
strengthening the local education system— economic factors that are beyond local
but it can also focus on supply, which it control. Changes caused by economic
does by cutting property taxes, improving cycles—such as an unanticipated
residential infrastructure, and enhancing regional depression—can cause planned
quality-of-life factors such as safety and
government revenues to dwindle, making
recreational opportunities.
many projects fiscally infeasible.
Dependence on outsiders • Globalization. If a local employment base

is vulnerable to offshoring (i.e., to being
Economic base studies typically suggest that
transferred abroad), the community’s
in order to grow, a community must capital-
ize on increased demand from outside its economic well-being may be at risk.
region. But as noted earlier, a locality’s eco- • Financial risk. The principal sources of
nomic fate is not necessarily in the hands financial risk are dramatic shifts in interest
of outsiders. There are a number of other rates or in the availability of capital. When
ways to improve the economy—including, for the Federal Reserve changes interest
example, import substitution, which involves rates, for example, or China alters its level
building and buying more things locally. of investment in the U.S. bond market,
bonds and other financing arrangements
Taking account of economic risks used by local governments are affected.
In any economic analysis, factors beyond the Although financial risk cannot always be
analyst’s control must be taken into account. foreseen, one way to mitigate it is to avoid
The following categories of risk are among variable rate financing.
Externalities
Economic theory assumes that each actor in a market economy foresees the benefits
and bears the costs of his or her actions, and that prices adjust to ensure the efficient
allocation of resources. In practice, however, costs of consumption and production are
sometimes borne by the community at large. For example, a factory may dump toxic
waste into a river, affecting downstream residents, but there is nothing in the market
system that compensates these residents for their diminished quality of life—or that
“charges” the factory owners for the consequences of their actions. The effect on the
downstream residents is termed an “externality” of the factory’s actions.
Measuring the social benefits—and costs—of private actions is an essential task in any
planning process, even if those benefits and costs reach beyond local boundaries.
Planners and decision makers need to find ways to ensure that the negative externali-
ties of private actions are accounted for. An economic base study can provide some
of the raw materials to assist local planners in estimating the economic benefits of
actions, but planners should not lose sight of potentially negative externalities.
Like private sector actions, government policies or decisions can have unintended
consequences that may invalidate the results of an economic base study. For example, if
a community creates better employment opportunities in an attempt to increase wages,
large numbers of prospective employees may move to the area, thus depressing wages.
Similarly, when a road is built to ameliorate traffic congestion, a part of town that had
previously been difficult to reach may be rendered more accessible—resulting not only
in further development, but also in a new source of traffic congestion. Thus, the new
road may create the need for even more roads, in a continuous cycle of response and
counterresponse. Unintended consequences are often difficult to calibrate, but planners
need to anticipate second- and third-round impacts of each decision.
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• Regulatory and legislative risks. Changes quality of government services, the attrac-
in legislation and the accompanying tiveness of the public realm, and the taxes
regulations can significantly alter the levied on residents and businesses deter-
economic environment. The effects of mine a community’s appeal as a place to live
California’s Proposition 13, and of similar and work. Of course, local services, ameni-
tax and expenditure limitations imposed ties, and tax levels also affect land prices
elsewhere, are examples. and real estate values. In the policy realm,
• Location risk. Long-term public (and local officials regularly rely on real estate
public-private) projects are tied to a mechanisms—including public-private proj-
particular location, and therefore expose ects, property-based subsidies, and land use
the government to risks associated with incentives—to implement plans for downtown
changes in local demographics, commuting and neighborhood revitalization, economic
patterns, and tastes, among other factors. development, affordable housing, environ-
An economic base study needs to take mental sustainability, and social equity.
careful account of location risks. But real estate and the local government are
• Environmental risk. Changing inextricably linked for yet another reason.
environmental standards are a moving When it comes to the local economy, the
target. While some environmental local government wears more than one hat:
risks may be known, a site considered it regulates land use and owns real property
environmentally acceptable for and has the authority to exercise the power
development today may be off-limits of eminent domain. Each of these legal pow-
tomorrow, as advances in science ers affects local real estate markets in ways
and technology reveal new forms of that reach beyond local government’s role
contamination. as tax collector and provider of public goods
and services.
Analyzing the economic base—wisely
At different times and for different pur-
The economic base study remains a vital poses, planners attempt to harness or to
and important tool for local planning, offer- stimulate the forces of supply and demand
ing a window on the local economy and in real estate markets. To succeed, they
helping to outline the impacts of proposed need a broad understanding of the ways
policies on the future local economy. Used in which real estate shapes the context of
wisely by competent economic analysts local decision making. By explaining the four
and thoughtful planners who are aware of major roles of the real estate market—as
its limitations, an economic base study can a barometer of the local economy, as the
inform decisions and dispel many of the fiscal foundation for revenue generation,
uncertainties that decision makers face. as a tool for public capital investment, and
as a policy tool for planning ambitions—this
article provides the framework for such an
FOCUS ON understanding.
Real estate and A barometer of the local economy

Real estate is the physical embodiment of
the local planning the local economy. Forced to choose a single

measure of economic well-being, residents,
policy analysis, planners, and politicians
context are all likely to cite a community’s property
values. The stock of homes and apartments
Lynne B. Sagalyn shelters a community’s residents; retail
facilities serve its consumer needs; produc-
Real estate and local government are tion, distribution, and warehouse facilities;
interdependent on many levels. Aggre- office buildings; and hotels and inns accom-
gate property value has long signaled the modate its employment base and define its
well-being of the local economy, indicating productive capacities. Schools, parks, pools,
its fiscal capacity to provide both general playgrounds, community centers, cultural
services and the level of public infrastructure centers, entertainment facilities, and other
required for economic growth. In turn, the elements of the public realm further distin-
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Figure 2–8 New

housing developments
are a commodity, built
when demand promises
healthy profit.
Source: Kristen Johansen
guish the character of a city, suburb, town, mercial properties, neighborhoods where
or neighborhood. The built environment physical quality varies dramatically block by
develops through accretion: it takes decades block, and blocks broken up by empty and
of incremental public and private investment rubble-strewn lots.
and economic growth, including cycles of
Whether the goal is to manage growth,
deterioration, redevelopment, and preser-
stimulate revitalization, provide for mixed-
vation, to establish and refine the physical
income communities, or remediate physical
character of a place.
and environmental conditions, planning ambi-
tions are inevitably subject to the irregular
ups and downs of the real estate cycle. The
It takes decades of incremental public
upside of the cycle creates the opportunity
and private investment and economic to tap real estate markets for a broad range
growth, including cycles of deterioration, of public benefits; and, although not always
redevelopment, and preservation, recognized as such, the down side presents
to establish and refine the physical an important planning opportunity as well: an
character of a place. opening for larger-scale planning efforts and
cost-efficient infrastructure investments.1
The flip side of real estate’s role as a local
Local real estate markets, whether bolstered economic barometer is citizen demand for the
by growth or hobbled by distress, shape the protection of property values , which makes
agenda as well as the context of local plan- the planning agenda highly visible and often
ning. Strong markets trigger development contentious. A number of actions—including
and revitalization and the planning tasks changes in land use regulations, designations
entailed in managing growth to provide for a of landmark structures and historic districts,
well-serviced community as defined by local transit improvements, district redevelopment
traditions and culture. In many communi- plans, set-asides for affordable housing, and
ties, managing growth means incorporating siting of public facilities (from the desirable,
preservation into areawide or project-spe- such as community gardens, to the less desir-
cific plans. By definition, weak markets able, such as landfills)—can trigger intense
call for planners to focus on designing concern about their effect on the value of
physical stimulants for economic recovery land, homes, and business property.
and eliminating hindrances to new private
investment. Projects may need to be coaxed The fiscal foundation
into existence through incentives and public- for revenue generation
private investments. In deeply distressed Property-based taxation has long served as
neighborhoods, planners may have to cope the fiscal foundation for local government:
with a diverse set of real estate conditions, property taxes account for more than three-
including abandoned residential or com- fourths of the revenue raised through taxes
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on wealth. Historically, local government—and The fiscal centrality of real property for
especially its special-purpose counterparts municipalities all across the nation creates
such as school districts, recreation districts, numerous linkages between real estate and
utility districts, and business improvement planning. The importance of real property
districts (BIDs)—have tapped real property lies not just in the fact that it is the major
through two main channels: (1) general ad single source of municipal revenue, but in its
valorem property taxes based on administra- expansive flexibility as a source of funding
tively set assessments of market value, and for priorities central to local planning.3
(2) special assessments for public improve-
ments that are made in a defined benefit Financial tools for public
zone and are based on definable real estate capital investment
attributes (such as front footage, square
The nexus between public capital investment
footage, precise location within a district, the
and real estate is central to forward-looking
use to which the property is put, property tax
planning.4 High-quality public services and
payments, or some combination thereof).
public infrastructure are essential for a
To fund specific priorities such as afford- local economy to reach its fullest potential,
able housing, open-space protection, and and for the creation of a physical and social
infrastructure, and to augment the general environment valued by residents and busi-
treasury, states, counties, and municipalities nesses alike. Infrastructure investment typi-
raise additional revenues through develop- cally draws support from diverse economic
ment exactions and impact fees and by interests because it functions in several
regulating the transfer of real property.2 capacities: as an input to private productiv-
New York State, for example, requires its ity, a catalyst for economic development, a
counties to impose a mortgage-recording tax source of construction jobs, and a source of
to support capital and operating costs for consumer services.
mass transit. In periods of rising property As the provider of police and fire stations,
values, taxes based on property transactions courthouses, prisons, hospitals, schools,
provide government with an automatically libraries, parks, local roads, public transit,
indexed source of dedicated revenue for water- and sewage-treatment plants, and,
funding local planning priorities. Because increasingly, other public goods such as
they are directly linked to the real estate telecommunications services, local govern-
market, however, these revenues are inher- ment is economically wedded to real estate
ently volatile and can drop sharply when the to finance its capital needs. The value of real
real estate market cools. property underwrites long-term borrowing
Figure 2–9 To keep

families from moving out
to previously undevel-
oped areas in search of
better housing, urban
Cuyahoga County, Ohio,
offers an innovative, low-
interest home-
improvement loan
program that makes it
less expensive for
residents to repair,
renovate, or improve
their homes.
Source: Cuyahoga County Treasurer’s Office
11255-02_CH02.indd 86 12/22/08 2:37:56 PM

for public capital projects. Local govern- voter sensitivity to property tax burdens is
ments can leverage existing property valua- evident in the many state statutes and ballot
tions to issue bonds for the construction of initiatives that limit, cap, or roll back the use
these capital needs; and, under tax incre- of the property tax. California’s Proposition
ment financing (TIF) arrangements, they can 13 and similar tax and expenditure limita-
leverage expected growth in property valu- tions passed in other states have con-
ations to finance investments in the built strained local officials who wish to promote
environment that promise to deliver a stron- investment in the built environment.
ger local economic future. In both instances,
The combination of taxpayer resistance
the financing approach is well matched to
and declining state and federal aid has
the long-term flow of services generated by
forced local officials to search for financ-
public investments that benefit both current
ing strategies that are self-funding (will be
and future residents.
repaid from the project being financed) and
Local governments can finance capital off-budget (do not require voter approval).
improvements directly, through out-of- Both of these conditions are met by TIF,
pocket funds, but in the current era, which which is used extensively throughout the
is characterized by increasing federal nation. As of 2006, the District of Columbia
mandates and minimal federal grants for and every state except Arizona had enacted
infrastructure and economic development, TIF-enabling legislation. Because it targets
the pay-as-you-go approach to financing dedicated tax revenues that are generated
capital projects is generally not practical. by new real estate development, TIF greatly
Bond financing remains the pragmatic and increases the fiscal role of real estate devel-
preferred strategy. Nevertheless, heightened opment in local planning.
Figure 2–10 Several bond issues have been used to help fund the public infrastructure needed for transform-
ing San Francisco’s blighted Mission Bay neighborhood into a mixed-use community, with housing, commercial
and retail establishments, and a new research campus for the University of California.
Source: Stone & Youngberg LLC
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In this era of self-funded financing strate- enrollments, and selling off real estate that
gies, planners defining the scale, scope, and had been acquired through property tax
geographic boundaries of planning areas— foreclosures. Riding the wave of a boom in
for redevelopment projects, TIF districts, commercial real estate, local governments
BIDs, and environmental cleanup zones, for became public developers, hoping to relieve
example—have become far more sensitive to constant fiscal pressures and to carry out
fiscal realities. Drawing district boundaries their planning ambitions. Land-lease arrange-
to include real estate development projects ments, risk-sharing arrangements, and quid
that are near completion or ready to start pro quos tied to development rights allowed
construction can jump-start the flow of tax local governments to trade on the value
increment revenues, increasing investor of publicly held real estate and to create
confidence in the viability of the bond issue. long-term revenue streams from new private
Particular locations that draw on amenities development. These revenue streams could
already in place or on the economic power then be used to finance open-space improve-
of nearby commercial activity, such as ments and other amenities and to achieve
waterfronts or central business districts, are a variety of other public benefits, including
far more likely to generate the immediate affordable housing, cultural and entertain-
increments favored by bond investors than ment facilities, and affirmative action–based
are distressed neighborhoods that may be job programs. The intervention of govern-
some distance from established commercial
ment in land markets as a property owner
or residential activity, difficult to access, or
reshaped the context of local planning.
burdened with large-scale environmental
issues. In short, the new and more complex
market-based forms of financing public
Riding the wave of a boom in commercial
capital investment have built-in biases that
real estate, local governments became
shape the context of local planning efforts.
public developers, hoping to relieve
constant fiscal pressures and to carry out
A policy tool for planning ambitions
their planning ambitions.
In the mid-1980s, local government redis-
covered the value of its inventory of surplus
public property, abandoned land and Aggressive public development was as risky
structures, and acreage cleared under the as it was unconventional. When local govern-
federal urban renewal program but still not ments regulate real estate development to
developed. Inventively experimenting with
safeguard the public interest or to pursue
new policy strategies, municipal officials
fiscal objectives, when they tax private
entered into projects designed to recapture
property to provide public services, or when
the financial value of this real estate. The
they grant subsidies to promote economic
promised returns were many times larger
growth and keep businesses from moving
than the gains that typically resulted from
out of town, the lines between the public and
the rising property values associated with
growth, the delivery of new public services, private spheres remain clear, if not precise,
or the construction of new infrastructure. and the risks are more political than financial.
The experiences opened up a new realm of However, when public agents trade on the
action in the 1990s, as government officials market value of publicly owned lands that are
learned to manage their real estate holdings ripe for development, they take on an entre-
to better serve public purposes, applying preneurial role—and the risks are financial. In
modern principles of asset management the public development paradigm, achieving
drawn from the private sector.5 The idea of planning goals involves calculated risk taking.
public real estate management entered the
planner’s realm.6 Notes
Using real estate as a capital resource, local 1 See, for example, Marc A. Weiss, “The Politics of Real
Estate Cycles,” Business and Economic History 20,
officials entered into complex business series 2 (1991): 127–135, h-net.org/~business//
transactions with private firms: co-investing bhcweb/publications/BEHprint/v020/p0127-p0135.pdf
in public-private projects, actively managing (accessed April 25, 2008).
2 Alan A. Altshuler and José A. Gómez-Ibàñez, with
disposition programs for schools that were Arnold M. Howitt, Regulation for Revenue: The Politi-
no longer in service because of decreased cal Economy of Land Use Exactions (Washington,
11255-02_CH02.indd 88 12/22/08 2:38:00 PM

D.C.: Brookings Institution Press; Cambridge, Mass.: the interactions between people and the
Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 1993).
3 For a recent comparative survey, see New York City
physical, economic, and political dimensions
Independent Budget Office, “Comparing State and of local planning.
Local Taxes in Large U.S. Cities,” Fiscal Brief (February
2007), ibo.nyc.ny.us (accessed April 25, 2008).
4 For a good primer, see Randall Crane, “Public Finance Why social factors matter
for Planners” (working paper, Lincoln Institute of to planning
Land Policy, Cambridge, Mass., 2006).
5 See, for example, Olga Kaganova, Ritu Nayyar-Stone, Planners are expected to know the local
and George Peterson, “Municipal Real Property population and its needs. Although planners
Asset Management: An Application of Private
Sector Practices,” Land and Real Estate Initia- tend to focus on land use, it is people who
tive, Background Series #12 (Washington, D.C.: populate the land, occupy housing units, and
World Bank, 2000), siteresources.worldbank.org/ consume real estate. The demand for hous-
INTURBANDEVELOPMENT/Resources/
3363871169585750379/background12.pdf (accessed ing is shaped by the number of households
April 25, 2008). being formed and by their progress through
6 See Robert A. Simons, “Public Real Estate Man-
agement and the Planner’s Role,” Journal of the
the life cycle. Similarly, the number of people
American Planning Association 60, no. 3 (1994): who are entering the workforce or retiring
333–343; Neal Roberts and Ralph Basile, Public Real shapes the demand for commercial work
Estate Asset Management (Washington, D.C. National
League of Cities, 1990). space. In turn, the amount of commercial
space that a community can support depends
on the number of people in each stage of the
life cycle and on their per capita disposable
FOCUS ON income. Just as demographics are key to
housing and commercial land use, they are
The social context crucial to services: the number and types of
people in a locality shape the need for parks,
of planning libraries, roadways, transit, health clinics, and

schools. Residents with lower incomes are
often more dependent on publicly provided
Dowell Myers
services, but many services are used by all
Local planning is carried out for the benefit residents. Finally, and not to be forgotten,
of people, but different people have dif- are the voters, taxpayers, volunteers, and
ferent behaviors, needs, and perceptions. activists whose characteristics—and
There are no “average Joes” who make up perceptions—guide public decision making.
the clientele for planning. Successful plan-
ning is attuned to both social differences Growing diversity
and the rapid pace of social change in each The tremendous diversity of the population
locality. It is therefore crucial to understand and the rapid pace of change make it perilous
The American Community Survey
The American Community Survey (ACS) publishes data on social, housing, and
economic characteristics for demographic groups and geographic areas. Unlike the
decennial census, which provides data once a decade, the ACS is conducted continu-
ously, surveying about 3 million addresses year-round.
Each year, the ACS releases single-year estimates for geographic areas with popula-
tions of 65,000 or more; for smaller geographic areas, including census tracts and
block groups (i.e., groups of blocks that form subsets of census tracts), the ACS
accumulates a sample over three- or five-year intervals (depending on the size of the
area), and then produces averages for the time periods.1 Because the data are drawn
from a sample, error estimates and confidence intervals are reported for all findings.
1 Data for each year are posted on the Census Bureau Web site for downloading at census.gov/acs/www/
Products/. For further details about this rich data source, see Census Bureau, 2006 Data Users Handbook: The
American Community Survey, census.gov/acs/www/Downloads/Handbook2006.pdf (accessed March 4, 2008).
11255-02_CH02.indd 89 12/22/08 2:38:00 PM

to plan for land use and services without a Nativity and length of residence
firm grasp of social factors: race and ethnic- in the United States
ity, nativity and length of residence, age and Immigration is one of the factors driving
life-cycle status, sex, and income. Much of racial and ethnic change, but it has particular
what is known about demographic change in importance because of the cultural diversity
communities now comes from the American it brings to American communities. Between
Community Survey (ACS), an annual report 1980 and 2006, the foreign-born share of
from the U.S. Census Bureau that includes the U.S. population doubled—from 6.2 to
much of the same information formerly avail- 12.5 percent; and in 2006, foreign-born
able only once a decade (see sidebar). residents made up more than 10 percent of
the population in seventeen states.4 Length
Race and ethnicity
of residence makes a difference: long-settled
The white, non-Hispanic population, which immigrants are much more assimilated and
made up 66.2 percent of the U.S. popula- economically successful than newcomers.5
tion in 2006, is increasingly sharing space
with other groups:1 in 15 of the 20 largest Sex
counties, and in more than 300 counties
Roughly half the population is male and
total, non-Hispanic whites made up less than
half female, although the proportions vary
50 percent of the population.2 The list of notably in communities that are home to
majority-minority localities included metro- particular types of facilities, such as military
politan counties in Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, bases or certain educational institutions.
Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Also, concentrations of elderly people often
San Antonio, and San Francisco, and it is include more women than men.
destined to grow larger each year.
Differences between the needs of men and
Nationwide, the percentage of the popula- women have narrowed considerably since
tion that is black or African American the 1970s, as women have moved toward
(12.2 percent) is now exceeded by the equal participation in employment, use
percentage that is Hispanic or Latino of transportation, and homeownership.
(14.8 percent). The Asian and Pacific Nonetheless, women continue to play a
Islander population accounts for another larger role than men in raising children and
4.5 percent of the total, and the American participating in civic life. In recent decades,
Indian or Native American population makes as women have achieved senior leadership
up 0.7 percent. The remaining 1.7 percent of roles in urban planning, a bias toward men
the population identifies with some other that had formerly characterized planning
race or with a combination of two or more.3 programs has become much less evident.
Figure 2–11 High-

school demographics
presage the ethnic
changes occurring in
many American
communities.
Source: Chris Schmidt
11255-02_CH02.indd 90 12/22/08 2:38:00 PM

Figure 2–12 Accom-

modating diversity can
enrich community life for
all residents and
strengthen the
community by making it
broadly attractive.
Figure 2–13 Mobility is

a planning issue in
communities with aging
populations.
Source: Lisa F. Young
Age and life-cycle status age adults.7 This abrupt age shift threatens
The social dimension that underlies all others to affect communities by disrupting hous-
is age. Age shapes many needs and behav- ing markets, depressing home values and
iors; those for children, adolescents, young property tax collections, and undermining the
adults, mature adults, and the elderly are workforce and economic growth.8
very different. Moreover, as a large number
Income
of a community’s residents move through
a particular stage in the life cycle, service The poor are often treated as a social cat-
demands—whether for schools, job retraining, egory, as are the middle class and the rich.
or senior centers—can change dramatically. These categorizations are not always well
defined, and they often do not account for
The most important change affecting most wealth or income needs. The ACS reports the
communities today is the aging of the baby percentage of local households that fall below
boom generation—the 78 million members of the federally defined poverty line (in 2006,
the population born between 1946 and 1964.6 $20,444 for a family of two adults and two
Between 2010 and 2020, after decades of children) as well as the percentage that fall
stability, the ratio of seniors (65 and older) to below 150 percent or 200 percent of that line.
those who are of working age (25 to 64) will Another common definition is that put out by
increase by 30 percent; by 2030, the ratio the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
will have increased by 67 percent, rising from Development (HUD): a low-income household
roughly 25 to 41 seniors per 100 working- is one whose income is 80 percent or less
11255-02_CH02.indd 91 12/22/08 2:38:01 PM

of median family income in a metropolitan Avoidance occurs when potential in-

area. Unlike the poverty line, which is a fixed migrants stay away from a particular area.
national standard, the HUD definition varies Even if the rate of departure does not accel-
geographically out of desire to take account erate, avoidance can yield the same effect
of local housing costs, which are partially on the local population: the absence of cer-
reflected in the higher incomes typical in tain groups. To address avoidance, planners
higher-cost regions. For example, in 2006, the might promote area attractions and actively
low-income limit was $44,000 in Memphis but recruit missing segments of the population.
$74,300 in San Francisco.9
Filtering occurs when aging housing units,
built to older standards and declining
The time factor in value, are transferred to successively
Unlike residential and commercial struc- lower-income residents. Planners can slow
tures, or roadways and parks, the residents the decline through rehabilitation and code
enforcement; at the same time, they might
of a locale are much more transitory, and
encourage filtering (provided that the hous-
this constant inflow and outflow of popula-
ing continues to meet minimum standards)
tion creates the potential for substantial—
in order to generate affordable housing for
and sometimes rapid—social change.
low- and moderate-income residents.
In 2006, 49.7 million people in the United
Gentrification, in contrast, transfers older
States changed residences.10 Most move-
housing units to higher-income residents.
ment was fairly local: only 3.3 percent of the
It usually occurs in well-located neighbor-
nation’s residents changed states; 6.8 percent
hoods formerly occupied by middle-class or
changed counties (either within or between upper-middle-class households. Planners
states), 11.5 percent changed cities (either can encourage revitalization by improving
within or between states and counties), and streetscapes and providing better services;
16.8 percent changed housing units. As a alternatively, they may mitigate pressures
result of residential turnover, local planners for gentrification by expanding new housing
have to deal with population flux that is three construction and instituting protections for
to four times greater than the population current residents who are in danger of los-
change in an average state or in the nation. In ing their homes.
general, the smaller the jurisdiction, the more
Residential areas that are attractive only to
likely that people will move across its bound-
households in a limited number of life-cycle
aries as they change housing units and jobs.
stages might be referred to as life-cycle
In contrast, larger places are more likely to
stepping-stones. Such areas provide housing
contain this movement within their boundar-
that is especially suitable to a particular group:
ies and not show the degree of mobility that
young singles, new families, families with
is occurring in their sub-areas.
teenagers, empty nesters, or the elderly. To
attract and retain a wider range of residents
Conditions and processes associated
in such areas, planners might focus on diver-
with social change sifying housing opportunities and services.
As population mobility yields social change,
Aging in place, in contrast, occurs when
planners may find themselves confronting a
an area holds onto the same residents for
number of related, but disparate, processes
decades, and gradually changes from a
or conditions, all of which call for specific
child-oriented locale to a retirement com-
planning strategies:
munity. Planners might respond by adapting
Flight is often used to refer to acceleration services appropriately, or might stimulate
in the rate of departure for a particular an influx of younger families by encourag-
group. For example, whites may leave a ing the development of alternative housing
neighborhood to avoid change in its ethnic options for older residents.
or racial composition, or families may leave
a community because of failing schools. Linkages between people and places
Planners might respond to flight by conven- The mobility of residents is one of the most
ing community forums in which residents challenging aspects of long-range planning.
can express their concerns. By the time a plan reaches its twenty-year
11255-02_CH02.indd 92 12/22/08 2:38:04 PM

horizon, more than half the citizens who ers of community data, and are charged
resided in the community at the plan’s with planning for change in the community,
inception will have moved away, and will planners often occupy a central position in
have been replaced by newcomers who were community discussions of social change.
not present when the plan was created.
What can planners responsibly do? Their first
(Planners can use data from the ACS to
duty is to provide information about ongoing
estimate turnover for a given locality.)
changes in a publicly accessible form. Com-
Although a sizable fraction of residents munity dialogue falls easily into exaggera-
leave a community each year and are tions and extrapolations about the future,
replaced by others, every community has and planners’ professional analyses can
a group of residents who have resided help to provide perspective and counteract
there for decades. In the 2006 ACS survey, uninformed assertions. One useful approach
for example, 23.3 percent of households is to place the local changes in the context of
had resided in the same housing unit regional, state, or national changes. A second
since before 1990.11 Defined as such, long is to place concerns about specific changes
residence is more common among home- within the context of broader changes under
owners (31.6 percent) than among renters way in the community, including the aging
(6.3 percent). Therefore, planners should of longtime residents and the relocation of
take into account the relative mix of own- their children to other communities or states.
ers and renters in the community when New residents who are different might be
assessing population stability over future perceived as a cultural threat by old-timers,
time periods. The ACS figures undoubtedly but dialogue can help the longtime residents
underestimate the number of longtime com- to see the valuable roles that the newcomers
munity residents, however, because many can play in the local economy, filling vacan-
people live in more than one home in a sin- cies in storefronts or the housing market. Yet
gle community. Nonetheless, they suggest another approach is to help current residents
a rough estimate that, on average, at least see incoming residents in the context of
half of homeowners and three-quarters of previous waves of newcomers who settled in
renters will reside for less than sixteen years the community.
in a community. And the needs of those who While educating the community about
remain, aging in place, will be very different change, it is imperative for planners to
over the twenty-year term of a plan. respect the seniority of the longtime
Planners need to design plans that reflect residents. Advocacy of fair treatment of
the future trajectory of population change. newcomers can generate backlash if plan-
Public participation by today’s residents ners neglect the history and contributions of
may not be the only useful guide to the long-established residents. Such a backlash
needs of future residents. In the context of should be avoided for many reasons, not
rapid social and demographic change, local the least of which is that longtime residents
planners have a special responsibility to often constitute a majority at the polls and
help articulate the needs of those who are may be the principal taxpayers and eco-
expected to reside in the community over nomic investors in the community. For better
the coming decades. or worse, these residents feel that they have
a right to protect the status quo. However,
Planners and changing social makeup granted respect and provided with full
information about the dynamics of change,
The matter of social change is sensitive, both
some longtime residents may accept the
politically and ethically. Planners are by no
opportunity to welcome new members into
means empowered to manipulate the path
the community.
of social change to match their own prefer-
ences. However, local residents and their The overall task of planners in responding
elected representatives often express strong to social change is to help residents under-
social preferences by either facilitating or stand it, and to place it in the context of past
blocking specific changes, and they could change and likely future change. Planners
try to enlist planners in their cause. Because can also help residents develop a vision of
they are the primary sources and interpret- a diverse community, and assist them in
11255-02_CH02.indd 93 12/22/08 2:38:04 PM

discovering unrecognized opportunities society, and these regions are projected

in the process of change. Accommodating to accommodate the vast majority of the
diversity can enrich daily life for all resi- 120 million additional residents that are
dents and strengthen the community by expected by 2050.2
making it more broadly attractive.
While some metropolitan areas are expe-
riencing sustained—and in some cases,
Notes
explosive—growth, a number of regions,
1 Data are drawn from the 2006 American Community
Survey (ACS), Table C03002, for the United States. particularly in the Northeast, the Midwest,
All percentages for race groups are exclusive of the Plains states, and parts of the Gulf
Hispanic shares, which are totaled separately.
Coast, are experiencing continued popula-
2 U.S. Bureau of the Census, “More Than 300 Counties
Now “Majority-Minority,” press release CB07-113 tion and economic decline. If the transfor-
(August 9, 2007), census.gov/Press-Release/www/ mations being driven by globalization and
releases/archives/population/010482.html (accessed demographic and social change are to be
March 4, 2008); table CB07-113table2, census
.gov/Press-Release/www/2007/cb07-113table2.pdf successfully managed, both growing and
(accessed March 4, 2008). declining regions will require more effective
3 2006 ACS, Table C03002. metropolitan planning.
4 2006 ACS, Table C05005.
5 In particular, see the evidence on English proficiency, The need to reduce the production of
poverty, and homeownership that is summarized in
Dowell Myers, Immigrants and Boomers: Forging a greenhouse gases and to cope with climate
New Social Contract for the Future of America (New changes already under way is a new and
York: Russell Sage Foundation Publications, 2007), compelling reason to improve metropolitan
chap. 7.
6 John Haaga, “Just How Many Baby Boomers Are planning. Most U.S. carbon emissions come
There?” Population Reference Bureau (December from metropolitan regions, and one-third
2002), prb.org/Articles/2002/JustHowManyBaby come from the transportation sector alone.3
BoomersAreThere.aspx (accessed May 6, 2008).
7 Ibid. Researchers at the University of Pennsylva-
8 Dowell Myers and SungHo Ryu, “Aging Baby Boom- nia have concluded that if current low-
ers and the Generational Housing Bubble: Foresight density, automobile-based development
and Mitigation of an Epic Transition,” Journal of the
American Planning Association 74, no. 1 (2008): 17–33. trends continue, the nation will urbanize more
9 See HUD User, “1999 & Estimated 2006 Decile Distri- open land in the next four decades than it
butions of Family Income by Metropolitan Statistical has in the previous four centuries, making it
Areas and Nonmetropolitan Counties,” huduser
.org/datasets/il/il06/Medians_2006.pdf (accessed virtually impossible to reduce energy imports
March 4, 2008). or the production of greenhouse gases.4 If,
10 2006 ACS, Table C07204. on the other hand, the next generation of
11 2006 ACS, Table B25038.
metropolitan development addresses climate
and energy concerns through more compact
and energy-efficient settlement patterns
FOCUS ON and transportation systems, such an initia-
tive could play a critical part in U.S. efforts
The future of to meet global climate goals.
U.S. metropolitan regions are now compet-
metropolitan ing in global markets. While the United
Kingdom, France, Japan, Canada, and other
regions countries have created efficient, con-

solidated regional governments to manage
urban growth and provide infrastructure
Robert D. Yaro and other services at the regional scale,
planning in most U.S. metropolitan regions
Metropolitan regions now contain 80 per-
is fragmented and ineffectual. As a result,
cent of the U.S. population and represent
London, Paris, Tokyo, Toronto, and other
an even larger share of the nation’s
world cities have a competitive advantage in
economy.1 They are the centers of competi-
global markets.
tive strength in the national economy, and
they are the nation’s links to the global The communities in a metropolitan area
economy. It is in metropolitan regions depend for their sustenance, quality of life,
that tens of millions of immigrants enter and economic vitality on transportation
the mainstream of the U.S. economy and networks, water supplies, park systems,
11255-02_CH02.indd 94 12/22/08 2:38:04 PM

Institute for Urban Planning and Development of the Paris

Ile-de-France Region
In 1960, a government initiative gave rise to the Institute for Urban Planning and
Development of the Paris Ile-de-France Region (IAURIF, or Institut d’Aménagement et
d’Urbanisme de la Région d’Ile de France). Its main objective was to establish a master
plan for the Paris area. Currently it has two purposes: (1) to propose general or sector-
based regional planning and development policies, and design tools to implement
such policies, and (2) to run a research and study center on regional development
supported by an interdisciplinary body of experts.
IAURIF is based on a comprehensive conception of planning, with focus areas in the

fields of environment and sustainable development, demographic studies, and eco-
nomic and transportation research and planning. It provides a Web portal of planning-
related information for the region, and maintains a repository of surveys and planning
inventories (e.g., of natural resources, underprivileged urban areas, education, and
land use regulations) through its Regional Geographic Information System. It also
develops strategic plans addressing area issues, and tracks the implementation of the
master plan.
Source: Institute for Urban Planning and Development of the Paris Ile-de-France Region, iaurif.org/en/index.htm
(accessed May 6, 2008)
and housing and employment markets—all politan and rural development. During this
of which are regional in scale. But in the period, the nation’s urban population has
absence of coherent regional planning doubled while the urbanized land area has
efforts, sprawling, decentralized metro- quadrupled—from 15 to 60 million acres.5
politan growth patterns are exacerbating Meanwhile, in an effort to manage growth,
traffic congestion and environmental prob- regional planning agencies and civic sec-
lems, increasing imbalances in taxes and tor advocacy groups have promoted more
municipal service delivery, and intensifying effective regional plans, with widely varying
racial and social polarization. Metropolitan degrees of success.
commuter sheds (the areas encompassing
Unfortunately, with the exception of
all origins of workers’ trips to their jobs),
transportation investments, the federal
housing markets, and mobility systems that
government has not provided real leader-
are spread across an ever larger number of
ship in the area of regional planning since
municipal, county, and—in a growing number
the mid-twentieth century. Every U.S.
of places—state borders further complicate
metropolitan region has an MPO, which is
the challenges facing regional institutions.
responsible for developing the short- and
With few exceptions, regional planning long-range transportation plans that are
institutions lack the political clout, geo- required to secure federal transportation
graphic scope, and authority to manage funds. But the U.S. Department of Trans-
the complex, cross-cutting issues facing portation (DOT) requires only that MPOs
today’s sprawling regions. And the policy create annual and five-year transportation
and resource-allocation decisions of many investment strategies. Apart from ensuring
of the nation’s metropolitan planning that these strategies comply with the Clean
organizations (MPOs) represent aggrega- Air Act of 1970, MPOs are not required to
tions of local, parochial interests rather than synchronize transportation investments
regional interests. with any other concerns, such as land use
plans and regulations. Thus, the relation-
Recent history of regional planning ship between transportation and important
Since the end of World War II, the United public policy concerns, such as economic
States has experienced decade after decade development, affordable housing, and social
of decentralized, automobile-based metro- justice, is left to individual MPOs—which, in
11255-02_CH02.indd 95 12/22/08 2:38:04 PM

many cases, ignore them. Only recently has tional natural or scenic resources, including
the DOT insisted that transportation plans the Adirondack Park in New York, Martha’s
emerge from well-executed public consulta- Vineyard in Massachusetts, the New Jersey
tion processes. In practice, this leads to a Pinelands, and Lake Tahoe and the Santa
coordinated approach to solving the types Monica Mountains in California. In the late
of issues being faced by metropolises at 1980s and early 1990s, a second generation
the beginning of the twenty-first century in of regulatory commissions was established
America. Issues such as suburban sprawl, in Cape Cod, the Long Island Central Pine
gentrification, and a decrease in industrial Barrens, the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho,
employment are thus tackled through and the Columbia Gorge in Washington and
participatory processes that emphasize the Oregon.
transportation–land use connection.
A second quiet revolution
The quiet revolution in land use control In the mid-1990s, a new generation of
In the 1970s and early 1980s, several states, regional plans began to emerge, constitut-
including Florida, Oregon, and Vermont, ing a second “quiet revolution.” The regional
adopted strong land use plans designed planning efforts of both the 1970s–1980s
to rein in sprawl—a move that has been and the 1990s offer real hope that after
described as “the quiet revolution in land more than a half-century of sprawling,
use control.”6 During this period, new or automobile-based suburban development,
strengthened regional commissions were America’s metropolitan and rural regions
also established in a handful of metropolitan can begin to redirect growth into more com-
areas, including the Twin Cities’ Metropoli- pact and coherent urban forms. This shift
tan Council in Minnesota and Portland Metro has been the product of several trends:
in Oregon (the nation’s only elected metro- • Strengthened regional planning
politan government). At the same time, city- requirements included in the federal
county consolidations or consolidations of Intermodal Surface Transportation
planning agencies occurred in several mid- Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991 and its
western and southern metropolitan regions, successors. These requirements have
including Charlotte, Indianapolis, Jackson- fostered a new generation of improved
ville, Louisville, and Miami–Dade County, regional plans that address both
promoting more effective regional planning transportation and land use. Moving
and service delivery. Finally, a number of away from previous efforts that treated
regulatory commissions were established to transportation in isolation, current
manage growth in rural regions with excep- planning is being pursued as a holistic
Figure 2–14 The

Adirondack Park was
created in 1892 by the
New York State
Legislature to protect
the region’s water and
timber resources.
Constitutionally
guaranteed to remain
“forever wild,” the 6-
million-acre park is the
largest publicly
protected area in the
contiguous United
States.
Source: Nicholas Belton
11255-02_CH02.indd 96 12/22/08 2:38:05 PM

effort that links transportation and land Denver’s experience has been typical of that
use in a more direct way. of a number of areas that have adopted
• The “regional visioning movement,” which successful new regional plans as the
began in 1995 with Portland Metro’s prelude to major transit investments and
2040 plan and is active in more than new regional growth management plans.
thirty regions nationwide.7 Several new Denver’s Regional Council of Governments
technologies used in regional visioning (“Dr COG”) developed its Metrovision 2020
initiatives—including scenario-based Plan in 1997, and has updated the plan
planning, geographic information systems, twice since then to extend the time horizon
visualization software, and electronic to 2035.9 This plan provided the basis for
town meeting equipment such as voting the creation of the Mile High Compact, a
pads—have enabled tens of thousands voluntary agreement among the region’s
of citizens to engage in the creation of municipalities to develop a regional growth
broadly supported regional plans. management system, and for a successful
• The coming of age of new urbanism, ballot measure to create a regional rail net-
smart growth, and the sustainable work in which voters approved the invest-
community movement, all of which have ments needed for the construction of this
promoted greater awareness of the need infrastructure.10
for improved regional planning to create
more compact, transit- and pedestrian- Climate change and
oriented development patterns.
regional planning
• The preparation of a new generation
Despite some promising developments, most
of regional plans, led by civic groups
U.S. regional planning agencies do not have
in a number of regions, including two
the authority or public support needed to
venerable institutions: New York’s
successfully curb sprawl. But global warm-
Regional Plan Association (RPA) and
ing could provide a new impetus for more
the Commercial Club of Chicago.
effective regional planning and growth
Public support for regional initiatives has management. Absent federal initiatives on
emerged in a wide range of places, from climate change, and amid growing public
historically conservative regions such as Salt concern about global warming, new state
Lake City and Atlanta, to more progressive and regional efforts are being organized to
regions such as the Twin Cities and Austin, control greenhouse gas emissions, includ-
Texas. ing multistate carbon “cap-and-trade”
Many of the new regional plans or strategies programs.11
call for the creation or expansion of regional Targeted reductions in greenhouse gas
rail networks: thirty-three U.S. metropolitan emissions cannot be achieved without
areas now have regional rail systems, and strong measures to reduce sprawl and auto-
several other systems have been proposed mobile use, which will require effective new
or are under construction.8 For example, in regional plans.12 As noted earlier, transporta-
the New York region—extending from north- tion alone is responsible for nearly one-third
ern New Jersey through the lower Hudson of U.S. greenhouse gas production;13 more-
Valley to southwestern Connecticut—the over, low-density development increases
RPA’s 1996 Third Regional Plan has led to the cost of heating and cooling the nation’s
commitments to a $30 billion expansion of building stock, another major source of
the region’s transit system by the Metro- carbon dioxide.14
politan Transportation Authority (MTA), the
nation’s largest. Most of the region’s growth In 2007, two events provided a portent of
is now occurring in New York City and in things to come, and suggested how stron-
other regional centers linked to this rail ger and more effective regional planning
network, through commuter rail networks could emerge from growing concerns about
operated by the MTA and other regional climate change. In a landmark decision, the
agencies such as New Jersey Transit that U.S. Supreme Court held that the U.S. Envi-
connect to New York City. ronmental Protection Agency must regulate
11255-02_CH02.indd 97 12/22/08 2:38:06 PM

carbon dioxide as a “classified air pollutant” A new generation of strengthened regional

in the same way that it regulates other toxic plans, not only in California but across
air pollutants.15 At the opposite end of the the country, should help to curb sprawl
country, California attorney general Jerry and automobile use, promote transit and
Brown sued San Bernardino County over the transit-oriented development, and reduce
climate implications of its new comprehen- greenhouse gas production. State attorneys
sive plan, and threatened to sue any county general and environmental protection agen-
that does not adopt tough new regional cies now have some legal basis to insist on
plans designed to carry out Assembly Bill effective implementation of these plans.
32, the state’s action plan to reduce green-
house gas production.16 Attorney General
Brown’s action is expected to further
Regions redux
strengthen the “Blueprint” visioning pro- Regions matter. Metropolitan regions—not
grams—action strategies for areas—already cities, not states—are the competitive units
under way in all of California’s metropolitan in the global economy. The large-scale
regions. Blueprint plans in the Bay Area, systems that enable these places to function
Los Angeles, and San Diego, all developed are regional in scale and must be planned
through strong community participation, are for and managed at that scale. Despite the
already reshaping regional growth patterns importance of regions and regional systems,
around transit systems and urban growth however, most governmental activities in
centers.17 the United States continue to be organized
The future of regionalism
If we were to consider the best way to govern a territory the size of the United
States—given a current population of 300 million (420 million by 2050), and a sophis-
ticated telecommunications and transportation infrastructure—would we choose the
system of governance we already have? We would, of course, still want the benefits of
locally responsive government, but could this goal be more effectively achieved within
a different framework? Would we decide to be a nation of regions, or even city-states,
that would compete in the world economy?
Although such ideas receive no discussion today, that may well change in response
to global warming. If forecast increases in temperatures and sea levels prove correct,
how will people adjust their lives as a result? Will climate change lead to large-scale
migration within the United States? Within North America and Central America? What
units of government in the United States will be best prepared to address these shifts?
Much will be determined by national and international decisions, of course, but how
will our expectations change for states, municipalities, counties, and special districts?
Will we need new agencies entirely, or will we decide to combine and realign those we
have? The answers may not be the same everywhere, of course, because the effects
of climate change will vary from place to place.
Global climate change is already stimulating debates about the costs of prevention,
mitigation, and adaptation. How should we set priorities: where should the money for
mitigation be spent? Which areas will we protect as the oceans rise, and which will we
leave to nature? Where will our food come from, as higher temperatures change our
agriculture? How will we adjust our water systems?
The American federalist system ensures tension between levels of government—

tensions that are almost certain to be magnified by climate change. Global warming
may lead us to rethink regional definitions, and to create new ways of acting with the
region in mind.
Source: Joseph Bodovitz, first executive director of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development
Commission
11255-02_CH02.indd 98 12/22/08 2:38:06 PM

Figure 2–15 Emerging megaregions will absorb much of the nation’s growth by 2050, and may demand new
governing alliances and roles to address mobility needs, carbon emissions, sprawl, and environmental protec-
tion, as well as massive mitigations in an era of worsening climate change and rising sea levels.
Source: Robert Yaro
at the federal, state, or local level, making But to move from isolated success stories
it difficult to plan for or manage regional to a national system of improved regional
systems that span municipal and often state planning and management will require
boundaries. new leadership from the federal govern-
And regional planning matters. Several ment. One strategy would be for the federal
promising models for regional planning, government to withhold a small portion of
transportation, and growth management are the discretionary grants for transportation,
already transforming a number of metro- the environment, and other purposes from
politan areas. those regions that lack effective regional
Metropolitan visioning
More than a score of metropolitan areas have conduced “regional visioning” pro-
cesses, engaging thousands of citizens and stakeholders in the preparation of broadly
supported regional plans.
Regional visioning employs three new technologies—geographic information systems,

computer visualizations, and sophisticated civic engagement processes—to develop
scenario-based plans that include many local jurisdictions. Successful projects have
been undertaken in Portland, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, and other
large metropolitan areas.
All of these regional efforts have adopted land use and transportation plans that
promote alternatives to highway-based development. Typically they promote transit-
oriented development around new urban and suburban centers where planners hope
to accommodate growth.
11255-02_CH02.indd 99 12/22/08 2:38:06 PM

planning. In Cities in the Wilderness, former 6 Fred Bosselman and David Callies, The Quiet Revolu-
tion in Land Use Control (Washington, D.C.: U.S.
secretary of the interior Bruce Babbitt Government Printing Office, 1971).
proposes the use of this technique, which he 7 Portland’s Metro and the 2040 Plan, ti.org/2040.html
calls “conditionality,” to ensure that a range (accessed May 6, 2008).
8 North American Light Rail Maps, lightrail.com/maps/
of national policy goals are met.18 Climate maps.htm (accessed May 6, 2008).
change could provide the impetus for the 9 Denver Regional Council of Governments, Metro
Vision 2035 Plan (January 19, 2005), drcog.org/
federal government to assume this new, index.cfm?page=MetroVision (accessed June 30,
more directive role. But the benefits would 2008).
go well beyond helping to address climate 10 Mile High Compact, drcog.org/documents/MHC%20
signature%20page%208.5%20x%2011.pdf (accessed
change: such an initiative would make May 6, 2008).
America’s metropolitan regions more livable 11 A “cap-and-trade” program sets a limit on the
amount of emissions permitted from each specific
and more competitive.
group of polluters; these limits, which must be
lower than a company’s current emissions level, get
tougher in succeeding years. The allowed emissions
Notes are divided up into individual permits, which carry a
financial value. The permits are granted to utilities
1 Brookings Institution, Blueprint for American Pros- and industries, which can sell or trade them in order
perity, “What Is My Metro,” brookings.edu/projects/ to continue operating profitably. See Jason Mathers
blueprint/mymetro.aspx (accessed May 5, 2008). and Michelle Manion, “Cap-and-Trade Systems,” Cata-
2 Blueprint for American Prosperity, “Emerging lyst 4, no. 1 (Spring 2005), ucsusa.org/publications/
Challenges to U.S. Prosperity,” in MetroNation: How catalyst/page.jsp?itemID=27226959 (accessed May 6,
U.S. Metropolitan Areas Fuel American Prosperity 2008).
(Washington, D.C.: Metropolitan Policy Program, the 12 Reid Ewing et al., “Executive Summary,” in Growing
Brookings Institution, 2007), 10–21, brookings.edu/ Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development and
projects/blueprint/~/media/Files/Projects/blueprint/ Climate Change (Washington, D.C.: Urban Land Insti-
blueprint%20docs/MetroNation2bp.pdf (accessed tute, 2008), docs.nrdc.org/cities/cit_07092001A.pdf
May 5, 2008). (accessed May 6, 2008).
3 David L. Greene and Andreas Schafer, “Executive 13 Steve Winkelman, Linking Green-TEA and Climate
Summary,” in Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Policy (Washington, D.C.: Center for Clean Air Policy,
from U.S. Transportation (Arlington, Va.: Pew Center 2007), ccap.org/transportation/documents/
on Global Climate Change, May 2003), pewclimate.org/ LinkingGreen-TEAandClimatePolicyMarch2007.pdf
global-warming-in-depth/all_reports/reduce_ghg_ (accessed May 6, 2008).
14 Ewing et al., “Executive Summary.
from_transportation/ustransp_execsumm.cfm
15 Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency,
(accessed May 5, 2008).
127 S.Ct. 1438 (2007), supremecourtus.gov/opinions/
4 Robert D. Yaro and Armando Carbonell, Toward an
06pdf/05-1120.pdf (accessed May 6, 2008).
American Spatial Development Perspective: A Policy
16 Assembly Bill 32: Global Warming Solutions Act,
Roundtable on the Federal Role in Metropolitan Devel- leginfo.ca.gov/pub/05-06/bill/asm/ab_0001-0050/
opment (Cambridge, Mass.: Lincoln Institute of Land ab_32_bill_20060927_chaptered.pdf (accessed
Policy and the Regional Plan Association, Septem- May 6, 2008).
ber 2004), america2050.org/pdf/ADSPfinalsm.pdf 17 Regional Plan Association, The Healdsburg Research
(accessed May 6, 2008). Seminar on Megaregions (Washington, D.C.: Lincoln
5 Ruben N. Lubowski et al., Major Uses of Land in the Institute of Land Policy, 2007), rpa.org/pdf/temp/
United States, 2002, Economic Information Bulletin America%202050%20Website/Healdsburg_Full_
14 (Washington, D.C.: Economic Research Service, U.S. Report_2007.pdf (accessed May 6, 2008).
Department of Agriculture, May 2006), 30, ers.usda 18 Bruce E. Babbitt, Cities in the Wilderness: A New
.gov/publications/EIB14/eib14.pdf (accessed May 6, Vision of Land Use in America (Washington, D.C.:
2008). Island Press, 2005).
11255-02_CH02.indd 100 12/22/08 2:38:07 PM

Contemporary Concerns
CHAPTER
3
of Planning
Planning in the Twenty-first Century
Looking to the future, planners will have to be strategic,
entrepreneurial, and quick to react to new threats and opportunities.
—Gary Hack
FOCUS ON
The Climate for Planning / David W. Orr

Overshadowing all other challenges, changes in the global climate
demand the planner’s attention.
Planning for Sustainability / Stephen M. Wheeler

Long-term outcomes, cross-disciplinary links, and local-global synergy
define the new face of planning.
Smart Growth in Brief / Gerrit-Jan Knaap and Terry Moore

A tension exists between the principles of smart growth and the desire
for local control.
Place Making / Jonathan Barnett

Walkability heads the list of new planning values.
Reclaiming the History of Places / Randall Mason

Preservation planning looks forward as well as back.
Healthy Cities / Anne Vernez Moudon

Urban planning renews its commitment to physical and mental health.
Reusing Brownfields / Nancey Green Leigh

New strategies and tools are evolving to allow productive reuse of
urban sites.
101
11255-03_CH03.indd 101 12/23/08 2:55:13 PM

FOCUS ON
Planning for Natural Hazards / Robert B. Olshansky

Pre-disaster planning minimizes damage and builds resilience.
Revitalizing Older Industrial Cities / Jennifer S. Vey

The reform agenda for helping decaying cities to live again demands
intergovernmental cooperation.
Planning for Creative Places / J. Mark Schuster

Arts and culture define creative communities, but the link to economic
development is equally essential.
Immigration and Urban Development / Ayse Pamuk

New immigration patterns affect suburban as well as urban planning.
Gentrification / Lance Freeman

Early identification of neighborhood change is key to reducing nega-
tive consequences and guiding positive revitalization.
Boomburbs / Robert E. Lang

The phenomenon of explosive suburban growth needs careful analysis.
Top Ten Planning Ideas / Peter Hall

A survey of innovations reveals the interconnectedness of planning
strategies.
102
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103
Planning in the twenty-first century

Gary Hack
Planners lead by anticipating issues on the horizon before presenting communities

with intractable choices. As has been noted, in the early years of the twentieth
century, planners faced issues of overcrowding, incompatible development, and
inadequate infrastructure in the nation’s burgeoning industrial cities. Then, after
World War II, they were preoccupied with planning for suburban growth and the
renewal of older, inner-city areas. Today, as we look into the future, planners can
anticipate having to address five clusters of issues that are likely to force changes
on communities: demographic shifts and migration; the changing nature of local
economies; the linked challenges of costly energy and global climate change; efforts
to maintain unique local areas in the face of increased globalism; and the need to
ensure the equitable impacts of development.
By 2050, America will have added 100 million new residents, a large fraction
of whom will settle in the ten emerging megaregions of the country, where constel-
lations of settlements combine to form economically and socially interdependent
urban regions. The growth will be fueled largely by immigration—by new workers
with all levels of skills, and their families. This growth can help to revitalize the
older core cities of megaregions, and the growing prosperity of immigrant groups
will bring new energy to older suburbs as well. But the influx of population will
continue to push the edges of currently urbanized areas outward; and how that
expansion is planned will determine the mobility and quality of life for future resi-
dents. The next several decades will require massive new investments in transporta-
tion and infrastructure to allow urban regions to function as efficiently as possible.
Other demographic shifts will create new opportunities for communities. In
2011, the first baby boomers will reach retirement age, and while many will decide to
continue working, at least part time, they will have greater options about where they
reside, thanks to the Internet. The influx of retirees to downtown areas will continue
to accelerate, but many smaller communities that have distinctive characters, and
many regions with significant recreational amenities, will become desirable areas
for seniors as well. Active seniors looking for cultural and recreational opportunities
will be particularly drawn to the areas surrounding colleges and universities. Excel-
lent health care facilities will be another magnet, as retirees live longer and wish to
remain active.
Despite the new opportunities, many localities will also face challenges. A
significant portion of urban residents will continue to be left out of the economic
system. Even with the long-promised improvements to education in urban areas, too
many teenagers will emerge from school without the ability to compete in a work-
force that demands greater technical and interpersonal skills. Poverty will continue
to be concentrated in many areas of cities—and, as low-income people are priced
out of desirable urban areas, older suburbs and rural communities will have increas-
ing numbers of residents in need of public services and assistance. Communities of
all sizes will need to mount focused efforts to improve education, provide affordable
housing, and upgrade neighborhood conditions.
The shifting economies of places

While a surprising amount of manufacturing persists in the United States, much of it
represents the final assembly of products that are largely produced abroad. Foreign
competition has held down wage rates in manufacturing, and low-wage assembly
operations are employing increasing numbers of immigrants. Immigrants are also
essential to a growing number of service industries.
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104 Contemporary Concerns of Planning
Most communities will need to continue their shift to service-based economies

and to global high-value-added industries, such as product design, cultural produc-
tion, and research. Until recently, the large U.S. domestic market has allowed com-
munities to be complacent about international competitiveness. Meanwhile, virtually
every major city abroad is pursuing a clearly articulated strategy for competing in
the global marketplace.
Every city and region in the United States will need to improve its global
competitiveness—in most cases by leveraging regional resources such as location,
infrastructure, institutions of higher education, cultural facilities, and clusters of
innovative industries. Jobs will increasingly gravitate to regions where there is a
skilled workforce, and improved secondary education and community colleges will
be essential to providing that workforce. Communities will need to focus on retain-
ing graduates of local colleges and universities, and on attracting workers from other
areas by providing the sites and the development support that help small, pioneering
new businesses to thrive and expand. Local taxation will need to be structured to
reward growing businesses rather than to create obstacles to success.
Shifts in the U.S. economy will also have implications for local planning. Just-
in-time inventory systems, increased Internet commerce, and improved logistics
systems will create new demands for regional distribution areas while leading to
declines in many types of local commerce. As a result of growth in logistics opera-
tions, the balance of traffic on regional roadways has shifted dramatically toward
trucks, and many freeways are nearing saturation. With the growing internation-
alization of commerce, seaports and airports will become the key poles for global
distribution. At the local level, accommodating the increased frequency of deliveries
will require new ways of managing streets and new standards for development.
Protecting and enhancing quality of life

Global challenges will also largely shape the agenda for protecting and improving
quality of life. The twin threats of global energy shortages and global warming will
force every community to have a plan for stabilizing or reducing carbon discharges.
Coastal and riverine areas will face growing risks, and increasingly extreme weather
patterns will force all communities to be more resilient. The desire to attract tour-
ists and highly skilled employees will encourage communities to emphasize their
uniqueness and to become more hospitable. Quality of life, protection from hazards,
and economic progress will become inextricably linked.
Reducing energy use

The continuing increases in energy costs will require communities to examine all
the ways that their form burdens residents with the need to travel, and to determine
whether their standards encourage or discourage energy efficiency. Public policies
can significantly influence the energy demands created by buildings and the trans-
portation system. Many communities have begun to ratchet up their standards for
the energy performance of buildings, often as part of a larger program of promoting
green development; such improvements not only save money but also are a good
way to demonstrate the seriousness of public intentions. The largest energy savings,
however, are likely to come through reductions in the need to travel and through the
introduction of new mass-transit alternatives in places where residents must now
use private automobiles.
One estimate suggests that in order to achieve no net increase in carbon emis-
sions, Americans will need to reduce by half the number of miles traveled in pri-
vate automobiles each year, while also doubling the average gas mileage of their
vehicles.1 This is in addition to all the other shifts and savings, including greater
use of wind power, substantial reductions in the energy use in buildings, improved
efficiency in power plants, and the introduction of carbon capture facilities.
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Contemporary Concerns of Planning 105
Only changes in land use can cut travel in half. Travel is an induced need: given
a choice, most people would prefer not to spend their time in automobiles or other
forms of travel. And regional development shapes movement patterns: a fine-grained
mix of jobs, commerce, and housing, for example, can reduce the overall amount
of travel needed in a community. Walkable neighborhoods and safe cycle routes
can also discourage automobile usage. To attract workers in the new service-based
economy, then, local governments need to facilitate the development of live-work
neighborhoods. Allowing increased densities is a good strategy for putting more
facilities and opportunities within range of urban residents, particularly if develop-
ment is located near transit lines. Vancouver, British Columbia, is pursuing such a
strategy, which it calls EcoDensity.
The largest energy savings are likely to come through reductions in the need to
travel and through the introduction of new mass-transit alternatives in places where
residents must now use private automobiles.
For necessary travel, encouraging the use of mass transit, which can be
increased demonstrably by transit-oriented development, is critical to reducing
energy consumption. To succeed in this goal, transit needs to be the right mode for
the purpose and needs to be priced correctly. The future is likely to bring a variety of
new transit modes—from the reintroduction of streetcars to high-speed intercity train
travel. Energy-efficient personal travel modes—including microcars, which use only
a fraction of the roadway and parking space, and shared rental-car systems—will
become alternatives. Philadelphia’s highly successful CarShare program, operated
by a nonprofit organization, has taken one car off the road for every three members.
Transportation planning in communities will need to shift from the conventional
strategy—building roadways to reduce congestion—to approaches that employ new
technologies, financial incentives, and land use policies and regulations.
Coping with climate change

Reducing energy usage is an important long-term objective, but in the more immedi-
ate future, communities will need to cope with the effects of climate change. Year-
to-year variations in temperature, rainfall, and storm severity are likely to increase.
Every community will need a plan to deal with extreme events: floods, hurricanes,
tornados, wildfires, landslides, and the like. Emergency planning must become one
of the pillars of land use planning.
Some places will go through prolonged periods of rainfall, while others will face
extended droughts. In most places, average temperatures will rise. In large cities
where downtown summer temperatures can average 5 degrees higher than in the
nonurbanized surroundings, local actions like planting trees and controlling runoff
can help to maintain humidity levels and temper heat. Green corridors can moderate
climates and sequester carbon while serving important ecological and recreational
purposes. In dry climates, shade is particularly important. Dealing with climate
change will also require changes in the use of materials in the public realm, such as
substituting ground covers for grass, using porous pavement (which reduces runoff),
using light-colored paving materials rather than asphalt, and using native rather than
exotic plant species.
Preserving community character

In an era when consistency is the drumbeat of national businesses, franchises, and
production builders, communities that preserve references to their past emphasize
their uniqueness. Distinctive community character can be an important factor in
11255-03_CH03.indd 105 12/23/08 2:55:14 PM

attracting businesses and residents, and can build civic pride. Conserving buildings
is thus an important strategy for promoting sustainability. Even in the absence of
historic architecture, community character can be strengthened through the creation
of a generous public realm, respect for topography and natural features, and the
development of new residential and commercial areas that encourage social contact.
Ensuring equitable development

The recent rediscovery of downtowns as desirable places to live and play has
masked the bitter reality of other inner-city neighborhoods, many of which are
within view of downtown towers. There, residents live in concentrated poverty, with
substandard housing, poor schools, public facilities in disrepair, few local job oppor-
tunities, and limited access to basic goods and services.
As downtown and close-in neighborhoods become more attractive because of
their convenience, sales and rental prices increase, and low-income residents are
often forced out—sometimes to older suburbs—to find housing they can afford. Pub-
lic transportation is generally poorer in these areas, making it difficult for workers to
find jobs, either within the city or in the scattered outlying locations where jobs are
available.
Planners have led neighborhood development efforts for several decades, but a
recent evolution in techniques has made it possible to increase the scale of neigh-
borhood transformation. Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, New Markets Tax Cred-
its, inclusionary housing requirements, workforce housing programs sponsored by
employers, federal and state programs encouraging mixed-income housing, and local
tax abatements have accelerated rehabilitation and redevelopment. Municipalities
are increasing their involvement in land assembly in areas of abandonment, prepar-
ing the way for private developers to build mixed-income projects. Magnet schools,
charter schools, privately managed schools, and schools adopted by corporations
and institutions of higher education have provided alternatives to failing public
schools. Increasingly, lenders are recognizing the purchasing power of low-income
communities; as a result, commercial facilities are expanding in previously under-
served areas.
Figure 3–1 Yester-

day’s textile mill is
today’s civic, business,
and housing center.
Reusing these old
buildings links Lowell to
its history while
providing valuable
services for the future.
Source: Jim Higgins
11255-03_CH03.indd 106 12/23/08 2:55:14 PM

Anchor institutions such as universities and hospitals (“eds and meds”) are
often the largest private employers in communities, and many have taken the lead in
upgrading the neighborhoods that surround them. They are leveraging their demand
for housing and services, directing their purchasing power into nearby areas, and
expanding the net of their security forces to cover adjacent neighborhoods. Eds and
meds are building or making possible new neighborhood schools, shopping centers,
entertainment complexes, hotels, and private rental housing that cater to the needs
of employees, students, and clients, while improving the employment opportunities
and quality of life for nearby lower-income residents. Religious institutions, commu-
nity development organizations, and other nonprofit organizations are also taking on
transformation efforts of increasing scale.
All these initiatives offer a new framework for neighborhood planning in the poor-
est sections of cities and for transforming pockets of poverty in outlying areas. It is
possible to remedy the neglect of these areas only by forging alliances between private
developers, institutions, and public agencies, and by undertaking inclusionary plan-
ning to ensure that the most disadvantaged residents benefit from the efforts.
Rationalizing public investments

Local planning has greatly evolved from its origins over a century ago as the guard-
ian of the comprehensive plan. While plans remain important and are mandated
by several states, an overarching comprehensive plan may not be possible in the
complex metropolitan regions that are evolving. Planning will need to be more
strategic and entrepreneurial, identifying opportunities and threats, developing pos-
sible futures, and helping to find creative methods of seeing those futures realized.
It will need to be nimble, leading public opinion while being responsive to residents’
desires.
For example, local planners have the responsibility of helping to ensure that pub-
lic capital expenditures are effective and coordinated. In the past, this has involved
preparing and managing the capital budgets of municipalities, counties, and public
authorities. However, as an increasing range of public facilities are privatized, and
as public-private partnerships are employed for other important functions, the new
challenges will be to ensure that governmental assets and bonding capacities are
effectively used, that risks and rewards are equitably distributed, and that agree-
ments for creating and operating facilities are transparent and cost-effective.
While plans remain important, an overarching comprehensive plan may not be possible
in the complex metropolitan regions that are evolving.
Local governments own land, buildings, roadways, and infrastructure—and,

through bonds that they have issued in an effort to promote development, may
have financial stakes in a range of commercial enterprises. Much of the inventory of
public assets is not used to full advantage. For example, many inner-city areas that
have lost population have far too many parks, fire stations, and schools, yet may
lack many other essential facilities—both private (e.g., commercial facilities) and
public (e.g., child care, elderly program centers). Consolidating public facilities may
yield land and resources that can be used to help revitalize declining areas. At the
regional scale, mass-transit lines and expressways may offer untapped opportunities
for development at stations and interchanges. Several cities, including Boston, have
reclaimed and developed sites that were previously occupied by lightly used inter-
change ramps. Air rights over expressways and other public property may be used for
open space or for more intensive development. In some cities, the sale of air rights
or development rights from public lands or facilities may help fund needed capital
investments; Chicago’s downtown public library was paid for in this way. In many
11255-03_CH03.indd 107 12/23/08 2:55:16 PM

situations, it may be more timely and cost-effective to lease public facilities as part
of private development projects, or to purchase them on a turnkey basis, than to
acquire sites and build on them through public contracting processes.
Local governments that take an entrepreneurial approach to public services may
discover that they can achieve efficiencies by contracting out services. In many
cities, business improvement districts have proven to be more effective in cleaning
and maintaining streets, upgrading the public realm, stimulating local development,
and improving security. There may be opportunities to lease or franchise entire
systems, such as expressways or transit lines. Local planners need to become public
entrepreneurs, searching for the best method to ensure public purposes and for the
most effective way to pay for them.
Note
1 Stephen Pacala and Robert Socolow, “Stabiliza- carbonsequestration.us/Papers-presentations/
tion Wedges: Solving the Climate Problem for htm/Pacala-Socolow-ScienceMag-Aug2004.pdf
the Next 50 Years with Current Technologies,” (accessed June 27, 2008).
Science 305 (August 2004): 968–972,
11255-03_CH03.indd 108 12/23/08 2:55:16 PM

FOCUS ON by drought, heat, and more and nastier

pests; refugees fleeing floods, rising seas,
The climate for drought, and expanding deserts; interna-

tional conflicts over energy, food, and water;
and heat-related changes in human behav-
planning ior. Since there is a lag of several decades
between the emission of C02 and other
David W. Orr heat-trapping gases and the effects that
those emissions have on the weather, many
The fourth report from the Intergovern- of these changes are inevitable, given the
mental Panel on Climate Change (2007) volume of heat-trapping gases that we’ve
concludes that already put into the atmosphere.
• We’ve already increased the average Because we failed to forestall rapid climate
temperature on the planet by 0.8
change when it could have been done with
degrees Centigrade (C).
less risk, planners must now exercise an
• We are committed to approximately extraordinary degree of ingenuity and fore-
another 0.5 to 1.0 degrees C warming. sight. Put simply, the choices are adaptation
• It’s too late to avoid some level of or mitigation: adaptation involves creating
trauma—but it’s probably not too late to infrastructure and ecological systems that
avoid global catastrophe (including the are capable of withstanding higher tempera-
possibility of runaway climate change). tures and other changes; mitigation means
• There are no easy answers or magic- reducing the use of fossil fuels, adopting
bullet solutions.1 renewable energy sources, and taking other
measures to hold carbon at “safe” levels.
Whether it is indeed too late is anyone’s Adaptation, however, means aiming at a
guess, since the level of heat-trapping moving target: the world will work differ-
gases is higher than it has been in the past ently, depending on the levels of heat-
650,000 years, if not longer. We are playing
trapping gases—and it is clear that, beyond
a global version of Russian roulette, and no
some unknown threshold, adaptation will be
one knows for certain what the safe thresh-
futile.2 Thus, the inescapable conclusion is
olds of various heat-trapping gases might
that both adaptation and mitigation will be
be. Scientific assessments of the pace of
essential to preserving a habitable planet.
climate change are constantly shifting, but
the pattern is clear. And as scientists learn
more, the evidence is mostly worse than had
The rising price of fossil fuels will create
previously been thought. Ocean acidification
incentives to increase urban densities—
went from being a problem perhaps in a cen-
which will, in turn, foster integrated
tury or two to one now emerging. Melting of
planning and a systems approach to
the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, first
settlement patterns, architectural design,
thought to be a possibility over millennia is
engineering, transportation, economic
now believed possible in a century or two.
infrastructure, and investment.
The threshold of perceived safety for the
concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) went
from 560 parts per million (ppm) to 450 ppm
Global warming will compel planners and
and could go even lower. And so forth.
government officials to make fundamental
Urban and regional planners will have to changes. First, carbon emissions will soon
plan for a future characterized by rising sea be controlled through cap-and-trade legisla-
levels (which will probably increase a lot tion,3 taxation, and/or regulation—and that
faster than was once thought); more heat fact will change many of the incentives that
waves and droughts; more, larger, and dead- now affect transportation, settlement pat-
lier storms; forest dieback (plant diseases); terns, and resource use. The prices or penal-
more tropical diseases in formerly temper- ties attached to fossil fuel use are likely to
ate areas; changing ecosystems; the loss increase over time; improved technologies
of many things that nature once did for us, and policies, however, will make it economi-
such as pollination; food shortages caused cally rational to increase energy efficiency
11255-03_CH03.indd 109 12/23/08 2:55:16 PM

and adopt renewable energy systems. The formidable appeal—including, among other
rising price of fossil fuels will also create things, enhanced resilience to disruption,
incentives to increase urban densities— whether by terrorism or error.5
which will, in turn, foster integrated plan-
Second, the current food system is increas-
ning and a systems approach to settlement
ingly vulnerable to instability stemming from
patterns, architectural design, engineering,
droughts, heat waves, and rising transporta-
transportation, economic infrastructure, and
tion costs. Local food production and urban
investment. Many cities—including Chicago
agriculture will become more important. The
and London—are developing comprehensive
market for local foods is growing rapidly and
plans for climate change that are designed
can be expected to increase dramatically in
to improve building efficiency, transpor-
the coming decades. Planners should design
tation, and settlement patterns while
neighborhoods, communities, and city-
strengthening the regional economy.
regions to include gardens and farms and
In the private sector, many corporations and facilities to capture water, and should help
institutions of higher education are moving develop education programs to equip a new
quickly toward the adoption of solar energy generation to enhance food security within
and radical reductions in carbon emissions. local food sheds.
Whether the motivations are economic or
Third, urban big-box economies will be
based on concern for future generations,
under increasing stress. Companies such as
the changes in planning priorities in the
Wal-Mart, which rely on long supply chains,
private sector are becoming significant.
will be severely tested as the fuel costs nec-
The prospect of rapid climate change is essary to manufacture and transport goods
not the only change on the horizon for the rise dramatically. Local economic develop-
planning professions. Terrorism, a soaring ment strategies—what Jane Jacobs called
national debt, decaying infrastructure, and “import substitution” and Michael Shuman
the end of the era of cheap oil also pose calls the “small-mart” approach6—will make
serious challenges that will amplify and considerably more sense in a hotter and
reinforce each other. energy-constrained future.
Given the near-certainty of rapid climate
change ahead, planning education should
Planners should design neighborhoods,
emphasize regional resilience built on the
communities, and city-regions to include
multiplier effect of locally generated solu-
gardens and farms and facilities to
tions. To be relevant to human needs in a
capture water, and should help develop
greenhouse world, planners will need the
education programs to equip a new
skills and imagination necessary to inte-
generation to enhance food security
grate food production, solar energy, shelter,
within local food sheds.
transport, livelihood, finance, and community
building. This will be a challenge like no other.
In the face of what futurist John Platt

Notes
once called “a crisis of crises,”4 plan-
1 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),
ners and decision makers will have to rely Climate Change 2000 Synthesis Report (Geneva,
much more heavily on local and regional Switzerland: IPCC, 2007), ipcc.ch/ipccreports/
resources and solutions. Three possibilities ar4-syr.htm (accessed May 22, 2008).
2 Nicholas Stern, The Stern Review (Cambridge, UK:
stand out. First, local sources of renewable Cambridge University Press, 2007).
energy—wind, solar, biomass, biodiesel, 3 Such legislation requires that a limit be set on the
micro hydro (hydroelectric power installa- amount of emissions permitted from each specific
group of polluters; this limit, which must be lower
tions), and vastly improved efficiency—will than the company’s current emissions level, gets
become more valuable as centralized energy tougher in succeeding years. The allowed emissions
sources and the electric grid become more are divided up into individual permits, which carry
a financial value, and are granted to utilities and
costly and erratic. As multiple sources of industries, which can sell or trade them in order to
on-site renewable energy are linked through continue operating profitably. See Jason Mathers and
networks with many nodes, they will come, Michelle Manion, “Cap-and-Trade Systems,” Catalyst
4, no. 1 (Spring 2005), ucsusa.org/publications/
in time, to resemble distributed computer catalyst/page.jsp?itemID=27226959 (accessed
networks. Distributed energy systems have May 6, 2008).
11255-03_CH03.indd 110 12/23/08 2:55:16 PM

4 John Platt, “What We Must Do,” Science, November mission on Environment and Development
28, 1969, 1115–1121.
5 Amory Lovins et al., Small Is Profitable (Snowmass,
produced the most widely used definition of
Colo.: Rocky Mountain Institute, 2002), sustainable development: “development that
smallisprofitable.org/ReadTheBook.html meets the needs of the present without com-
6 Jane Jacobs, The Economy of Cities (New York:
promising the ability of future generations to
Random House, 1970); Michael H. Shuman, The Small- meet their own needs.”3
Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating
the Global Competition (San Francisco: Berrett- As support for sustainable development
Koehler Publishers, June 2006). has gathered momentum, several streams
of thought have emerged. The first stream
is represented by environmentalists, who
FOCUS ON focus on threats to the Earth’s ecosystems.
The environmental camp encompasses mul-
Planning for tiple viewpoints, ranging from mainstream
environmental science, which emphasizes
sustainability pragmatic development of greener indus-

trial and development practices, to deep
ecology, which argues in a more philosophi-
Stephen M. Wheeler cal vein that the rights of other species are
equal to those of humans, that humans
The term sustainable development came into should be seen as part of larger global sys-
existence in the early 1970s, and was first used tems, and that human impacts on the planet
in print in two books published in 1972: The need to be very greatly reduced.4
Limits to Growth, by Donella Meadows and
a group of colleagues at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT), and Blueprint The researchers concluded that humanity
for Survival, by Edward Goldsmith and other had entered into a period of “overshoot,”
staff members of The Ecologist magazine in in which its needs were substantially
London.1 The Limits to Growth was especially greater than the planet could support.
influential and controversial. The MIT team
used newly available computer technol-
ogy to model global population, resource The second stream of thought is repre-
use, pollution, and economic growth. Every sented by sustainability advocates who
scenario that the group fed into its model emphasize economics and apply such
showed the human system crashing midway tools as cost-benefit analysis to develop-
through the twenty-first century, subsequently ment problems. These efforts range from
stabilizing only at lower levels of population attempts to assign monetary value to clean
and consumption. When the original team air or wilderness,5 to a fundamental ques-
revisited its model in 2002, armed with thirty tioning of the desirability of endless growth
years of additional data, the basic predictions in material production and consumption.6
remained accurate.2 Moreover, the researchers Ecological economist Herman Daly, for
concluded that humanity had entered into a example, has proposed a steady-state model
period of “overshoot,” in which its needs were of the economy that emphasizes growth
substantially greater than the planet could in quality of life rather than in material
support. production.7
Since the early 1970s, the sustainability Advocates for social justice, many of whom
concept has also built on a number of other are in developing countries, provide the third
events and issues. The first United Nations main perspective on sustainable develop-
(UN) Conference on Environment and Devel- ment: a focus on equity issues. From this
opment, held in Stockholm in 1972, helped perspective, overconsumption in the devel-
catalyze concerns about the global environ- oped world and maldistribution of resources
ment, as did the second “Earth Summit” held are principal obstacles to sustainability.
in Rio in 1992. Public attention to energy Adherents of this perspective point out,
crises in the 1970s and to climate change in for example, that it is unfair for the United
more recent years has fueled calls for sustain- States, with about 4 percent of the world’s
ability. In 1987, the UN-sponsored World Com- population, to consume about 25 percent of
11255-03_CH03.indd 111 12/23/08 2:55:16 PM

its resources and generate about a quarter of largest scale, the planet itself. The limits and
its pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. characteristics of these settings are vitally
important to planning. Emphasis on the
The fourth stream of thought on sustainable
sense of place and on place-based identity
development emphasizes the ethical, cogni-
can help develop more effective planning
tive, and spiritual dimensions of develop-
strategies; unite constituencies around
ment debates, and stresses that industrial
shared historical, cultural, social, or envi-
society must move beyond economic value
ronmental resources; and promote greater
as the main measure of worth. This perspec-
stewardship for local places.
tive has roots in many of the world’s reli-
gious traditions, but it has also found fertile Finally, planners, managers, and community
ground within environmental philosophy. In leaders must advocate for sustainability in
particular, Aldo Leopold’s 1949 formulation development debates. Professionals need to
of a land ethic is often cited: “A thing is right assert the importance of the future, based
when it tends to preserve the integrity, sta- on real threats to the health of human and
bility, and beauty of the biotic community. It ecological communities. They need to pre-
is wrong when it tends otherwise.”8 sent alternatives to the public, insert under-
represented points of view into debates,
Key themes for planners assist underrepresented communities in
getting organized, and call public attention
Although debates on sustainable develop-
to the need for long-term thinking.
ment often originate in very different
perspectives, several common themes have
Promoting sustainability
implications for planners, managers, politi-
cal leaders, and community activists. Promoting sustainability at the local level
requires attention to many subject areas,
First, sustainability depends on a long-term such as environmental planning, land use,
approach to decision making. Implicit in transportation, housing, economic devel-
the word sustain is the desire for human opment, and social justice. Municipalities
societies to remain healthy far into the sometimes create stand-alone sustainability
future—far beyond the typical 10- to 20-year plans, setting forth new initiatives in such
horizon of planning documents, the next- fields to promote sustainability, or some-
election focus of the political system, or times integrate the theme of sustainability
the next-year or next-quarter time horizon across all elements of their comprehensive
of much corporate decision making. A con- or general plans.
sideration of the impacts of current trends
50, 100, or 200 years into the future needs Environmental planning
to become standard planning practice.
In every community, no matter how urban,
Second, sustainability requires a holistic, much can be done to protect and restore
interdisciplinary approach to planning that ecosystems. Strategies include restoring
meshes traditionally separate specialties. streams, shorelines, and wetlands; recreat-
For example, transportation planning must ing wildlife habitat; landscaping streets and
be coordinated with land use, housing, air parking lots; reducing the use of asphalt;
quality, and social equity concerns. Equally constructing green roofs; and landscaping
essential is the integration of actions across with native and climate-appropriate plants.
different scales: the building, the site, the Municipalities can create overall plans for
neighborhood, the city, the region, the watersheds or green spaces to coordinate
nation, and the planet. Recent movements such actions. In addition to improving
such as smart growth and new urbanism ecosystem function, these initiatives can
seek such integration. help improve water quality, lessen runoff
from impervious surfaces, reduce the urban
Third, sustainability planning emphasizes
heat island effect, provide green spaces for
place and context. Although some past
the public, and educate residents about the
planning theorists embraced the notion of
environment.
a “non-place urban realm” in which people
are so mobile as to be unattached to place,9 Resource use is of great importance for
both human and natural systems are always sustainability. “Reduce, reuse, and recycle”
rooted in specific contexts—including, at the has long been an environmental mantra, but
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Local governments and global warming
As concern mounts about climate change, local governments face the challenge of
reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapting to a changed climate.
GHG emissions in the United States come from heating, cooling, and electricity use in
buildings (about 30 percent of the total); the transportation sector (about 27 percent
of the total); industry (about 20 percent of the total); and a large variety of other
sources, including agricultural fertilizers, livestock, and landfills.1 Local action can
affect most of these sources.
Local governments can adopt more energy-efficient building codes that emphasize
passive solar design as well as improved insulation and appliances. (The “passivhaus”
movement in Germany provides interesting examples of super-efficient homes that
need no heating or cooling systems.) Municipalities can also establish renewable port-
folio standards, requiring utilities that sell electricity to them to generate a certain
percentage of the power from renewable sources. They can reduce motor vehicle use
through a three-part strategy: improving transportation alternatives, changing land
use patterns, and revising economic incentives. They can lead by example by buying
fuel-efficient or alternative technology vehicles. They can help industrial polluters
reduce their emissions by offering technical assistance or financial incentives for
change. And they can change their economic development strategies to emphasize
clean or green businesses rather than those that generate GHG emissions or other
types of pollution.2
1 World Resources Institute, “U.S. GHG Emissions Flow Chart,” at cait.wri.org/figures.php?page=/US-FlowChart

2 The Cities for Climate Protection campaign of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives
(ICLEI) offers further examples at iclei.org.
local governments to date have emphasized nologies, and provide incentives and assis-
recycling, while the reduction and reuse of tance to homeowners and businesses for
material goods offer greater long-term sav- improved energy efficiency. Changing build-
ings. Local governments can, for example, ing codes to require much greater energy
charge steeply rising rates to collect from efficiency and promote passive solar design
trash containers of different sizes to is also crucial, as is discussed further on.
encourage residents to reduce waste. They
can require companies to reuse or recycle Land use
wooden shipping pallets, and can require Smarter and more ecologically appropri-
builders to reuse or recycle construction ate land use, vitally important for sustain-
debris. Some materials might be eliminated able development, includes preserving
altogether: San Francisco has prohibited agricultural land and open space near
the use of nonbiodegradable plastic bags; cities; creating park and greenway systems
Oakland, Portland (Oregon), and about a for ecological and recreational purposes;
hundred other cities have banned the use of and designing development to reduce
polystyrene foam. driving and resource use and to promote
social vitality, public health, and a sense of
Energy is yet another main concern of envi-
community.
ronmental planning, particularly because of
the need to reduce greenhouse gas emis- For sustainability advocates, the compact
sions. Some municipalities own their utilities, city is a principal goal. Exactly how dense
in which case they can develop renewable cities should be to achieve sustainability is a
sources of power. But others can at least matter of some debate,10 but certainly most
purchase electricity for public facilities from North American communities could use land
green sources, convert municipal vehicle far more efficiently. In addition to being
fleets and buses to alternative fuels or tech- compact, development should be contiguous
11255-03_CH03.indd 113 12/23/08 2:55:17 PM

to other urban areas (to reduce driving and divide urban densities of at least eight to
promote social integration), well-connected twelve units per net acre from agricultural
to other urban areas (to facilitate travel by densities of one unit per ten to one hundred
many different modes), and fine-grained in acres, ruling out low-density subdivisions,
terms of land use mix (to provide residents ranchettes, and McMansions.
with many local destinations and enhance
community vitality). Compactness and den- Transportation
sity do not require high-rise development, Ending the constant growth in motor vehicle
although places such as Vancouver, British use, one of the most important sustainabil-
Columbia, provide examples of how slender, ity objectives, requires three interrelated
high-rise towers set above street-oriented strategies: providing a greater choice of
development can create an attractive living travel modes, changing land use patterns,
environment. A mix of low- to mid-rise hous- and revising pricing incentives. Some prog-
ing types, in three-to-five-story buildings, ress is being made on all three fronts. Many
can yield neighborhood densities of twenty U.S. cities and towns are devoting greater
units or more per acre while also including attention to alternative modes of transpor-
greenery and open space. tation by creating pedestrian and bicycle
plans; revising design standards for streets;
promoting car-share programs; and explor-
For sustainability advocates, ing new public transit options, including bus
the compact city is a principal goal. rapid transit, light rail, and commuter rail.
Land use regulation is beginning to change
as well, in part because of the smart growth
To limit the unending spread of cities and
and new urbanist movements. And many
towns, urban areas in North America will
municipalities have instituted higher parking
need aggressive policies to promote infill
charges and other incentives not to drive. In
rather than greenfield development. The
2003, in one of the most dramatic initiatives
amount of infill development is increas-
in recent years, London introduced a conges-
ing in the United States as old shopping
tion charge of five pounds (later raised to
malls, office parks, industrial sites, train
eight pounds) for every vehicle entering an
yards, and vacant lots are redeveloped,
eight-square-mile area of the central city. The
but even in jurisdictions known for growth
program has been highly successful, cutting
management, such as the Portland Metro
traffic in the central area by 20 percent and
region, redevelopment and infill develop-
generating significant resources for public
ment account for only around 25 percent
transit.14 New York is the first American city
of residential housing units.11 In the United
to propose a similar scheme, and while it was
Kingdom, in contrast, the Blair government
rejected by the New York State legislature in
set 60 percent as the infill target,12 despite
April 2008, it is likely to resurface again in
the fact that British cities are already far
the future.
more intensively built than American ones.
Since most new development still occurs Housing

at the urban edge, strategies to regulate Many American communities lack affordable,
development there are particularly impor- well-located, and energy-efficient housing,
tant for sustainability. Although some new which affects both the environmental and the
urbanist planners have proposed gradu- social dimensions of sustainability. A range of
ally decreasing densities from a city or strategies can help address this situation. Local
neighborhood center to the surrounding governments can support nonprofit housing
countryside—a model that they call the developers; adopt inclusionary zoning policies,
“transect”13—sharp edges between built which require all projects above a certain size
and unbuilt environments make it clear to include a percentage of affordable units;
where development may or may not occur, and promote a greater range of housing types
and prevent the kind of low-density, urban within neighborhoods. Developers of large
fringe development that consumes agricul- office parks and malls can be required to pro-
tural land or wilderness, fragments wildlife vide housing for workers. To improve energy
habitat, and requires residents to drive long efficiency, municipalities can revise building
distances. Zoning codes need to sharply codes to require better insulation, passive solar
11255-03_CH03.indd 114 12/23/08 2:55:17 PM

design, and energy-efficient appliances. Many unequal for decades, the need to reempha-
U.S. municipalities already require public build- size equity seems more pressing than ever.
ings to be certified by the LEED (Leadership in
Inequities undermine sustainability. Pov-
Energy and Environmental Design) rating sys-
erty often leads directly to environmental
tem; the private sector can more fully embrace
damage, as impoverished people deforest
such standards as well.
landscapes, hunt wildlife, or seek ecologi-
Economic development cally harmful livelihoods because those are
the only jobs available. Communities without
As an alternative to growth at all costs, Paul
adequate income cannot afford to construct
Hawken, Amory Lovins, and Hunter Lovins
energy-efficient homes, adequately pro-
have proposed a “natural capitalism” in which
cess wastes, or purchase environmentally
entrepreneurial energies are turned toward
friendly products. On the other end of the
protecting and restoring the environment.15
spectrum, extreme wealth encourages
Michael Shuman and David Morris, among
overconsumption, setting a nonsustainable
others, have called for locally based econo-
mies.16 Jane Jacobs argued for decades for model for the rest of the population.
regionally based economies, in which regional Local governments can improve equity by
products reduce the need for imports.17 ensuring adequate and affordable hous-
Peter Barnes has called for economic incen- ing; pursuing economic development that
tives to protect and enhance the commons— provides decent-paying, meaningful jobs;
environmental and community assets that adopting “living wage” policies; providing
are not owned by any private interest.18 education and social services for the least
Local governments can help implement such well-off; and instituting progressive tax
philosophies by resisting big-box commercial structures that emphasize property and
development, or by refusing to grant subsi- income taxes rather than sales taxes, which
dies to large industrial employers that make hit the poor hardest. Community develop-
no long-term commitments to a community. ment corporations, such as the Sawmill
They can encourage small, locally owned, and Community Land Trust in Albuquerque
eco-friendly businesses through a number (see Figure 3–2 on page 116), offer one way
of means, including loans, public provision of to meet the social justice dimensions of
infrastructure, development of small business sustainable development.
incubators, workforce training, and preferen-
tial allocation of municipal contracts. Process
Complete community self-sufficiency, Public participation in local decision making
however, is unlikely and may not even be is important to tap local knowledge, to allow
desirable from a sustainability point of view, local constituencies to shape their own
since international trade does produce many future, and to foster a sense of stewardship
efficiencies and benefits. Thus, a better and interdependence. But current methods
balance must be found between a global- of participation do not always lead to more
ized economy and more place-based ones. sustainable decisions. They may empower
This process will require rethinking the affluent, well-organized groups at the
many unacknowledged subsidies that are expense of others, and they often play into
currently provided to large-scale capitalism, the hands of those who oppose any pro-
and taking steps to make all participants in posed course of action.
the economy bear the true costs of their
activity. The challenge is to develop community
planning processes that are constructive,
Social justice proactive, and far-sighted. This may mean
Sustainable development is sometimes avoiding excessive numbers of workshops,
described as nurturing the “three E’s”— which can burn out community members
environment, economy, and equity. Of (except those with the strongest vested
these, equity is by far the least emphasized interests or the greatest tolerance for
in American communities, in part because group process), in favor of a few well-
there is little organized constituency for it. organized meetings over a shorter period,
In a society that has grown steadily more coupled with surveys or focus groups
11255-03_CH03.indd 115 12/23/08 2:55:17 PM

Figure 3–2 Initiated by local residents in 1997, the Sawmill Community Land Trust is constructing a new,
mixed-use neighborhood of affordable housing on the site of a former lumber mill in Albuquerque. Plans call for
ninety-one ownership units and twenty-two senior apartments on twenty-seven acres, plus a park, plaza,
a community center, community gardens, offices, warehouses, and retail space.
Source: Courtesy of Design Workshop/Sawmill Community Land Trust/George Richardson
to obtain input from a larger range of Local governments can use a variety of
constituencies. (For further information indicators to evaluate progress toward
on public participation options, see “Civic sustainable development: these are usually
Engagement” in Chapter 5.) During the created through public participation and
process, planners need to frame alterna- reflect the particular values of a place.
tives that address long-term needs, not The Sustainable Seattle indicators were
just for the community but for regional developed by a citizen coalition; Vancouver,
and global contexts as well. London, and other cities have developed
their own systems.
Consistency between planning, zoning,
and regulations at different levels is an
essential prerequisite for sustainability. It A long-term task
does little good to adopt ambitious sus- Sustainable development seeks to ensure
tainable development goals at the state, long-term human and ecological well-being.
regional, or municipal level when there is It reflects a worldview that emphasizes
no legal requirement that day-to-day deci- future implications, cross-disciplinary link-
sion making reflect these goals and little ages, renewed attention to local place and
systematic evaluation to indicate whether context, and more active engagement by
the goals are being met. Other desirable professionals in addressing the needs of
process changes include greater scrutiny multiple, overlapping communities at differ-
of the conflicts of interest that plague U.S. ent scales ranging from the local neighbor-
land use planning, improved transparency hood to the planet as a whole. Planning for
of decision making, and reduction of the sustainability is a long-term task—and not
role of campaign contributions in local an easy one. But it can be a richly rewarding
elections. and meaningful objective for local govern-
11255-03_CH03.indd 116 12/23/08 2:55:17 PM

ment planners, managers, elected officials, FOCUS ON

and community leaders.
Notes
Smart growth
1 Donella Meadows et al., The Limits to Growth (New
York: Universe Books, 1972); Edward Goldsmith
et al., Blueprint for Survival (Boston: Houghton
in brief
Mifflin, 1972).
2 Donella Meadows, Jorgen Randers, and Dennis Gerrit-Jan Knaap and Terry Moore
Meadows, Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update
(White River Junction, Vt.: Chelsea Green, 2002).
The impacts of urban sprawl—low-density,
3 World Commission on Environment and Development,
Our Common Future (New York: Oxford University automobile-oriented development—have
Press, 1987), 8. been debated since the extensive develop-
4 Bill Devall and George Sessions, Deep Ecology: Living
ment of highways and suburbs that followed
As If Nature Mattered (Salt Lake City: G. M. Smith,
1985); Arne Naess, Deep Ecology of Wisdom: Explora- World War II. In the early 1990s, a new grass-
tions in Unities of Nature and Cultures (Dordrecht, roots movement reinvigorated that debate
Germany: Springer, 2005).
and introduced a clever new term: smart
5 See David Pearce, Edward Barbier, and Anil
Markandya, Blueprint for a Green Economy (London: growth.1 Smart growth gained currency from
Earthscan, 1989); Robert Repetto, ed., The Global three sources:
Possible: Resources, Development, and the New
Century (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985); • The Surface Transportation Policy
Robert Costanza, ed., Ecological Economics: The Project, a land use and transportation-
Science and Management of Sustainability (New York: advocacy organization that was founded
Columbia University Press, 1991).
6 See particularly Herman E. Daly, ed., Toward a to support the implementation of the
Steady-State Economy (San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, Intermodal Surface Transportation
1973); Herman E. Daly, ed., Economics, Ecology, Efficiency Act, which was first passed in
Ethics: Essays toward a Steady-State Society (San
Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1980); Herman E. Daly, 1991 and was reauthorized in 1998
Beyond Growth: The Economics of Sustainable Devel- • The American Planning Association,
opment (Boston: Beacon Press, 1996).
7 Daly, Toward a Steady-State Economy; Daly, Econom- which published the Smart Growth
ics, Ecology, Ethics; and Daly, Beyond Growth. Legislative Guidebook in 1997
8 Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1949). • The administration of Maryland governor
9 Melvin M. Webber, “The Urban Place and the Non- Parris Glendening, which promoted
Place Urban Realm,” in Explorations into Urban the passage of the Smart Growth and
Structure, ed. Melvin M. Webber et al. (Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press, 1964).
Neighborhood Conservation acts of 1997.
10 See, for example, Mike Jenks, Elizabeth Burton, and
Katie Williams, eds. The Compact City: A Sustainable
A key event in the rapid dissemination of
Urban Form? (London: E & FN Spon, 1996). smart growth concepts was the establish-
11 Portland Metro Planning Department, 2004 Perfor- ment of the Smart Growth Network (SGN),
mance Measures Report (Portland, Ore.: Portland
Metro, 2004), 45.
which was created by the U.S. Environmental
12 Communities and Local Government Ministry, Protection Agency during the Clinton admin-
Planning Policy Statement 3: Housing (London: The istration. In less than ten years, the phrase
Stationery Office, 2006), 15.
13 Andrès Duany and Emily Talen, “Transect Planning,”
smart growth became part of the lexicon of
Journal of the American Planning Association 68, planners, developers, policy makers, interest
no. 3 (2002): 245–266. groups, the media, and the public at large.
14 Matt Weaver and agencies, “Livingston Praises
Congestion Zone Extension,” Guardian Unlimited,
February 19, 2007, guardian.co.uk/society/2007/ What is smart growth?
feb/19/governinglondon.localgovernment (accessed
May 6, 2008). Smart growth means different things to dif-
15 Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins, ferent people, which is both a strength and
Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revo- a shortcoming. Smart growth’s objective is
lution (London: Earthscan, 1999).
16 Michael Shuman, Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant to foster not a particular amount or rate of
Communities in a Global Age (New York: Routledge, growth, but a particular pattern of growth: a
2000); David Morris, Self-Reliant Cities: Energy and smart pattern. Who could be against that?
the Transformation of Urban America (San Francisco:
Sierra Club Books, 1972). Ten principles promulgated by the SGN
17 Jane Jacobs, The Economy of Cities (New York:
Random House, 1969); Jane Jacobs, Cities and the define the means by which that pattern of
Wealth of Nations: Principles of Economic Life (New growth is to be achieved:2
York: Random House, 1984).
18 Peter Barnes, Capitalism 3.0: A Guide to Reclaiming • Preserve open space, farmland, natural
the Commons (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2006). beauty, and critical environmental areas.
11255-03_CH03.indd 117 12/23/08 2:55:23 PM

• Strengthen and direct development might accommodate growth at the kinds

toward existing communities. of densities that smart growth proponents
• Mix land uses. desire. At the metropolitan level, attempts
to achieve walkability and a variety of
• Take advantage of compact building
transportation choices are uniformly
design.
aimed at creating a regional system of
• Foster distinctive, attractive communities higher-density centers and corridors.
with a strong sense of place. And providing a variety of housing and
• Create a range of housing opportunities transportation choices requires a variety
and choices. of types of urban form, organized around
• Create walkable neighborhoods. multiple nodes of varying densities
along transit routes. Thus, smart growth
• Provide a variety of transportation choices.
advocates favor investments in transit and
• Make development decisions predictable, transit-oriented development, and other
fair, and cost-effective. policies that concentrate development in
• Encourage community and stakeholder higher-density corridors.
collaboration. • High-quality urban design. Walkable
In the literature of urban planning, another neighborhoods and a mix of land uses
formulation is sometimes used to capture are most feasible in the high-density
many of these principles: nodes of polycentric cities. With proper
urban design, such nodes can become
• Designation: Locating the right land uses
“distinctive, attractive communities with a
in the right places
strong sense of place.” What makes urban
• Diversity: Creating a mix of uses and a places walkable, distinctive, and attractive
range of housing choices
are design features that address both
• Density: Fostering compact development function and form, such as pedestrian
• Design: Developing functional, efficient, infrastructure, noteworthy architecture,
attractive places. historic buildings, and small-scale green
spaces. Attention to the public realm
Designation, diversity, density, and design
helps moderate what can be an otherwise
lead, in turn, to walkability and to a variety
harsh urban environment. Smart-growth
of transportation choices.
advocates favor mixed-use zoning, traffic-
Four ideas are, or should be, central to calming devices, and design review.
smart growth: • Public participation. Although smart
• High-density urban development. If urban growth is less about process than
growth is to be accommodated, then the about outcomes, its principles include
most effective way to preserve “open encouraging “community and stakeholder
space, farmland, natural beauty, and collaboration” and making development
critical environmental areas” is to increase decisions “predictable, fair, and cost-
density. Policies that encourage or effective,” both of which are recognized
require density include minimum-density tenets of good planning practice.
requirements, transferable development
rights, urban growth boundaries, and The benefits of smart growth
focused public investment plans.3
According to its proponents, development
• Polycentricity. None of the principles
that adheres to smart growth principles
promulgated by the SGN call for a
produces a number of environmental, public
polycentric metropolis: one with a
health, social, and economic benefits.
hierarchy of higher-density centers
connected by higher-density corridors. If smart growth leads to dense and compact
However, polycentricity is efficient, settlements, then less farmland and environ-
inevitable, and probably necessary to mentally sensitive areas will be disturbed.
achieving the outcomes implied by several Compact growth also decreases impervious
of the other smart growth principles. For surfaces—which, in turn, decreases urban
example, although the principle of directing runoff and improves water quality. Compact
development toward existing communities growth; polycentric development patterns;
could help revitalize central cities, every and dense, mixed-use, and walkable nodes
metropolitan area has multiple centers that lead to less reliance on the automobile,
11255-03_CH03.indd 118 12/23/08 2:55:23 PM

Figure 3–3 Portland, Oregon’s 2040 plan, which includes centers of activity of varying size and purpose
connected by multiple forms of transportation, vividly illustrates plans for a polycentric city. Housing types vary
as one moves from the high-density downtown area to low-density neighborhoods served by small-scale retail.
The metropolitan area is bounded by Portland’s famous urban growth boundary.
Source: Portland Metro, Data Resource Center
fewer vehicle-miles traveled, lower automo- By containing urban growth and directing
bile emissions, and improved air quality. And development toward existing communities,
because compact development can reduce smart growth offers the potential for sav-
energy use and the emission of greenhouse ings on infrastructure investments—fewer
gases associated with transportation, heat- miles of roads and sewer pipes, and smaller
ing, and other functions, smart growth is service areas for schools, police, and fire
being promoted as a response to global services. Dense, diverse, and specialized
warming. Finally, if smart growth leads to employment nodes can help increase
more travel by bicycle or by foot, it can productivity through what economists
foster greater physical activity, which would refer to as concentration or agglomeration
have multiple health benefits. economies.
Mixed-income residential development
reduces disparities in educational quality and Can smart growth deliver?
school funding, and promotes social inter- Smart growth makes broad claims, but can
action across income classes. And if smart it deliver? The answer depends on two other
growth decreases the amount of time spent in questions: Will urban development patterns
cars, then it yields time to spend on alterna- become smart? And if they do, will smart
tive pursuits, including civic engagement and growth produce the benefits its proponents
other activities thought to build social capital. claim?
11255-03_CH03.indd 119 12/23/08 2:55:23 PM

Figure 3–4 Built on fourteen islands around one of Europe’s largest and best-preserved medieval city centers,
Stockholm, a relatively compact city, is located where Lake Mälaren opens up into the Baltic Sea. Densities in
the Swedish capital are uniformly high, with a distinct edge provided by the lake.
Source: Mikael Damkier
There are three reasons to expect that future demographic groups are most likely to prefer
development patterns will get smarter. First, high-density, mixed-use environments that
a growing coalition of interest groups, sup- are less dominated by the automobile. Third,
ported by an active and well-organized net- global warming, rising fuel costs, and escalat-
work of foundations, is raising awareness ing land values could all increase pressure for
of the potential benefits of smart growth more compact urban growth.
and succeeding in changing public and con-
sumer preferences. Since the late 1990s, for But the obstacles to smarter growth remain
example, many developers and their profes- formidable. Rising incomes and persistent
sional organizations have come to strongly preferences for large houses and lots, even
support urban residential development that among smaller households, create growing
is denser, clustered, transit-oriented, mixed- demands for exurban living. Deep-seated
use, walkable, and focused around clearly cultural norms that favor private property
defined centers. Second, demographic trends and local land use control make smart
favor smarter growth patterns. While the growth policies difficult to enact—especially
typical twentieth-century U.S. household had those policies, such as urban containment,
two parents and two children, a growing per- that require regional implementation. Stake-
centage of households now consist of elderly, holder collaboration and fair, predictable,
young, single, or childless adults. These and cost-effective decision making at the
Figure 3–5 Charleston,

South Carolina, exempli-
fies a high-quality urban
place. Its streetscape
is human scale and
pedestrian friendly,
with a variety of uses
and a comfortable
ambiance. The photo
illustrates what a
center or corridor in a
polycentric metropolitan
area might look like.
Source: City of Charleston
11255-03_CH03.indd 120 12/23/08 2:55:25 PM

local level will not be sufficient to reconfig- the lowest possible cost, many businesses
ure metropolitan areas. and households will find value in paying
more in order to gain other benefits. In
Technological change may not favor smarter
addition, location decisions often have
growth. Ironically, some technologies
spawned by environmental concerns facili- more to do with the attributes of the loca-
tate sprawl. Green buildings and technolo- tion (e.g., proximity of schools, degree of
gies that recycle water and conserve energy, safety) than with the attributes of the hous-
for example, decrease the environmental ing (type, square footage, lot size) itself.
impacts of development but also decrease But as society pays more attention to the exter-
the need for connection to centralized water nal costs of certain development patterns,4
and wastewater distribution systems. And it seems likely that public policy and market
alternative fuels and improvements in fuel conditions will shift development toward smart
economy may continue to keep the cost of growth patterns. Although many households
auto travel relatively low in comparison to may still prefer to live in a single-family home
its benefits—and in comparison to the cost
on a large lot and commute by car to work,
or inconvenience of other options.
rising prices may make that choice harder, and
Since many of the environmental, social, and the market may start to provide alternative
public health benefits of smart growth are residential choices that provide a better value.
contingent on alternative residential choices, That, at least, is the hope and belief of smart
the realization of such benefits remains growth advocates, and it is not unrealistic.
highly uncertain. As long as fossil fuels Clustered and denser housing seems more
remain the dominant source of energy in the likely than low-density, single-family, homoge-
transportation sector—and even if fuel prices neous subdivisions to ameliorate the multiple
continue to rise—development patterns will be and related problems of housing affordability,
slow to change, and adjustments will occur in transportation, and climate change.
small increments. Given the advantages that
the automobile retains over other modes of Even assuming that the market and policy fac-
transportation, a majority of households are tors change to support different development
likely to buy fuel-efficient cars, telecommute, patterns, there are many patterns that could
and carpool before they move to denser evolve, some of which might not conform to a
urban environments in or near central cities. narrow definition of smart growth. Although
concentrated development offers genuine
potential for agglomeration economies and
As long as fossil fuels remain the net benefits, such benefits might be largely
dominant source of energy in the realized in very small nodes of activity and
transportation sector—and even if fuel at significant distances from the urban core.
prices continue to rise—development Polycentricity is a market-driven phenomenon
patterns will be slow to change, that stems from the desire of businesses and
and adjustments will occur in small consumers to escape the problems of dense
increments. central cities without sacrificing the agglom-
erative economies of urban clustering. This
desire, along with the edge cities that it cre-
Empirical evaluations of the results of smart ates, is not likely to dissipate, and it could lead
growth, like those of sprawl, are not defini- to further decentralization. Is density near the
tive: respected researchers disagree on the urban fringe smart growth?
net effects of different development pat-
terns. The causal connections are multiple In addition, the costs savings attributed to
and complex, and play out over a long time; concentrated development are potentially
moreover, measurement is difficult and small, and are predicated on the existence
imprecise. To be of greatest value, evalua- of excess infrastructure capacity in exist-
tions of the effects of development patterns ing urban areas. In many places, no such
should not focus exclusively (as some have) excess capacity exists; in other places, tap-
on how cheap the pattern is per person, ping potential capacity will require massive
dwelling unit, or acre (i.e., on minimizing expenditures to retrofit existing structures
the direct cost of development): even when and compensate for poor maintenance. Infill
given the opportunity to purchase space at and redevelopment in urban centers may in
11255-03_CH03.indd 121 12/23/08 2:55:27 PM

fact be more costly than new development ings and his later surveys in many major
at the urban fringe. And if the main cost cities, and the work of his contemporary
savings of smart growth are a result of tak- in the United States, William H. Whyte, as
ing better advantage of existing infrastruc- described in Whyte’s book, City, record how
ture capacity, then savings will diminish as people actually use public places, creating
that capacity gets used up. an objective basis for predicting whether
the design of a street or public place is likely
As the population ages, households become
to encourage people to go there.1 Most of the
smaller, and immigration fuels diversity, the
public places that Gehl or Whyte found to be
demand for smart growth is likely to gain
successful are in historic cities and towns, or
strength. Smarter development patterns,
are urban and suburban centers established
in which urban areas become increasingly
before widespread auto use.
dense, polycentric, and richly designed,
could well lead to improvements in environ- Today the ingredients of an entire city
mental quality, public health, social well- center can often be found around the
being, and economic efficiency. But smarter perimeter of a freeway interchange:
growth at the metropolitan level will be dif- perhaps a hotel in one quadrant, an office
ficult to achieve as long as land use remains park in another, a shopping mall in a third,
under local control. While the potential and townhouses or garden apartments in a
benefits of smart growth are significant— fourth. Each of the projects makes eco-
especially if captured nationwide—they may nomic sense in its own terms, but there are
remain quite difficult to achieve. no connections among them, and no value
created for the public—that is, none of the
Notes synergy of a traditional city center, where
1 Early uses of the term smart growth have been you can walk from an office building to
attributed to 1000 Friends of Massachusetts and to lunch in a hotel, walk from home to work,
the administration of Gov. Roy Romer of Colorado. or go shopping as part of a hotel visit.
2 Smart Growth Online, “About Smart Growth,”
smartgrowth.org/about/default.asp (accessed
April 29, 2008).
3 Such plans are known in Maryland as “priority fund- Real civic life is possible only in an
ing areas.”
4 Such costs include congestion (travel delay, noise, environment where people can walk from
accidents) and climate change (a function, in part, of one destination to another.
carbon emissions, which are affected by development
patterns through the type and amount of built space
that needs heating and cooling, and the emissions
from the number and types of vehicle-trips that link Separating development into independent
those spaces).
projects within strip commercial districts
that extend for miles along arterial streets
is an inefficient form of development at a
FOCUS ON
time when resources are getting scarcer. An
office park provides three or four car spaces
Place making per thousand square feet of gross leasable
area, which are used mainly during office
Jonathan Barnett hours on weekdays. Next door, a motel may
provide one and one-half parking spaces per
Danish architect Jan Gehl says that “Life room; which generally fill up after six o’clock
takes place on foot,” by which he means and empty out early in the morning. Down
that real civic life is possible only in an envi- the road may be a church with parking for
ronment where people can walk from one a thousand cars used mostly on Sundays
destination to another. When people walk, and on a few evenings a week. An even
they can stop and visit some place along more extreme example might be a football
the way, meet a friend, have a conversation stadium, with thousands of parking spaces
with a stranger—all traditional features of used only a few days a year. Along the com-
life in cities but made more difficult by much mercial strip, each business provides its own
current urban development. Gehl’s studies, parking—often accompanied by warnings
as described in his book Life between Build- that parkers visiting other businesses will
11255-03_CH03.indd 122 12/23/08 2:55:27 PM

have their vehicles towed. The failure to hoods, grew up as compact and walkable
share parking imposes major costs on each places, similar to larger city centers. But
business; it also physically separates uses so as more and more people began to live in
that individual buildings cannot be served places where driving was the only option,
efficiently by public transportation. And, of grocery stores started moving to locations
course, all the separate parking lots make it where it was easier to provide parking, and
unattractive or impossible to walk from one downtown department stores followed their
destination to another. customers and opened branches along
highways. These anchor stores brought
New development at the urban fringe fre-
other retailers along with them, beginning
quently takes the form of master-planned
the self-reinforcing cycle that has produced
communities where 2,000 houses might
today’s strip centers and retail malls.
be divided into twelve tracts of different
housing types, each with its own price point
and reached by a separate street system. It
Creating a suburban commercial zoning
is almost impossible to walk from one group
category that permits the mix of shops,
of houses to another, or to a school or to
residences, hotels, and offices found in
shops, and the community is segregated by
traditional downtowns is an essential first
relatively small gradations of income that do
step toward correcting the course of new
not correspond to real-life social interaction.
development.
For example, it is usually not possible for an
older couple to live in an apartment or town-
house down the street from their children Single-use zoning was also a contributing
and grandchildren, who need a bigger house factor. In a compact downtown, zoning for
with a yard. Today, apartments and houses retail uses on one street and for residential
with yards are considered two entirely sepa- uses on the next is workable; but when the
rate forms of development. same categories are used to map properties
These common development practices of tens or hundreds of acres, every activity
waste public money by duplicating facili- becomes disconnected from every other.
ties and urbanizing more land than would Instead of forming new centers, the combi-
be needed if complementary kinds of nation of single-use zoning and extensive
development were integrated. Trip genera- parking lots creates isolated, discontinuous
tion from isolated development projects development. Driving from the parking lot
is a significant contributor to the traffic of one store to a parking space for the next
congestion that characterizes so many store on your list may have come to seem
recently developed areas. Moreover, some normal, but it is an unintended consequence
observers have linked the decline in walk- of other decisions, and the inefficiency
ability in cities and suburbs to obesity and and waste that such trips represent add
other health problems associated with a up to the sprawl that is now recognized as
lack of exercise. unsustainable.
Two basic urban design concepts that can Creating a suburban commercial zoning
overcome these problems are compact, category that permits the mix of shops,
walkable, mixed-use centers and walkable residences, hotels, and offices found in
residential neighborhoods. While these two traditional downtowns is an essential
concepts are based on separate types of first step toward correcting the course of
real-estate investment, each functions bet- new development. Professional planning
ter if it is closely related to the other. opinion is now strongly in favor of such an
approach, but many communities have yet
Compact, walkable, mixed-use centers to follow it.
Parking is fundamental to the develop- Once appropriate zoning is available, the
ment of suburban shopping centers. Older design of compact, mixed-use centers still
suburban downtowns, which were often built has to come to terms with parking needs.
around train or transit service and within Shared parking can reduce the overall
walking distance of residential neighbor- number of spaces, and overflow lots for
11255-03_CH03.indd 123 12/23/08 2:55:27 PM

peak periods can ensure that there are Figure 3–6 The Village at Shirlington, a shopping
fewer paved areas going unused most of the center in Arlington, Virginia, is planned around a real
time. Shared Parking, which was published street and sidewalk system. The initial renovation was
by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) in 1989, by RTKL Architects, with additions designed by Torti
went almost unnoticed and was out of print Gallas and Partners.
for a long time; however, a surge of inter-
est in mixed-use development encouraged
ULI to revise and reissue it in 2005.2 This
book provides extensive statistical support
for developers and communities seeking
to modify parking ratios in zoning codes or
lenders’ parking requirements. When park-
ing lots are scaled down (and even when
they are not), they can be landscaped, trees
can be placed between rows of cars, and
the entire lot can be made more pervious to
storm water. Such green parking designs will
improve the microclimate in parking lots and
make them look better from a distance. But
they are still parking lots: they should not be
the most important public open space in a
development.
The Village at Shirlington, in Arlington
County, Virginia, is a street lined with one-
story retail buildings originally constructed
in the 1940s as part of a group of apart-
ments. It was redesigned in the 1980s to be
mostly restaurants and discretionary shop-
ping, anchored by a multiplex theater. The
parking lots are there, but they are behind
the buildings. The front doors of the shops Source: The Village at Shirlington
face a real street (with cars going by, and
even a few parking spaces), not a pedestrian
mall or a parking lot. Going to a movie in that offers live performances, an additional
Shirlington feels like going to an old subur- block of restaurants and shops, and a new
ban downtown. You pick up your tickets at condominium with 400 apartments. As
the box office and walk down the street to buildings have taken over some of the park-
choose a restaurant or browse in a book- ing lots, a garage has been added. Arlington
store until it is time for the show to start. County, where Shirlington is located, is well
Shirlington is an early example of what the known for fostering mixed-use development,
development industry now calls a lifestyle particularly related to transit. However,
center. These combinations of retail and Shirlington is not near a Washington Metro
entertainment uses can be found in most station. While it is well served by buses, it
metropolitan areas. They are generally still depends primarily on automobiles. It is
planned around a shopping street that looks encouraging that Shirlington has prospered
like a recognizable place, with sidewalks in an auto-dependent location, as it should
and well-designed lighting and landscaping, be possible to replicate its success in places
although the center itself is probably an that are not on transit lines.
island surrounded by parking.
Mizner Park, in Boca Raton, Florida, another
Lifestyle centers are attractive to plan- successful example of a walkable, mixed-
ners and urban designers because they use center, was built in 1991 on the site of a
can become the nucleus of a mixed-use, failed conventional shopping mall. Its central
walkable district, comparable to traditional public space is a wide, landscaped street
downtowns. Shirlington now has a public with shops and entertainment, but there
library branch, a supermarket, a theater are offices above the stores on one side and
11255-03_CH03.indd 124 12/23/08 2:55:28 PM

Figure 3–7 Mizner

Park in Boca Raton,
Florida, designed by
architects Cooper, Carry,
is a complete mixed-use
center planned around a
central boulevard.
Source: Streetworks/
Richard Heapes
apartments on the other—a mix of uses that has been a significant factor in the suc-
was built in from the beginning. Santana cess of each of these developments. These
Row in San José, California; Reston Town examples show that such development is
Center in Reston, Virginia; and City Place in possible, although it is still very much the
West Palm Beach, Florida, are other exam- exception.
ples of walkable, mixed-use centers with
street-level retail, each designed around Walkable residential neighborhoods
a sequence of public spaces that create a
Traditional neighborhood development
sense of place. An attractive gathering place
(TND) has become a real-estate success
story. TND is an alternative to the tracts of
Figure 3–8 Reston Town Center, designed by RTKL
same-sized single-family houses that are the
Architects and landscape architects Sasaki Associ-
norm in the home-building industry. Inspired
ates, implements an original development plan from
by a small resort—Seaside, Florida—and
the 1960s and is gradually becoming a real urban
by other planned communities created by
place.
Seaside’s designers, Andrès Duany and
Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Disney adopted
traditional neighborhood designs for the
development of Celebration, a planned com-
munity near Orlando, Florida. There are now
several hundred TNDs around the country,
although they are only a small fraction of
what the home-building industry produces
every year.
Although TNDs are often characterized by

houses featuring columned front porches
and vinyl picket fences, these surface
characteristics are their least important
element. Clarence Perry defined a theory
of neighborhood design in the first regional
plan for New York City, published in 1929.
He postulated the neighborhood as an area
within a walking distance of five minutes
from a central point, which works out to
Source: Jonathan Barnett about 160 acres. Perry’s theory called for
11255-03_CH03.indd 125 12/23/08 2:55:29 PM

a mix of different residential types, a park, neighborhood concept. There should also be
civic buildings, and an elementary school. parks, civic buildings, and walkable connec-
At one corner of each neighborhood there tions to the mixed-use center at the edge
should be part of a walkable mixed-use of the neighborhood. Being able to live and
center with apartments and shops shared work in the same building is another feature
among the four neighborhoods that come of traditional towns and cities that has been
together at that location. part of the traditional neighborhood revival,
usually in the form of row houses with
Perry codified the practice of garden
ground-floor space that can be used as
suburb development in the years between
a professional office or a shop for a craft
World Wars I and II; when people talk about
business, and sometimes in the form of loft
a TND, they are talking about something
apartments in a neighborhood center.
very close to Perry’s diagram. The most
important feature of these neighborhoods Requirements that enhance walkability—such
is their walkability. This means that streets as interconnected streets, set-back garages,
should have sidewalks and should intercon- and limited block perimeters—can be added
nect frequently, and that block perimeters to subdivision ordinances, and residential
should be limited to less than half a mile. zoning can be amended to permit different-
The sidewalks should be pleasant environ- sized lots and buildings within the same
ments, including continuous rows of street district. Currently there is a movement to
trees. Because it is difficult to plant continu- amend codes to create traditional neighbor-
ous rows of trees if frontages are constantly hood districts, in which development would
interrupted by wide driveways, TNDs often be exempt from many of the usual sub-
require that garages be set back so that division and zoning district requirements.
driveways can be narrowed to one lane However, such codes generally apply only to
when they get to the street. Garages can large properties owned by a single individual
also face alleys or lanes, another traditional or entity, and they make an exception out of
Figure 3–9 Clarence

Perry’s famous diagram
of a walkable neighbor-
hood is from the 1929
Plan for New York and
Its Environs.

and New Jersey
11255-03_CH03.indd 126 12/23/08 2:55:31 PM

principles that ought to be incorporated into the historical evolution of the built environ-
all new development. ment, reveres the beauty of an old building or
park, or advocates heritage-tourism market-
Putting walkable neighborhoods ing, the inspiration is the same: the essential
and centers together human link between historical narratives
In the developing portions of many U.S. and physical environments. For planners, the
cities, arterial streets are spaced a mile question is not whether we respond to this
apart, and zoning usually permits com- aspect of place, but how. How are history,
mercial establishments on these arterial collective memory, and historic places used
streets, particularly where they intersect. in planning? Historic preservation planning
It would not be a major step to make the provides ideas and tools for grappling with
intersections of major streets the location this key dimension of urbanism.
for walkable, mixed-use centers that would Historic preservation is conceived primarily
not front the arterials but would face an as a means of conveying cultural benefits:
internal street, in the configuration popular- “archiving” history in buildings, landscapes,
ized by lifestyle centers. Regulations should and urban patterns, and displaying great
ensure that the internal streets in the center works of architecture for aesthetic pleasure.1
connect to the surrounding residential Since the 1960s, however, historic preserva-
neighborhoods, which should be designed tion has increasingly been deployed for eco-
on walkable principles. Four of Clarence nomic and redevelopment purposes as well.
Perry’s walkable neighborhoods fit within At the same time, preservation strategies
each square mile defined by arterial streets. have been applied more often to large areas,
Making such relatively minor changes to not just to single sites. As a result, historic
development regulations would help extend preservation planning—which merges the
the walkability of traditional cities and sub-
concerns of historic preservation with those
urbs into new centers and neighborhoods at
of urban planning—has made a notable
the edges of cities, where walkable places
impact on American towns and cities, most
are hard to find today. City designs centered
of which now boast at least a few places
around walkable places should have better
where preservation has played a key role in
real-estate economics because they can
design, planning, and policy.
share streets, parking, and drainage, and
they will also save public funds by urbaniz-
ing less land.
From both a practical and a strategic
perspective, the critical issue of
Notes
preservation planning is how to balance
1 Jan Gehl, Life between Buildings (Copenhagen: Dan-
ish Architectural Press, 1971; Engl. translation, 2003); the cultural values embodied in historic
William H. Whyte, City: Rediscovering the Center (New preservation against the economic gains,
York: Doubleday, 1988). political dynamics, and urbanistic results
2 Mary S. Smith et al., Shared Parking, 2nd ed. (Wash-
ington, D.C.: Urban Land Institute, 2005). typically sought by planning efforts.
FOCUS ON Historic preservation planning joined the

mainstream of planning practice in the
Reclaiming the second half of the twentieth century. The

strategies used in preservation planning
are varied, and include the listing of historic
history of places structures and districts, the designation of
conservation districts or heritage areas, and
Randall Mason the use of historic rehabilitation tax credits,
in addition to design guidelines, adaptive
The connection between history and place is reuse, and Main Street programs. These
essential to how we experience cities, and it approaches have proven effective in stimu-
should be one of the fundamental resources lating redevelopment, anchoring economic
used to plan them. Whether one conjures the development efforts, and marshaling public
genius loci as design inspiration, documents support for improvement—as well as for
11255-03_CH03.indd 127 12/23/08 2:55:32 PM

protecting the cultural value of places and ing details such as paint color). Local desig-
reclaiming their histories. nation, therefore, is a much more powerful
regulatory and planning tool than federal
Historic preservation is routinely used to
designation.3
temper development, strengthening cities
by creating culturally meaningful places. The United Nations Educational, Scientific,
But preservation planning is not always a and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) main-
win-win situation. From both a practical and tains a World Heritage List of sites whose
a strategic perspective, the critical issue of significance transcends national borders.
preservation planning is how to balance the World Heritage listing has no regulatory
cultural values embodied in historic preser- effect and is not much of an issue in the
vation against the economic gains, political United States, which is home to only 20 of
the 851 listings worldwide.4 However, World
dynamics, and urbanistic results (i.e., those
Heritage designation increases tourism to
on an urban scale as opposed to a build-
sites (especially in less developed countries),
ing scale, which is more typical in historic
bringing both the benefits and stresses of
preservation) typically sought by planning
greater use. Since World Heritage listing
efforts.
requires national governments to certify
the existence of a quality-management plan
Tools of preservation planning for each site, there are often some positive
The key tools of preservation planning are planning outcomes, and the best of these
listing, regulation, and incentives. plans embrace larger development and
regional planning goals.
Listing
Regulation
Documenting the significance of a building
or historic place is the most basic tool of Regulation based on cultural significance
preservation planning. Different government takes several forms:
agencies award special status to historic • Historic district commissions: Local
places in a number of different ways, and preservation ordinances often create
listing is often linked to regulatory restric- appointed commissions charged with
tions on changing, demolishing, or reusing making decisions about listing properties
the structure or place. and reviewing and approving alterations,
additions, and demolitions.
Created under the National Historic Pres-
• Special zoning districts: In many zoning
ervation Act of 1966, the National Register
codes, special districts or overlays are
of Historic Places is the main federal list of
created to protect historic qualities or
historically significant buildings, districts, and
patterns; New York City’s Times Square
places (publicly or privately owned). Despite
theater district is an example.
the high status bestowed by a National
Register listing, the designation does little to • Conservation districts: Conservation
districts, which are essentially zoning
prevent demolition or alteration of properties
overlays, maintain the quality of historic
unless federal funds or actions are involved.
areas by controlling new development
Important incentives attach to a National
(through design guidelines) rather
Register listing, however, including historic
than by regulating existing historic
rehabilitation tax credits (discussed later in
resources. Conservation districts are
this article). National Historic Landmarks, an
sometimes regarded as a complement
even more prestigious level of federal listing,
to the regulation of existing structures
also confers status but little in the way of in historic districts and, sometimes, as
regulations or incentives.2 a less restrictive alternative to historic
Local jurisdictions are empowered by their districts. They have become more
states to create local historic registers. The common since the late 1990s.5
criteria used to add properties to these lists • Environmental review: National Register
often follow those of the National Register, listing invokes environmental review of
which are quite broad. But the regulatory actions that use federal funds and have
effects of listing are controlled locally and a potential impact on historic resources.
can be quite strict (in some cases determin- The “106 process” (named for Section
11255-03_CH03.indd 128 12/23/08 2:55:32 PM

106 of the National Historic Preservation successful and can be syndicated (sold
Act) is quite complex.6 Some states and to another party instead of used directly
localities have their own exhaustive by the party qualifying for them) to
environmental review processes for raise capital for larger projects; they can
actions that affect listed historic also be combined with other financial
properties; some of these processes instruments (such as affordable-housing
parallel the federal process and are tax credits). The use of tax credits is
know as “state 106 reviews.” In addition, expanding: twenty-nine states now
some places include historic resources have state-level rehabilitation tax
in comprehensive land use review and credits, which can be used in tandem
impact assessment processes. with the federal credits, and the federal
New Markets Tax Credit program has
Financial incentives provided yet another financing option for
While there are some private markets for rehabilitation projects.8
historic preservation (e.g., historic houses • Direct subsidies: Governments invest
used as private residences, for-profit tourist directly in some preservation projects—
destinations), one of the primary objectives often those designed to catalyze other
of preservation planning is to stimulate development—by using Community
the market to conserve and reuse historic Development Block Grant funds or
structures. Financial incentives are the most making direct capital budget allocations.
powerful preservation planning tool used in • Transfers of development rights:
the United States. Some jurisdictions use transfers of
• Historic rehabilitation tax credits: First development rights (TDRs) to preserve
instituted at the federal level in 1976, historic properties and the value of
historic rehabilitation tax credits can developing them. Under TDR programs,
amount to as much as 20 percent of the the unused development rights that
cost of the project, providing that certain are associated with preserved sites can
conditions are met—a substantial subsidy be applied elsewhere. Although often
that has changed the development difficult to administer, these programs
calculus for many projects.7 Use of have been quite effective. (For more
the rehab credits is linked to other information on TDRs, see “Transferable
preservation policies: a property must Development Rights in San Francisco” in
be eligible for National Register listing, Chapter 6.)
and the rehabilitation work must meet • Preservation easements: Preservation
high standards set by the National Park easements allow owners to realize the
Service. The credits have been extremely economic value of historic properties
Figure 3–10 One of the

most widespread uses of
historic preservation has
been the redevelopment
of industrial/warehouse/
office building districts to
residential uses. Projects
in these districts often
draw on preservation
planning tools such as
local and national listing
and rehabilitation tax
credits. The Modern
Confectionery Lofts
project in Portland,
Oregon, is typical.
Source: Randall Mason
11255-03_CH03.indd 129 12/23/08 2:55:32 PM

while satisfying preservation objectives. preservation was promoted and practiced as

Under such arrangements, the owner an urban planning enterprise. As noted, the
sells off the right to redevelop or alter act created the National Register of Historic
a property; compensating the seller Places; called for state historic preservation
removes the incentive for redevelopment. offices; and generally structured comple-
mentary federal, state, and local govern-
The evolution of preservation planning ment roles in preservation. Revisions to the
act have yielded a robust infrastructure of
Historic preservation in the form of “house
preservation organizations and agencies,
museums” has been thriving since the 1890s.
and have helped to stimulate new cadres of
Historic districts, conceived as much to man-
professionals and nonprofit organizations
age urban change as to protect historical
(including a strengthened National Trust for
memory, were first used in Charleston and
Historic Preservation, statewide nonprofits,
New Orleans in the 1930s. Originally a form of
and local groups).
zoning, historic districts have evolved fairly
autonomously in most cities and are rarely The Main Street program, initiated by the
integrated with planning processes. However, National Trust in the mid-1970s, was a water-
in places where the historic built environ- shed in both the preservation and planning
ment has been preserved and is recognized fields. The Main Street approach preserves
as a major economic asset—for example, the vitality of small-town commercial districts
Annapolis, Maryland—historic preservation not simply as architectural museums but
plays a more prominent role in planning. as thriving places of business and social
By the late 1950s, local historic districts intercourse. It has been employed in more
were becoming more widespread, and a few than 2,000 communities, from small towns to
urban renewal projects began to incorporate big-city neighborhoods. By packaging preser-
preservation strategies. For example, for vation initiatives with business development,
College Hill in Providence, Rhode Island, and infrastructure improvement, and marketing
Society Hill in Philadelphia, historic property programs, the Main Street program preserves
surveys identified areas for preservation “places”—not just buildings—and is widely
and for clearance; both renewal schemes embraced as a community planning and
included preservation strategies along economic development strategy.
with the construction of new, modernist
Like the Main Street program, heritage areas
structures.
and corridors (also known as greenline parks)
The National Historic Preservation Act bring a holistic approach to the simultane-
helped to create a national system in which ous pursuit of preservation and develop-
Figure 3–11 Charleston, South Carolina, has long

benefited from historic district regulation, which
helps to protect fine architectural specimens as well
as typical streetscapes. The local culture of preserva-
tion also contributes greatly to heritage tourism and
affordable housing development.
11255-03_CH03.indd 130 12/23/08 2:55:33 PM

ment. In heritage areas, which are defined are frequently at the center of heritage-area
by natural and cultural resources, existing and other tourism-oriented schemes. Seek-
ownership patterns remain in place (i.e., a ing catalysts for broader redevelopment,
government agency does not take on single planners often create a historic or cultural
ownership as in a traditional park), Heritage attraction (e.g., the Crayola Factory in Easton,
areas create zones, ranging in scale from a Pennsylvania, or the Massachusetts Museum
city to a whole region, in which coordinated of Contemporary Art in North Adams), or
policies and catalytic projects are used to build “gateway” development schemes
benefit multiple local jurisdictions. (i.e., commercially oriented development
sited just outside traditional national park
boundaries to take advantage of park visita-
The Main Street program preserves tion) around government-owned historic
“places”—not just buildings—and is widely sites (such as the National Park Service’s
embraced as a community planning and 300-plus properties).
economic development strategy.
Adaptive reuse projects are perhaps the
most common type of preservation plan-
ning effort. Valuable in and of themselves
Heritage areas were first developed in the
because they conserve the architectural
1970s, in response to economic restructur-
value of old buildings, reuse projects also
ing that had left entire regions depressed serve as urban catalysts. Two early exam-
by deindustrialization. There were several ples were South Street Seaport in Manhat-
pioneering federal initiatives, as well as tan and Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco,
efforts in a number of states, including both undertaken in the 1970s. More recently,
Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. Philadelphia’s Navy Yard; the McMenamins
Today, there are thirty-seven national heri- chain of businesses in Portland, Oregon; and
tage areas (e.g., the Blackstone River Valley the countless schools that have been turned
National Heritage Corridor in Massachusetts into apartment buildings attest to the
and Rhode Island, and the Delaware and ongoing relevance of reuse projects as a
Lehigh National Heritage Corridor in eastern redevelopment strategy.
Pennsylvania) and more than a hundred
state-level heritage areas. At the urban scale, adaptive reuse has been
applied to entire districts; in what is some-
Heritage-area plans often focus on tourism times known as the “SoHo phenomenon,”
development, new recreational facilities for example, industrial loft buildings are
(trails, waterfronts, parks), and the redevelop- converted into high-end residential and
ment of historic places (manufacturing dis- retail uses. Such conversions were among
tricts and the like). Whether viewed as cultural the great success stories of urbanism in
assets or loss leaders, preservation projects the 1980s and 1990s, and the expertise of
Figure 3–12 Originally

built in 1871, the Cambridge
City Hall Annex in
Massachusetts was closed
in 2000 because of mold.
Renovated as the city’s
first green municipal
building and one of the
oldest LEED-certified
buildings in the country, it
remains an important part
of the urban fabric of the
city and demonstrates that
historic preservation and
energy efficiency can go
hand in hand.
Source: Blind Dog Photo/Dan Gair
11255-03_CH03.indd 131 12/23/08 2:55:36 PM

preservationists in planning these projects, regulation regime to protect structures

listing structures, and packaging tax against redevelopment. Today’s approaches
credits was essential. Examples range from tend to be more strategic, selectively using
Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, to the St. Louis preservation to leverage development and
Lofts District, Denver’s LoDo, and Portland, generate community benefits (economic and
Oregon’s Pearl District. Historic architecture otherwise), instead of just regulating proper-
plays at least a scenic role in this trend, ties and preventing development. The evolu-
although rarely do these revitalization tion of preservation planning methodology
efforts offer any real understanding of or has paralleled the evolution of comprehen-
engagement with the place’s history. In fact, sive planning methodology: no longer based
as popular and widespread as these districts on massive data collection, preservation
have become, many can be criticized for planning is more driven by strategic con-
destroying the history of places rather than cerns, and focuses on building partnerships
protecting or cultivating it, and for promot- and tempering economic opportunities with
ing gentrification and displacement. preserving cultural benefits. Preservation
planning today is attuned to multiple stake-
holders; political frameworks; and the matrix
No longer based on massive data of economic, political, and social agendas at
collection, preservation planning work in all communities.
is more driven by strategic concerns,
and focuses on building partnerships The influence of
and tempering economic opportunities preservation planning
with preserving cultural benefits.
Since places with distinctive historic
character tend to attract investment, draw
visitors, and engender attachment by
Preservation planning tools are most often
residents, preservation strategies often
applied to discrete projects or districts;
strengthen both real estate markets and
alternatively, preservation is included as
the broader local economy. Instead of hop-
one “chapter” in a comprehensive plan
ing that this local distinctiveness happens
(along with transportation, environmental
organically, historic preservation plan-
resources, etc.). Confining preservation
ning provides tools to cultivate it. Historic
within the comprehensive plan, however,
preservation ideas, practices, and tools
tends to marginalize it. Ideally, historic
have become integrated into mainstream
preservation goals should be considered
planning practice in several ways.
seriously at the outset of any comprehen-
sive or area planning process. New York In fact, the door between preservation and
City’s PlaNYC 2030 sustainability effort planning swings both ways. On the one
missed a great opportunity to integrate hand, planners use preservation tools to
preservation into the city’s long-term achieve nonpreservation ends: for example,
vision; the plan fails to include preserva- historic district designations can pre-
tion, only tacitly endorsing it.9 Charleston, vent unwanted change in neighborhoods,
South Carolina, has made a notable effort and rehabilitation tax credits can help to
to integrate preservation into all the city’s finance a catalytic redevelopment project.
activities—thanks largely to the political will At the same time, preservation goals gain
of Mayor Joseph Riley. The Fulton Street traction by overlapping with planning and
Mall project in downtown Brooklyn, New economic development goals: rehabilitation
York, attempts to integrate broad preserva- tax credits are a major boon to adaptive
tion goals with downtown redevelopment reuse, and tourism plans and projects often
planning by retaining small and local retail- center around historic sites. In the best
ers as well as the historic character of the situations, a balance is struck between the
shopping street as a social space. cultural benefits of historic preservation
and the economic and urbanistic benefits
Relatively few cities and towns make explicit
of planning.
“historic preservation plans.” A generation
ago, preservation efforts largely focused on As preservation planning continues to
surveying and documenting existing historic evolve, two big challenges loom. First is the
resources, and on suggesting a listing and full acceptance of historic preservation as
11255-03_CH03.indd 132 12/23/08 2:55:37 PM

Figure 3–13 Historic

preservation funding for
this santuario, or chapel,
in the village of Chimayó,
north of Santa Fe, New
Mexico, came from a
county bond measure to
protect open space and
historic and cultural
sites.
part of the standard planning toolbox. The and conservation are bedrock principles—will
preservation field has come a long way from likely find more and more adherents.10
being considered a hobby for rich folks; it is
now being recognized as a legitimate com- Notes
munity planning and economic development 1 The term historic preservation encompasses all
strategy. Additional progress will be hard aspects of the field, including architectural conserva-
tion, building restoration, and the interpretation of
fought. Advocating for preservation means historic sites, as well as the historic preservation plan-
arguing for both its cultural and its eco- ning activities that form the core topics of this article.
nomic benefits, a subtle kind of argument 2 According to the National Park Service, there are
approximately 80,000 National Register listings,
difficult to trumpet in urban policy debates. comprising about a million buildings; there are
approximately 2,500 National Historic Landmarks;
The second challenge will emerge as more see nps.gov/history/nr/about.htm (accessed May 16,
and more of the recent built environment 2008).
3 Studies have demonstrated a positive correlation
becomes “old” and therefore a candidate for
between local historic district listing and increased
preservation. The mere volume of buildings property values. See Randall Mason, Economics of
and places old enough to warrant preserva- Historic Preservation: A Guide and Review of the
Literature (Washington, D.C.: Metropolitan Policy
tion consideration will expand greatly as Program, Brookings Institution, September 2005),
the postwar period passes the fifty-year-old brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20050926_preservation
threshold. For example, modernist designs .pdf (accessed May 16, 2008).
4 World Heritage Center, whc.unesco.org/ (accessed
and post–World War II developments—a very May 16, 2008).
large share of most cities’ building stock—are 5 Julia Miller, Protecting Older Neighborhoods through
gradually gaining acceptance as sufficiently Conservation District Programs (Washington, D.C.:
National Trust for Historic Preservation, 2004).
“historic” to warrant preservation. Some 6 See Thomas F. King, Federal Planning and Historic
pioneering cities have embraced modernist, Places: The Section 106 Process (Walnut Creek,
postwar, and suburban structures as build- Calif.: AltaMira Press, 2000), and the Web site of the
federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation,
ing blocks in broad preservation planning achp.gov (accessed May 16, 2008).
efforts—for example, Arlington, Virginia’s 7 Since 1976, 33,900 projects have used the rehab tax
credits, resulting in the leverage of $40 billion in
postwar housing estates, Phoenix’s forty-five
investment. The National Park Service reports that in
historic districts, and modernist buildings in fiscal year 2006 alone, $817 million in credits lever-
Dallas. aged $4.08 billion of private investment: see National
Park Service, Technical Preservation Services, Federal
But the opportunities in expanding historic Tax Incentives for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings:
Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2006 (Washington,
preservation planning are greater than D.C.: National Park Service, U.S. Department of the
the obstacles. Particularly as sustainable Interior, February 2007), 3, gov/history/hps/tps/tax/
development claims a dominant position download/2006report.pdf (accessed May 16, 2008).
8 The Web sites of the National Trust for Historic Pres-
in planning debates, historic preservation’s ervation (preservationnation.org/) and National Park
inherently pro-sustainability ethos—reuse Service (nps.gov) are the best sources of information.
11255-03_CH03.indd 133 12/23/08 2:55:37 PM

9 A description of the plan can be found at nyc.gov/ humans was and continues to be recognized
html/planyc2030/html/home/home.shtml (accessed
owes its primary impetus to efforts to ensure
May 15, 2008).
10 It has become a commonplace saying in the sustain- the safekeeping of the natural environment.
ability literature that “the greenest building is the
building that already exists.” The same can be said
for historic districts and cities.
New challenges
Human health is now coming back as a cen-
tral issue in planning.1 Public health officials
FOCUS ON point to two alarming trends. First, physical
inactivity remains widespread, despite gov-
Healthy cities ernmental and nonprofit efforts to promote

behavioral change—and despite the contin-
ued rise of the fitness industry. In the United
Anne Vernez Moudon States, more than 50 percent of adults are
not sufficiently physically active, and 25 per-
Urban land use planners and local govern- cent are not active at all.2 Moreover, recent
ment managers have long known that the data show a rapid rise in the proportion of
built and natural environments affect our overweight or obese people (now estimated
physical and mental health. Concerns about at more than 60 percent of the U.S. popula-
crowding and the lack of light and natural tion).3 Physical inactivity and overweight
ventilation in cities were at the root of the or obesity are directly associated with epi-
late-nineteenth-century reforms that led demic levels of chronic diseases (including
to the adoption of building codes and the diabetes and arthritis), stroke, mental illness,
amelioration of conditions in urban tene- and some forms of cancer.4 The costs of
ments. Soon afterwards, an alliance between addressing these diseases are astronomical—
planners and health practitioners led to the estimated at 40 percent of total health care
creation of zoning codes to reduce people’s costs—and cannot be overlooked, especially
exposure, not only to nuisances (noise, in light of increasing overall health care costs,
smells, and polluting compounds) but also to which now represent one-fifth of personal
violence and uncivil behaviors, all of which income.5
were believed to foster or cause disease.
Nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century In part because efforts to encourage indi-
reformers and planners also helped to viduals to increase their activity levels and
ensure that congested cities provided sig- lose weight have been ineffective, the public
nificant amounts of open space to support health field has also begun to endorse envi-
outdoor recreation. ronmental approaches. Public health pro-
fessionals conceptualize the environment
By the mid-twentieth century, as improving in broad social, ecological, and physical
living conditions and major medical break- terms: in their view, poverty, displacement,
throughs led to pronounced increases in life urbanization, limited access to services, and
expectancy, other concerns replaced human domestic and occupational hazards (includ-
health in land use planning. The public ing those related to transportation) are all
health agenda also shifted away from an environmental pressures that contribute to
interest in the role of the urban environment chronic disease. While the immediate cause
to a focus on individual behavior. of physical inactivity is sedentary habits,
Meanwhile, the health of the environment such habits have become unavoidable in
itself became a topic of major concern in cities planned for private automobiles. But
planning, which began to address the pro- many environmental factors can be changed
found effects of human activity on water and or controlled to reduce the risk of chronic
air quality. Federal legislation that attempted disease; for example, cities can be reconfig-
to protect the natural environment, including ured to provide access to healthy food, and
flora and fauna—the National Environmental to promote walking and cycling.
Policy Act of 1969, the Clean Air Act of 1970,
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and the New approaches
Clean Water Act of 1977—greatly affected In 1986, to further its emerging agenda
urban planning practice. That the impact of of health promotion, as distinct from the
environmental quality and biodiversity on traditional disease prevention approach, the
11255-03_CH03.indd 134 12/23/08 2:55:39 PM

World Health Organization (WHO) launched (NACCHO) “to restore the bridge between
Healthy Cities in Europe, which originally land-use planning and public health prac-
included a network of thirty-five cities com- tice,”9 and sponsored a book, Integrating
mitted to promoting urban health. Parallel Planning and Public Health, which includes
U.S.-based healthy cities programs first case studies illustrating how specific tools
involved the National Civic League (NCL) and can build healthy communities.10 The Trans-
support from the Kellogg Foundation and the portation Research Board and the Institute
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). of Medicine have also jointly published a
National sponsorship gradually moved from special report: Does the Built Environment
the NCL to the Coalition for Healthy Cities Influence Physical Activity?11
and Communities, then became a part of
the Hospital Research and Education Trust Local initiatives
(HRET) of the American Hospital Associa-
Healthy cities initiatives are proliferat-
tion (AHA), and was finally consolidated into
ing at the local level in the United States
Community Health Partnerships at AHA.6 The
and around the world. Local elected and
RWJF eventually stepped in with two well- appointed officials are now making the
funded programs: Active Living by Design, betterment of human health the founda-
and Active Living Research. tion for a range of policies, social programs,
In a 2001 paper, the director of the HRET and infrastructure investments. Support
and others identified four “community for active lifestyles and healthy eating is
design movements” that aim to improve both direct and indirect, coming not only
quality of life and promote active living.7 from public health departments but also
Proponents of these four movements are from planning, transportation, and eco-
• Smart growth advocates (primarily nomic development departments, school
land use, transportation, and economic districts, and other governmental entities.
development professionals) For example, the management of air and
water quality is now in the realm of both
• Sustainable communities advocates
environmental protection and disease
(primarily environmental professionals)
prevention. Similarly, initiatives to increase
• Livable communities advocates active (i.e., nonvehicular) modes of travel
(architecture and urban planning and transit use are combined with efforts
professionals) to improve safety by reducing the number
• New urbanists (architects, urban of motor-vehicle crashes ending in fatality
designers, and economic development or severe injury. Also, violence prevention
practitioners). is now linked to street safety and to indi-
vidual health. Public health advocates are
Each group, in its own way, emphasizes the
paying increasing attention to local food
urgent need to address the direct effects of
systems to determine not only how avail-
the planned environment on human health.
able and affordable healthy foods are, but
Among the collaborations between public also whether people have easy access to
health and community design professionals such foods. School districts are beginning to
was the Active Community Environments restrict students’ access to high-fat, high-
initiative, which was spearheaded by the sugar foods and drinks, and to support walk-
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to-school programs. Local governments
(CDC) in partnership with the U.S. Environ- justify investments in trails, parks, sidewalks,
mental Protection Agency, the National Park and other transportation infrastructure on
Service, and the WHO Healthy Cities project. the basis of travel and recreation needs, and
Since 2001, the RWJF Active Living pro- as necessary elements of healthy lifestyles.
grams have rallied many institutional part-
Public health officials are now actively
ners, including ICMA, which has set up ICMA
pressing planners to devise approaches to
Active Living Ambassadors, a peer exchange
land use and transportation planning that
and technical assistance initiative.8
support physical activity, making walking and
In 2002, the American Planning Association biking more feasible. A bill that was unsuc-
(APA) partnered with the National Asso- cessfully introduced in the California legisla-
ciation of County and City Health Officials ture in 2007 (and has since been amended)
11255-03_CH03.indd 135 12/23/08 2:55:39 PM

Figure 3–14 A
“walking school bus”
provides children with an
opportunity for daily
exercise.
Source: Anne Vernez Moudon
would have authorized county health officers approaches to healthy cities. This inclusion
to assist municipalities and counties with pub- is based on strong evidence that healthy
lic health issues as they relate to local land use behaviors are correlated with social support
planning and transportation planning.12 and community empowerment.
Healthy cities guidelines Health impact assessments

At both the national and local levels, U.S. Health impact assessments (HIAs), which
legislative efforts parallel the WHO guide- draw on the practice of environmental
lines, which advocate that planning policy impact assessments, are a promising tool for
documents (briefs, plans, and guidelines) promoting healthy cities. HIAs evaluate the
and policy assessment processes recognize health impact of community design, trans-
the full breadth of relevant health objec- portation planning, and policies and activi-
tives, including ties outside the traditional concerns of the
• Opportunity for healthy lifestyles public health field. CDC has been promoting
(especially regular exercise) the use of HIAs by local health departments,
• Social cohesion and supportive social planning commissions, and other decision
networks makers. It supports pilot tests, evaluations
of existing HIA tools, the development of
• Access to diverse employment
databases on the health impacts of common
opportunities
projects and policies, and staff training to
• Access to high-quality facilities conduct HIAs. In addition, APA and NACCHO
(educational, cultural, leisure, retail, are conducting workshops to inform plan-
health and open space) ning professionals about the use of HIAs.
• Opportunity for local food production
and healthy food outlets Prognosis for the future
• Road safety and a sense of personal The healthy cities movement complements
security well-established urban planning and man-
• An attractive environment with acceptable agement approaches to accommodating
noise levels and good air quality growing urban populations. The movement
• Good water quality and sanitation distinguishes itself as “anthropocentric,”
in contrast to development-centric growth
• Reduction in emissions that threaten
management, natural-systems-centric envi-
climate stability.13
ronmental planning, and technology-centric
Notably, the WHO guidelines include transportation planning. Yet it also recog-
social capital and cohesion in structuring nizes the systemic dimensions of health
11255-03_CH03.indd 136 12/23/08 2:55:39 PM

and environment: healthy cities advocates 10 Marya Morris et al., Integrating Planning and Public
Health, PAS 539/540 (Chicago: APA Planning
understand that a reduction in the inci- Advisory Service, 2006).
dence of chronic diseases will depend on 11 Committee on Physical Activity, Health, Transpor-
controlling environmental pollutants, taming tation, and Land Use, Does the Built Environment
Influence Physical Activity? Examining the Evidence,
vehicular traffic, and creating denser and special report 282 (Washington, D.C.: Transportation
well-serviced neighborhoods. Research Board, Institute of Medicine of the National
Academies, January 2005), onlinepubs.trb.org/
A web of converging circumstances demands Onlinepubs/sr/sr282.pdf (accessed May 20, 2008).
that planners rethink the paradigms that 12 Assembly Bill No 437, amended in Senate July 17,
2007; renumbered AB 211, amended August 6, 2008.
guide the development of cities and metro- 13 Hugh Barton, Claire Mitcham, and Catherine Tsourou,
politan regions. Addressing demographic eds., Healthy Urban Planning in Practice: Experience
change is first and foremost: chronic diseases of European Cities (Copenhagen, Denmark: World
Health Organization, 2003), 56, euro.who.int/
most affect the poor and the aged, whose document/e82657.pdf (accessed May 20, 2008).
populations will continue to grow dispro-
portionately. Because of inactivity and
overweight, children and youth are now FOCUS ON
more susceptible to chronic diseases earlier
in their lives. Special attention needs to be
devoted to these populations. Reusing brownfields
Changes in lifestyle seem most promising in Nancey Green Leigh
reducing the incidence of chronic disease,
especially in vulnerable populations. Activity The history of industry and commerce in the
levels and food choices are the two primary United States has left a legacy of environ-
behavioral indicators that need to be altered mentally contaminated sites throughout
to improve individual health. And because urban, suburban, and rural America. The
active lifestyles depend largely on the envi- nation’s first response to this problem was
ronment, planners designing new communi- the passage of the Comprehensive Envi-
ties or retrofitting existing ones have a role to ronmental Response, Compensation, and
play. Actions that improve human health and Liability Act (CERCLA) in 1980. The act offi-
environmental quality have a powerful appeal. cially defined brownfields as “real property,
the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of
Notes which may be complicated by the pres-
1 David C. Sloane, “From Congestion to Sprawl: Planning ence or potential presence of a hazardous
and Health in Historical Context,” Journal of the Ameri- substance, pollutant, or contaminant.” The
can Planning Association 72 (Winter 2006): 10–18. initial intent of CERCLA was to promote the
2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
Physical Activity for Everyone, cdc.gov/nccdphp/
cleanup of contaminated land and to provide
dnpa/physical/everyone/index.htm (accessed opportunities for the U.S. Environmental
May 26, 2008). Protection Agency (EPA) to recover cleanup
3 National Center for Health Statistics, Prevalence of
Overweight and Obesity among Adults: United States,
costs from all potentially responsible parties
2003–2004, cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/ (PRPs), including past and present property
hestats/overweight/overwght_adult_03.htm owners as well as lending institutions. In
4 CDC, Economics of Obesity, cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/
both the public and private sectors, however,
obesity/economic_consequences.htm (accessed fear of being assigned liability as a PRP had
May 26, 2008). the unintended consequence of reducing
5 Ibid.
interest in brownfields redevelopment.
6 Ellen Shoshkes and Sy Adler, “Planning for Healthy
People/Healthy Places: Lessons from Mid-20th
Brownfield properties face at least five more
Century Global Discourse” (paper presented to the
Annual Conference of the Association of Collegiate barriers to redevelopment than “clean”
Schools of Planning, Fort Worth, Texas, November redevelopment properties do:1
2006; Planning Perspectives, forthcoming 2009).
7 Gretchen Williams Torres et al., “Active Living • It may be difficult to determine liability
through Community Design” (white paper, Robert or responsibility for cleaning up
Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton 2001), quoted
contamination.
in Shoshkes and Adler, “Planning for Healthy People.”
8 ICMA, Active Living Ambassadors, icma.org/ • Out of fear of being assigned liability
activelivingambassadors (accessed May 20, 2008). for cleanup, owners may closely guard
9 See APA Research: Helping Make Great Communities,
planning.org/research/overview.htm?project=Print information on the location and level of
(accessed May 20, 2008). contamination.
11255-03_CH03.indd 137 12/23/08 2:55:40 PM

• Environmental site assessments and landowners, owners of contiguous properties,

remediation can drive up the cost of a and prospective purchasers; and delegating
project to the point where it is no longer authority to the states to sign off on com-
financially feasible. pleted brownfield remediations through their
• Assessment and remediation of contami- voluntary cleanup programs.3 Other federal
nation can delay development, raising agencies have also created initiatives to fur-
overall costs to unacceptable levels. ther increase brownfields redevelopment.
• The uncertainty associated with the first Local government has created its own
three barriers—liability, lack of information, barriers to brownfields redevelopment,
and the potential for increased costs and including complex and fragmented approval
development time—creates an ultimate processes, out-of-date zoning, and dete-
barrier that often diverts investment riorated infrastructure.4 Local government
away from brownfield redevelopment to adoption of a one-stop shop for brownfields
greenfield development. redevelopment assistance, approvals, and
States and localities, particularly those in incentives—or, at the least, a designated
the Rust Belt, were leaders in seeking to single point of contact within government—is
overcome CERCLA’s unintended conse- viewed as an important step for maximizing
quences. Eventually, EPA responded with the brownfields redevelopment.
1995 Brownfields Action Agenda, and it has In the years since the federal brownfields
been active ever since in promoting brown- program was initiated, a sophisticated
fields redevelopment. The agenda includes brownfields industry has evolved that
pilot grants to communities; clarification
includes specialists in environmental
of liability for brownfield property owners;
consulting, finance and investment, law,
partnerships between federal, state, and
insurance, research and development of new
local agencies; and job development and
remediation technologies, real estate, engi-
training to support brownfields remediation.
neering, and remediation. The development
EPA’s proactive stance was significantly of the environmental insurance industry
enhanced by the enactment of its Small has also been critical to the growth of the
Business Liability Relief and Brownfields brownfields market. This insurance transfers
Revitalization Act in 2002,2 which further liability and risks related to cleanup costs
supports the market for brownfields by from project stakeholders to the insurance
authorizing funding for site assessment company. Three common types of environ-
and cleanup; clarifying liability for innocent mental insurance policies are
Preparing brownfields for reuse
Preparing brownfield sites for productive reuse requires integration of many

elements—financial issues, community involvement, liability considerations, envi-
ronmental assessment and cleanup, regulatory requirements, and more—as well as
coordination among many groups of stakeholders. The assessment and cleanup of
a site must be carried out in a way that integrates all these factors into the overall
redevelopment process. In addition, the cleanup strategy will vary from site to site.
At some sites, cleanup will be completed before the properties are transferred to new
owners. At other sites, cleanup may take place simultaneously with construction and
redevelopment activities.
Regardless of when and how cleanups are accomplished, the challenge to any brown-
fields program is to clean up sites in accordance with redevelopment goals. Such goals
may include cost-effectiveness, timeliness, avoidance of adverse effects to site struc-
tures and neighboring communities, and redevelopment of land in a way that benefits
communities and local economies.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Road Map to Understanding Innovative Technology
Options for Brownfields Investigation and Cleanup, 4th ed, EPA-542-B-05-001 (Washington, D.C.: EPA,
September 2005), 1, brownfieldstsc.org/pdfs/Roadmap.pdf (accessed April 29, 2008).
11255-03_CH03.indd 138 12/23/08 2:55:41 PM

• Pollution liability, which protects the private partnerships. Among the many
insured against on-site cleanup costs for high-profile successes, the largest is Atlan-
unknown, preexisting pollution; pollution tic Station, a mixed-use development that
from ongoing operations (e.g., where incorporates smart growth principles and has
an institutional or engineering control won EPA’s 2004 Phoenix Award for the Best
has failed); and third-party claims (e.g., National Brownfield Redevelopment. Devel-
resulting from pollution migrating off site oped in midtown Atlanta on 138 acres formerly
to another owner’s property) occupied by an Atlantic steel plant, the project
is quickly transforming a declining area. The
• Cost caps, which protect against cleanup
site was acquired by Jacoby Development in
costs that exceed the anticipated costs
1997, and the $10 million cleanup was com-
• Secured lender guarantees, which protect pleted in 2001. Besides Jacoby, private sector
the lender when a borrower defaults on participants included AIG Global Real Estate
a loan because pollution is found on the Investment Group and several national home
property. developers. Public sector participants included
Another vital factor in the success of the EPA, the State of Georgia, the City of Atlanta,
brownfields development industry is the and a number of neighborhood groups from
the surrounding area. A range of public incen-
development and application of technolo-
tives, including infrastructure improvements
gies (e.g., fiber-optic chemical sensors)
and tax increment financing, were provided
for assessing the extent of contamina-
for the project. At build-out, the redevelop-
tion on a brownfields site and treating
ment will have 5,000 residential units to meet
contaminants (e.g., air sparging and
a range of income levels; 6 million square feet
bioremediation).5
of office space; 2 million square feet of retail
The brownfields industry has evolved into a and entertainment space; 1,000 hotel rooms;
niche real estate market that relies on public- and 11 acres of public parks.
Figure 3–15 In Atlantic

Station, a smart-growth
mixed-use development
on a former brownfields
site, part of the old steel
mill serves as a statue in
a central park.
Source: Scott Ehardt
11255-03_CH03.indd 139 12/23/08 2:55:41 PM

The full extent of the nation’s brownfields of investments, every $1 of public funds
problem has not and cannot be quanti- leveraged more than $330 in private sector
fied. Brownfields can be large or small funds for brownfields remediation and rede-
properties, and are found in healthy as velopment. Moreover, gains in property tax
well as depressed areas of our cities and revenue totaled $30 million per year, and
states. It is likely, however, that the con- the redevelopments have supported 19,000
taminated properties that have made it jobs at 280 sites.8
onto official federal and state lists—and
the 60,000 brownfields of them that have Notes
gone through state voluntary cleanup 1 Joan Fitzgerald and Nancey Green Leigh, “The
Brownfield Redevelopment Challenge,” in Economic
programs—represent only the tip of the
Revitalization: Cases and Strategies for City and
iceberg. Research conducted in Atlanta Suburb (Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage, March 2002),
and Cleveland estimates that for every 69–101.
2 Public Law 107-118, epa.gov/brownfields/pdf/hr2869
confirmed brownfield, there are more than
.pdf (accessed April 29, 2008).
fourteen potential brownfields.6 Further, 3 Charlie Bartsch, “A Decade of Brownfields: A Mar-
new brownfields are still being created as a ketplace Enters Adulthood,” Brownfield News 11, no. 1
(February 2007): 10–11.
result of illegal activities. One new source,
4 Catherine Finneran, “Attracting Development to
for example, are “methfields”—brownfields Brownfield Sites: A Local Challenge,” Public Manage-
created by clandestine drug labs, which ment (November 2006): 8–10.
have multiplied rapidly throughout urban 5 Air sparging is an in situ remedial technology for
reducing concentrations of volatile constituents in
and rural areas. Waste from meth labs—esti- petroleum products that are adsorbed to soils and
mated at five pounds for every pound dissolved in groundwater by injecting contaminant-
of methamphetamine produced—is con- free air into the subsurface saturated zone; see “Air
Sparging,” epa.gov/oust/cat/airsparg.htm (accessed
taminating drain fields, soils, and surface May 20, 2008). Bioremediation is a process that
waters. Congress has made methfields uses microorganisms or their enzymes to return the
eligible for federal brownfield funding. contaminant-altered environment to its original con-
dition; see “What Is Bioremediation?” bionewsonline
Brownfields redevelopment is focused pri- .com/w/what_is_bioremediation.htm (accessed May
20, 2008).
marily on the largest and most marketable 6 Nancey Green Leigh and Sarah L. Coffin, “Modeling
properties—the “low-hanging fruit.” The the Relationship among Brownfields, Property
remaining inventory of brownfields consists Values, and Community Revitalization,” Housing
Policy Debate 16, no. 2 (2005): 257–280,
mostly of small and medium-sized sites,
fanniemaefoundation.org/programs/hpd/pdf/
many of which are marginal redevelopment hpd_1602_leigh.pdf (accessed April 29, 2008).
prospects for the private sector because 7 JoAnn M. Petrizzo, “’Yes’ to State Insurance Pro-
grams for Small Brownfields,” Brownfield News 10,
they have limited end uses and profit
no. 6 (December 2006): 39.
potentials. Neglect of such properties, 8 Tom Barry, “Environmental Insurance: An Effective
however, stigmatizes and devalues nearby Tool for Brownfield Redevelopment,” Brownfield
News 10, no. 6 (December 2006): 35.
uncontaminated properties and is a barrier
to neighborhood revitalization. Thus, as
part of neighborhood revitalization efforts,
local governments need to promote the FOCUS ON
redevelopment of small and medium-sized
sites. Planning for natural
At the state level, there are pressures to fos-
ter the redevelopment of marginal brown-
fields by providing state environmental
hazards
insurance in cases where the cost of private Robert B. Olshansky
insurance would be prohibitive in relation
to the value of the site.7 Massachusetts’s In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck
Brownfields Redevelopment Access to the Gulf Coast of the United States, affect-
Capital (BRAC) program, which offers state- ing 93,000 square miles in 138 parishes
subsidized environmental insurance for and counties.1 It flooded 80 percent of
cleanup or redevelopment, helps to over- New Orleans, destroying the nation’s
come the barrier of extraordinary develop- thirty-fifth-largest city and, in the process,
ment costs. Based on BRAC’s first $8 million making approximately 300,000 homes
11255-03_CH03.indd 140 12/23/08 2:55:43 PM

uninhabitable, displacing 770,000 people, provides the factual basis and policy frame-
and causing more than 1,300 deaths. work, but implementation comes through
The economic effects of this catastrophe building standards, development regulations
rippled across the country and are still (zoning, subdivision, environmental impact
being felt today. assessments), public facility policies, prop-
erty acquisition policies, taxation and fiscal
Dozens of smaller disasters strike every
policies, and public information and hazard
year. With 541 federal disaster declarations
disclosure programs.
between 1998 and 2007, the nation aver-
ages more than four declared disasters per Given the wealth of available information,
month.2 For example, on April 20, 2004, a local governments have no excuse for
tornado touched down for ten seconds in ignoring the natural hazards facing their
Utica, Illinois, destroying the village’s down- communities—a perspective with which the
town and killing eight people. More than courts are increasingly likely to agree. Thus,
$2.4 million of federal aid was approved for from the standpoint of overall risk manage-
Utica and the surrounding areas that had ment, local governments are better off tak-
been affected by the storm; as of 2008, ing a firm stand against risky development,
Utica was still in the process of recovery. even if development applicants threaten to
sue. Mitigation also makes financial sense.
Disasters undo the work of urban planning.
In a 2005 study undertaken for the Federal
They stand in perfect opposition to the
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),
job of urban planners: to construct human
the Multihazard Mitigation Council found
settlements that provide for the economic,
that every dollar spent on mitigation saves
social, and personal needs of their inhabi-
society an average of four dollars in dis-
tants as sustainably, equitably, and effi-
counted present value.3
ciently as possible. Thus, planners seek to
anticipate and mitigate the effects of disas-
ters before they occur, and planners have a
Floods, earthquakes, hurricanes,
vital role in reconstructing urban systems
landslides, and tornadoes occur where
that have been destroyed by disasters.
they have occurred in the past, and a
well-prepared jurisdiction with a good
Reducing the impact of comprehensive plan will know which
future disasters hazards to address.
Natural disasters are rarely completely
unexpected. Floods, earthquakes, hurricanes,
landslides, and tornadoes occur where they The nation’s disaster act, the Stafford Act of
have occurred in the past, and a well-prepared 1988, encourages mitigation in several ways,
jurisdiction with a good comprehensive plan and the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000
will know which hazards to address. (DMA 2000),4 which amended the Stafford
Act, emphasizes planning for disasters
Every comprehensive plan should include
before they occur. DMA 2000 requires both
some sort of hazard assessment, ranging
state and local mitigation plans as condi-
from basic hazard identification to a more
tions of receiving assistance for mitigation
sophisticated risk analysis. Information on
following a disaster. It may seem paradoxical
the distribution of hazards across the United
to mitigate after a disaster, but this policy
States is readily available on the Internet.
simply recognizes the reality that this is the
For example, the National Flood Insurance
moment when the hazard is uppermost in
Program (NFIP) maps floodplains that have
the minds of citizens and officials, and it is
a 1 percent annual probability of flooding,
also the moment when federal funds are
and the U.S. Geological Survey maps earth-
most readily available. Given that natural
quake ground-shaking probabilities through-
disasters tend to recur in the same loca-
out the nation.
tions, mitigating after a disaster is, in fact,
The easiest way for local governments to prudent. Under the Hazard Mitigation Grant
reduce hazards is by integrating hazard miti- Program, a portion of federal post-disaster
gation into normal development manage- assistance can be used for mitigation proj-
ment processes. The comprehensive plan ects, and this amount can be increased for
11255-03_CH03.indd 141 12/23/08 2:55:43 PM

jurisdictions with high-quality (“enhanced”) best suited to the skills of planners, and in
mitigation plans. DMA 2000 also authorized which planners can make the greatest dif-
the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program, under ference. Recovery is a microcosm of all the
which state and local governments com- challenges of urban planning: developing
pete for funds to mitigate hazards before a land use and economic development strate-
disaster occurs. gies to improve lives, acting in the absence
of sufficient information, making trade-offs
The NFIP also includes mitigation incentives,
between deliberation and expediency, navi-
rationalizing—like any good insurance com-
gating local politics, engaging the public,
pany—that risk reduction can protect the
attracting appropriate investors, redevelop-
assets of the fund as well as the premiums
ing blighted areas, and identifying funding
of the insured. The Flood Mitigation Assis-
sources to supplement inadequate local
tance Program provides grants for com-
resources. Following a disaster, however, the
munities to prepare flood mitigation plans
stakes increase, public interest is height-
and implement flood mitigation actions
ened, and time compresses; on the other
(such as elevation, acquisition, or relocation
hand, additional resources usually become
of flood-prone structures). The Repetitive
available. The local planner plays a key role
Flood Claims Program targets assistance to
in trying to best use those resources while
insured properties that have had previous
coping with the added stresses inherent in
NFIP claims, and the Severe Repetitive Loss
recovery.
grant program targets properties with fre-
quent repeated claims. Since the 1993 floods
in the Midwest, acquisition of flood-prone
Recovery is a microcosm of all the
properties and permanent conversion of
challenges of urban planning.
those properties to open space has become
a leading federal strategy for solving some
of the nation’s most serious flood problems.
Disasters also can present opportunities to
Experience shows that, in implementing rebuild communities better than they were
hazard reduction policies, local govern- before. Following the 1994 earthquake in
ments must be mindful of both the political Northridge, California, for example, thou-
and technical details. They must be far- sands of apartments were rehabilitated, with
sighted in gathering credible data, preparing 20 percent of those units required to meet
maps, and managing land well before it is affordability requirements. The earthquake
developed, but they must also be practical also provided the opportunity for the city to
in using site-specific design approaches, clean up and revitalize Hollywood Boulevard
integrating hazard mitigation into their and adjacent neighborhoods; this, in turn,
normal development review procedures, tak- attracted considerable private investment to
ing advantage of post-disaster windows of the area—including a new permanent home
opportunity, and being prepared to purchase for the Academy Awards. Floods provide
properties if necessary. local governments with the opportunity to
permanently relocate buildings outside low-
lying areas. Grand Forks, North Dakota, for
The role of planning in recovery
example, relocated more than 800 homes
Disasters are not easily repaired. They after a disastrous flood in 1997.
disrupt lives and businesses as people await
compensation, infrastructure repair, and Once a disaster occurs, the best way to
the return of their neighbors. The physical improve both the speed and quality of
recovery from disasters takes many years, post-disaster planning is by emphasizing
and the psychological scars can last for data collection, information systems, and
communication, and by explicitly providing
decades. Recovery is a challenging time for
funding for all these elements. Regular com-
communities, as the economy stagnates,
munication between agencies can facilitate
social networks weaken, and health care and
real-time management of the conflicting
support services decline.
demands of speed and deliberation. Finally,
Post-disaster recovery provides a moment in local governments need to be committed to
which planners can shine. Of all the phases supporting fully inclusive planning pro-
of emergency management, this is the one cesses as soon after the disaster as possible.
11255-03_CH03.indd 142 12/23/08 2:55:43 PM

Figure 3–16 The city of Kobe, Japan, was devas-

tated in 1995 by a catastrophic earthquake and fire.
Successfully rebuilt after the catastrophe, Kobe is
now more resistant to future disasters.
Source: Ikuo Kobayashi Source: Robert Olshansky
Better yet, local governments should plan In 2004, FEMA increased its involvement in
ahead for disaster recovery. As noted by long-term recovery planning through a pro-
James Schwab, a plan helps to better posi- cess known as Emergency Support Func-
tion a community to obtain post-disaster tion (ESF) 14 in the Federal Response Plan.
funding.5 Having a plan means that local Under ESF 14, FEMA pulls together local
officials have considered a large range of expertise and expertise from federal agen-
options and decided how to use post-disaster cies (such as the Department of Housing
funding to best further all the planning goals and Urban Development, the Department
of the community. A recovery plan can of Transportation, and the Department of
• List funding sources and financing options Agriculture) in order to assess local needs,
• Describe the post-disaster responsibilities develop plans and projects for recovery
of municipal agencies funding, and match local projects with
• Provide guidelines for the formation of a federal funding sources. ESF 14 reflects
recovery coordinating body movement in the direction of long-term
interdisciplinary thinking—a positive step
• Specify the means of citizen involvement
for FEMA; however, it is still not clear to
• Provide for temporary regulations for
what extent the agency is fully prepared
demolitions and the expediting of permits
to operate in the realm of urban planning.
• Enable moratoria as needed After having been successfully tested in
• Relax codes for temporary uses several small communities in 2004, ESF
• Identify building sites and processes for 14 was implemented following Hurricane
constructing and managing temporary Katrina. It was difficult to adapt ESF 14 to
housing a catastrophic disaster such as Katrina,
• Identify post-disaster mitigation actions. however. Many observers have suggested
that it would be better to provide direct
Disasters present one of the most per- federal funding to state and local planning
suasive arguments for urban planning in agencies, beginning immediately after a
general. Communities that have active plan- disaster.
ning processes—including well-established
community organizations, effective lines of
Bringing hazard awareness into
communication, a variety of planning docu-
planning practice
ments and tools, and some degree of com-
munity consensus—will recover faster and Disasters routinely affect communities.
better than those that do not. Communities They disrupt economies, housing, and
that plan are those that are best equipped people’s livelihoods. With global climate
to deal with unexpected events in general.6 change, extreme weather events are likely
11255-03_CH03.indd 143 12/23/08 2:55:43 PM

to increase. Thus, hazards and their impacts FOCUS ON

should be of concern to all planners, no mat-
ter what their specialty.
Revitalizing older
Hazards should be routinely considered
in comprehensive plans, and the tools of
planning—zoning and subdivision ordi-
industrial cities
nances, economic development policies, Jennifer S. Vey
housing policies, capital improvement
plans, community development plans—must The evidence is clear. On the whole,
take hazards into account as a matter of America’s central cities are coming back.
course. Because planners help to guide Employment is up, neighborhood markets
the construction of communities, they need are improving, and increasing numbers of
to ensure that people will be safe, econo- young people, empty nesters, and others are
mies secure from disruption, and public choosing city life over the suburbs.
investments protected. After disasters
occur, planners are uniquely qualified to Unfortunately, not all cities are fully par-
develop information systems, identify ticipating in this renaissance. Throughout
funding sources, and manage citizen the country, and particularly in the North-
involvement in order to optimally plan the east and Midwest, many older industrial
reconstruction process. communities are still struggling to make a
successful transition from a manufacturing
Community consensus regarding hazards economy to a knowledge-based one.1 For the
and disasters is difficult to achieve. In past several decades, the pervasive image
normal times, citizens resist preparing for of these cities—think Buffalo, Cleveland,
unforeseen events. Once disasters occur, Flint, and Scranton—has been one of empty
community decisions are highly conten- downtowns, deteriorating neighborhoods,
tious. Planners are well-suited to work in and struggling families. Still grappling to
such settings, which require conflict man- overcome the painful legacy of severe
agement, the rapid use of large volumes industrial decline and population loss, these
of information, and analysis of alternative cities—and, for most, their surrounding
futures. These attributes are not limited to regions—simply haven’t seen the widespread
“hazard planners”: all planners must share economic revitalization enjoyed by so many
in the responsibility to create safe and other urban areas around the nation. But
resilient communities. even these cities have an unprecedented
opportunity to catch the wave.
Notes
1 White House, The Federal Response to Hurricane Challenges faced by America’s older
Katrina: Lessons Learned (Washington, D.C.: Office of
the President, February 23, 2006), whitehouse
industrial cities
.gov/reports/katrina-lessons-learned/ (accessed American’s older industrial cities were once
May 21, 2008).
2 Federal Emergency Management Agency, “Declared
thriving centers of business and commerce,
Disasters by Year or State,” fema.gov/news/disaster_ growth and prosperity. But since the 1960s,
totals_annual.fema (accessed May 21, 2008). globalization and rapid technological change
3 Multihazard Mitigation Council, Natural Hazard
Mitigation Saves: An Independent Study to Assess the
have created a new economic paradigm in
Future Savings from Mitigation Activities (Washing- which the role of many central cities has
ton, D.C.: Multihazard Mitigation Council, National become uncertain at best—and downright
Institute of Building Sciences, 2005), nibs.org/MMC/
MitigationSavingsReport/natural_hazard_mitigation_ precarious at worst. The seeming inability of
saves.htm (accessed May 21, 2008). the nation’s most distressed cities to adapt
4 Public Law 106-390. to new economic realities can largely be
5 James C. Schwab, ed., Planning for Post-Disaster
Recovery and Reconstruction, Planning Advisory explained by three interrelated economic,
Service Report (PAS) 483/484 (Chicago: American demographic, and political forces—and
Planning Association, 1998), fema.gov/pdf/rebuild/ choices—that have trapped them in a self-
ltrc/fema_apa_ch3.pdf (accessed May 21, 2008).
6 Laurie A. Johnson, Laura Dwelley Samant, and reinforcing cycle of decline.
Suzanne Frew, Planning for the Unexpected: Land
Use Development and Risk, PAS Report 531 (Chicago: First, the shift from a manufacturing economy
American Planning Association, 2005). to a knowledge-based one, coupled with tech-
11255-03_CH03.indd 144 12/23/08 2:55:46 PM

nological advances and geopolitical changes, from Chicago to Chattanooga—that had

left many older industrial cities grappling to more or less been left for dead. But while
find their economic niche. As other, cheaper both domestic and foreign immigration have
places to set up and maintain shop emerged, since contributed to the rise of American
manufacturing firms moved from cities to city populations, older industrial cities
suburbs, from the North to the South, and continue to struggle to attract and retain
ultimately from the United States to countries middle-income residents.
abroad. The effects of the physical redistribu-
Although both broad economic trends and
tion of manufacturing were later exacerbated
the locational preferences of individuals
by advances in automation, which sparked
and families have been the primary forces
productivity increases and reduced compa-
behind urban decline, federal, state, and
nies’ overall employment needs. This “double
local policies since the 1950s have largely
whammy” rocked the economies of the cities
stacked the deck against cities, weakening
that had once been the nation’s industrial
their ability to attract and retain businesses
powerhouses, but the decline of manufactur-
ing was not, in and of itself, the reason for and residents. Major federal policies on
economic decline. Instead, it is the long-term taxes, trade, transportation, and immigra-
legacy of deindustrialization—a lack of entre- tion have a huge impact on the vitality of
preneurialism and new-business creation, urban economies and influence the shape
lagging educational attainment, and large of metropolitan growth. Federal policies on
numbers of contaminated properties—that has education, job training, wages, health care,
hampered the ability of distressed cities to and housing, meanwhile, have a profound
transition to the new economy. effect on the opportunities available to
low- and moderate-income urban residents.
Many of these policies are not spatially
Since the 1960s, globalization and rapid neutral: for example, federal transporta-
technological change have created a new tion spending and the interstate highway
economic paradigm in which the role of system have facilitated outward growth,
many central cities has become uncertain and federal housing policies have tended to
at best—and downright precarious at worst. favor wealthier suburbs over urban neighbor-
hoods.3 And from urban renewal to more
recent initiatives such as urban empower-
Second, extreme economic and residential ment zones, urban “redevelopment” pro-
decentralization has isolated minorities and grams have been a mixed blessing.
the poor in the urban core, where they have
States play a particularly significant role in
limited access to good schools and employ-
shaping the form and function of localities.
ment opportunities. By 1970, years of middle-
Unfortunately, state policies and practices
class flight, coupled with a declining industrial
base, had left many American cities hyper- have generally not been favorable to urban
segregated, increasingly poor, and fiscally areas. At best, these communities have
strapped—trends that would largely continue been treated with benign neglect, with state
to worsen over the ensuing two decades.2 programs and investments focused pre-
Decades of population loss during the latter dominantly on managing urban decline as
half of the twentieth century and high con- opposed to stimulating economic recovery.
centrations of poverty contributed to lower At worst, state policies have actually worked
tax bases, higher crime rates, and greater against cities, facilitating the migration
demands for social services, undercutting of people and jobs (and the tax base they
cities’ overall fiscal health and widening the provide) to the metropolitan fringe, while
gap between cities and suburbs. Perhaps even reinforcing the deterioration of the core.
more important, such conditions undermined
Finally, local governments have also con-
cities’ ability to cultivate a skilled workforce,
tributed to their own fate through bloated
and frustrated their efforts to grow and
government structures and a host of every-
attract the firms so essential to building and
day inefficiencies that discourage new busi-
sustaining a strong economy.
nesses and residents from locating in the
By the 1990s, the tide had begun to turn, city and diminish the opportunities available
resulting in the turnaround of many cities— to current residents. Poor service delivery,
11255-03_CH03.indd 145 12/23/08 2:55:46 PM

outmoded and unpredictable redevelopment to invest, conduct business, live, and visit.
processes, and faddish economic develop- The result has been a return of the market to
ment policies are just a few of the ways in substantial parts of many cities, sparking a
which cities undermine their own ability to resurgence in many downtowns and neighbor-
achieve economic growth that is robust, hoods, even in cities that continue to struggle
sustainable, and inclusive. with broad economic malaise. These positive
trends demonstrate the potential for all cities
Seizing the moment to reverse the vicious cycle of decline and
realize a brighter economic future.
Despite the challenges, the moment is ripe for
the revival of older industrial urban econo-
mies. If fully leveraged, many of the char- Notes
acteristics and resources of older industrial 1 Working with researchers from the George Wash-
ington University, we examined the performance of
cities could be converted into vital competitive 302 U.S. cities on eight indicators of economic health
assets. These potential selling points include and residential well-being, and found that 65 cities
are lagging behind their peers nationwide. For more
• Distinctive physical features, such as information on the methodology used to identify
waterfronts, walkable urban grids, public these cities, see Jennifer S. Vey, Restoring Prosper-
transit, and historic architecture ity: The State Role in Revitalizing American’s Older
Industrial Cities (Washington, D.C.: The Brookings
• Important economic attributes, such as Institution, 2007), brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/
reports/2007/05metropolitanpolicy_vey/20070520_
dense employment centers, universities,
oic.pdf (accessed May 1, 2008).
and medical facilities 2 From 1970 to 1990, older industrial cities like St.
Louis, Cleveland, and Detroit lost, on net, approxi-
• Rich social and cultural amenities, such
mately a third of their total respective populations:
as theaters, sports arenas, and museums see U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Develop-
ment, “State of the Cities Data Systems (SOCDS),”
• For some cities, proximity to more
socds.huduser.org/index.html (accessed May 1, 2008).
economically robust metropolitan areas. 3 See, for example, Gerald Prante, “Who Benefits from
the Home Mortgage Interest Deduction?” (Washing-
Many older industrial cities are also still ton, D.C.: Tax Foundation, 2006), taxfoundation
important centers of regional identity, .org/news/show/1341.html (accessed May 1, 2008);
and Joseph Gyourko and Richard Voith, “Does the
inspiring a sense of pride and place—which U.S. Tax Treatment of Housing Promote Suburbaniza-
can be the first seeds of change. tion and Central City Decline?” (working paper 97-13,
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, 1997),
After decades of painful economic restructur- philadelphiafed.org/files/wps/1997/wp97-13.pdf
ing, the time is now for older industrial cities (accessed May 1, 2008).
to seize upon a reawakened awareness of
their special qualities. Major demographic
shifts—robust immigration, an aging population, FOCUS ON
and changing family structures—are altering
the size, makeup, and locational choices of the
nation’s households, to the benefit of the cities
Planning for
that offer the opportunities and amenities
these groups seek. Economic trends—globaliza- creative places
tion, the demand for educated workers, the
increasing role of universities—are providing J. Mark Schuster
cities with an unprecedented chance to capital-
ize on their economic advantages and regain In many guises and under various definitions,
their com-petitive edge. And forward-thinking “culture” permeates the modern city; it also
political leaders and constituencies—businesses, permeates contemporary urban planning and
elected officials, major foundations, and key economic development. Cultural planning
environmental and community organiza- and policy can be powerful instruments for
tions—are speaking more eloquently and more improving the quality of urban life: across the
often about market-based urban development, country, communities (and even entire states,
reflecting a growing awareness of the nexus such as Vermont) are attempting to harness
between urban revitalization and competitive, the strength of “the creative city” and “the
sustainable metropolitan growth. creative economy.” Mayors now tout the cul-
tural advantages of their communities, and
The impact of these forces is already appar- more than a few are leading efforts designed
ent. The 1990s brought a sea change in how
urban areas are viewed—as places in which Professor Schuster died on February 25, 2008.
11255-03_CH03.indd 146 12/23/08 2:55:46 PM

to make their cities competitive in the cul- tered on owning and operating major cultural
tural arena. The burgeoning of what Richard venues and distributing modest public grants
Florida has called “the creative class”— to support nonprofit cultural initiatives. Com-
footloose individuals who are drawn to an munities and states throughout the country
area because of its amenities, and who pro- are now also courting for-profit cultural
vide the skills for local innovation and high- activities—wooing film productions, for
tech expansion—has further fueled a change example—while also attending more broadly
in urban and community economic develop- to the needs of both nascent and well-
ment that was already well under way.1 developed cultural clusters in the economy.
The result? Planners, economic develop-
ment specialists, for-profit and nonprofit Flagship cultural facilities
developers, local government officials, and
It is important for cities to recognize the
members of local cultural communities have
been drawn to a new set of culturally linked symbolic importance of their cultural institu-
tools that can be deployed in their work: tions. After the destruction of Dresden in
World War II, the opera house was one of
• The construction or renewal of flagship
only two buildings that were completely
cultural facilities
rebuilt. Today, as localities seek visible
• The establishment of cultural districts symbols of their commitment to culture, the
• The creation of “cities of art.” idea of building flagship cultural facilities has
• The creation of regional cultural and gained momentum: the Sydney Opera House;
heritage parks the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain;
• A reemphasis on festivals and other the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison,
types of cultural programming Wisconsin; the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los
Angeles; and the Guthrie Theater in Minne-
• The development of live/work space for
apolis come to mind, as do the renovations
artists
and expansions of the Museum of Modern Art
• Cultural planning.
in New York, the Milwaukee Art Museum,
These efforts go well beyond traditional the Denver Museum of Art, and the Nelson-
governmental approaches, which have cen- Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri.
Figure 3–17 Designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, Quadracci Pavilion

is a sculptural, postmodern addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum. Among its
highlights is Windhover Hall; with flying buttresses, pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and
a central nave topped by a 90-foot-high glass roof, it is Calatrava’s interpretation of
a Gothic cathedral. Its chancel, shaped like the prow of a ship, has floor-to-ceiling
windows overlooking Lake Michigan.
Source: J. Mark Schuster
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Flagship projects need not involve the grand gesture—a sign of their commitment
construction of new facilities. The conver- to establishing their community as a cre-
sion of Liverpool’s Albert Docks, which ative place.
includes the Merseyside Maritime Museum
Flagship cultural institutions intended to
and a branch of the Tate Gallery; the rede-
serve as icons are often created by archi-
velopment of the Gare d’Orsay train sta-
tects chosen through international design
tion in Paris into the Musée d’Orsay; and
competitions. Such projects are difficult to
the conversion of an abandoned textile
undertake because of their high costs—and
mill and electrical plant into the Massa-
even when a city succeeds in raising the
chusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in
necessary capital, it may overlook the need
North Adams are all striking examples of
to obtain funding for ongoing program-
adaptive reuse.
ming and operating expenses. As a result,
In a number of places, “arts development” multipurpose performing arts centers and
has come to mean one particular type of other flagship institutions have enjoyed
facility: the multipurpose performing arts decidedly mixed success. Many have
center, of which the New Jersey Performing quickly become retail outlets for products
Arts Center in Newark; the Kimmell Center produced in other cultural capitals—host-
in Philadelphia; and the Glacier Performing ing road versions of Broadway musicals,
Arts Center, under development in Kalispell, for example. Moreover, many such facilities
Montana, are examples. Such centers have have found it difficult to maintain ongoing
been seen as the solution to a variety of local political and financial support. Finally,
intractable problems: in addition to success- many have found themselves caught in
fully housing the arts by meeting their spe- political disputes between higher levels of
cial requirements, they can government, which often provide sub-
• Increase the availability of and access to stantial funding, and local government,
performance spaces which wants to have a stronger hand in
• Create a critical mass of artistic activity programming.
• Provide performance space for national

Cultural districts
traveling shows
A cultural district, by one definition, is a
• Facilitate cross-disciplinary artistic
“well-recognized, labeled, mixed-use area
activity.
of a city in which a high concentration of
For a mayor and a local council, the multi- cultural facilities serves as the anchor of
purpose performing arts center is often a attraction.”2 Cultural districts are known by
Farmington’s Civic Theater
In 1999, the city of Farmington, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, decided to buy the
historic Civic Theater to save its landmark status and preserve the traffic that the
building brings to downtown merchants. The city purchased the theater for $300,000,
and spent $700,000 to complete the renovations and make the building handicapped
accessible.
The theater now shows family-oriented movies at an affordable price of $3.50 for
adults and $2.50 for children. It also has a stage and is often rented for live stage
productions, live music performances, private parties, poetry readings, independent
film showings, and other gatherings. Since the theater reopened, patronage has been
dramatically restored, and the theater brings about 85,000 people into the downtown
each year. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007, the Civic Theater had an operat-
ing revenue excess (“profit”) of approximately $25,000. The city is paying down the
debt on the theater in step with the debt retirement schedule.
Source: Bill Richards Jr., assistant city manager, Farmington, Michigan
11255-03_CH03.indd 148 12/23/08 2:55:49 PM

a variety of names: “arts district,” “art- tax exemptions for artists who live and work
ists’ district,” “artists’ quarter,” “arts and in designated districts.
entertainment district,” “arts and science
As the idea of cultural districts has spread,
district,” “museum district,” or “theatre
even mayors of small and medium-sized
district.” If numbers alone are any indica-
cities have brought forward proposals for
tion, creating a cultural district has become
cultural districts designed to halt the decline
a favored objective among communities
of their downtowns. Although this trend is
of many sizes. By one count, there are
often called “bringing the arts downtown,”
now more than 135 cultural districts in the
in most places the arts are, of course,
United States.
already downtown: remnants of an earlier
When communities create cultural districts, era—museums, theaters, opera houses, and
the emphasis is more on integrating culture other institutions—cling to life, attempting
into overall growth and development than to survive in the face of declining surround-
on isolating it in a single facility. Such ings. The presence of such facilities offers
districts take advantage of the marketing, the hope of success; if the cultural infra-
fundraising, production, and programming structure has to be created out of whole
synergy that, it is hoped, will derive from cloth, an area is much less likely to take
efforts to “package” a coherent destina- hold as an identifiable and vibrant cultural
tion. In some cases, communities have district.
created cultural districts by identifying
and preserving historic theaters and other Cities of culture
cultural facilities, sometimes long aban- Recently, some local officials have
doned, and focusing planning and develop- advanced the idea of extending the bound-
ment attention on the geographic district aries of the cultural district to encompass
surrounding these facilities. New cultural the entire city. Indeed, focusing on just
facilities may also be strategically placed one economic sector makes sense: from
in these districts. Occasionally, entirely an economic development perspective, a
new cultural districts have been created single message is simply easier to sell. A
out of whole cloth, sometimes as accom- leading example is Venice, Italy, which is
paniments to large-scale redevelopment being single-mindedly promoted as a “City
projects; in such cases, the cultural veneer of Art”; building on the strong cultural
adds an attractive cachet. infrastructure already in place, the city is
encouraging artists to live and work along
the canals, and is fostering the develop-
Communities have created cultural ment of cultural industries and institutions.
districts by identifying and preserving
As ambitious as this approach might seem,
historic theaters and other cultural
there are precedents for such targeted eco-
facilities, sometimes long abandoned,
nomic development. Primarily through pri-
and focusing planning and development
vate initiative, the small town of Branson,
attention on the geographic district
Missouri, has become the country-music
surrounding these facilities.
capital of the world and an important tour-
ist destination. Orlando, Florida, through
the sheer density of its theme parks and
Local governments often invest heavily in
recreational attractions, has arguably
renovating or establishing cultural facili-
become a city of culture. And by all reports,
ties to anchor cultural districts. Some local
Indianapolis, Indiana, has prospered from
governments have relied more on private
its decision to become the premier city for
developers, offering development incentives
amateur athletics.
for projects that incorporate cultural facili-
ties (e.g., Boston’s Midtown Cultural District). On a more modest scale, the National Folk
In some cases, state governments target Festival is an organization that promotes a
funding to programs in designated cultural wide variety of world and traditional music.
districts: Iowa, for example, certifies cultural Every three years, it travels to a new city,
districts, and Rhode Island offers a menu of leaving behind a legacy festival that can
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Revitalizing Paducah through the arts
Time and neglect had taken their toll on Lower Town, the oldest historic neighborhood
in Paducah, Kentucky. Annexed in 1836, Lower Town is adjacent to Paducah’s historic
downtown. Using goals set by the city commission to encourage vital neighborhoods,
the Paducah planning department created a neighborhood plan to revitalize Lower
Town. The featured attraction of the plan was the Artist Relocation Program, which
was designed to encourage working artists from around the country to settle in
Paducah; as small-business entrepreneurs, these artists would provide new visions,
new solutions to old problems, and an economic investment in the neighborhood.
This, in turn, would bring an influx of new retail and service business, thereby leading
to more home ownership, higher property values, rehabilitated structures, less crime,
and reduced traffic.
After an extensive planning process that relied heavily on neighborhood participa-

tion, the city commission adopted the plan in February 2002. Crucial to the project’s
implementation was an innovative partnership between the city of Paducah and
Paducah Bank. As a community-owned institution, Paducah Bank relies on the vitality
of the community. The Artist Relocation Program initially posed an investment risk for
the bank: the structures in Lower Town needed considerable and costly rehabilitation
before they would be suitable as studios and galleries. The concentration of blighted
structures in a depressed neighborhood meant that the bank was making loans of
200–500 percent of appraised value. Moreover, Paducah Bank was doing all the
financing. Nevertheless, the bank assigned one of its top loan officers to the program.
In the beginning, the program accounted for little of the loan officer’s time; eventually
it accounted for more than half his workload. As of 2005, Paducah Bank had made
more than $12 million in loans to relocate artists. While individual project financing
was provided almost entirely by Paducah Bank, the overall program is financed by the
city’s general fund. By 2005, the city had spent about $2,250,000, over 75 percent of
which went for staffing, marketing and advertising, professional fees, artist incen-
tives, and buying and stabilizing dilapidated properties, some of which were given to
or discounted for artists. The city also spent approximately $500,000 in sidewalk and
other infrastructure improvements, which helped match a $650,000 federal grant to
complete a street-lighting project.
The Artist Relocation Program has exceeded everyone’s expectations as a revitaliza-

tion tool. The investment has paid off, yielding a six-dollar return for every one dollar
spent. By 2005, more than fifty new artists, residents, and businesses had moved into
Lower Town, bringing with them approximately $14 million in private investments.
The program has yielded new and increased tax revenues for all the taxing entities,
created a more diversified economy, added a growing tourism base, provided cultural
enrichment, and increased the city’s intellectual and entrepreneurial capital for gen-
erations to come.
Source: Adapted from 2005 ICMA Annual Awards program, 27
continue to attract cultural events. This organize them around a (cultural) theme,
program provides an excellent opportunity and use them to promote regional economic
for small to mid-sized cities to pursue local development—specifically, local and long-
cultural development. distance tourism. American examples
abound, particularly at the state level, and
Regional cultural and heritage parks include the Monongahela Valley and Alle-
Regional cultural and heritage parks are the gheny Ridge Industrial Heritage Corridors in
result of efforts to identify regional assets, Pennsylvania, the New York State Heritage
11255-03_CH03.indd 150 12/23/08 2:55:49 PM

Park System, and the Massachusetts State Festivals and events

Heritage Parks. The designation of National Place-based festivals generally involve a
Heritage Corridor, which is overseen by the series of related artistic events or per-
U.S. Department of the Interior, is one pos- formances, often over a week or more,
sible approach. combined with the promotion of a local
Along with cultural and heritage resources, area’s fixed resources. Many festivals have
regional cultural and heritage parks offer no compelling relationship to the place in
tourist, entertainment, and sports and which they happen to be located (indeed,
recreational facilities; often, these parks they could be held just about anywhere), but
“tell a story” about the industrial heritage some—most notably the Edinburgh Festival
of a deindustrialized region. Unlike earlier in Scotland; the Avignon Festival in France;
generations of state and national parks, and the Spoleto Festival in Charleston,
regional cultural and heritage parks do not South Carolina—have made every effort to
involve centralized ownership; instead, they move beyond the performance venues and
are organized as partnerships between gov- into the city itself. Making the setting part of
ernment, private corporations, and nonprofit the spectacle renders arts and culture more
actors. Thus, their success is determined of a part of the urban fabric.
by the viability of the collaborative effort
Some local festivals are rituals that are
and the strength of local institutions. State
deeply rooted in community life: examples
programs linked to these park systems are
from Spain include La Mercé in Barcelona,
important funding sources for local cultural
the running of the bulls in Pamplona, the
planning and development initiatives.
Easter processions in Seville and through-
out Andalusia, the burning of Las Fallas
in Valencia, and La Patum in Berga. In the
Figure 3–18 Valley Falls Heritage Park in Cumber-
United States, Philadelphia’s Mummers
land, Rhode Island, was built amid the ruins of the
Parade and New Orleans’s Mardi Gras are
Valley Falls Company Mill, a massive mill that operated
defining events. Some places have deliber-
for more than 100 years and was demolished in 1934.
ately reestablished old festivals: Carnivale
In 1991, the town of Cumberland and the Heritage
in Venice and Mardi Gras in Galveston,
Corridor transformed the property into a historic park
Texas, for example. The focus is not so
to tell the story of the Valley Falls Company.
much on tourism, although that element is
certainly present, as it is on the celebration
of local “differentness” in the face of the
global homogenization of urban spaces.
A new generation of urban festivals is

growing out of the artistic community
itself. First Night—Boston’s New Year’s
Eve celebration, which features hundreds
of performances by a thousand artists in
venues distributed throughout downtown—
attracts more than a million participants. It
has transformed New Year’s Eve in Boston
from a night of alcohol-fueled revelry into
a cultural festival for the whole family, and
the tradition has spread to hundreds of cit-
ies in North America. WaterFire, the highly
acclaimed fire and music installation in
downtown Providence, has played a major
role in rejuvenating the city, attracting
tens of thousands of participants to each
performance. During the annual run of the
Philadelphia Fringe Festival, unique artistic
events are held throughout the city, often
Source: J. Mark Schuster in unlikely venues.
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Figure 3–19 Two

Rivers Folk Festival, in
the historic town of
Chepstow on the English-
Welsh border between
the Rivers Wye and
Severn, offers music,
song, dance, riverboat
trips, and a fully
equipped campsite in an
area of outstanding
natural beauty.
estate market turns and they can make a

substantial profit. Thus, although artists are
often in the vanguard of gentrification, they
may also be the victims of rising prices as
previously abandoned areas become more
attractive.
Cities that are eager to promote cultural

development have established a number of
programs designed to increase the avail-
ability of affordable live/work spaces for
artists. Such initiatives entail various strate-
gies, including zoning changes that loosen
occupancy restrictions, loans for renovation
and rehabilitation, technical assistance for
groups of artists who want to form coopera-
tive (or condominium) apartment buildings,
relocation assistance, the direct purchase
of properties, or the earmarking of tax-
delinquent properties for the development
of artists’ housing.
Communities also benefit from “open

studio” events, in which artists throw open
their studios to the public on a designated
Figure 3–20 Every July since 1903, Italian weekend as a way of establishing their pres-
immigrants in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, have continued ence, networking with other artists, enlarg-
to celebrate the Giglio Festival because it reminds ing their political influence, and perhaps
community residents of their origins. selling a bit of their work.
Live/work space Cultural planning

Artists, always on the lookout for spacious Community cultural plans typically focus
and inexpensive accommodations, are often on achieving a synthesis between urban
attracted to spaces in vacant or underused development, economic development, and
factory buildings. Sometimes they begin as cultural development. State arts agencies
squatters; other times they are actually often provide financial support for cultural
welcomed by speculators who are holding planning, and a number of guides to good
onto their properties until the local real practice have been published.
11255-03_CH03.indd 152 12/23/08 2:55:50 PM

The economic impact of the arts and culture
The tools described in this article have developed in the context of a broader debate
about the role of the arts and culture in society, and about the role of government—
whether national, regional, or local—in supporting cultural initiatives. Advocates of
cultural development argue that arts and culture are worthy of support not only on
their own terms—for their ability to stimulate creativity and artistic expression and to
reinforce cultural identity—but also because they can further the goals of economic
development. Studies of the economic impact of the arts are fraught with difficulties
but are widely cited by supporters of cultural development. The most visible of these
efforts—the studies conducted by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on
the economic importance of the arts in the New York metropolitan region, and the
studies leading up to the 1988 publication of The Economic Importance of the Arts in
Britain1—are just two of hundreds of economic impact studies undertaken with varying
degrees of methodological care.
The most common approaches used in such research consider the arts from one of
three perspectives: as a local industry, as a means of bringing money to the commu-
nity, and as a complement to economic development and community revitalization. In
the first approach, the arts are viewed as a business, and the goal of the research is to
discover how big a business it is. The earliest economic impact studies focused on the
size of the arts sector—measured in employment, monetary flows, and the like—and
estimated both direct and indirect (secondary) expenditures. In many places, the eco-
nomic scale of the cultural sector is substantial. However, even if a sector is large in
economic terms, does it follow that increased public resources ought to be devoted to
supporting that sector? Using these studies as ammunition, that is the argument that
many arts advocates have tried to make.
A more subtle approach to the assessment of the economic impact of the arts is to
estimate the net amount of money brought into the local economy. This involves
determining which visitors are attracted by the arts rather than by other local char-
acteristics, and separating arts expenditures that are made locally from those made
elsewhere. Such studies raise other interesting questions: for example, should local
subsidies be directed to arts activities that attract tourists rather than local audi-
ences? And are these the types of arts and cultural activities that the community
wishes to foster?
When the arts are regarded as complements to economic development, they are
judged by their strategic ability to influence community revitalization. The key ques-
tion is whether an arts project can both succeed on its own terms and, along the way,
contribute to the community’s other economic goals. This approach is much more in
line with the notion of creative cities.
The difficulty with all these approaches, particularly the first two, is that they judge
the arts according to criteria outside their own realm. Advocates who argue that the
arts and culture have value under the rules of economic development have to be
willing to lose by the same rules when another sector with a higher economic impact
comes along and makes a claim on public resources. Sports venues, casinos, and com-
mercial recreation facilities, for example, often claim greater economic returns for
communities than investments in the arts.
1 Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, The Arts as an Industry: Their Economic Importance to the New
York–New Jersey Metropolitan Region (Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the Cultural Assistance
Center, 1983); John Myerscough, The Economic Importance of the Arts in Britain (London: Policy Studies
Institute, 1988).
11255-03_CH03.indd 153 12/23/08 2:55:52 PM

Unlike other forms of local planning, cultural of arts events, projects, and plans that are
planning offers an intrinsic opportunity to in motion in communities across the country
incorporate the hopes and desires of a wide offer a rich stock of accumulated experience
variety of cultural, racial, and ethnic groups. from which to learn.
Collaboration and inclusion seem to happen
much more naturally when the plan to be Notes
developed is overtly cultural in inspiration. 1 Richard Florida, The Rise of the Creative Class and
In many cases, a community cultural assess- How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and
Everyday Life (New York: Basic Books, 2002).
ment has, by itself, engendered a new appre- 2 Hilary Anne Frost-Kumpf, Cultural Districts: The Arts
ciation for the community’s cultural vitality. as a Strategy for Revitalizing Our Cities (Washington,
(Such an assessment, which involves identify- D.C.: Americans for the Arts, 1998), 7.
3 In the literature, this bottom-up approach is referred
ing and cataloging all the cultural offerings, to as “cultural democracy” to distinguish it from the
institutions, facilities, resources, and assets “democratization of culture,” which is focused on
that a community already has, is generally broadening the audience for existing, mainstream
cultural institutions.
the first step in preparing a cultural plan.)
Cities bring different goals and objectives

to the cultural planning process; broadly FOCUS ON
speaking, cultural planning is intended to
meet one or more of the following goals:
• To increase local financial support for
Immigration and
existing arts institutions
• To broaden local arts and culture by
urban development
attracting outside resources
Ayse Pamuk
• To gain consensus on priorities for local
cultural development Cities across the United States—especially
• To incorporate arts and culture into large metropolitan regions with global
physical development objectives significance—are grappling with new chal-
• To promote economic development, lenges stemming from three principal factors:
including tourism development an aging population of long-term residents,
an influx of immigrants from developing
• To validate, strengthen, and promote
countries, and the influence of globalization.
the diverse cultural backgrounds of
The locational preferences of new waves of
the community’s citizens through a
immigrants and the settlement patterns of
grassroots, community-based effort.3
previous waves have profound implications
Despite differences in objectives and for local and regional planning practice.
approach, cultural planning invariably
provides an opportunity to include a wide A short history of U.S. immigration
variety of groups in local planning in a non-
Immigration has long been a central force in
threatening and supportive way. The best
the urbanization and industrialization of the
cultural planning brings together a variety
United States. Since the Civil War, immigra-
of stakeholders, including consumers, plan-
tion has been largely an urban phenomenon.
ning and development specialists, economic
In the late nineteenth century, waves of
development specialists, and representa-
people arrived from Europe—mostly from
tives of the full range of local arts and
Germany, England, Ireland, and Scandinavia,
cultural offerings.
and later from southern and eastern Europe
(including Italy and Poland); most of these
Conclusion immigrants settled in the urban areas of
While the options explored here by no the Midwest and Northeast. In 1910, immi-
means exhaust current practice in the arts grants accounted for 14.7 percent of the U.S.
and urban development, they suggest a population. Immigration declined during the
rich menu of possibilities for local planners. depression of the 1930s, during World War
There is considerable room for creativity in II, and until 1970, after which it rebounded
exploring the links between the arts and cul- dramatically—from 4.7 percent in 1970 to
ture and urban development. The thousands 12.5 percent in 2006.1
11255-03_CH03.indd 154 12/23/08 2:55:52 PM

Figure 3–21 Immigration in the United States declined steadily from 1910 to 1970, after which it rose
dramatically to account for 12.5 percent of the U.S. population.
40
35 number of immigrants (in millions)
percent of total US population
30
25
20
13.6 14.7
15 13.2 12.5
11.6 11.1
8.8 7.9
10 6.9 6.2
5.4 4.7
5
0
1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2006
Source: Campbell J. Gibson and Emily Lennon, “Historical Census Statistics on the Foreign-born Population of the
United States: 1850–1990,” U.S. Census Bureau (working paper, Population Division, U.S. Bureau of the Census,
February 1999), census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0029/twps0029.html, table 1; American Community
Survey, 2006.
Immigrants are foreign-born residents who the immigrants in the United States were
have permanently settled in the United States refugees who arrived since the passage of
either legally or illegally. The definition of the Refugee Act of 1980. From 1983 through
an immigrant varies across different data 2004, the largest percentage of refugees
sources. For example, the U.S. Department of came from the republics of the former Soviet
Homeland Security’s Office of Immigration Union, followed by Vietnam and Yugoslavia.6
Statistics reports data on legal immigrants but
not on illegal aliens. The U.S. Census Bureau,
on the other hand, counts all persons who are In 2005, immigrants accounted for
foreign-born regardless of their legal status.2 12.4 percent of the total U.S. population—
According to Census Bureau data, in 2000, the highest percentage in eight decades.
the 31.1 million legal and illegal immigrants in
the nation represented about 11.1 percent of
the total U.S. population. A significant portion Federal policy fundamentally shapes the
of the foreign-born population (29.5 percent) makeup of the nation’s immigrant popula-
came from Mexico, followed by China, Hong tion. As is the case for any country expe-
Kong, and Taiwan combined (4.9 percent).3
riencing large flows of immigration, the
The bureau’s American Community Survey
question of who will be admitted into the
data show that in 2005, there were 35.7 mil-
United States has been the subject of much
lion immigrants, accounting for 12.4 percent
controversy. The Chinese Exclusion Act of
of the total U.S. population—the highest per-
1882, which remained in effect for the next
centage in eight decades.
sixty years, was the first to bar immigrants
The growth in illegal or undocumented on the basis of national origin. In 1965,
immigrants in particular has captured the the Hart-Cellar Immigration Act reduced
attention of policy makers. Using data from barriers to immigration that dated from
the 2005 Census Bureau Current Population the 1920s; influenced by the civil rights
Survey and other sources, Jeffrey Passel movement of the 1960s, the act abolished
estimated that there were 11.5 to 12.0 million quotas on countries of origin (which had
unauthorized migrants living in the United been designed to favor Europeans), gave
States in 2005,4 accounting for 30 percent preference to families that were attempting
of the foreign-born population, and most of to reunite and to immigrants who possessed
them (56 percent) were from Mexico. The skills that were scarce and desirable, and
balance of the foreign-born population was increased the numbers of immigrants who
made up of permanent legal residents could be admitted. Since then, the number
(28 percent) and U.S. citizens by natural- of immigrants coming to the United States—
ization (31 percent).5 Nearly 2 million of particularly from Mexico and Asia—has
11255-03_CH03.indd 155 12/23/08 2:55:53 PM

risen sharply, as has the number of illegal (3.2 million), New Jersey (1.7 million), and
immigrants, especially from Mexico. Many of Illinois (1.7 million). Between 2000 and 2005,
the Mexican migrants continue to use social the net growth of the immigrant population
networks that were established during the was significant in states with little history of
Bracero program, a World War II–era initia- immigration, including Tennessee (77,512),
tive, abolished in 1964, that was designed to Nevada (96,705), North Carolina (130,753),
alleviate shortages in the U.S. agricultural Arizona (187,113), and Georgia (218,146)10
sector. The 1986 Immigration Reform and
Immigration continues to fuel urban growth.
Control Act gave special emphasis to con-
During the 1990s, for example, New York
trolling unauthorized flows.
would have lost population had it not been
for immigration.11 In other cases, immigrants—
Where immigrants settle in particular, skilled professionals who are in
In addition to gravitating to cities, newly short supply—are making up for lost popula-
arrived immigrants tend to cluster in tion in rural areas. In emerging immigrant
specific places. The Mexico-born popula- gateways like Atlanta, foreign-born residents
tion, for example, is concentrated in the are bypassing the central city altogether
greater Los Angeles area; the China-born and locating in the suburbs.
population is in Los Angeles, New York, and
San Francisco; and Cubans are in Miami. Planning for immigration
Self-selection on the part of immigrants, Urban planners need to become familiar
coupled with legislation that supports with the characteristics of immigrant popu-
family reunification, has produced eth- lations and the geographic distribution of
nic enclaves—not only the Chinatowns of immigrants within a community. Data on
New York and San Francisco and Miami’s foreign-born residents are available at the
Little Havana, but also the concentration census-tract level and can be analyzed
of Somali refugees in Lewiston, Maine. In using geographic information system (GIS)
2007, 65.5 percent of all legal permanent software. Figure 3–22, for example, shows
residents in the United States were family the results of a GIS analysis of immigrant
sponsored.7 Other concentrations, such as populations in the nine-county San Fran-
of Hmong in Minneapolis and Cambodians cisco Bay Area. Spatial analysis of 2000
in Lowell, Massachusetts, are the result of decennial census data using GIS at the
U.S. refugee resettlement programs. Geo- census-tract level reveals affluent immi-
graphic clustering of immigrants is seen grants from China concentrated in San
in Europe as well, where the foreign-born Francisco’s Sunset neighborhood, and
population makes up sizable shares of the immigrants from Southeast Asia clustered
total populations in such major cities as in areas of concentrated poverty. Further
Amsterdam, Paris, and Stockholm.8 analysis of census data in three major U.S.
Audrey Singer at the Brookings Institution metropolitan areas (Los Angeles, New York,
has developed a helpful typology of U.S. and San Francisco) shows distinct clus-
metropolitan areas with concentrations of ters of Philippines-born, Mexico-born, and
immigrant populations:9 China-born immigrants.12
• Former gateway regions (e.g., Baltimore, Planning for urban development will depend
Cleveland, Philadelphia) on the size, income level, composition, and
• Continuous gateway regions (e.g., Chicago, needs of a given immigrant population.
New York, San Francisco) An analysis of 1990 and 2000 census data
shows that immigrants are now an impor-
• Post–World War II gateway regions
tant presence in the suburbs of many metro-
(e.g., Los Angeles, Miami, San Diego)
politan areas, particularly post–World War II
• Emerging gateway regions (e.g., Atlanta, and emerging gateways. Immigration to sub-
Dallas, Fort Worth, Washington, D.C.).
urban areas is accelerating in metropolitan
A majority of immigrants are located in just regions with recent and extensive suburban
a few states: California (9.6 million), New development (such as Monterey Park in Los
York (4.2 million), Texas (3.7 million), Florida Angeles). Immigrants from Mexico have also
11255-03_CH03.indd 156 12/23/08 2:55:53 PM

Figure 3–22
Geographic information
systems can be used to
analyze data on foreign-
born residents at the
census-tract level, as
shown on this map of the
San Francisco Bay Area in
2000.
Source: ESRI, copyright ©

2006, all rights reserved/
U.S. Census Bureau
been migrating eastward from California Many immigrants are clustered in metro-
since the 1990s.13 politan areas with severe housing afford-
ability problems. As a result, there is often
There is considerable debate in academic
significant overcrowding (defined by the
and policy circles about the economic
Census Bureau as a dwelling unit occu-
impacts of the immigrant population. Immi-
pied by more than one person per room);
grant workers, who make up 14.7 percent
immigrants commonly live with relatives
of the nation’s total workforce, hold jobs
and friends. In addition, immigrants are
that require a wide range of skills. While
more likely than native-born residents
many high-tech jobs require workers with
to experience discrimination in rental
at least a college degree, the construction,
markets and mortgage lending. Even when
agriculture, and service sectors (especially
immigrant renters are aware of their ten-
retail and hospitality) employ immigrants
ant rights, they may be reluctant to seek
who have little education or specialized
enforcement, choosing instead to endure
skills. The diversity of the types of jobs that
unhealthy living conditions in substandard
immigrants hold, as well as the shifting
housing units.
demographic and socioeconomic character-
istics of the immigrant population, makes In an era of major cutbacks in federal fund-
it difficult to measure the real economic ing, immigrants’ impact on the demand for
impacts of the immigrant population. As a social services—especially those services
result, the political discourse tends to be funded by state and local governments—is
polarized among those highlighting either a major area of public policy concern.
positive or negative impacts of immigrants Localities with a disproportionate number
on the U.S. economy and cities. of immigrants living in poverty (such as
11255-03_CH03.indd 157 12/23/08 2:55:53 PM

Southeast Asian and Mexican immigrants and language skills. Nonprofit organizations
in California’s small cities and rural areas) rooted in ethnic neighborhoods have been
are particularly hard-hit by the fact that effective in taking on housing and com-
the need for social services outstrips munity development projects, and need to
supply. be encouraged. While traditional immigrant
gateway cities often have a strong social
California voters were so concerned about
infrastructure and long experience meeting
the economic burden created by immigrants’
the needs of new arrivals, the new destina-
demands on education and health services
tions where immigrants are now settling,
that they passed two state ballot initiatives
particularly in suburbs and small towns, are
addressing the issue: Proposition 187, passed
less well prepared.
in 1994, which limited illegal immigrants’
access to health and education services, In areas experiencing an influx of highly
and Proposition 227, passed in 1998. These educated professionals, the challenges
initiatives highlighted the significant imbal- for planners include involving the new-
ance between demographics and electoral comers in community organizations and
influence. Latinos make up about 32 percent promoting homeownership without causing
of California’s adult population but only gentrification. At the other end of the
14 percent of its voters. Latino voters also spectrum, cities with shortages of skilled
tend be to younger, less educated, and less labor—”comeback cities” in New England,
well-off than other voters.14 As increasing for example—will need to provide incentives
numbers of long-settled immigrants begin to encourage skilled immigrants to locate
voting, the issues brought to the ballot box there.16
and the outcomes of referendums are likely
Immigrants often hail from communities
to change. California’s relatively mature and
that are more dense than the typical U.S.
long-settled immigrant population repre-
city, and they are frequently accustomed to
sents the vanguard of demographic change
living in transit-oriented places. In develop-
in the United States.15
ing communities, they can be a force for
smart growth, giving impetus to efforts to
increase social contact and the use of public
Areas that are experiencing an influx
transit.
of immigrants will need to strengthen
local institutions to meet the needs of Finally, planners and leaders working in
newly arriving groups that have limited communities that are experiencing rapid
resources and language skills. demographic transformations as a result of
immigration can particularly benefit from
an infusion of globally minded planning
At the local level, the enforcement of land professionals into the local government
use and zoning regulations—which typically workforce. Involving immigrant groups in
restrict garage conversions, parking, and shaping the communities where they live
occupancy of units to prevent overcrowd- and work will require multilingual, multi-
ing—have in some cases become tools to cultural approaches to public engagement.
sequester immigrants in certain areas, or The result is well worth it: communities
to keep them out of some communities gain from a diversity of perspectives
entirely. The rapid arrival of immigrants in and skills.
communities with no prior experience with
immigration has fueled “not-in-my-back-
Notes
yard” sentiments among long-term native
1 Campbell J. Gibson and Emily Lennon, “Historical
homeowners. Census Statistics on the Foreign-born Population of
the United States: 1850–1990” (working paper, Popu-
Local planning for immigration requires a
lation Division, U.S. Bureau of the Census, February
solid understanding of immigration flows in 1999), census.gov/population/www/documentation/
the nation. Areas that are experiencing an twps0029/twps0029.html, table 1 (accessed June 25,
2008); American Community Survey, 2006.
influx of immigrants will need to strengthen
2 In its long-form questionnaire, the decennial census
local institutions to meet the needs of newly identifies persons who are foreign-born based on a
arriving groups that have limited resources 1 in 6 sample down to the block level (SF3 file).
11255-03_CH03.indd 158 12/23/08 2:55:54 PM

According to the Census Bureau, foreign-born per- FOCUS ON

sons are those living in the United States who
are not citizens at birth. This includes persons who
are naturalized Americans; legal permanent residents
(green card holders); illegal aliens; and people living
Gentrification
in the United States on long-term visas, such as
student visas and guest-worker visas. Lance Freeman
3 Author’s retrieval and analysis of data come from
the U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 Census of Population
and Housing, Variable PCT19, “Place of Birth for the Gentrification occurs when relatively old, poor,
Foreign-born Population” (July 2007), census.gov/ and sometimes underused central-city neigh-
prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf (accessed July 6, 2008). borhoods experience an influx of more afflu-
4 Jeffrey S. Passel, The Size and Characteristics of
the Unauthorized Migrant Population in the U.S.: ent residents and investment, accompanied
Estimates based on the March 2005 Current Popula- by improvements in the housing stock and
tion Survey (Washington, D.C.: Pew Hispanic Center, the establishment of more upscale commer-
March 7, 2006), pewhispanic.org/files/reports/61.pdf
(accessed July 6, 2008). cial outlets. This generic definition, however,
5 Ibid. masks the intense emotions that often accom-
6 Audrey Singer and Jill H. Wilson, “From ‘There’ pany this type of neighborhood change.
to ‘Here’: Refugee Resettlement in Metropolitan
America” (Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institu- After five decades of inner-city decline in
tion, September 2006), brookings.edu/reports/
2006/09demographics_singer.aspx (accessed the post–World War II era, when many cen-
July 6, 2008). tral cities were hollowing out, the economic
7 Kelly Jefferys and Randall Monger, “U.S. Legal revival of the inner city might seem like a
Permanent Residents, 2007,” Annual Flow Report
(Washington, D.C.: Office of Immigration Statistics, welcome development. Gentrification can
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, March 2008), bring benefits, but it is also often accompa-
dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/ nied by wrenching shifts in affordability and
LPR_FR_2007.pdf (accessed July 6, 2008).
8 Ayse Pamuk, Roger Andersson, and Asa Brama, social character—changes that are often not
“Residential Segregation and Immigrant Cluster- welcomed by longtime residents. Given the
ing Patterns in Europe: Spatial Evidence from Paris, controversy that it often causes, it is impor-
Amsterdam, and Stockholm” (working paper 54,
Institute for Housing and Urban Research, Uppsala tant for planners to anticipate and plan for
University, Sweden, 2007). gentrification.
9 Audrey Singer, The Rise of New Immigrant Gateways,
Living Cities Census Series (Washington, D.C.: Center
on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, The Brookings The causes of gentrification
Institution, February 2004), 1, brookings.edu/urban/
pubs/20040301_gateways.pdf (accessed July 6,
Planning for gentrification assumes an abil-
2008). ity to anticipate it, a task made significantly
10 Author’s retrieval and analysis of data from 2005 easier if we know what causes gentrification in
American Community Survey, Variable B05002,
“Place of Birth by Citizenship Status”; Variable PCT19,
the first place. A number of coincident forces
“Place of Birth for the Foreign-born Population.” are responsible for gentrification. Perhaps
11 The state of New York gained 986,002 people most important are macrolevel changes that
between 1990 and 2000. During the same period, the
have made inner-city living attractive again.
foreign-born population grew by 1,016,272 (author’s
calculations of 1990 and 2000 decennial census data The demographic shift away from married-
from the U.S. Census Bureau). couple households with children toward other
12 Ayse Pamuk, Mapping Global Cities: GIS Methods in types of households, and the fact that young
Urban Analysis (Redlands, Calif.: ESRI Press, 2006).
13 Ivan Light, Deflecting Immigration: Networks, adults are delaying marriage and childbearing,
Markets, and Regulation in Los Angeles (New York: have important implications for urban living
Russell Sage Foundation, 2006). patterns. It is families with children that are
14 Public Policy Institute of California, Just the Facts:
Latino Voters in California (San Francisco: Public
most attracted to the suburban lifestyle and
Policy Institute of California, August 2006), ppic.org/ homogeneous neighborhoods. Single
content/pubs/jtf/JTF_LatinoVotersJTF.pdf (accessed adults and married couples or partners
July 6, 2008).
15 Dowell Myers, Immigrants and Boomers: Forging a
without children, in contrast, tend to find the
New Social Contract for the Future of America (New amenities—museums, cultural venues, restau-
York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2007). rants, and bars—and dynamism of the central
16 Eric S. Belsky and Daniel McCue, Comeback
city more appealing. As this demographic
Cities or New Melting Pots: Explorations into the
Changing Large Cities of New England (Cambridge: shift has picked up steam over the last several
New England Smart Growth Leadership Forum, decades, central-city neighborhoods have
Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Harvard University, become attractive places to live, increasing
October 2006), jchs.harvard.edu/publications/
communitydevelopment/w06-7.pdf (accessed the demand for housing in some formerly
July 6, 2008). forlorn areas.
11255-03_CH03.indd 159 12/23/08 2:55:54 PM

The shift away from mass production and affluent during the early decades of the
toward a postindustrial economy is also twentieth century. Old Town Alexandria in
changing the landscape of central cities. Northern Virginia is another example.
Mass-production industries largely left central
Planners should also recognize that major
cities in search of cheaper labor and land, and
redevelopment initiatives can spur gentri-
were replaced by specialty industries (e.g.,
fication. For example, even though crime,
designer clothing production) and high-end
brownfields, or a lack of accessibility may
service industries (e.g., investment banking in
deter an otherwise desirable neighborhood
New York or political lobbying in Washington,
from gentrifying, a new metro stop or new
D.C.). These postindustrial sectors thrive on
cultural center can often be the trigger that
face-to-face contact, tend to blur the lines
tips a neighborhood toward gentrification.
between work and socializing, and make
downtowns attractive to highly educated Using their understanding of the conditions
employees. Finally, advances in telecommuni- that produce gentrification, planners should
cations and transportation, while diminishing be able to anticipate the potential of various
the importance of location, have paradoxically neighborhoods to attract affluent residents.
increased the importance of place for a few Given planners’ limited ability to predict the
select “superstar” cities such as Boston, New vagaries of local housing markets, however,
York, and San Francisco—places that offer it would be wise to think about the possible
amenities not found elsewhere. The same ramifications of gentrification even in met-
phenomenon has also fueled the growth of ropolitan areas where gentrification would
housing in or near downtown in a second seem to be a long way off.
tier of cities, including Chicago, Columbus,
Denver, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Washington. The effects of gentrification
The result has been a growing demand for The controversy surrounding gentrification
housing in central areas in general, including stems, in large part, from the fact that it
relatively poor close-in neighborhoods, creat- affects different people in drastically dif-
ing the potential for gentrification. ferent ways. Property owners, particularly
those who bought when the neighborhood
was in decline, stand to reap enormous prof-
Advances in telecommunications and its from gentrification. While some of these
transportation, while diminishing the property owners were already affluent,
importance of location, have paradoxically others may be barely making ends meet,
increased the importance of place for a having scratched together savings to
few select “superstar” cities. purchase their homes when the neighbor-
hood was still affordable. For this group,
gentrification represents the culmination
What distinguishes the neighborhoods that
of the American dream, although realizing
become havens for affluent young profes-
that dream may mean selling their property
sionals and magnets for outside investment
and using the gains to relocate to another
from those that remain poor? Neighborhood
neighborhood. Municipal coffers typically
traits, such as proximity to downtown, make
also stand to benefit from gentrifica-
some neighborhoods especially suscep-
tion, which increases property values and
tible to gentrification. Neighborhoods with
thereby increases property taxes. However,
good transit and transportation access are
as increasing property values drive up taxes,
desirable for obvious reasons. Many older
longtime residents may be unable to afford
neighborhoods, while currently occupied by
the additional taxes on their homes.
poor residents, were originally built for the
affluent and have very appealing archi- There is also the potential for poorer long-
tecture, despite their decline over the last time residents to benefit from having more
half-century. The Harlem neighborhood of affluent neighbors. Mixed-income neighbor-
New York City is an example of a formerly hoods have been a central tenet of afford-
exclusive neighborhood that experienced able housing policy in recent years, a view
disinvestment and is now undergoing that is based on the notion that the poor
gentrification—in part because of the stock may benefit when their neighbors bring
of luxurious brownstones built for the social and economic stability to a declin-
11255-03_CH03.indd 160 12/23/08 2:55:55 PM

ing neighborhood and serve as bridges to income neighborhoods. But stabilizing the
greater resources. The evidence supporting supply of affordable housing and dampening
this contention is decidedly mixed.1 How- the threat of displacement are prerequisites
ever, more affluent residents do tend to for creating enduring mixed-income neigh-
bring better amenities, and their purchas- borhoods. The cynicism so often expressed
ing power tends to attract a broader range by longtime residents of gentrifying neigh-
of commercial services, an unequivocal borhoods also threatens to undermine the
benefit for longtime residents of gentrify- sense of community that is important for
ing neighborhoods, whether rich or poor. any healthy neighborhood. The following
Gentrifiers also typically wield more power sections outline some specific steps that
and can command better public services. planners can take to address gentrification.
Particularly for renters, escalating housing
Plan ahead
prices and the threat of displacement are
serious concerns. While there is substantial Predicting the exact onset of gentrification
scholarly debate about the magnitude of the can be difficult. By the time planners real-
displacement problem, with some scholars ize that gentrification is under way, it may
suggesting that displacement is relatively be too late to remedy some of its harmful
rare, even in gentrifying neighborhoods,2 consequences. Thus, before gentrification
the experience of being threatened by dis- gets under way, it is important to consider
placement is a harrowing one, particularly mechanisms that will dampen its negative
for those with few other housing options. consequences while preserving its benefits.
Moreover, there is a consensus that gentrifi-
cation increases housing prices and thereby Target affordable housing
reduces the stock of affordable housing— Most project-based affordable housing
an effect that is especially problematic in programs work best where land is cheap,
cities where housing is already very expen- but in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods,
sive. Thus, for anyone with limited means, land is rarely affordable. Thus, only a few
gentrification can pose a threat to housing affordable-housing programs are suited to
opportunities. the specific challenges posed by gentrifica-
tion. One program that can work in a hot
The negative consequences of gentrifica-
housing market is mandatory or voluntary
tion extend beyond housing affordability. inclusionary zoning: in the first case, devel-
Gentrification changes the social status of a opers are required to set aside a portion of
neighborhood, and often alters social norms all new development for affordable housing;
and expectations. Research in two New York in the second, a developer who includes
City neighborhoods undergoing gentrifica- affordable housing in a project receives a
tion found that activities that longtime density bonus for doing so. When demand is
residents had engaged in—such as hang- soaring because of gentrification, develop-
ing out on the corner or having cookouts ers are better positioned to absorb the costs
in the park—were no longer accepted with associated with providing affordable hous-
the arrival of more affluent neighbors.3 ing. In addition, where density bonuses are
This shift created an enormous amount of used, the ability to make additional profit
resentment among longtime residents, and (by building more units) will be particularly
a palpable feeling that the changes that had attractive in a gentrifying neighborhood,
come to the neighborhood were specifically where it is often difficult to acquire sites.
for the benefit of outsiders. To the extent
that the voices of longtime residents are not Many cities have affordable-housing trust
funds, or use federal Community Develop-
taken into account during the gentrification
ment Block Grant, HOME, or Low-Income
process, this cynical view is correct.
Housing Tax Credit funds to build afford-
able housing. Localities have considerable
Planning for gentrification leeway in their use of these resources and
Rising property values can benefit longtime can channel them to neighborhoods where
property owners and the local treasury, housing prices are rising rapidly and the
and an influx of relatively affluent residents stock of affordable housing is threatened.
represents an opportunity to create mixed- Proactive communities will have the
11255-03_CH03.indd 161 12/23/08 2:55:55 PM

Figure 3–23 Careful

economic planning helped
revitalize Barracks Row
in Washington, D.C.,
but not at the expense
of older businesses and
longtime residents.
Source: EPA
necessary resources to address the afford- When the interests of a neighborhood seem at
able housing issues that inevitably accom- variance with broader, citywide goals, it may
pany gentrification. be difficult for local government planners to
directly engage in community mobilization.
Tax increment financing (TIF), which
Planners who work as community organizers
is typically used to fund infrastructure
or for community-based organizations may
improvements, can also be used to finance
be better positioned to serve as catalysts
affordable housing. In areas where public
for community mobilization. But it is impor-
improvements are expected to generate
tant for any planner seeking to minimize the
additional private investment—and, ulti-
problems of gentrification to understand that
mately, higher property tax revenues—TIF all residents should be given the opportunity
programs set aside a portion of the to influence the trajectory of their neighbor-
increased revenues to pay for the original hoods in a real and significant way.
improvements. In gentrifying neighbor-
hoods, rising property values will increase Gentrification creates substantial change,
property tax revenues, and some of those and few people are neutral about its
revenues can be set aside for affordable impacts. Targeting affordable housing
housing in these same neighborhoods. In efforts and encouraging community mobi-
Texas, for example, TIF legislation requires lization to protect neighborhood interests
one-third of tax increments to be devoted can ameliorate some of the most pressing
to affordable housing. Such an approach problems that arise from gentrification,
can ensure a dedicated source of funds to while allowing communities to capitalize on
address housing affordability in neighbor- the renewed interest in inner-city living.
hoods with rapidly rising prices.
Notes
Mobilize the community 1 Susan J. Popkin, “New Findings on the Benefits and
Limitations of Assisted Housing Mobility” (Washing-
Giving longtime residents a say in what hap- ton, D.C.: Urban Institute, 2008), urban.org/
pens in their neighborhood can go a long publications/901160.html (accessed May 22, 2008).
way toward avoiding cynicism and a feeling 2 Recent research suggests that displacement is
relatively rare, even in gentrifying neighborhoods. See,
of disenfranchisement. To be effective, for example, Lance Freeman, “Displacement or Suc-
community empowerment must go beyond cession? Residential Mobility in Gentrifying Neighbor-
community hearings, which too often are hoods,” Urban Affairs Review 40, no. 4 (2005): 463–491;
Lance Freeman and Frank Braconi, “Gentrification and
called to review plans that are a fait accom- Displacement in New York City,” Journal of the American
pli. Organizing and motivating residents to Planning Association 70, no. 1 (2004): 39–52; and Jacob
accomplish collective goals is one way to L. Vigdor, “Does Gentrification Harm the Poor?”
Brookings-Wharton Papers on Urban Affairs (2002):
ensure that residents have genuine power to 133–173, marealtor.com/content/upload/AssetMgmt/
effect change in their neighborhoods.4 Documents/Gov%20Affairs/QoL/
11255-03_CH03.indd 162 12/23/08 2:55:55 PM

doesgentrificationharmthepoor.pdf (accessed April populations over 200,000, and forty-two had

30, 2008).
3 Lance Freeman, There Goes the ‘Hood (Philadelphia:
populations over 100,000. During the 1990s,
Temple University Press, 2006). the fifty-four boomburbs alone accounted
4 Randy Stoecker, “The CDC Model of Urban Rede- for more than half (52 percent) of the growth
velopment: A Critique and Alternative,” Journal of
Urban Affairs 19, no. 1 (1997): 1–43.
in cities with populations between 100,000
and 400,000. There may be just a few dozen
boomburbs, but they are home to most of the
FOCUS ON growth in those places whose populations are
just below those of the nation’s biggest cities.
Boomburbs Another way to grasp just how big many

boomburbs have become is by comparing
Robert E. Lang their current populations with those of some
better-known traditional cities. Mesa, Arizona,
Boomburbs are cities that have populations which is the most populous boomburb, had
above 100,000 and that, as of 2000, had sus- 396,375 residents in 2000, making it bigger
tained double-digit population growth since than Minneapolis (382,618), Miami (362,470),
1970. Surprisingly, boomburbs are not large, and St. Louis (348,189). Arlington, Texas—
well-known cities, such as Las Vegas and which, with 332,969 people in 2000, was
Phoenix, but are instead incorporated places the third-largest boomburb—fell just behind
located in the nation’s fifty largest metropoli- Pittsburgh (334,536) and just ahead of Cincin-
tan areas (as of the 2000 census); most are in nati (331,285). Even smaller boomburbs such
the suburbs of large Sun Belt cities. In other as Chandler, Arizona, and Henderson, Nevada,
words, the fastest-growing large U.S. cities are with 176,581 and 175,381 residents, respectively,
mostly obscure places with little prominence now surpass older mid-sized cities such as
outside their region (see Figure 3–24). Knoxville, Tennessee (173,890); Providence,
Rhode Island (173,618); and Worcester, Massa-
Magnets for urban growth chusetts (172,648). And they continue to grow.
As of the 2000 census, four boomburbs By 2000, 15 of the 100 largest cities in
had populations over 300,000, eight had the United States were boomburbs. More
Figure 3–24 Of the fifty-four boomburbs identified by the 2000 census, the majority are mostly obscure
cities within the largest metropolitan areas of the Sun Belt.
Bellevue
Salem
Santa Rosa
Fremont Daly City
Sunnyvale
West Valley City
Santa Clarita Naperville
Lancaster Henderson Lakewood
Palmdale Westminster
North Las Vegas
Simi Valley Aurora
Thousand Oaks
Oxnard Chesapeake
Rancho Cucamonga/Fontana
Fullerton San Bernadino/Ontario
Anaheim
Orange Peoria/Glendale
Santa Ana Chandler
Irvine Gilbert Carrollton
Costa Mesa
Oceanside
Riverside Escondido Scottsdale Plano
Corona Tempe Irving
Moreno Valley Chula Vista Mesa Arlington Garland
Grand Prairie Mesquite
Coral Springs
Pembroke Pines
Clearwater Hialeah
Source: Robert Lang
11255-03_CH03.indd 163 12/23/08 2:55:56 PM

significantly, between 1990 and 2000, fornia, immediately trails St. Louis. Aurora,
among the 100 most populous cities, 14 of Colorado, has overtaken St. Paul, Minnesota.
the 25 fastest-growing places were boom- Finally, Peoria, Arizona, has surged ahead of
burbs—including 5 of the top 10. And, on the its namesake—Peoria, Illinois.
basis of 2006 census estimates, many of the
top boomburbs have jumped ahead of their Boomburbs are the biggest places in America
traditional, and much better known, big-city that remain essentially suburban in nature—
peers. Both Arlington, Texas, and Santa Ana, or that at least look like suburbs. To put the
California, have passed St. Louis, bumping rise of boomburbs in perspective, consider
that city from its ranking among the 50 that only about a quarter of the U.S. popula-
most populous U.S. cities. Anaheim, Cali- tion live in municipalities that have more
Accidental cities
Boomburbs defy easy categorization as traditional suburbs, and many function as

cities despite being auto dependent and spread out. The following are some of the key
findings from research conducted by Robert Lang and Jennifer LeFurgy.1
• Several boomburbs are so diverse that they have some of the highest percentages of
foreign-born populations in the United States, often exceeding those of central cities.
• Housing conditions in some boomburbs are among the most crowded in the United
States: many residences have two or more people to a room.
• Boomburbs have less affordable housing than much of the nation: only about half
the residents living in boomburbs can afford to buy houses in their community, as
opposed to a nationwide average of 58.5 percent.
• Many boomburbs have a “wrong side of the tracks”—or more accurately, a “wrong
side of the freeway.” In Las Vegas, for example, Interstate 15 sets off North Las
Vegas, dividing the city into affluent and distressed halves.
• Boomburbs can be so big that parts of the city are declining while others are still
developing. The central parts of Chandler, Arizona, for example, are badly in need of
redevelopment, but developers are rushing to build in open desert annexed by the city.
• Many, if not most, boomburbs are approaching build-out: by 2020, more than half
will be built out. Most boomburbs know in what year they will run out of land, and
what the population will be when that happens.
• Many boomburbs are planning light-rail projects; some, like Tempe and Mesa, Ari-
zona; Lakewood, Colorado; and Mesquite, Texas, already have them under develop-
ment. Interest in light rail stems from two sources: the growing realization that the
future may lie in growing up, not growing out, and recognition of the development
potential associated with light rail.
• Only three boomburbs contain large clusters of suburban office development. But
boomburbs collectively contain plenty of office space in “edgeless” cities, or may
contain scattered developments that never coalesce into edge cities.2 Many of the
nation’s leading high-tech firms can be found in boomburbs.
• A dozen boomburbs have more jobs than households, and in about two-thirds, jobs
and housing are nearly in balance.
Boomburbs are inventive places that have devised a number of strategies to adapt
small-town governments to the realities of big cities. In many cases, privatization
relieves the burden on both public finance and management.
1 Robert E. Lang and Jennifer B. LeFurgy, Boomburbs: The Rise of America’s Accidental Cities (Washington,
D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2007).
2 Robert E. Lang, Edgeless Cities: Exploring the Elusive Metropolis (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution
Press, 2003).
11255-03_CH03.indd 164 12/23/08 2:55:56 PM

than 100,000 people. In fact, the fraction of the United States should add at least
the U.S. population living in cities of this size 30 million new residents each decade until
or above actually peaked in 1930. Boomburbs 2050—a greater population increase in
remain among the few large-scale urban terms of absolute growth than the estimate
places left that are actually booming. for China. Whether these people will want
to live in current and future boomburbs,
Where are the boomburbs? however, is harder to estimate.
While boomburbs may be found throughout Several dozen new boomburbs could form
the nation, they occur mostly in the West, in by the mid-twenty-first century. Some of
a belt of metropolitan areas stretching from these places are as yet unoccupied and
Texas to the Pacific. The West maintains unnamed, but are part of big projects such
large incorporated places for several rea- as Superstition Vistas, east of Phoenix. At
sons. First, the metropolitan West is home the same time, many of the places now
to enormous master-planned communities designated as boomburbs will drop below
that are usually located within a single town. double-digit growth rates between censuses.
These communities gobble up unincorpo- On the basis of current estimates, there
rated land as they grow. The land and its should be about seventy-five places that
new residents are added to the municipali- qualify as boomburbs by 2030—up from
ties, turning what were once small towns fifty-four in 2000.
into boomburbs.
Western water districts also play a role in
fostering boomburbs. The West is mostly FOCUS ON
dry, and places that want to grow must orga-
nize to access water. Because larger incor-
porated places are better positioned to grab
Top ten planning
a share of water supply, fragmented suburbs
have an incentive to join large incorporated
ideas
cities. Finally, the local revenue system in
many Western states relies on municipal-
Peter Hall
level sales taxes, so the incentive to incor-
porate land and promote retail development Ten is a convenient but arbitrary number.
on it has produced “sales tax canyons” in The ideas below have come from my reading
places such as Southern California. and observation of what is happening in the
world’s most exciting cities today. They don’t
The future of boomburbs always sit comfortably together: indeed,
Predicting the fate of the boomburbs is in some cases they may appear to suggest
somewhat difficult because of uncertainties contrary directions for policy. But handling
about demographics, land use, and resources: complexity—and developing something bril-
for example, immigration may decline, natural liant out of it—is what good planning is all
and regulatory barriers may limit the amount about.
of new land that is available for metropolitan
expansion, and limited water supplies in the Encourage creativity
West may be further diminished by global As Charles Landry explains in his book The
warming. Add to these predictions the fact Art of City Making, a cultural regeneration
that the world is nearing peak oil output, and policy means more than merely encourag-
all bets seem to be off. Further, there is some ing cultural and creative venues and events:
evidence of growing consumer preferences taking creativity seriously means develop-
for more traditional housing types and urban ing a completely new approach to managing
places. In sum, the era of the boomburb—and,
a city.1 Perhaps the most unambiguously
in a larger sense, the expansionist suburban
creative city of all is Curitiba, Brazil, where
era—may soon draw to a close.
new ideas permeate every area of city
Yet for every no-growth scenario, there are life. Curitiba specializes in what former
also high-growth ones. The U.S. popula- mayor Jaime Lerner referred to as “urban
tion remains positioned to keep expanding. acupuncture,” or what Landry defines
Based on current demographic structure, as “identifying pinpointed interventions
11255-03_CH03.indd 165 12/23/08 2:55:56 PM

that by being accomplished quickly can be What, if anything, do such rankings imply
catalytic by releasing energy and creat- for economic performance and, in particular,
ing a positive ripple effect.”2 The city came creativity? Richard Florida argues that in the
up with a range of smart incentives—from United States, a creative class—numbering
providing free food to poor families who col- 38.3 million, or roughly 30 percent of the
lect material for recycling, to tax breaks for workforce—has become a major factor of
developers who include green areas in their location in its own right: members of this
projects. group choose congenial locations in which
to live, and new economic growth follows
As has been the case throughout history, a
them to new places like the Bay Area in Cali-
diverse population is critical for urban cre-
fornia, Austin (Texas), and Seattle.5 Mem-
ativity: cities need an influx of outsiders to
bers of the creative class do not seek “the
bring in new ideas, products, and services.
physical attractions that most cities focus
So one key to the creative city is investment
on building—sports stadiums, freeways,
in education in order to encourage an inflow
of smart young people. urban malls and tourism-and-entertainment
districts that resemble theme parks—[which]
Policies need to focus more on the quali- are irrelevant, insufficient or actually unat-
ties of the urban experience than on purely tractive to many Creative Class people,”
physical solutions. Once this starts to hap- but “abundant high-quality amenities and
pen, “the agglomeration of resources, talent experiences, an openness to diversity of all
and power accelerates and reaches a critical kinds, and above all else the opportunities to
mass”3—which explains why the world’s validate their identities as creative people.”6
great cities continue to maintain their posi-
tions as creative places, as well as why it is My historically based study of six “cre-
so difficult for new entrants to compete. ative cities”—Athens in the fifth century BC,
Renaissance Florence, Shakespearean
Build quality of life London, Vienna in the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries, Paris between 1870
When it comes to attracting the kinds of
and 1910, and Berlin in the 1920s—reached
high-level workers who are critical in driving
an entirely different set of conclusions.7 The
and serving economic development, how
first three of these cities became cultur-
important are cities’ physical attributes and
ally creative long before they proved very
“quality of place”—their cultural and residen-
adept either at technological advancement
tial environments, and lifestyle advantages?
What it takes to attract different people or at managing themselves effectively. All
(young singles, families with children, empty enjoyed golden ages even while the majority
nesters) to different places (established of their citizens labored in abject poverty
global cities; new Sun Belt cities) will vary. and most people lived in conditions of utter
But everyone shares some common values: squalor, at least by today’s standards; some,
that’s why the same cities top international like Renaissance Florence, were positively
polls year after year. dangerous. In fact, urban creativity seemed
to arise out of economic and social tensions,
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) which were expressed and explored by a
periodically ranks 127 cities worldwide for group of artists and patrons who felt them-
quality of life; the criteria include infrastruc- selves to be outside the social mainstream.
ture, degree of personal risk, and availability
of goods and services. In 2007, Vancouver The implication of my findings is not, of
scored at the top, followed by Melbourne, course, that an unpleasant quality of life is
Vienna, Perth, Toronto, Helsinki, Adelaide, a precondition for urban creativity, but that
Calgary, Geneva, Sydney, and Zürich. (contrary to what Landry has argued) a good
Notably, all the cities in the top “liveability” quality of life will not necessarily produce it.
bracket were in highly developed countries The key, therefore, may be to build the qual-
with high levels of gross domestic product ity of life that citizens in any affluent society
per capita. Also, all were medium-sized cit- will demand as their right, while maintaining
ies, ranging in size from 0.5 million (Geneva) sufficient variety and vigor—and even
to 4.9 million (Toronto), with the majority abrasiveness—to attract creative people who
between 1.0 and 2.2 million.4 may not follow cultural norms.
11255-03_CH03.indd 166 12/23/08 2:55:57 PM

Keep and cherish funky Freiburg, in southwest Germany, has

neighborhoods emerged as a model of sustainable urban
development. In 1986, after the Chernobyl
Thomas Hutton’s work on London, San
nuclear disaster in the Soviet Union, it was
Francisco, Vancouver, and Singapore clearly
the first city in Germany to commit to a local
establishes that new creative enterprises
energy conservation policy: it minimizes
tend to start in low-rent premises, in “funky,”
its use of energy, water, and raw materials;
rundown areas close to the buzz of the city
maximizes its use of renewable energy; and
center.8 So the key is to develop policies
promotes research and development of new
that, as far as possible, “freeze” such areas
energy technologies—which has fostered a
of the city—an approach that cities such as
significant new local industry.
Amsterdam and Copenhagen have success-
fully followed but now appear to be reversing. With the motto “Change your transport,
Such policies may be difficult to maintain, change your thinking” (umsteigen, umden-
since the very process of colonization by art- ken), Freiburg has actually reversed the
ists may make such areas attractive—first to apparently inexorable worldwide rise of car
a wave of urban pioneers, then to gentrifiers ownership and car use: between 1976 and
more generally—and thus may lead to political 1996 the percentage of car use declined
pressures to clean up the neighborhood. Suc- from 60 percent to 43 percent.10 Freiburg’s
cess will bring an uptick in real estate values citizens make fewer car trips, and make
that will draw in the big developers, which more use of public transport, than they did
will almost certainly force creative industries in the early 1980s.
and firms out of the area and even out of The increase in ridership has been achieved
business. As Sharon Zukin showed, this was through a two-pronged strategy: tram
the case in the 1970s for New York City’s loft routes provide mobility along the densest,
district.9 Restraining redevelopment in such and therefore most viable, of the corridors
areas is essentially a matter for local plan- that lead outward from the city center, and
ning, but it is also an extremely delicate and buses are used everywhere else. The same
difficult business. model is now being followed in other cities,
including Strasbourg, Freiburg’s French
Develop carbon-neutral cities neighbor across the Rhine.
In their efforts to become carbon neutral,
localities need to exploit state legislation (as Build new transit alternatives
they have in California and Massachusetts); Cities need to provide alternatives to the pri-
but in some areas, such as housing stan- vate automobile, especially bus rapid transit
dards and transit access, local jurisdictions and experimental modes (e.g., personal rapid
need to go even further. transit and hybrid vehicles). Singapore and
Figure 3–25 To
strengthen public
transportation and
cycling and discourage
private vehicles from
entering the city center,
Freiburg has been
gradually expanding its
tram network since 1972.
Today the network
encompasses several
surrounding municipali-
ties, and many streets
have been transformed
for the exclusive use of
trams, bicycles, and
Source: Michael Taylor pedestrians.
11255-03_CH03.indd 167 12/23/08 2:55:57 PM

Curitiba are widely cited for their integrated rapid transit. Moreover, the densities needed
transport and land use planning, but the to support bus transit are much lower than
technologies are different: Singapore those needed to support light- or heavy-rail
relies on a conventional heavy-rail system, transit, although there is some disagreement
whereas Curitiba achieves similar results about the minimum densities required to
with bus-based transit in high-density, support bus rapid transit.11 Estimates range
mixed-use corridors. Curitiba planned this from 25 to 50 dwelling units per hectare
system in the mid-1970s because it could not (10 to 20 per acre).12 (Even at densities of
afford a rail-based system, but the approach 50 dwelling units per hectare, it is possible
has proven so successful that it has been to provide perfectly adequate family hous-
widely emulated—in Bogotá, Colombia; Quito, ing with private yard space. Much of San
Ecuador, and elsewhere. Francisco, including highly desirable—and
expensive—areas such as Pacific Heights, is
Adelaide, South Australia; Essen, Germany; at such densities.) Although existing tran-
and Leeds and Cambridge, England, have sit or freeway corridors can be retrofitted
developed an alternative technology: buses to accommodate new transit systems, it is
that run on concrete guideways, which give easier and more economical to construct
them the ride characteristics of a train them ahead of development, and to encour-
or light-rail trolley. French cities, includ- age developers to build new transit suburbs
ing Nancy, have successfully implemented around the stops. Mountain View, California,
similar systems using electronically guided where a light-rail terminus meets the Caltrain
vehicles. Other cities, such as Brisbane, commuter line, is a good example.
Ottawa, and Pittsburgh, have developed
transit services using unguided busways; the In the slightly longer run, personal rapid tran-
important feature of these systems is segre- sit (PRT) systems—which can be thought of as
gation from other traffic, which allows buses bus-taxi hybrids—are likely to become viable.
to run at speeds that cannot be attained by America pioneered PRT in Morgantown, West
Virginia, in the 1970s, although it has not
conventional on-street buses.
been widely imitated in this country. There
The most successful bus-based transit sys- are now a number of European systems, how-
tems (1) can achieve carrying capacities ever, including ULTra (Urban Light Transport),
that are at least equal to those of light rail; which will link peripheral parking lots with
(2) achieve very high numbers of bus trips the central terminals at London’s Heathrow
per capita (1.02 per day in Curitiba, higher Airport (see Figure 3–26). Within controlled
than in any other major city); and (3) operate environments—such as an airport, downtown,
at a cost (in terms of dollars per mile) that shopping mall, or leisure complex—such
is much lower than that of highways or rail systems can be both effective and economi-
Figure 3–26 ULTra, an innovative form of personal rapid transit (PRT), offers personal transport with no waiting
and takes passengers nonstop to their chosen destination. It is convenient, inexpensive, reliable, safe, and easy to
use, and because it is electrically powered, overall energy uses, emissions, and noise are significantly reduced.
Source: Advanced Transport Systems Ltd.,

www.atsltd.co.uk
11255-03_CH03.indd 168 12/23/08 2:55:58 PM

cal. They could also be applied in totally new with groups of architects. Situated on a 38-
residential areas, where they could connect hectare site formerly occupied by barracks
residences to park-and-ride garages and to for the French army, Vauban now houses
longer-distance rail- and bus-transit systems. 5,000 people. The project also generated
600 jobs, and has become one of the most
Experiment with new celebrated models of sustainable urban
development methods development. Four of the twenty blocks were
To preserve their vitality, some communities legally occupied and developed by squatters
are experimenting with new approaches to who had occupied the whole area when the
development. In Freiburg, for example, the French moved out in 1992; the city bought
Vauban development was created through an the other sixteen from the German govern-
approach known as community architecture, ment and proceeded to conduct an extraordi-
in which groups of residents work intensively nary experiment in urban regeneration.
Figure 3–27 Architecturally diverse and environmentally friendly, the urban

development in Vauban is a prime example of a sustainable, family-friendly district
that addresses such quality-of-life issues as energy, mobility, community, and
green space.
Source: ADEUPa de BREST
Source: Peter Hall Source: Peter Hall
Source: University College London, Bartlett School of

Source: ADEUPa de BREST Graduate Studies
11255-03_CH03.indd 169 12/23/08 2:55:59 PM

Each block was redeveloped cooperatively in Chapter 5), may work, although the densi-
by a residents’ group (Baugruppe), which ties of many new urbanist schemes are far too
worked with its own team of own architects; low for bus transit.13 European approaches, like
Forum Vauban, an overarching citizens’ that used in Vauban, brilliantly achieve family-
organization, provided general oversight for friendly children’s play spaces in a setting of
the process. Since 1996, the Baugruppen have low-rise apartments. Although such schemes
been responsible for more than 150 separate would represent a major break from American
projects that have generated over 2,000 new tradition, they may prove acceptable to a new
homes, not only in Vauban but in other parts generation of parents who want the advan-
of the city as well—and at significantly lower tages of urban living.
cost than comparable housing elsewhere.
Capture rising land values
Vauban is a low-energy-consumption, low-
emission urban development. All the blocks A major question is how to provide for
are built to a low-energy-consumption the new infrastructure—highways, transit,
standard: one hundred households use only schools, and utilities—that is necessary to
passive heating, while others are served support new urban development. In the
by a combined heat and power station that United Kingdom, where the problem is exac-
burns wood chips; in addition, many have erbated by municipalities’ limited funding
solar collectors or photovoltaic cells. Two powers, a report by Bank of England econo-
in five of all households have agreed to live mist Kate Barker has proposed a new form of
without cars; the others house their vehicles charge—a Planning Gain Supplement, levied
at the edge of the estate. on the grant of planning permission—to com-
pensate the community for gains accrued by
Equally notable, however, are the richness developers.14 Similar mechanisms have been
and variety of the architecture. As in other introduced three times since World War II,
European cities, local planners laid down only to be rescinded by Conservative govern-
a fairly standard building code specifying ments. Under the government’s Sustainable
dimensions for the individual blocks, giving Communities Strategy, another approach
them an overall uniformity that could easily
has been proposed for major growth areas:
have become crushingly boring. But the
specially constituted development agen-
Baugruppen developed individual treat-
cies that would develop Strategic Land and
ments that make the buildings seem almost
Infrastructure Contracts (SLICs), which link
infinitely varied.
the provision of infrastructure to contribu-
tions from developers and landowners. An
Develop family-friendly experiment along these lines has already
urban policies proved successful in the extension of Milton
As cities succeed in attracting young people— Keynes new town in Southeast England
including college students and young urban (where a SLIC has come to be known as a
professionals—back to city-center living, it is “roof tax”). In the United States, a number of
vital to be able to offer an urban alternative local governments have sought to retrieve
to suburban lifestyles when, a few years later a portion of the gains from decisions to up-
in the life cycle, they begin to raise children. zone land. When New York City’s Far West
Family-friendly policies for the middle and Side was rezoned, for example, landowners
outer rings of cities, and especially for urban were required to contribute to the cost of
regeneration areas, will necessarily combine transportation improvements as a condition
physical design with the services (such as of taking advantage of the enhanced devel-
schools and parks) that will attract families. opment rights.
More than one kind of urban design can
meet the needs of families. However, as Develop regional park systems
noted earlier, sustainable designs will need to In a number of areas, eminent domain has
achieve densities that will support adequate been used to simultaneously protect water-
transit service. Transit-oriented new urbanist sheds and create regional parks. The remark-
solutions, as in the plan for Stapleton in Den- able network in the San Francisco Bay Area—a
ver (see “Stapleton’s Public-Private Planning” nearly continuous greenbelt—dates from the
11255-03_CH03.indd 170 12/23/08 2:56:03 PM

Figure 3–28 The park system in East Bay Regional Park District, California, includes wilderness areas;
shorelines; camping sites; places to swim, boat, or fish; and more than 1,000 miles of trails. Some parks are
accessible by public transit.
Source: East Bay Regional Park District
1930s. But it may not be necessary to use their surrounding commuter belts. Each is
eminent domain in every case. An alterna- separated from its nearest neighbor by open
tive is to develop incentive-based growth green space, but all relate functionally when
management strategies, such as transferable it comes to the exchange of people, goods,
development rights. For example, a developer and information. And, at distances greater
may be given zoning and planning approval than 40 miles from London, such places
on condition that a substantially larger area achieve a high degree of self-sufficiency,
is deeded as permanent open space. In the with 80 to 85 percent of residents working
United Kingdom, a second report written locally.16 This pattern has been so success-
by Kate Barker has recommended such an ful that current UK planning policy seeks to
approach.15 extend and intensify it.
Avoid excessive growth Notes

As noted earlier, cities at the top of the 1 Charles Landry, The Art of City Making (London:
EIU’s quality-of-life rankings tend to be Earthscan, 2006).
2 Ibid., 377.
relatively small, or at most medium sized.
3 Ibid., 412.
This suggests that Patrick Abercrombie, in 4 Anon, “Urban Idylls,” Economist.com, April 28 2008,
his historic 1944 plan for Greater London, economist.com/markets/rankings/displaystory
may have had the right idea. Abercrombie .cfm?story_id=11116839 (accessed July 8, 2008).
5 Richard Florida, The Rise of the Creative Class
believed that planners should curb the (New York: Basic Books, 2002), 5–7.
growth of the largest metropolitan cities 6 Ibid., 218.
(especially by means of greenbelts) and 7 Peter Hall, Cities in Civilization: Culture, Technology and
Urban Order (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1998).
divert it into neighboring smaller cities,
8 Thomas A. Hutton, “The New Economy of the Inner
including new towns. In the decades since City,” Cities 21 (2004): 89–108; Thomas A. Hutton,
the Abercrombie Plan, London has grown “Spatiality, Built Form, and Creative Industry Devel-
into a vast, polycentric, megacity region, opment in the Inner City,” Environment and Planning
A 38 (2006): 1819–1841.
stretching up to 100 miles from Central
9 Sharon Zukin, Loft Living: Culture and Capital in
London and consisting of no less than fifty Urban Change (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University
other cities, all small or medium-sized, and Press, 1982).
11255-03_CH03.indd 171 12/23/08 2:56:03 PM

10 City of Freiburg, “Freiburg: Public Transport Policy 13 Chang-Moo Lee and Kun-Hyuck Ahn, “Is Kentlands
as a Key Element of Traffic Displacement,” eaue.de/ Better Than Radburn? The American Garden City and
winuwd/84.htm (accessed July 8, 2008); Felix New Urbanist Paradigms,” Journal of the American
FitzRoy and Ian Smith, “Public Transport Demand in Planning Association 69 (January 2003): 50–71.
Freiburg: Why Did Patronage Double in a Decade?” 14 Kate Barker, Review of Housing Supply: Delivering Stabil-
Transport Policy 5, no. 11 (1998): 163–173. ity: Securing Our Future Housing Needs. Final Report—
11 David Rudlin and Nicholas Falk, Building the 21st Cen- Recommendations (London: Stationery Office, 2004).
tury Home: The Sustainable Urban Neighbourhood 15 Kate Barker, Barker Review of Land Use Planning.
(London: Architectural Press, 1999), 159. Final Report—Recommendations (London: H. M.
12 Richard George Rogers, Towards an Urban Renais- Treasury, 2006).
sance, Final Report of the Urban Task Force (London: 16 Peter Hall and Kathryn Pain, The Polycentric
Spon Press, 1999), 160, urbantaskforce.org/ Metropolis: Learning from Mega-City Regions in
UTF_final_report.pdf (accessed July 8, 2008). Europe (London: Earthscan, 2006).
11255-03_CH03.indd 172 12/23/08 2:56:05 PM

CHAPTER
4
Who Plans?
The Planner’s Role
Planning professionals influence their urban surroundings in
countless ways.
—Eugénie L. Birch and Gary Hack
FOCUS ON
Regional Councils and Metropolitan Planning Organizations /

David C. Soule
These bodies mediate local interests and national and state concerns.
Reforming Chicago’s Regional Planning / Frank Beal

Growing regional identity fuels institutional change.
Regional Transportation and Development in Atlanta / Catherine L. Ross

A regional agency’s effectiveness rests on state support and
a common objective.
A Tale of Two Cities / Con Howe

Differences in the governance of New York City and Los Angeles play
out in the planning arena.
Planners as Private Consultants / Leslie S. Pollock

Private planners lend technical skill and broad experience
to local planning.
Collaborating to Prevent Sprawl / Carey S. Hayo, Frances Chandler-

Marino, and Nancy Roberts
Local governments work with private consultants in one example of
suburban planning.
173
11255-04_CH04.indd 173 12/22/08 2:40:17 PM

FOCUS ON
Consultants Breaking Molds / Christopher B. Leinberger

Planning consulting firms have the resources to pioneer new urban forms.
BIDs Come of Age / Paul R. Levy

Business improvement districts grow into a larger planning role.
Los Angeles’s Grand Avenue Authority / Martha Lampkin Welborne

Joint powers agencies and civic leadership can get large
projects moving.
Richmond’s Neighborhoods in Bloom / George C. Galster

Decentralizing planning within a citywide framework of priorities leads
to economic success.
CDCs and Neighborhood Intervention / Paul C. Brophy

Community development corporations balance citizen
aspirations against market realities.
The University and the City / Anthony Sorrentino

The University of Pennsylvania acts as planner and developer.
174
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175
The planner’s role

Eugénie L. Birch and Gary Hack
In 2008, US News & World Report listed urban planning as one of the nation’s best
careers.1 The magazine portrayed today’s urban planners as helping to shape the
growth and development of neighborhoods, cities, and regions. Acknowledging that
planners have traditionally focused on land use, transportation, housing, downtown
redevelopment, and the environment, US News also noted their more recent roles in
historic preservation, sprawl reduction, and even homeland security. E/The Environ-
mental Magazine seconded this assessment, selecting urban planning as one of the
nation’s ten great “green” occupations.2 E highlighted the role of planners in pro-
moting sustainability through wetlands restoration, storm-water management, and
innovations in transportation and urban design.
The 2008 survey of American Planning Association (APA) members revealed that
two-thirds (67%) of the planners who belong to APA hold government positions; of
those, more than one-third (37%) work in a municipal department and one-fifth work
in a county or regional agency.3 The survey also reported that one-quarter of APA
members are private consultants who serve clients in the public, private, and non-
profit sectors. This survey may underreport the range of positions held by people who
have been trained as planners, since many planners who work in private sector urban
development, who are more broadly involved in public management, or who work in
housing or economic development do not belong to APA. While the 2008 survey does
not report where the respondents are working, the 2006 survey did, and it is likely that
the numbers have not changed dramatically in the two years. Notably, almost half the
APA members who responded to the 2006 survey lived and worked in the South Atlan-
tic and Pacific states; more than one-quarter were in California (13 percent), Florida
(9 percent), and Texas (5 percent) alone. It may be that these areas are attractive to
planners because of their strong regional growth and state-mandated planning.
Public planning
Planning originated in efforts to shape land use; initially, planners focused on the
nation’s burgeoning cities, then later turned to its expanding suburbs. True to its
Progressive-Era beginnings, planning promoted orderly urban growth, fostered regu-
lations to prevent overcrowding, and attempted to eliminate corruption by reforming
city management. The first planners were consultants, hired by local civic groups
to develop improvement plans for ugly industrial cities. Eventually, citizens lobbied
states to authorize municipal planning as a function of local government.
Most states settled on an arrangement that persists to the present: a planning
commission, supported by a planning department, is responsible for a community’s
comprehensive plan, capital budget, and development regulations. Hartford, Con-
necticut, created the first planning commission in 1907, followed by Chicago (1909),
Baltimore (1910), and Detroit (1910). By 1927, 390 U.S. cities in forty-four states had
planning commissions. In addition, Los Angeles and Boston had metropolitan com-
missions with planning powers.
Today, all states allow municipal planning; forty require it, but their rules vary
widely. Fifteen, including California, Florida, and Oregon, not only mandate plan-
ning unconditionally but also specify the required contents of comprehensive plans.
Another twenty-five states require planning when municipalities meet certain condi-
tions, such as electing to have a planning commission. The remaining states make
planning optional. Most suburbs, and all large cities except Houston, have planning
commissions. In addition, county and regional commissions, with functions similar
to those of municipal planning commissions, exist throughout the United States.
Planning commissioners are political appointees, selected by a mayor, city council,
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176 Who Plans?
or some combination depending on local law. They tend to be ordinary citizens;

although many have professional training or experience in the design fields, law,
or real estate, for the most part they are volunteers with limited time to take on
technical tasks.
Planning agencies
Today, most municipalities and counties have staff who are responsible for plan-
ning, ranging from a single planner in a small community to a staff of almost 300
in the New York City Department of City Planning. The responsibilities assigned
to planning departments vary widely, as do the required skills. Some departments
focus on creating and maintaining the comprehensive plan and its accompanying
land use regulations. In recent years, a number of localities have merged urban
redevelopment, housing, and historic preservation into large, multipurpose agencies
that may also be responsible for development permitting. The Boston Redevelop-
ment Authority, for example, has served since 1960 as the city’s combined planning
and development agency, supporting multiple boards and commissions. In Denver,
the Department of Planning and Development is a one-stop agency for all aspects
of development and building, including code administration. In Chicago and Min-
neapolis, the planning departments oversee both planning and economic develop-
ment. The precise configurations and functions of planning agencies are the unique
product of the history and needs of the communities they serve.
One important trend among planning agencies is the devolution of planning
functions to neighborhood-based offices or organizations. New York City’s commu-
nity planning boards, mandated under the 1975 charter revisions, were among the
earliest of such organizations. Los Angeles has delegated planning powers to area
planning commissions since 1999. Many other municipalities and counties have
institutionalized the role of community councils in reviewing or advising on devel-
opment proposals. Various federal, state, and local laws require planners to engage
such volunteer groups in decisions.
Other public agencies involved in planning

Partly because the number of agencies involved in neighborhood development
expanded during the Great Society era as part of federal efforts to promote respon-
siveness and accountability, planners are widely distributed across local govern-
ments and in freestanding regional agencies. State and local governments have
added more agencies to comply with new mandates (e.g., for environmental or
transportation reviews) or to allow for off-budget financing of projects.
Many communities have independent redevelopment authorities (which are
often technically state agencies); housing and community development departments;
housing authorities; economic development departments, authorities, or corpora-
tions; waterfront development entities; and empowerment zone commissions, all of
which generally employ planners. Specific entities may be created for large projects,
particularly those that involve multiple partners. New York, for example, has joint
state and city entities, which it calls urban development corporations, often with the
name of the project attached (e.g., “Lower Manhattan Development Corporation”);
and California has joint powers agencies that also share power among different lev-
els of government. The Los Angeles Grand Avenue Authority is a city-county entity.
Military bases throughout the country have their own redevelopment entities. All
these agencies undertake both planning and implementation, and all require plan-
ners to have finance and project management skills in addition to their analytical
and plan-making skills.
As environmental concerns, including global warming, have ascended in impor-
tance, planners have found their way into a wider array of local government enti-
ties, including environmental protection agencies, conservation commissions, water
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Who Plans? 177
resource agencies, and agencies created to promote sustainability. Planners have also
played lead roles in new regional entities, such as the Georgia Regional Transporta-
tion Authority and Boston’s Metropolitan Sewer and Water Authority, that have been
created to regulate and plan for sound regional development. These agencies take
their place alongside councils of governments, metropolitan planning organizations,
regional transportation authorities, and river basin authorities, all of which have
helped create the framework for regional planning and development for decades. The
large planning departments within powerful regional authorities, such as the Port
Authority of New York and New Jersey, focus on matters well beyond operating func-
tions, serving as important advocates for regional economic development and infra-
structure construction.
Public-private agencies
A growing number of municipalities have created public-private agencies that play
an important role in planning for defined areas. Downtown development organi-
zations, such as San Diego’s Center City Development Corporation, were among
the earliest entities of this type. Typically, these organizations were overseen by a
private board and funded by private contributions matched by public appropria-
tions. Many of these entities eventually evolved into business improvement dis-
tricts (BIDs) supported by taxes or fees, contracts with public and private agencies,
grants, and the services they provide. BIDs are typically responsible for cleaning
and maintaining public streets, parks, and plazas; augmenting security; making
plans for area development; and carrying out capital improvements. In many cities,
they have become the de facto planning agencies for downtowns and other local
commercial districts.
A wide array of other development corporations mix public and private funding.
Because they enjoy freedom from public restrictions on hiring and contracting, these
organizations can often be more nimble in seizing opportunities and assembling
projects. Planners with skills in development and finance lead such organizations.
Community development corporations, which are independent of government but
are often largely supported by government grants, are an important force in promot-
ing and carrying out the transformation of low-income neighborhoods. An emerging
role for planners is in the burgeoning field of land preservation: land trusts, non-
profit entities that bridge the public and private sectors in their land conservation
activities, are among the fastest-growing forms of development organizations.
Anchor institutions
Planners also work with and within anchor institutions (hospitals, universities,
performing art centers, cultural facilities, stadiums), entities that have deep roots
in cities because of their real estate holdings and city-based clientele. They have
become involved in this area because anchors are now central agents of urban
economic development. Notably, in most American cities, the largest nongovern-
mental employers are “eds and meds”—educational and medical institutions. Many
have been scarred by conflicts with neighborhood groups dating back to the urban
renewal era, and have been slow to rise to the challenge of improving the areas
adjacent to their facilities. Moreover, there is often tension between these institutions
and municipal governments, owing to the fact that eds and meds are tax-exempt.
Nevertheless, eds and meds are among the fastest-growing sectors of many urban
economies. As a result, some cities, including Boston and Fort Worth, have added
anchor institution liaisons to their planning staffs to promote active collaboration
among the institutions and municipal government.
Planners have been working in anchor institutions that have taken lead roles in
planning for the districts that surround them; such efforts date back to the 1960s,
when Reginald Isaacs, director of planning and development at Michael Reese
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178 Who Plans?
Hospital, worked with his counterparts at the Illinois Institute of Technology and the
University of Chicago to transform large sections of Chicago’s Southside. More recent
efforts include those of the University of Pennsylvania, Trinity College, and the Uni-
versity of Southern California. In some places, including Cleveland and the Long-
wood area of Boston, institutions have banded together to provide common facilities
and services; create and maintain a logical development plan for their areas; and, in
the case of Cleveland, undertake design review of all projects.
Nonprofit organizations
Nonprofit organizations have played a vital role in planning and advocating civic
improvement for decades. As early as the 1920s, groups such as the New York
Regional Plan Association—a business advocacy group that to this day is one of
the foremost advocates for regional approaches to development—had their own
planning staffs. In the 1930s, the American Society of Planning Officials, a profes-
sional association, hired planners to run its Planning Advisory Service, a substantial
technical assistance operation. Over the years, planners have increasingly worked for
special-interest groups, such as Resources for the Future, the National Environmental
Defense League, and the National Low-Income Housing Coalition. Finally, planners
have moved into research, both in universities and in think tanks such as the RAND
Corporation, the Urban Institute, and the Brookings Institution.
Private consultants
The earliest community plans were prepared by consultants who approached plan-
ning through the lenses of their disciplines—whether architecture, engineering, or
landscape architecture. In the late 1920s, only about three dozen consultants in the
country undertook this type of work, often as add-ons to their main services. Exem-
plary early planners included John Nolen of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Harland
Bartholomew of St. Louis, Missouri, who had extensive planning practices, advising
large and small cities throughout the nation on issues that ranged from zoning, to
neighborhood development, to traffic management.
Consultants continue to offer specialized skills that governments and private
developers call on for assignments that cannot be handled within the organization.
Their expertise includes place making and design, planning large-scale developments,
transportation modeling, environmental assessment, economic and legal analyses,
streetscape design, and citizen engagement. They work in firms that range from small,
locally based, planning-only operations with a handful of employees, to large, multi-
disciplinary offices like EDAW or HNTB, with thousands of professionals worldwide.
In recent years, consultants have been largely responsible for developing and dissemi-
nating new urbanist ideas among developers and communities large and small.
A significant number of planners are employed by law firms to assist in develop-
ment permitting; by engineering firms to guide in planning large infrastructure proj-
ects; and by for-profit developers to plan and coordinate projects. As mixed-income
housing has emerged as an important solution to housing affordability, large private
sector organizations (such as McCormack Barron Salazar, Related Housing, and Bank
of America Community Development) have looked to planning consultants to trans-
late opportunities into viable projects that have benefits for communities.
Planning education and organizations

In the 1950s, waves of suburban expansion created the need for a large number of
planning professionals. Throughout the 1970s, thanks to a growing list of federal
programs (urban redevelopment, environmental protection, economic development,
job training, small-business development, fair housing, and historic preservation
among them), the demand for urban planners soared. Suburbs and cities, and federal
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Who Plans? 179
and state governments, were desperate for planners’ skills. Employment opportuni-
ties opened up in the new federal departments (Transportation, and Housing and
Urban Development), in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and in similar
state and local units. Private sector planning firms also emerged to meet various
federal requirements. In the ensuing decades, the demand for planners continued on
its upward trajectory as small suburbs became cities, as cities expanded their activi-
ties, and as county, state, and federal governments incorporated planning into their
operations.
Universities rushed to supply trained planners, and professional organizations
grew exponentially. In the mid-1970s, there were more than fifty university-based
planning programs; by 2008, there were seventy. In 1945, membership in the Ameri-
can Institute of Planners (AIP), the field’s professional organization, was 240. By the
mid-1970s it was 11,000. Reorganized in 1978 as the APA and the American Institute
of Certified Planners (AICP), the APA now claims more than 40,000 members; the
AICP, whose members must pass an examination, numbers 14,000.
Planners’ expertise has evolved to keep up with changes in the field. Urban
redevelopment demanded skills in development management, public consulta-
tion, and social entrepreneurship. Regional entities managing transportation and
water resources sought planners who not only had technical knowledge but also
understood land regulation and public engagement. Private developers constructing
new towns and large-scale inner-city projects rediscovered the value of planning,
and sought planning professionals who could conceptualize and manage the many
development activities necessary to create a successful project. Planners assumed
advocacy roles as well as operational ones, creating and leading agencies devoted to
affordable housing, transportation efficiency, environmental action, and community
improvement.
Planners can work in a wide variety of places because of the unique skills they
bring to their tasks. Thanks to their training, they can think synoptically; work with
diverse constituencies to develop consensus or reach conclusions; and envision the
future and convey it in words, pictures, and plans.
Planners will face new challenges in the future. Armed with their traditional
expertise in land use, transportation, development regulation, capital budgeting,
urban design, finance, and law, and fortified with new skills, they will confront the
spatial implications of climate change, peak oil supplies, and globalization.
Notes
1 US News & World Report, “Best Careers 2008,” 2 E/The Environmental Magazine, emagazine
usnews.com/features/business/best-careers/ .com/view/?3945 (accessed July 13, 2008).
best-careers-2008.html (accessed July 13, 3 AICP Salary Survey Summary, planning.org/
2008). salary/ (accessed July 14, 2008).
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180 Who Plans?
FOCUS ON grams, including homeland security, disaster

mitigation, and training.
Regional councils In a number of cases, the word planning is

embedded in the names and missions of
and metropolitan regional councils, and in the state enabling
legislation under which the councils oper-
planning ate. Some states—Florida and Oregon in

particular—have empowered regional coun-
cils with responsibilities for development
organizations review and control that extend their reach
into regulation and enforcement.
David C. Soule Regional councils often serve as the “vision-
aries” for their member local governments.
The United States has more than 500 regional
Although they are accountable to local gov-
councils and metropolitan planning organiza-
ernments, regional councils partner with the
tions (MPOs)—state-authorized public sector
federal and state governments, and actively
organizations that provide a broad array of
engage business, civic, academic, philan-
planning, programming, and other services
thropic, and community groups in their plan-
for their constituent local governments.1
ning and service delivery. As a result, they
operate through a creative mix of public,
Regional councils
private, and nonprofit funding.
Regional councils originated in the 1950s
with a few experimental forms of intergov- Metropolitan planning organizations
ernmental cooperation. Of the 540 regional
More than 350 metropolitan planning orga-
councils that now exist in the fifty states
nizations (MPOs), organized under federal
(Figure 4–1), many focus on regional plan-
laws, perform specific transportation plan-
ning, producing long-range plans for physical
ning functions in metropolitan counties and
development, land use, and infrastructure—
multistate regions throughout the United
particularly water, sewer, and transportation.
States (Figure 4–2). More than half (178)
Others provide additional services, such as
operate as part of the regional council that
economic development, workforce develop-
serves the same general area.
ment, environmental planning, services for
the elderly, clearinghouse functions, and Since the 1970s, MPOs have played a vital
technical assistance; some also have state role in transportation planning. Under the
authorization to deliver a variety of pro- Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1962 and its suc-
Figure 4–1 Regional

councils—multiservice
entities with state
and locally defined
boundaries—deliver a
variety of federal, state,
and local programs. Many
of these councils focus
on regional planning.
Source: National
Association of Regional
Councils and the
National Association of
Development Officials
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Who Plans? 181
Figure 4–2 Metropoli-

tan planning organiza-
tions in the United States
and Puerto Rico play a
vital role in transporta-
tion planning.
Source: Federal Highway

Administration
cessors, localities must dedicate 1.25 percent demand management and intelligent trans-
of total funding to MPO-driven transportation portation systems.
planning. Further, as a condition of federal
funding, localities must develop transporta- Note
tion improvement programs (TIPs); MPOs 1 The National Association of Regional Councils
develop the long-range transportation (NARC) Web site, narc.org, offers an introduction to
these organizations and provides links to individual
plans that are linked to the TIPs. One of the councils and MPOs.
purposes of both the long-range plans and
the TIPs is to ensure that metro areas will be
in compliance with the Clean Air Act of 1970
and other environmental conditions. By virtue FOCUS ON
of their TIP-related planning function, MPOs
are responsible for approving the significant
expenditures of federal dollars that are autho-
Reforming Chicago’s
rized by national transportation legislation.
MPOs are purely planning agencies: they do

regional planning
not have the authority to tax or to imple- Frank Beal
ment user fees, although some, such as
SANDAG (San Diego Association of Govern- Metropolitan Chicago has embarked on a
ments), have obtained state authorization to bold new effort to reform its regional plan-
determine bridge tolls and other dedicated ning processes. In 2005, the governor and
transportation revenues. the Illinois General Assembly agreed to com-
bine two fifty-year-old entities—the Chicago
Laws passed since 1990—the lntermodal
Area Transportation Study (CATS) and the
Surface Transportation Equity Act (ISTEA,
Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission
1991); the Transportation Equity Act for the
(NIPC)—to create the Chicago Metropolitan
21st Century (TEA-21, 1998); and the Safe,
Agency for Planning (CMAP).
Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Trans-
portation Equity Act—a Legacy for Users The staff of CATS, which had been the
(SAFETEA-LU, 2005)—have pushed MPOs region’s metropolitan planning organiza-
into new areas. For example, their plans tion (MPO), did not spend most of its time
must demonstrate the interconnectedness planning, but was preoccupied instead by
of surface transportation modes. The laws the transportation improvement program
also provide flexibility in programming, and and other reports that ensured the flow of
support such MPO-sponsored innovations as federal funds. Similarly, NIPC, distracted
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182 Who Plans?
by its ongoing search for budget support • Congestion undermines the economy.
from state and local governments and the • Not everyone has the same access to
MPO, had little time to plan. Nevertheless, good jobs or good schools.
in 2006, after many years of study, NIPC
released a plan, Realizing the Vision: 2040 CMAP’s 15-member board of directors,
Regional Framework Plan.1 Although the appointed by the mayor of Chicago and
plan was strong in the natural resource and the chief executives of the seven surround-
environmental areas, its inability to address ing counties, replaces two former boards
critical transportation issues—which was (54 people) whose members represented
CATS’s job—weakened the work. The two multiple interests but had blurred lines of
agencies gave lip service to integrating their responsibility. The new agency also has
plans but did not do so in practice. a 34-member citizens’ advisory commit-
tee that reflects the area’s diversity and
CMAP is more than the simple fusion of two
was drawn from more than 200 hundred
agencies that had outlived their original
charters. Its mission is to comprehensively applicants.
address land use, transportation, economic A brand-new public agency is not created
development, natural resources, housing, and quickly or easily. For more than a decade,
human services for the entire metropolitan civic groups and citizens’ organizations had
region, which is anticipated to have a popula- been calling for the merger of CATS and
tion of more than 10 million by 2030. With a NIPC, arguing that separating planning from
structure that is based on cross-functional
transportation and land use was not in keep-
management teams, CMAP should be able to
ing with modern practice. They also charged
avoid the “silo effect” that so often handicaps
that current planning processes were
planning efforts. The staff is committed to
opaque and inaccessible to the public. Most
integrative planning that is based on a num-
important, they demonstrated that increas-
ber of premises:
ing congestion, diminishing open space, and
• Transportation shapes land use, and vice a growing mismatch between affordable
versa. housing and jobs were causing a decline in
• Housing prices include commuting costs. the area’s quality of life.
Figure 4–3 Effective

regional planning in the
Chicago region is
challenged by the sheer
number of units of
government. This chart
shows total number of
units of local govern-
ment (municipalities,
general, and special
governments) in five
regions throughout the
country.
Source: U.S. Bureau of the

Census, 1997 Census of
Governments
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Who Plans? 183
Major support for the merger appeared with Plan (Chicago: NIPC, 2006), nipc.org/2040/
2040popularsummary.pdf (accessed April 25, 2008).
publication of the Commercial Club of Chi- 2 Elmer W. Johnson, Chicago Metropolis 2020:
cago’s Chicago Metropolis 2020, a plan for Preparing Metropolitan Chicago for the 21st Century
making the region competitive in the global (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001),
chicagometropolis2020.org/plan.pdf (accessed
economy.2 This influential report argued April 25, 2008).
that the area’s problems were regional, 3 See the Chicago Metropolis 2020 Web site at
but that the authority and money to forge chicagometropolis2020.org/.
solutions were local. In addition to recom-
mending major reforms in education, taxa-
tion, governance, transportation, housing, FOCUS ON
and land use, it called for the creation of a
regional coordinating council, with bonding
and taxing authority, to invest in infrastruc-
Regional
ture and to offer incentives to localities to
act with regional perspectives in mind. transportation
To implement the recommendations made
in the report, the Commercial Club formed and development
Chicago Metropolis 2020, an organization
governed by representatives from organized
labor, educational and religious institutions,
in Atlanta
civic organizations, local government, and Catherine L. Ross
business.3 Chicago Metropolis 2020 quickly
mounted a major publicity and educational Between 1980 and 1999, the Atlanta metro-
campaign, issuing several technical reports, politan area experienced explosive population
editorials, and advertisements. Its leaders growth, accompanied by rapidly expanding
also gave numerous speeches, sponsored commercial and residential development and
focus groups, and built coalitions with tremendous increases in traffic and conges-
faith-based organizations and labor unions. tion. Per capita, Atlantans drive farther per
It helped craft the CMAP legislation and day than residents of most major U.S. cities,
engaged in heavy lobbying for its passage, and traffic congestion is exacerbated by a
overcoming substantial resistance. The Illi-
very limited public transportation system.
nois General Assembly passed the proposed
Other challenges included the rapid consump-
legislation unanimously.
tion of green space (as a result of the continu-
While it is too soon to determine whether ing expansion of the metropolitan region) and
CMAP will make a significant difference in poor regional air quality: under the federal
planning and development in the Chicago Clean Air Act of 1970 (CAA), the level of nitro-
region, its creation has clearly changed the gen oxide in Atlanta was classified as “seri-
attitudes and language of political leaders, ous,” and the conformity lapse that led to the
civic organizations, the press, and business creation of the Georgia Regional Transporta-
leaders. There is now general agreement tion Authority (GRTA) occurred in 1998.
that it is foolish to plan transportation
In January 1998, when Atlanta failed once
systems without simultaneously planning for
again to meet the CAA emissions standards,
land development, that poor planning affects
the federal government limited the use of
a region’s capacity to compete in the new
economy, and that business should therefore federal funding to those projects that did
play a role in the planning process. Most not expand the capacity of the transporta-
important, there is a new recognition that tion system in the city’s thirteen-county
the private and public sectors have a shared metropolitan area. Atlanta responded
destiny in the Chicago region, and that quickly. The Metro Atlanta Chamber of
regional leadership is needed to complement Commerce created the Metropolitan Atlanta
the voices and actions of local governments. Transportation Initiative (MATI), which
issued a report recommending the cre-
Notes ation of a regional authority empowered to
1 Northern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC), address the crisis. Meanwhile, the Georgia
Realizing the Vision: 2040 Regional Framework Conservancy and other organizations filed a
11255-04_CH04.indd 183 12/22/08 2:40:21 PM

184 Who Plans?
lawsuit opposing sixty-one road projects in the transportation plan, developments of

the area; the lawsuit was settled only when regional impact, and major highway projects
the Georgia Department of Transportation or developments that affect the transpor-
agreed to close down forty-four projects tation system in the metro Atlanta area.
until the region had a transportation plan Finally, to carry out its work, GRTA can
that met air-quality standards. In June 1999, receive funding from the Georgia legislature,
the Georgia legislature and Gov. Roy P. the federal government, or the private sec-
Barnes created GRTA, whose powers are tor, and can issue up to $2 billion in guaran-
greater than those of any other transporta- teed or revenue bonds.
tion authority in the country. By March 2000, GRTA, in conjunction with
GRTA is charged with improving air quality the Atlanta Regional Commission, the
and traffic congestion in the metro Atlanta area’s metropolitan planning organization,
area and coordinating land development produced a TIP that brought the Atlanta
throughout the state. It has direct jurisdic- metro area into conformity with the CAA.
tion over transportation and air quality The federal government officially lifted the
in Atlanta’s thirteen metro counties that funding ban on July 25, 2000. In addition to
were in nonattainment, and over any other completing the TIP, GRTA undertook several
areas that may later fall into that category. regional transportation initiatives. These
In addition, the governor may, at his or her included inaugurating the regional express
discretion, delegate to GRTA the authority bus service and the Clayton County transit
to approve the transportation improvement service, developing strategies for measuring
program (TIP) for the region. Within its the effectiveness and efficiency of all trans-
jurisdiction, GRTA can also acquire property portation investments, and undertaking
by eminent domain; control or limit access improvements in the arterial road system
to or from any state or locally controlled in the thirteen-county area. GRTA also led
road; deny noncooperating local govern- state initiatives that involved working with
ments the use of certain state and federal the private sector in redevelopment proj-
funds; plan, design, construct, operate, and ects, such as Atlantic Station; planning for
maintain public transportation systems bus rapid-transit service; and assisting in the
and air-quality-control installations; and, in expansion of transit services throughout the
keeping with U.S. Environmental Protection region to provide alternative travel options.
Agency requirements, exert authority over GRTA’s role and authority are still evolving,
the levels of ozone, carbon monoxide, and and the authority has yet to establish a reli-
particulate matter in nonattainment areas. able source of long-term funding. Currently,
Using its review powers, GRTA can approve, it operates on general revenue funds appro-
disapprove, or demand modifications of priated by the Georgia state legislature.
Figure 4–4 The

Georgia Regional
Transportation Authority
pulled together many
separate entities to find
solutions to Atlanta’s
traffic problems.
Source: Georgia Regional

Transportation Authority
11255-04_CH04.indd 184 12/22/08 2:40:21 PM

Who Plans? 185
FOCUS ON plan”), which must contain at least seven

required “elements” (such as housing, open
A tale of two cities space, and transportation). Decisions that

are not consistent with the comprehensive
plan are easy prey for litigation. Thus, Los
Con Howe Angeles’s planning department is mandated
to prepare and keep up-to-date a comprehen-
If “all politics is local,” the practice of plan- sive plan, and to use that plan as the basis
ning is surely local, varying from city to for more detailed community plans for each
city. But how much does it vary? And what of its community planning areas. New York
are the factors that determine that varia- City has no similar legal planning mandate; in
tion? One way to answer these questions is fact, its zoning code constitutes its de facto
to look at the role of local planning in the “master plan.” In California, the require-
nation’s two largest cities—New York and ment for a comprehensive plan underpins
Los Angeles—and at their respective city Los Angeles’s planning efforts, whereas New
planning departments. Five dimensions can York City’s planning department must try to
be used to illuminate the similarities and squeeze in broader planning studies among
contrasts between agencies charged with competing demands.
planning: mandate, structure, competition
for authority, the planning landscape, and From a planning perspective, Los Angeles
would seem to have the advantage, but the
tools. By considering each of these dimen-
reality is less clear. A cynical observer might
sions, it is often possible to gain a quick
claim that for the past fifty years, while Los
understanding of local planning practice in
Angeles planners were making high-minded
any American city.
plans, the city’s landscape was actually
being shaped by developers and city council
Mandate members—whereas in New York, although
The mandate of a local planning depart- planners could be criticized for lacking the
ment is set, in a legal sense, by state law and formal overall plans that should guide deci-
municipal charter. Under California law, all sion making on projects, they were actually
municipalities must have a current compre- more involved in, and adept at, shaping
hensive plan (referred to as the “general development.
Figure 4–5 The two maps show the community

planning areas in Los Angeles and New York City.
Sources: City of Los Angeles Planning Department and New York City Department of City Planning
11255-04_CH04.indd 185 12/22/08 2:40:22 PM

186 Who Plans?
Structure also the chair of the commission. Under the

A number of the contrasts between planning charter powers granted to the commission, it
in Los Angeles and New York City emanate acts as gatekeeper of land use matters bound
from different governmental structures, and for city council because its disapproval of
from the way that the planning function is many matters is a final decision.
lodged within them. A “strong-mayor” form The part-time, unpaid Los Angeles Plan-
of government, such as has historically been ning Commission consists of nine members,
in place in New York City, can be the ideal all appointed by the mayor; the commis-
structure for planning when the mayor is sioners elect their own chair. Although a
passionate about land use and planning. All commission report on plans and land use
city departments report to the mayor, and matters is required before those matters
their actions are actively coordinated by the are heard by the city council, the commis-
mayor’s office. The city council is large (fifty- sion is generally seen as a step on the way
one members), and thus diffuse, although to consideration by the council rather than
it retains—like all city councils—final say as a gatekeeper or final authority. The Los
over the zoning code. In short, the planning Angeles director of planning has consider-
department’s power flows from the mayor. able legal authority outside the commis-
sion’s authority, including setting standards
Like that of most California cities, Los Ange-
and initiating actions.
les’s governmental structure dates to the
Progressive Era; as a result, the city has a Los Angeles’s new city charter also man-
history of diffuse power (weak mayor, strong dated the creation of area planning com-
council) and a professional bureaucracy missions to serve as appellate bodies for
closely prescribed by a detailed civil service local cases of a specific nature. Each of the
system. This arrangement has led to greater seven area planning commissions has a
departmental independence—and sometimes five-member, mayor-appointed board. The
isolation—and to the domination of home functions of the commissions are akin to
districts by the fifteen members of the city those of New York City’s Board of Standards
council. In planning matters, this often leads and Appeals, but at a scale that is similar
to council members dictating projects in to that of a New York City borough. In cities
their district, with acquiescence by their with vast land areas, the Los Angeles com-
colleagues. A new city charter, adopted by missions could serve as models for sub-area
the electorate in 2000, gave Los Angeles’s jurisdiction over planning cases.
mayor most of the powers characteristic of
those held by the mayor in a strong-mayor Competition for authority
government—and, as the changes sink into
The role of any city’s planning department is
the city’s political and bureaucratic psyche,
also defined by who else has planning author-
the planning structure will more closely
ity in the jurisdiction. In both New York and
resemble that of New York.
Los Angeles, other city agencies—including
transportation, redevelopment, and economic
development entities—undertake planning,
In cities with vast land areas, the
although the extent of such planning efforts
Los Angeles commissions could serve
is determined by the mayor and by the agility
as models for sub-area jurisdiction
of the planning department in dominating the
over planning cases.
planning agenda.
Planning for the major infrastructure of

The two cities’ planning commissions are commerce and transportation is typically in
structurally different. The New York City the hands of entities other than the planning
Planning Commission has thirteen members department. Both New York and Los Angeles
appointed by seven different office holders; have metropolitan transportation authorities
the mayor, however, retains seven of the for the regional bus and rail systems. In New
thirteen appointments, including the chair. York, the economic crown jewels of the port
Commissioners, although they serve only and the airports are governed by a bi-state
part time, receive substantial compensation. port authority that operates outside city
The director of the planning department is government. In Los Angeles, planners have
11255-04_CH04.indd 186 12/22/08 2:40:23 PM

Who Plans? 187
Figure 4–6 The two charts offer a visual contrast between the organization of planning functions in Los Angeles
and New York City.
Los Angeles New York City
Cultural Seven Area Landmarks Board of

City Planning City Planning
Heritage Planning Preservation Standards
Commission Commission
Commission Commissions Committee & Appeals
5 members appointed 9 members appointed 5 members appointed Appointed by mayor 13 members: Appointed by mayor
by mayor by mayor by mayor 7 appointed by mayor
6 appointed by 6 other
elected officials (one each)
Own staff Own staff

Director of
Planning Chair of Planning
Commission/Director
Appointed by mayor
of Department
Appointed by mayor
Department of
City Planning
Department of
City Planning
Source: Con Howe
an advantage: the port and airports are oper- landscapes of New York and Los Angeles
ated by sister city agencies, increasing the seem wildly different in scale and topography.
potential for the city’s planners to exercise In terms of the planning that is required, how-
their influence more directly. ever, they have much in common.
City planning within the government is also For decades, New York City—with the excep-
devolved to the community level, and, to tion of small parts of Staten Island—has been
varying degrees, planning is carried out by largely developed. Growth and change occur
city-sanctioned community entities either in established areas, on sites that have been
in collaboration or in competition with the developed once, or several times, over the city’s
planning department. Since the 1960s, New history. Los Angeles reached this same state in
York City has had a well-organized system of the 1990s, when no large tracts of developable
fifty-nine community boards with charter-man- raw land remained. While greenfield planning
dated responsibilities for conducting public for new communities and the large-scale plat-
hearings and advising the planning depart- ting of raw land continued elsewhere in the
ment and planning commission on land use growing region, planning for undeveloped land
matters; typically, both bodies are heavily influ- was no longer the central issue in Los Angeles.
enced by the community boards. Los Angeles In both cities, the practice of planning today
recently instituted a system of neighborhood involves guiding the evolution of established
councils, which could develop the same level neighborhoods, major economic districts,
of informed influence on planning. However, in and employment centers. While the different
the first years of the neighborhood councils’ geographies still foster distinctions in planning
existence, the rules of their organization were specialties—Los Angeles’s hillside grading and
unstructured, leading to contested elections seismic issues come to mind—the similarities in
and confusion about roles and procedures. planning approach will continue to converge.
The planning landscape Tools

Regardless of mandate, structure, and compe- After almost a century of land use regula-
tition, the practice of local planning will reflect tion in American cities, zoning remains, for
the physical character of the landscape being better or worse, the most powerful tool of
planned. On quick examination, the urban local planning; and no matter how broad
11255-04_CH04.indd 187 12/22/08 2:40:23 PM

188 Who Plans?
its official mission, a planning department have specialized expertise in areas such as
will gravitate to where its power lies. Critics law, real estate development, investing, and
will claim that planning departments, includ- management use their planning training
ing those of New York and Los Angeles, have outside the traditional urban planning fields.
become “zoning or permitting departments”— These roles for private planning consultants
and that, given the limitations on budgets and are not new. Indeed, through the 1920s,
staff, broader planning efforts have atrophied most planners were private sector consul-
in the face of project review responsibilities. tants. It was not until the 1950s that most
Completely intertwined with project reviews local governments began to include plan-
are the environmental reviews required by ners as part of the municipal staff.
state law in California (the California Environ-
mental Quality Act) and New York (the City The roles of planning consultants
Environmental Quality Review Act). While envi- Today’s planning consultants carry out a
ronmental considerations were always a part host of assignments serving clients in the
of good planning practice, these laws formal-
public and private sectors. Working for pub-
ize such reviews, and have created procedural
lic sector clients, they produce many of the
and legal minefields that can consume much
plans and products needed for public action,
of a planning department’s energy.
including comprehensive city, corridor,
The key challenge for planning departments downtown, and neighborhood plans; zoning
in New York and Los Angeles, as in most cities, and subdivision regulations; area redevel-
is not to eschew their zoning and permitting opment plans; and review of land and site
functions, but to make those functions directly plans for specific properties. In many cases,
relevant to the city’s larger goals. Zoning such projects are contracted out to planning
actions and project approvals can be mis- consultants through a public sector request
directed and of little value unless they are con- for proposals (RFP) process.
nected to thoughtful planning. Los Angeles’s
Local governments also retain planning con-
Adaptive Reuse Ordinance, for example, has
sultants to secure access to specialized skills
already created 7,000 housing units in a
or technical knowledge, such as transportation
once-moribund downtown, with another 7,000
modeling, economic analysis, and environmen-
currently being developed. New York’s new
tal assessment. Smaller communities, lacking
Hudson Yards zoning is destined to shape an
staff, hire planning consultants for routine gov-
important area in the city’s economic future.
ernment functions, such as assisting planning
Implemented as zoning actions, these were
commissions with development review.
planning departments’ powerful contributions
to the pattern of city development. Real estate developers and other businesses
employ private planning consultants for a
number of purposes, from preparing land
FOCUS ON use or site development plans to analyzing
required development approvals, conducting
Planners as private fiscal impact or market studies, and deter-

mining the most appropriate land uses and
designs to support development entitlement
consultants applications. Architects and engineers hire
urban planners to prepare land use, site, and
Leslie S. Pollock urban design plans, most often for private
developers. Some attorneys who offer plan-
Many view planning as a public sector activ- ning advice draw on planners to advise on
ity and assume that planning is practiced regulatory controls and development entitle-
as a profession primarily within governments. An increasing number of planners work
ment. But about one-third of all planners directly for businesses, particularly those that
who are members of the American Planning have real estate operations. These planners
Association work in the private sector. Their tend to focus on fulfilling strategic aspects of
employers are planning consulting firms, a business’s mission: identifying sites for new
market analysts, architects, engineers, real stores or projects, securing approvals, and
estate developers, attorneys, and busi- negotiating agreements between landowners
nesses. Other private sector planners who and host communities.
11255-04_CH04.indd 188 12/22/08 2:40:23 PM

Who Plans? 189
Some private planning consultants special- plan development, approval, and implementa-
ize in serving nonprofit community groups. tion. When these activities require the prepa-
They help local development entities deter- ration of specific products that are beyond
mine which physical, economic, or social the capabilities of a local planning depart-
actions are most likely to improve the qual- ment, the public planner may contract with a
ity of life for neighborhood residents. These private planning consultant to produce them.
services require planners who can gather Or a public sector planner may ask a private
and organize community opinions, build con- planning consultant to test the reaction to
sensus on how to address a particular issue, ideas that, if proposed by the planning staff,
and identify the projects and actions that might entail political risk.
need to be undertaken by the community.
Sometimes their efforts result in specific Private versus public planning
planning products; in other cases, planning Private planning consultants have an
consultants help secure commitments from ever-changing client base. Thus, they must
public or private agencies to design and always be on the cutting edge of planning
implement particular projects. expertise and practice. In addition, unlike
the public planner, who concentrates on
Distinctions between private and serving one community, private planning
public planners consultants serve many clients at once.
All planners have the skills required to do Although variety makes life interesting, it
the following: does have its drawbacks.
• Organize and assemble information that Public planners become part of their com-
decision makers need munity and come to know it intimately. They
• Prepare plans that address the concerns of can focus on the problems and challenges of
the local governing body and community one place. This can provide insights that are
planning boards and commissions difficult for a private planning consultant,
• Manage a planning program or process who has much less familiarity with the com-
within a community while responding munity, to acquire. At the same time, public
to the needs of the client, whether the planners may have less understanding of
client is a planning commission, a zoning approaches and solutions beyond their com-
board of appeals or other authority, a munities. As a result, public planners often
private landowner, or a special-interest seek the advice of private planning consul-
group tants to identify the best practices used to
address problems elsewhere.
• Generate ideas for good planning,
advocate those ideas, and serve as the
community’s planning “conscience”
FOCUS ON
• Convey the tenets of good planning to
citizens and to lay members of boards
and commissions
Collaborating to
• Prepare plans that, when implemented,
will meet the goals and vision of a prevent sprawl
community.
Carey S. Hayo, Frances Chandler-Marino,
A key difference between private and public
and Nancy Roberts
sector planners, however, is that private con-
sultants tend to be product oriented, while
Several Florida communities have used
public planners tend to be process oriented.
collaborative, focused planning efforts to
Clients usually retain product-oriented firms
address the complex issues associated
to prepare specific types of plans. Process-
with suburban sprawl. Working with plan-
oriented public sector planners customarily
ning consultants to develop their varied
identify the goals of the community and help
approaches, these communities used the
residents determine how best to meet those
following five strategies:
goals. The public planner also manages the
work of planning commissions; interacts with • Establish a public-private partnership
citizen groups; and builds constituencies for • Respect the regional context
11255-04_CH04.indd 189 12/22/08 2:40:24 PM

190 Who Plans?
• Create a sustainable land use and space and create a connected system of
transportation vision environmental lands. The open areas are
• Prepare financing strategies regulated through an overlay called the
Greenway Resource Management Area,
• Adopt written policies and regulations.
which protects native habitat by requir-
ing that open areas be maintained in their
Establish a public-private partnership
natural condition and managed to sustain or
Even the most thoughtful planning efforts enhance their native function.
stand little chance of influencing develop-
ment if they lack the enthusiastic support of In determining the appropriate locations
the landowners who are affected by the plan, for development and open lands, Sarasota
and of the local government that is respon- County planners recognized the impor-
sible for making land use decisions. Because tance of identifying and understanding key
political processes drive governmental deci- regional features, including environmentally
sions about land development, and because sensitive areas, historic settlement patterns,
the financial success of developments hinges the current transportation network and built
on short-term variables such as continued environment, and area demographic and
housing demand, dependable and sustainable economic characteristics.
land use plans require sound partnerships
between public and private actors. Create a sustainable land use and
transportation vision
For example, to create a long-term vision
for the future of 22,000 acres of primarily Land use decisions affect transportation
agricultural lands referred to as Pasadena needs—and, conversely, the decisions about
Hills, the Pasco County regulating authority the location and design of transportation
established a partnership with the landown- linkages can affect the land use opportuni-
ers. This partnership funded the develop- ties for the properties they serve. When
ment of an area plan that involved in-depth communities fail to address the relationship
collaboration with the community, including a between mobility and land use, sprawl—
series of stakeholder meetings and commu- multilane roadways lined with ribbons of
nity workshops, and a design charrette. Public roadside development—typically results.
and private partners worked jointly to agree Many communities, however, are developing
on the ultimate vision for the area and to draft closely related, context-sensitive land use
the amendment to the comprehensive plan and transportation systems.
that was needed to implement the vision. The Pasadena Hills Vision Plan developed
by Pasco County established a progressive
Respect the regional context vision for this previously agricultural area by
The context in which a plan is created makes requiring all new urban development to be
a difference. (For further exploration of the organized into mixed-use villages, connected
planning context, see “Planning and the by a transportation network that includes
Community Context” in Chapter 2.) Data local roads specifically designed to reinforce
collection and analysis that are limited to the land use vision by including smaller lane
a specific site or study area will not fully widths and on-street parking within the
illuminate the issues, challenges, or oppor- mixed-use centers, and large landscaped
tunities associated with the area. buffers on roadway segments that separate
villages one from another (see Figure 4–7).
Sarasota County, Florida, for example,
looked at the regional context in preparing For Haines City, Florida, one of the pivotal
its Sarasota 2050 Plan.1 Instead of continu- steps in ensuring that an area of potential
ing the practice of “sprawling just a little sprawl would take on a sustainable pattern
at a time”—periodically moving the urban was to institute a shift in transportation
service boundary outward whenever it was plans: instead of going ahead with a typical
necessary to accommodate population suburban roadway (a small number of multi-
growth—the Sarasota 2050 Plan provides an lane arterials, with wide rights-of-ways),
alternative: accommodating future develop- the city opted for a network that respects
ment in compact, mixed-use, pedestrian- and extends its historical roadway grid of
friendly villages so as to preserve open smaller and more numerous two-lane roads.
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Who Plans? 191
Figure 4–7 The

Pasadena Hills Vision
Plan integrates land use
ES Core reserve/
clustered residential and transportation to
Core reserve/
clustered residential Core reserve/ promote long-term
clustered residential
MS ES
mobility; uses smart
Rural
Countryside growth design principles
area
Rural enclave to provide a logical
enclave
HS
ES extension of urban uses
and accommodate
additional growth; and
successfully transitions
Core reserve/
clustered residential ES to existing rural
ES
Town
center
neighborhoods.
Rural
enclave
ES
HS
Core reserve/
clustered residential ES
MS
Source: Pasco County/Pasadena Hills Area Property Owners Group
Prepare financing strategies Adopt written policies and

A financially feasible infrastructure improve- regulations
ment plan is essential to the realization of Development options designed to prevent
any vision. Practical funding solutions for suburban sprawl on specific sites often
such a vision may include the creation of involve planning for larger land areas, under
special districts, community development multiple ownership, that will be developed
districts, or other bonding entities. One over long planning horizons. Regulations,
benefit of addressing financing early, dur- specific implementation guidelines, and
ing the visioning and planning processes, action steps for the future must accurately
is that it allows public entities and private translate the vision plans into clear and
interests to reach consensus on a funding accepted policies for private development,
strategy. even when that development occurs in a
piecemeal fashion.
The Pasadena Hills Vision Plan included a
detailed analysis of alternatives for financ- In 2004, Sarasota County adopted spe-
ing the essential infrastructure for the cific regulations to guide the develop-
urban design and transportation compo- ment process for its village development
nents. Conversion of this agricultural area districts. These regulations included a
into a collection of urban villages required system of land subdivision; a development
numerous off-site and on-site infrastructure approval process; and minimum standards
improvements, as well as a tiered funding for land use, transportation, and design.
mechanism that requires regional improve- In addition, they mandated coordinated,
ments to be funded by the entire plan area mixed-use development; an interconnected
street network designed to balance the
and more localized improvements to be
needs of all users; and specific design
funded by each village or neighborhood.
codes to regulate the character and form
The funding analysis offered governance
of development.
alternatives for the improvements district
and public-private financing partnership ini-
Note
tiatives that included methods to determine
1 See Sarasota County, Florida, Comprehensive Plan,
what entity (public or private) would finance scgov.net/PlanningandDevelopment/CompPlan/
different types of improvements. Sarasota2050.asp (accessed July 8, 2008).
11255-04_CH04.indd 191 12/22/08 2:40:24 PM

192 Who Plans?
FOCUS ON better than any of its competition. Recent

phases of development—including offices,
Consultants retail, and both rental and for-sale housing—

have widened this margin, performing
breaking molds 50 percent better than comparable nearby

developments. Although Reston Town
Center had no rapid-transit service at the
Christopher B. Leinberger time it was constructed, it has become such
a success as a walkable urban place that a
Urban planners are in the business of new Metro line has been proposed that will
leading society into the future—and plan- extend to the center, further enhancing its
ning consulting firms, in partnership with performance.
enlightened clients, have often led the way
In 2007, to gauge how planners assist in
in developing new urban forms. Over the
transforming urban form, I directed an
past half-century, long-established firms
e-mail survey of planners, predominantly
such as Sasaki Associates, RTKL Associates,
consultants, who belong to the Urban Land
and Wallace, Roberts & Todd (WRT), have
Institute. The survey inquired about plan-
helped to plan the redevelopment of count-
ners’ ability to promote walkable urban
less downtowns. Younger firms, such as
development—the alternative to drivable
Duany Plater-Zyberk (DPZ), Calthorpe and
suburban development—and also asked
Associates, Urban Design Associates (UDA)
respondents to anticipate future issues. The
and Moule & Polyzoides, became the leading
responses indicated that the obstacles to
proponents of new urbanism, taking lessons achieving the shift from auto-oriented to
from Renaissance- and Enlightenment-era walkable communities that they deemed
cities in the Old World, and from notable important include
New World developments such as Country
• Zoning codes (60 percent of
Club Plaza in Kansas City and Coral Gables
respondents)
in Florida.
• Financing (45 percent)
Seaside, Florida, the first new urbanist
• The “not-in-my-backyard” opposition
project, sold its first lot in 1986; it was the
(32%).
result of a partnership between Robert
and Daryl Davis, the developers, and DPZ. Key methods of overcoming these chal-
Another remarkable collaboration between lenges that were deemed important were
a client and a planning firm occurred in the • Community design charrettes (60 percent
mid-1980s in suburban Washington, D.C., of respondents)
producing the first mixed-use “lifestyle • Client education (60 percent)
center.” The client was Mobil Land, the
• Lobbying of local officials (50 percent).
development subsidiary of Mobil Oil Com-
pany; the planning firms were Baltimore- The assistance of environmental groups
based RTKL, which had learned retail design was not considered significant in overcom-
from the legendary developer James Rouse, ing these challenges: even though national
and Sasaki; and the location was Reston, environmental groups tend to support walk-
Virginia, an icon of auto-centered suburban able, high-density urban developments, local
development that dated back to the 1960s. environmental groups, even those affiliated
Together, Mobil Land and RTKL transformed with national organizations, tend to oppose
an eighty-acre greenfield site situated them. Interestingly, lack of interest or expe-
at the intersection of Reston Parkway (a rience on the part of developers was also
six-lane arterial) and the Dulles Toll Road not cited as an obstacle. Finally, respondents
(an eight-lane superhighway) into not just indicated that the major issue for the future
another suburban mall, but a genuine town is environmental sustainability, particularly
center for the county. Although Reston Town climate change.
Center opened during the worst real estate Projects like Seaside and Reston Town
downturn since World War II—and initially Center illustrate the leadership role that
hemorrhaged cash—it defied conventional planning consultants have been playing in
wisdom by performing 30 to 40 percent introducing new urban forms and overcom-
11255-04_CH04.indd 192 12/22/08 2:40:27 PM

Who Plans? 193
ing significant obstacles. Many planning and the city of Newport Beach to complete
firms are now applying the same leadership a vision plan for Corona del Mar (see
skills to fostering environmentally sustain- Figure 4–8 on page 194).5
able urban design.
These organizations—in very different markets
and political settings—are all property-owner-
funded business improvement districts (BIDs).
FOCUS ON
Unlike the voluntarily funded merchants’
BIDs come of age associations of past decades, BIDs legally

obligate all properties within their boundaries
to pay a mandatory assessment. While the
Paul R. Levy authority granted to BIDs comes from state
and local laws, their boards and business
In the mid-1980s, the Bryant Park Restora- culture are decidedly private sector. There are
tion Corporation, a property-owner-funded now more than 400 BIDs in the United States
nonprofit corporation led by Daniel Bieder- and another 400 in Canada.
man, engaged the nationally renowned
sociologist William H. Whyte and a landscape
Beyond clean and safe
design firm, Hanna/Olin, to plan and oversee
the transformation of a derelict drug park In large cities, the most visible sign of a BID
behind the New York Public Library into a is the presence of uniformed staff cleaning
flourishing civic space. A few years later, the sidewalks, removing graffiti, or providing
Grand Central Partnership, another property- supplementary safety services. Smaller BIDs
owner-supported group, also led by Bieder- are known for consumer marketing, festivals,
man, funded a master plan for improvements decorative plantings, and traffic-calming initia-
to the public realm in Manhattan’s midtown tives. But a conversation with any of the civic
office district, and then issued bonds—backed entrepreneurs who lead these organizations
by private sector revenues—to implement the will quickly reveal a passion to provide more
streetscape improvements. than innovative custodial services or context-
sensitive highway engineering. Instead, BIDs
And a few years after that, a similar seek nothing less than to make city and town
organization in downtown Philadelphia, centers livable and competitive again. They
the Center City District (CCD), planned engage in urban planning to meet this end.
a comprehensive program of directional
signs, lighting, landscaping, and façade The formation of BIDs
enhancements, all of which were funded
Diverse events have prompted business
through tax-exempt financing issued by the
leaders in cities across North America—and,
CCD and backed only by a tax surcharge
more recently, in Europe, South Africa,
on private property owners.1 Fast-forward
and Australia—to reach into their pockets
another decade: in Houston, an organiza-
to fund BIDs. Fear and opportunity are
tion of downtown property owners, the
powerful motivators. Fear arises when a
Houston Downtown Management District,
new suburban mall opens, when a large
prepared both a new downtown develop-
employer leaves, or when a historic depart-
ment plan and recommendations for new
ment store closes, galvanizing worry about
light-rail transit corridors.2 Today, the
spiraling decline. Fear can also be sparked
Downtown Seattle Association advises
by the realization that no one in govern-
local government on transit, highway, and
ment is prepared to manage the explosion
land use issues;3 in the nation’s capital,
of street vendors or to address the home-
the Downtown D.C. Business Improvement
less encampments in alleyways. Opportu-
District convenes meetings for develop-
nity comes when a new convention center,
ers, property owners, and public planning
concert hall, or sports facility opens, and
agencies, and has formulated three-year
business leaders realize that visitors and
downtown action agendas that set priori-
television crews are coming but that the
ties for development.4 In Newport Beach,
area isn’t “ready for prime time.”
California, the Corona del Mar Business
Improvement District is working with its Such immediate causes for BIDs are part of
own business members, local residents, larger trends shaping metropolitan areas.
11255-04_CH04.indd 193 12/22/08 2:40:27 PM

194 Who Plans?
Figure 4–8 Before implementing its vision plan, the

Corona del Mar BID and city staff worked with CalTrans
to vacate a portion of the Pacific Coast Highway
within the bounds of the Corona del Mar community.
Adoption of the right-of-way gave the city greater
flexibility for making improvements, such as
landscaped medians, light fixtures, and decorative
paving at intersections.
Source: Kathlyn Bowden, City of Newport Beach
Source: Plan view by Ronald Baers, AIA; renderings by

Dan Dannenbrink
Since the 1960s, cities have been losing One need not endorse these trends to
population while regional shopping centers, recognize their drawing power or see that
edge-city office campuses, and theme parks they set the standards that customers now
have proliferated, steadily eroding the pri- expect from a city center. But without a BID,
macy of the city center. These exurban com- a downtown’s diverse owners have neither
petitors are usually “managed places” under a legal means to act in concert nor the
single ownership. Tenants pay for the space sustainable funding required for a response.
they occupy, but they also pay a common- In the highly competitive and mobile post-
area maintenance fee that covers cleaning, industrial economy, quality of life is para-
security, well-designed public spaces, free and mount. Businesses, workers, and tourists
well-lit parking, and a generous advertis- have a wide range of choices, and they will
ing budget. Backed by up-to-date surveys go where the experience, the options, and
on customer preferences and purchasing the amenities are best.
power, management dictates operating hours
and storefront design, controls the mix and
placement of tenants, and designs spaces A focus on competitiveness
to optimize the customer experience. Office Because they are funded by mandatory
campuses offer day care and athletic facili- assessments and must periodically obtain
ties, generous landscaping, and jogging trails. reauthorization from the property owners in
Theme parks provide friendly staff and a level the district, BIDs are customer-focused and
of cleanliness that causes visitors to marvel. driven to stay competitive. This explains why
11255-04_CH04.indd 194 12/22/08 2:40:27 PM

Who Plans? 195
nearly every large district that began with occupy just 3 percent of the city’s land area,
the goal of making the area clean and safe generate 47 percent of all private sector
quickly expanded to include programs that wages earned citywide.
provide storefront and landscaping improve-
Philadelphia’s Center City District (CCD),
ments, initiatives to address homelessness,
formed in 1990, now has a $17.6 million
and strategies for business retention and
operating budget. In 2007, after sixteen
recruitment—and soon moved into local
years of cleaning, security, and marketing
planning.
programs—and more than $46 million in
In the mid-1990s, the Downtown Denver capital investments in streetscape, park,
Partnership redefined its function as “stra- and lighting enhancements—the CCD
tegic place marketing.”6 The partnership released Center City: Planning for Growth,
measured the competitive strengths and 2007–2012, which summarizes three years
weaknesses of the city center in the regional of work with seven planning and design
context and sought to improve not only firms.7 Recognizing that it lacks formal plan-
safety and appearance but also the business ning authority, the CCD released the plan a
mix and cultural offerings. month before a primary election to position
BIDs undertake planning because of local it as a set of recommendations for the
governments’ diminished planning capacity. next mayor. The plan, which includes
In the wake of declining federal support proposals for both fine-grained pedestrian
for planning, many communities have cut enhancements and major highway and
back their planning staffs or have concen- transit investments, focuses largely on the
trated their limited resources where voters, public domain and is representative of the
rather than jobs, are located. In Philadelphia, growing ability of BIDs to act as bridges
for example, only 5 percent of the electorate between public and private interests, and
lives downtown. However, the 7,100 busi- to spur the successful revitalization of the
nesses in the central business district, which nation’s downtowns.
Figure 4–9 The drawing below depicts Center City District’s proposed improvements for a new civic plaza
adjacent to city hall.
Source: The Olin Partnership
11255-04_CH04.indd 195 12/22/08 2:40:30 PM

196 Who Plans?
Notes of the city and county (each of which

1 Center City District, centercityphila.org/ (accessed owned two parcels of the land in question),
July 18, 2008). Broad, together with other civic leaders,
2 Houston Downtown Management District,
established the Grand Avenue Committee,
downtowndistrict.org/Home/ (accessed July 18, 2008).
3 Downtown Seattle Association, downtownseattle.com/ a nonprofit 501(c)3 corporation, and set
(accessed July 18, 2008). about creating a vision for the future of the
4 Downtown D.C. Business Improvement District, downtown’s cultural district. Although there
downtowndc.org/ (accessed July 18, 2008).
5 Corona del Mar Vision Plan, cdmchamber.com/cdm_ was a history of conflict between the city
bid/vision/background.asp (accessed July 18, 2008). and the county—one had recently sued the
6 Downtown Denver Partnership, downtowndenver other, and voluntarily working together on
.com/ (accessed July 18, 2008); the concept of
“strategic place marketing” comes from Philip
a complex development project was not a
Kotler, Donald H. Haider, and Irving Rein, Marketing political priority—the Grand Avenue Commit-
Places: Attracting Investment, Industry, and Tourism tee persuaded the two governmental units
to Cities, States, and Nations (New York: The Free
to collaborate to realize a unique develop-
Press, 1993), 18: “The challenge of place marketing
is to strengthen the capacity of communities and ment opportunity.
regions to adapt to the changing marketplace, seize
opportunities, and sustain their vitality . . . . Strategic Supported by public and private funding,
marketing calls for designing a community to satisfy the committee hired a multidisciplinary
the needs of its key constituencies.” team of architects, planners, engineers,
7 Center City District and the Philadelphia Develop-
ment Corporation, Center City: Planning for Growth, economists, and lawyers to create a concept
2007–2012 (Philadelphia, April 2007), centercityphila plan illustrating development opportuni-
.org/docs/CCD-PLAN07.pdf (accessed July 18, 2008). ties. The team responded with a proposal
for a 3.2-million-square-foot mixed-use
project that included five high-rise buildings
FOCUS ON comprising residential units, a hotel, retail
uses, and possibly office space. The con-
Los Angeles’s Grand cept plan also called for the improvement
of the streetscape along a six-block-long
Avenue Authority area, and the expansion and revitalization

of a sixteen-acre park. The plan described
the economic benefits of the project for the
Martha Lampkin Welborne region, and identified implementation steps
and a timeline.
October 20, 2003, marked a significant
turning point in the development of down-
Establishing the joint
town Los Angeles. After nearly twenty years
powers authority
of legal negotiations, design battles, and
fund raising, the Walt Disney Concert Hall While both the city and the county supported
finally opened. Designed by architect Frank the committee’s vision, neither wanted to
O. Gehry and constructed at a cost of about sell its land to a developer, and neither was
$274 million, the new home of the Los Ange- willing to let the other take the lead in mak-
les Philharmonic instantly became the icon ing development decisions. Instead, under
of Los Angeles. the authority of the California Joint Exercise
of Powers Act, the city and county formed
Creating the Grand Avenue project the Los Angeles Grand Avenue Authority, a
joint powers authority (JPA) with balanced
Seizing the momentum generated by the
decision-making power.1 The authority has
creation of the concert hall, civic leader Eli
four voting members—two each from the city
Broad approached city and county lead-
and the county—and one nonvoting member
ers about four development parcels that
representing the State of California. Since
immediately surrounded the concert hall.
neither the city nor the county has a major-
His intent was to attract a developer to
ity, both parties have to agree on all deci-
transform the parcels—which were then
sions, or no progress can be made.
being used as parking lots—into a new,
high-rise, mixed-use center that would both The Los Angeles Grand Avenue Authority
enliven the area and serve as an economic has exclusive oversight of the Grand Avenue
engine for the region. With the support Project; the two contracting parties are the
11255-04_CH04.indd 196 12/22/08 2:40:31 PM

Who Plans? 197
Figure 4–10 The

Grand Avenue Project,
implemented by the Los
Angeles Grand Avenue
Authority, a joint powers
authority, was designed
to transform the civic
and cultural districts of
Los Angeles into a
vibrant, new, mixed-use
regional center.
Source: Grand Avenue Committee and The Related Companies
11255-04_CH04.indd 197 12/22/08 2:40:31 PM

198 Who Plans?
Community Redevelopment Agency of the review, the authority approved the proposed
City of Los Angeles (CRA) and the County of master plan.
Los Angeles. While the authority acts as the
Under the joint powers agreement, the plan
agent of the two contracting parties, both
also had to be approved by the board of
parties also retain approval rights over such
the CRA, the Los Angeles city council, and
key documents such as the master plan, the
the County Board of Supervisors within
environmental impact report (EIR), ground
two years of the formation of the author-
leases, and various development agreements.
ity. Without this approval, the Los Angeles
In California, most planning by multiple Grand Avenue Authority would automati-
political subdivisions is done through JPAs cally be dissolved, and the governmental
since the agreements can be tailored for property owners would proceed their sepa-
any situation and contain any provisions rate ways. Final approvals were received
to which the parties agree. JPAs are the three weeks before the two-year time limit,
basis for organizations such as the South- allowing the project to move into environ-
ern California Association of Governments mental analysis and the design of Phase 1.
(SCAG) and the Association of Bay Area
A year later, the completed EIR, the disposition
Governments (ABAG), both of which were
and development agreement, ground leases,
established to address California’s explo-
sive population growth following World and other documents were ready for the
War II. Other examples include joint efforts approval of the three boards and the author-
to create transit lines, libraries, parks, and ity. Over a four-month period, and after count-
development projects; share crime labs less briefings and negotiating sessions, the
and police forces; pool insurance risk; and committee succeeded in securing approval,
finance infrastructure. clearing the way for the completion of project
design and the start of construction.
The advantage of a JPA is that it focuses on
a specific task: it centralizes management, Lessons learned
consolidates resources, serves as a forum
This example has two unusual features:
for problem solving, allows for joint real
the creation of the JPA (the Los Angeles
estate or labor negotiations in a closed-
Grand Avenue Authority), and the selection
session environment, and limits the liabili-
of a third-party nonprofit organization (the
ties of member agencies. A JPA has two
Grand Avenue Committee) to act as staff.
primary weaknesses: it can add a layer of
bureaucracy (and potential inefficiency), Both elements were critical to the success
and the participating parties can lose some of the project. Without the JPA, the two
control over decision making. governmental landowners would never have
collaborated on the development of their
land. Without the committee, the project
Role of the Grand Avenue Committee
would not have been conceived at all—nor
The Los Angeles Grand Avenue Authority would all the parties, including the devel-
quickly hired the Grand Avenue Committee oper, have been able to successfully resolve
to handle its real estate negotiations for the complex range of issues necessary to
this project. This unusual step brought the allow the project to happen.
talents of very experienced civic leaders,
several of whom were in the development Although its scope of power is limited by
field, to assist the government in a pro bono the requirement that critical documents be
capacity. The committee also hired staff and approved by the contracting parties, the Los
consultants. With the assistance of the com- Angeles Grand Avenue Authority neverthe-
mittee, and after a thorough public process less created a forum in which it was possible
that involved the review of eight qualified to achieve two goals: to foster the leader-
applicants, the authority then selected the ship and collaboration that were necessary
Related Companies as developer. The firm to transform downtown Los Angeles, and
was charged with creating a master plan to ensure that both public aspirations and
that would address land uses, scope of developer objectives were met.
development, design, funding sources, com-
munity benefits, and project phasing, among Note
other elements. After extensive community 1 California Government Code § 6500 et seq.
11255-04_CH04.indd 198 12/22/08 2:40:36 PM

Who Plans? 199
FOCUS ON trated on 300 blocks in seven neighborhoods

for a five-year period. The goal was to achieve
Richmond’s a critical mass of sustained public invest-

ment that would stimulate self-sustaining
private market activity. The LISC focused its
Neighborhoods resources as well, funneling most of its sup-
port to community development corporations
in Bloom (CDCs) working in NiB areas.
A rigorous evaluation shows that the NiB
George C. Galster program produced impressive revitaliza-
tion in the targeted areas, but that the
Local governments are under increasing impacts were substantially greater when
pressure from the public and from higher investments exceeded a threshold amount
levels of government to show the results of per block.3 Thus, the Richmond case offers
their interventions. This is certainly the case several valuable lessons for planners.
when it comes to community development,
where needs are great when compared with The decision to target resources
available resources. Several forces led Richmond to target CDBG
For decades, planners, local officials, schol- and HOME funds to a few neighborhoods
ars, and community development advocates for an extended period. First, Richmond
have debated how best to apply limited planning staff argued that the long-standing
resources to community interventions.1 The practice of sprinkling development funds
first and most crucial question is whether across all low-income neighborhoods had
strategic investments of limited public failed to revitalize any of them. Second,
resources can trigger the revitalization of some city council members were tired of
distressed, low-income urban neighbor- being lobbied annually by civic associations
hoods. And if so, how should resources be and CDCs for CDBG funds, and sought a
allocated geographically to leverage the more objective basis for long-term alloca-
most private investment in these neighbor- tions. Finally, the city’s CDCs were frustrated
hoods? Are threshold amounts of sustained by the uncertainty surrounding their annual
applications for funds to support their hous-
public investment required to trigger sub-
ing projects. Because the housing predevel-
stantial private investment?
opment process required at least one year,
the CDCs wanted the city to make a multi-
year commitment of resources so that they
For decades, planners, local officials,
could more effectively plan for acquisition,
scholars, and community development
rehabilitation, and new construction.
advocates have debated how best to
apply limited resources to community In 1998, with strong leadership from the
interventions. acting city manager and two members of
the city council, the city decided that, for a
five-year period, it would concentrate CDBG
A coordinated, sustained, geographically and HOME funds, projects supported by the
concentrated strategy to target public and general fund, and enhanced public services
nonprofit investments, begun in 1998 by the (such as police) in a few neighborhoods
city of Richmond, Virginia, in conjunction with until a critical mass had been achieved that
the Richmond office of the Local Initiatives would leverage for-profit investment. To
Support Corporation (LISC), offers answers make the strategy palatable to council mem-
to these questions.2 The Neighborhoods in bers and constituents whose neighborhoods
Bloom (NiB) program represented a major would not initially be targeted, the city
departure from common practice in the devised a data-driven, participatory process.
United States: instead of distributing federal
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) The participatory planning process
and HOME Investment Partnership (HOME) Richmond first established an internal plan-
funds throughout Richmond through an ning task force consisting of the acting city
annual allocation scheme, the city concen- manager and representatives of key city
11255-04_CH04.indd 199 12/22/08 2:40:36 PM

200 Who Plans?
departments, and staffed by the Department renter-occupied properties. City surveys of

of Community Development (DCD). For each target areas undertaken before the NiB proj-
of the city’s forty-nine CDBG-eligible neigh- ect revealed that 70 percent of properties had
borhoods, the DCD staff identified indicators code violations; the target areas also included
addressing neighborhood conditions and eleven crime “hot spots.” In 1998–1999, the
development potential. To assess neighbor- average price of a single-family home outside
hood conditions, the department collected the target areas was $98,500; within the tar-
data on vacancy rates, crime, poverty, owner get areas, it was $44,490 (although there was
occupancy, and other indicators. Neighbor- also considerable variation in housing prices
hood potential was judged according to an among the NiB areas).
inventory of non- and for-profit institutions,
employment, vacant land, infrastructure, Teams and work plans
and planned and actual private investments. In each target area, the DCD organized a NiB
On the basis of the assessments, DCD staff team made up of key stakeholders, includ-
then placed each neighborhood into one of ing representatives from neighborhood civic
four categories: organizations, CDCs, and the Richmond
Redevelopment and Housing Authority. Each
• Redevelop (neighborhoods with extensive
team reviewed existing plans for its area,
problems and few assets)
determined the precise boundaries of the
• Revitalize (neighborhoods with impact area, and developed a two-year work
significant decline but some assets) plan and budget. Each work plan designated
• Stabilize (neighborhoods with marginal specific buildings for acquisition, rehabilita-
decline and considerable assets) tion, or demolition, and showed where new
• Protect (neighborhoods with few housing was to be constructed. The city allo-
problems and good assets, but in need of cated a portion of its CDBG and HOME funds
reinvestment). to each neighborhood on the basis of the
neighborhood’s plan; CDCs then submitted
Throughout this process, DCD staff met reg- applications to implement the work des-
ularly with representatives from Richmond’s ignated in the plan. Ongoing performance
civic associations and CDCs to discuss the was monitored by the NiB teams, which met
targeting concept, present data, and tour monthly or bi-monthly with the CDCs, city
prospective target neighborhoods. planners, city department managers and
inspectors, and neighborhood residents.
By early 1999, this data-driven and partici-
patory planning process had produced wide-
Targeted investments from
spread support for the initiative—dubbed
multiple sources
Neighborhoods in Bloom—and a rough con-
sensus about which neighborhoods should Between July 1999 and February 2004, the
be targeted. The participatory process also city spent roughly $16.6 million—two-thirds
paid political dividends: in May 1999, the city of the combined total of Richmond’s annual
council unanimously approved the neighbor- CDBG and HOME allocations—in the NiB target
areas. The bulk of the spending was allocated
hoods selected for targeting.
to site-specific investments; these funds went
Characteristics of targeted areas to property: acquisition (27 percent); clearance
and demolition (2 percent); new construction
The city designated two levels of intervention
(25 percent); and rehabilitation (46 percent).
that were correlated with geographic scale:
The city estimated that 419 housing units
the smaller “impact areas” would receive
were constructed or substantially rehabili-
intense CDBG- and HOME-funded investments,
tated using NiB subsidies. Drawing on capital
and the larger “target areas” (which encom-
improvement funds, the city also invested
passed the impact areas) would receive prior-
in streetlights, alleys, sidewalks, and street
ity for certain city services. Table 4–1, which
improvements in the targeted areas.
summarizes key indicators in the NiB target
areas and compares them with citywide aver- The LISC also made substantial invest-
ages, shows that the target areas evidenced ments: of its $7.5 million expenditures in
the classic symptoms of distress: comparably Richmond, $4.7 million were directed into
higher percentages of residents in poverty, NiB target areas. The LISC provided prede-
female-headed households, and vacant and velopment, construction, rehabilitation, and
11255-04_CH04.indd 200 12/22/08 2:40:36 PM

Who Plans? 201
Table 4–1 Comparison of characteristics of Neighborhoods in Bloom target areas and the city of Richmond as
a whole
Carver/ Church Hill Highland Park Jackson Southern City of

Characteristic Blackwell Newtowne West Central South Tip Ward Oregon Hill Barton Heights Richmond
Total population 1,376 898 1,505 1,417 1,077 814 1,346 197,790
1
White 3% 11% 5% 2% 24% 92% 4% 39%
Black 96% 86% 93% 98% 72% 2% 94% 57%
Hispanic 2% 3% 2% 1% 4% 6% 2% 3%
Age of Population
Under 18 33% 20% 22% 28% 17% 14% 30% 22%
18–64 55% 68% 58% 57% 74% 81% 58% 65%
65 and older 13% 12% 20% 15% 9% 5% 2% 13%
Number of
households with
children under 18 452 183 328 402 179 115 400 43,178
Married couples
with children 15% 14% 20% 27% 32% 50% 21% 33%
Male-headed
households with
children 5% 4% 3% 4% 5% 8% 9% 5%
Female-headed
households with
children 49% 51% 46% 39% 49% 25% 48% 42%
Other households
with children2 31% 30% 31% 31% 14% 17% 21% 19%
Number of
housing units 651 557 822 647 775 431 580 92,282
Vacant 23% 29% 22% 18% 34% 9% 19% 8%
Occupied 77% 71% 78% 82% 66% 91% 81% 92%
Owner occupied 33% 43% 36% 44% 31% 42% 37% 46%
Renter occupied 67% 57% 64% 56% 70% 58% 63% 54%
Poverty status
Below poverty
level 36% 28% 28% 29% 31% 16% 24% 20%
Sources: Brooke Hardin, Richmond Department of Community Development, population, age, and housing data
aggregated from Census 2000 SF1 block data tables; poverty rates estimated from Census 2000 SF 3 census tracts
containing NiB impact areas.
1 Because of rounding, percentages may not add up to 100.

2 “Other” includes other relatives (e.g., grandparents), nonrelatives, and group quarters.
down-payment assistance, as well as some City services supporting

permanent mortgage financing. Roughly revitalization
two-thirds of LISC NiB investments went
toward developing single-family housing; NiB target areas also received extra program
the bulk of the remainder went into com- and staff resources, including code enforce-
mercial projects. ment, priority in the sale of tax-delinquent
11255-04_CH04.indd 201 12/22/08 2:40:36 PM

202 Who Plans?
housing, accelerated review of historic Although average prices in the city overall
properties, and counseling to assist those were appreciating rapidly, they increased
who were displaced. To address the risk that 10.85 percent per year faster in the target
some low-income residents might be dis- areas. As a result, by 2002–2003, prices in the
placed if NiB properties appreciated rapidly, target areas had reached the citywide average
the city assigned a housing counselor to for comparable homes; by 2003–2004, they
assist renters in finding alternative quarters; were more than 100 percent higher than the
the counselor was also tasked with enroll- citywide baseline for 1990–1991.
ing senior homeowners in the senior-citizen
Meanwhile, in control areas that were
property tax abatement program.
comparable to targeted areas but not part
of NiB, home prices during the pre-NiB era
Results were 22.5 percent lower than those of iden-
Figure 4–11 shows the results of a care- tical homes in the rest of the city (excluding
ful analysis of housing prices, within and the targeted areas). During the NiB period,
outside NiB areas, between 1990 and 2004.4 housing prices in the control areas contin-
On a citywide basis, there was no change in ued to track the non-NiB areas of the city. In
average prices until fiscal year (FY) 1996– sum, the targeted areas outperformed both
1997, when prices increased an average of distressed and nondistressed neighborhoods
4.7 percent; they continued to grow steadily in Richmond, and there is evidence that they
thereafter, undoubtedly because of the did so without siphoning off residents and
improving regional economy. By the close resources from other distressed neighbor-
of the analysis period in FY 2003–2004, an hoods, which would have caused their
average home in Richmond was expected price appreciation to fall behind the rest of
to sell for 86.7 percent more than it would Richmond’s.
have during FY 1995–1996.
The city and the LISC invested $21.33 million
During the pre-NiB period, the same home (both site-specific and areawide) during the
would have sold for 35.5 percent less in the first six years of the NiB program; the result-
target areas than elsewhere in the city. With ing $44.98 million increase in the aggregate
the start of the NiB program in 1998–1999, value of single-family homes in targeted
however, the situation changed dramatically. areas over what would have been expected
Figure 4–11 As Richmond home prices increased from 1990–1991 to 2003–2004 (constant quality), prices in
target areas increased at a faster rate than those in comparable areas or throughout the entire city.
Pct. difference in home prices relative to citywide baseline in 1990–1991

125
Pre-NiB Post-NiB
100
75
50
25
Citywide
0
Comparable Areas
–25
Target Areas
–50
5
2
4
1
20 01
20 02
7
4
6
3
20 03
–9
–9
–9
–9
–9
–9
–9
–9
–9
–0
–0
–
–
90
00
91
94
97
96
93
92
95
98
01
02
99
03
19
19
20
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
Source: The complete evaluation is found in George Galster, Peter Tatian, and John Accordino, “Targeting Investments
for Neighborhood Revitalization,” Journal of the American Planning Association 72, no. 4 (2006): 457–474.
11255-04_CH04.indd 202 12/22/08 2:40:36 PM

Who Plans? 203
in the absence of NiB represents an impres- the NiB had much larger positive impacts
sive capitalization rate of 211 percent—without when a block received, on average, at least
even considering the effects on other sorts $20,000 worth of site-specific improve-
of properties besides single-family homes. ments and roughly $9,000 worth of infra-
structure investment from public and
Threshold levels of investment nonprofit sources over five years.6
The median level of spending that could be
identified with particular NiB blocks was Fiscal impacts
$20,100, not including city investments in Appreciation in the value of residential prop-
services and infrastructure that could not be erties in NiB areas has increase property tax
allocated to particular blocks but that were revenues for the city of Richmond. Making
estimated at $9,000 per NiB block, on aver- reasonable assumptions,7 the discounted
age. On blocks that received less than the present value in 1997–1998 of the increases
median investment, homes did appreciate, in property tax revenues generated by NiB-
likely because of spillover effects; however, spawned appreciation of single-family homes
on blocks that received investment levels in target areas by 2017–2018 is $13.2 million.8
above the median, housing prices showed an (This estimate does not consider any unmea-
additional leap of 47.1 percent at the start of sured but probably positive price effects on
the post-NiB period, although their subse- other kinds of residential or nonresidential
quent rate of appreciation was no higher properties in the target areas.) Thus, over
than that of other homes in the target areas. the course of twenty years, the city’s initial
investment will likely pay for itself through
The Richmond findings, coupled with other
increases in tax revenues from single-family
evidence, suggest that there are separate
homes, other residential units, and nonresi-
investment thresholds at the neighborhood
dential properties.
level and at the block level.5 CDBG expendi-
tures do not noticeably alter neighborhood
trajectories unless they exceed roughly Lessons learned
$261,000 per census tract over three years Richmond’s Neighborhoods in Bloom, a neigh-
(an annual average of $87,000); similarly, borhood revitalization strategy involving the
Figure 4–12 Benefits

of the Neighborhoods in
Bloom initiative can be
seen in these “before”
and “after” images of
housing rehabilitation
and infill on a NiB
block face.
Source: Courtesy of the

City of Richmond
11255-04_CH04.indd 203 12/22/08 2:40:37 PM

204 Who Plans?
sustained targeting of public and nonprofit 3 The complete evaluation is found in George Galster,
Peter Tatian, and John Accordino, “Targeting Invest-
investments, has had substantial positive ments for Neighborhood Revitalization,” Journal of
impacts on the residential investment climate the American Planning Association 72, no. 4 (2006):
in targeted areas. Moreover, this strategy has 457–474.
4 The statistical method used to evaluate the impact on
not undermined distressed neighborhoods property values compared trends in sales prices for
that were not targeted. Three factors seem to single-family homes in the NiB target areas against
be responsible for this success: those in comparable, low-income neighborhoods
that did not participate in the program and those in
• A coincidence of committed leadership, the city of Richmond as a whole. In order to create
competent city staff, and an effective “constant-quality price indices,” the prices upon which
trends were based were adjusted to account for dif-
planning process. A data-driven approach ferences in the characteristics of homes that sold. The
to assigning priorities to neighborhoods— intuition of these comparisons is that a positive NiB
impact would show up as an improvement in target-
readily understood and perceived as
area price appreciation after the inception of the
objective by citizens—was an important program over what it would be before the program,
factor in achieving widespread public and adjusting for pre-/post-NiB period changes in price
trends in the other two types of neighborhoods.
unanimous council support. 5 George Galster et al., “Measuring the Impact of CDBG
• A critical mass of resources from multiple Spending on Urban Neighborhoods,” Housing Policy
Debate 15, no. 4 (2004): 903–934.
sources, applied strategically, with 6 Ibid.
multiyear commitments. Investment 7 The assumptions were that the estimated NiB-
was geographically focused so that generated home price appreciation gains observed
in 1998–1999 through 2003–2004 would persist only
it reached threshold concentrations, until 2007–2008, after which prices would remain at
stimulating private market activity and their same relative position compared with prices in
yielding perceptible changes in target the rest of the city for only another ten years.
8 Discounting adjusts downward the monetary value
neighborhoods. of streams of future revenues to account for the fact
• The presence of a strong, smoothly that they are not accrued currently.
functioning community development

industry. The Richmond Community
Development Alliance, which had been FOCUS ON
organized by the Richmond LISC in the
1990s, helped to expand the capacity of
Richmond CDCs and encouraged them
CDCs and
to cooperate—both with each other and
in their dealings with the city. Although
neighborhood
Richmond’s CDCs were relatively new, by
the onset of the NiB program they had intervention
developed good working relationships
with city government, lenders, appraisers, Paul C. Brophy
and other private sector partners, and
they were capable of rapidly increasing Community development corporations
housing production levels when the NiB (CDCs) emerged in the planning field during
program resources became available. the 1970s as a grassroots effort to improve
life, most often in low-income communities.
Notes CDCs are neighborhood-based organiza-
1 For a variety of views on this debate, see Elise M.
tions that are usually created and controlled
Bright, Reviving America’s Forgotten Neighborhoods by residents who are determined to turn
(New York: Garland Publishing, 2000); Paul S. Grogan their neighborhoods into healthy, thriving
and Tony Proscio, Comeback Cities (Boulder, Colo.:
communities. Most CDCs are incorporated
Westview Press, 2000); Dennis W. Keating, Norman
Krumholz, and Phillip Star, eds., Revitalizing Urban as nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations and
Neighborhoods (Lawrence: University Press of have a board of directors that includes local
Kansas, 1996); Neil Pierce and Carol Steinbach, Cor-
residents. CDCs typically engage in real
rective Capitalism (New York: Ford Foundation, 1987);
and Randall Stoecker, “The CDC Model of Urban estate development, including housing and
Development: A Critique and an Alternative,” Journal commercial projects.
of Urban Affairs 19, no. 1 (1997): 1–22.
2 For details of the NiB, see City of Richmond, “Neigh- The precise number of CDCs nationwide
borhoods in Bloom: Bringing Back All of Richmond’s is difficult to gauge, but NeighborWorks
Great Neighborhoods,” richmondgov.com/departments/
communityDev/neighborhoods/ (accessed America, one of three national intermediar-
July 17, 2008). ies that support CDCs, estimates that as
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Who Plans? 205
of 2006, there were 5,000.1 In 1999, the develop spatially oriented strategic plans
National Congress of Community Economic that are implemented through real estate
Development (NCCED) reported that 52 per- interventions: this is where land use plan-
cent of CDCs served urban areas, 26 percent ning and market analysis connect. In strug-
served rural areas, and 22 percent served gling neighborhoods, CDCs need to identify
mixed urban-rural settings. Many CDCs are investments that can leverage additional
staffed by people who are skilled in planning investments. Baltimore’s Healthy Neighbor-
and real estate development. hoods Program is a good example of this
Planning at the CDC level is typically neigh- approach. With support from a citywide
borhood or community planning. Since CDCs organization, Healthy Neighborhoods Inc.,
are set up to use real estate development to CDCs make changes in neighborhoods
improve a neighborhood, planning efforts that will create confidence and stimulate
focus on the positive and negative forces investment from homeowners and absen-
affecting a neighborhood. Increasingly, tee investors. The goal is to tip the fate of
CDCs are realizing that their neighborhoods neighborhoods that are at a pivotal point
compete with others for investment—from a of decline or recovery, and help them to
family looking for a new home to a com- become stronger. The changes might be as
mercial enterprise setting up shop. The small as physically sprucing up a block or
planning challenge is to work with commu- organizing a neighborhood watch program,
nity residents, public agencies, and other or they may involve larger initiatives, such
stakeholders to plan a future that meets the as working with a developer on a commer-
community’s aspirations but is also based cial project that will make the neighborhood
on market realities. Projects undertaken more attractive.
by CDCs, while often limited in scope, are
intended to stimulate additional investment
and catalyze neighborhood change—goals Figure 4–13 Enterprise Community Partners helped
that cannot be achieved unless the CDC Homeowners’ Rehab CDC in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
staff has a keen understanding of local develop Trolley Square, a forty-unit affordable-
market trends and conditions. In some cities, housing complex offering first-time homebuyers
city planning departments, specialized non- convenient access to rail and bus stations, and the
profit organizations, and academic institu- nation’s second busiest bike path, Linear Park.
tions are providing CDCs with better data
so that they have up-to-date information on
market conditions.2
How CDCs plan

The planning done by CDCs is often a mix
of strategic planning and land use plan-
ning. From a strategic perspective, the CDC
needs to undertake a SWOT analysis—that
is, an evaluation of the neighborhood’s
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and
threats. The strengths and opportunities
may be the result of location, the quality of
the housing, or the proximity of an anchor
institution. Weaknesses and threats could
range from a high crime rate to abandoned
housing to poor schools. The challenge
is to understand the conditions in market
terms, and to develop a strategic plan that
will build on the strengths and opportuni-
ties while addressing the weaknesses and
threats.
Thus, CDCs need to plan interventions that

recognize market forces. Typically, CDCs Source: Enterprise Community Partners
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206 Who Plans?
Part of the challenge in CDC planning is FOCUS ON

understanding the scale of change that is
needed to improve neighborhood conditions.
Generally speaking, the weaker the mar-
The university and
ket, the larger the intervention needed to
stimulate market recovery. This is why some the city
CDCs in severely distressed neighborhoods
work for years to implement large-scale real Anthony Sorrentino
estate projects such as supermarkets or
retail centers. The physical character of a university
campus and the quality of its immediate
In “hot” markets that may be experiencing surroundings affect the school’s ability to
gentrification, CDCs often focus on ensuring achieve its mission of teaching, research,
the availability of affordable housing and and service. Some universities take pro-
supporting mixed-income housing in order active steps to blur the hard edges that
to keep the neighborhood diverse. In such have historically separated them from their
cases, the CDC may preserve long-term communities. Acknowledging their role and
housing affordability by adopting a strate- importance as anchor institutions, they use
gic planning approach that involves direct their resources to revitalize their neighbor-
investments in the market. hoods and cities. The work undertaken by
the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) in
While the emphasis is on real estate proj-
West Philadelphia is an example of such an
ects, some CDCs work on broader neighbor-
effort.
hood planning and improvement efforts
designed to strengthen the social fabric
in a community. For example, a CDC might The West Philadelphia Initiatives
propose ways to improve area parks, plan In the 1990s, the Philadelphia neighbor-
and execute neighborhood employment hoods west of Penn’s campus were
programs, and even develop programs to severely disadvantaged, with deteriorating
strengthen youth engagement. streetscapes and public spaces, rampant
crime, high rates of population loss and
property abandonment, a lack of basic
The results
commercial services, underperforming
CDCs have accomplished a great deal schools, and few economic opportunities for
through their planning and real estate devel- residents.
opment activities. The most recent formal
accounting of their accomplishments was in For a variety of reasons—not the least of
1999, when the NCCED reported that CDCs which was self-interest—the university
wanted to address these issues. In 1997,
had produced over half a million affordable-
Penn president Judith Rodin crafted the
housing units and 71 million square feet of
West Philadelphia Initiatives (WPI) and
commercial and industrial space, and had
established an administrative structure
created about a quarter of a million jobs.
to implement them. With Penn’s board of
They have also helped create stronger
trustees, Rodin created a supervisory stand-
neighborhoods for their residents, leading to
ing committee on neighborhood initiatives;
stabilized and rising property values, safer
she then directed her senior management
streets, and, in a few instances, improved
team to marshal their expertise in pub-
schools.
lic safety, housing, community relations,
planning, and real estate development, and
Notes instituted monthly public meetings between
1 The three major groups that provide financial and Penn’s Office of Community Relations and
technical support to CDCs are NeighborWorks
America (nw.org/network/home.asp), the Local Initia-
representatives of neighborhood organiza-
tives Support Corporation (lisc.org/), and Enterprise tions and civic groups. (Between meetings,
Community Partners (enterprisecommunity.org/). Penn’s community relations staff maintained
Each group supports a network of CDCs.
constant contact with neighborhood leaders
2 See the work of the Reinvestment Fund, trfund.org,
for an excellent example of state-of-the-art data to keep them abreast of plans and activities,
indicating neighborhood market conditions. and to hear and respond to community con-
11255-04_CH04.indd 206 12/22/08 2:40:41 PM

Who Plans? 207
cerns.) Relying on this organizational frame- Spurring economic development

work, Penn implemented five programs. Penn used its purchasing power to benefit
local residents and businesses. It set and
Making the neighborhood clean, safe, monitored goals for minority- and women-
and attractive owned participation in all university construc-
Penn expanded the patrol zone of its own tion projects of $5 million or more. It also
public safety officers deeper into the sur- sponsored a technical assistance program
rounding neighborhood, added more foot that produced a directory of minority- and
and bicycle patrols, initiated a lighting women-owned businesses, developed new
program to illuminate residential streets pre-apprentice training programs, and helped
and commercial corridors, and undertook forge partnerships between large contrac-
a greening program to improve parks and tors and smaller minority- and women-owned
streetscapes. With ten other local institu- enterprises.
tions of higher education, medicine, and In the area of goods and services procure-
research, Penn helped launch the Univer- ment, Penn directed its largest vendors of
sity City District, a special-services district office supplies and hospital laundry services
tasked with providing supplemental safety, to either locate in the neighborhood or use
sanitation, and place-marketing services for local employees. Working with the Whar-
a two-square-mile area that housed 47,000 ton School’s small-business development
residents, 40,000 students, and 60,000 group, the university also started a supplier
workers. mentoring program to help small local busi-
nesses meet the university’s needs. Finally,
Stimulating the housing market Penn adopted a policy favoring neighbor-
There were 1,450 vacant properties in the hood residents for jobs throughout its
university’s immediate neighborhood. To operations.
stabilize selected blocks, Penn purchased,
rehabilitated, and resold critical abandoned Improving the public schools
dwellings and reconditioned several large To strengthen the West Philadelphia resi-
apartment buildings, returning them to the dential environment further, Penn partnered
low-cost rental market. Through a guaran- with the Philadelphia School District to
teed mortgage program, Penn encouraged design, construct, and operate a neighbor-
homeownership in the neighborhood for its hood elementary school. While the school
entire staff (from janitors to senior execu- district covered the capital costs, Penn
tives); it also offered $15,000 forgivable made substantial financial and staff commit-
loans for exterior improvements. These ments, which included extending a favorable
efforts leveraged more than $40 million in ground lease, creating a ten-year subsidy
private lender mortgages, and more than fund (of $1,000 per student, to a maximum
five hundred Penn staff now live in the area. of $700,000 a year), and lending the exper-
tise of the Graduate School of Education to
Encouraging retail development help shape the curriculum and train teach-
To stimulate neighborhood retail, Penn ers. The university also forged agreements
revitalized two commercial arteries, Walnut with the Philadelphia Federation of Teach-
Street and 40th Street. On Walnut Street, ers to relax rules for class size and other
it transformed a surface parking lot into a matters. Today, the school also serves as a
300,000-square-foot mixed-use complex community center, allowing use of its facili-
featuring a hotel, a new university book- ties for many vocational, recreational, and
store, a public plaza, and a dozen national adult education programs; cultural events;
and independent stores. Two key parcels and town meetings where the community
on 40th Street became a six-screen cinema members can come together to debate
and restaurant, and a full-sized, 24-hour issues and visions for the future.
supermarket with six floors of parking
above. These projects not only stimulated Results
other local economic development but also Penn’s neighborhood initiatives have
transformed the edges of the campus into reshaped the image of West Philadelphia.
safe and vibrant districts. Housing prices in the areas adjacent to
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208 Who Plans?
Figure 4–14 Penn’s thirty-year campus plan adds nearly 6 million square feet of new academic, recreational,
and commercial facilities through new development and urban infill. The gateway to Penn’s campus will be Penn
Park, a fourteen-acre, formerly industrial lot redeveloped into a mix of open space and programmed recreational
facilities, and mixed-use buildings programmed for teaching, research, retail, culture, and residences.
1. Post Office Redevelopment

2. Postal Annex Redevelopment
3. Vehicle Maintenance Site Redevelopment
4. Walnut Street Cultural Building
5. Walnut Street Mixed Use Phase 1
6. Walnut Street Mixed Use Phase 2
7. Penn Park Athletic and Recreation Fields
8. Tennis Center
9. Parking Deck with Sports Field
10. Pedestrian Bridge over Amtrak
11. Pedestrian Bridge over Schuylkill River
12. Franklin Field Weight Training and Fitness Center
13. Pedestrian Promenade and Plaza
14. Palestra Green
15. Palestra and Hutchinson Gym Renovations
16. Levy Pavilion Restoration
17. Ice Rink Redevelopment Academic/Research
18. Natatorium
19. Academic/Research
20. Nanotechnology Facility
21. Music and Morgan Renovation
22. College House at Hill Square
23. Mixed Use/Redevelopment
24. Domus Apartments and Retail
25. 3400 Walnut Academic
26. Annenberg Public Policy Center
27. The Arch Renovations
28. 3700 Walnut Academic
29. The Hub Apartments and Retail
30. The Radian Apartments and Retail
31. Neural-Behavioral Sciences Building
32. School of Medicine Library and Learning Center
33. School of Nursing, Phase 2/Renovation
34. Center for Advanced Medicine
35. School of Medicine Research Building
36. Cam South Tower
37. Cam East Tower
38. Public Plaza
39. Museum Renovation and Expansion
40. Indoor Track
41. Academic Research
42. Research and Medical Expansion
Source: Courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania
11255-04_CH04.indd 208 12/22/08 2:40:42 PM

Who Plans? 209
the campus have appreciated more rapidly Guided by Penn Connects, its thirty-year
than those of other nearby areas, and the development plan, Penn is now focusing
demand for new housing near the campus on the area to the east of the university,
is rising. Blocks are stable, and crime rates redeveloping the obsolete industrial land it
have fallen more rapidly than they have purchased. In repositioning approximately
citywide. New business establishments are sixty acres, Penn is following three planning
outperforming financial expectations. Four principles: (1) to create new civic and open
major private projects are under way or spaces, (2) to line streets with activity, and
complete on lands that Penn has leased to (3) to connect with nearby Center City. Penn
developers. is introducing a street grid and new lots of
development to areas that now exist as
Part of the university’s bargain with neigh- surface parking, and it intends to popu-
borhood groups involved a commitment to late the resulting sites with housing, open
halt any further development of educational spaces, athletic facilities, arts and culture
facilities in West Philadelphia, an arrange- venues, health science spaces, and commer-
ment that has forced the university to look cial development.1
elsewhere for expansion space. When two
large sites became available east of campus— Note
the former Civic Center site, which is 1 While research is still under way into how the
adjacent to the University of Pennsylvania neighborhood improvements have affected existing
Hospital, and the multiacre U.S. Post Office residents, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy is a
repository of excellent research on how widespread
site along the Schuylkill River—the university university investment in surrounding neighborhoods
acquired them. might be done in other university communities.
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11255-04_CH04.indd 210 12/22/08 2:40:47 PM
C hapt e r
5
Making Plans
Plans That Fit the Purpose
The state of the profession is described in terms of plan categories.
—Barry Miller
Focus on
Planning on a Crowded Stage / Lewis D. Hopkins

The first question is “Who will use the plan, and how?”
The Planning Process / Frederick C. Collignon

Planning work moves from visioning to institutionalizing and
oversight.
Civic Engagement / Barbara Faga

Public discourse has become an essential element of planning.
Omaha by Design / Jonathan Barnett

An urban design element added to the master plan provides a basis for
effective regulation.
Planning Cheyenne / Matthew J. Ashby

Planning for a small city emphasizes strategy, function, and
comprehensive participation.
Champaign’s System of Plans / Bruce A. Knight

Constant updates and elaboration are built into this city’s
comprehensive plan.
The Saint Paul on the Mississippi Development Framework /

Ken Greenberg
A strong vision supports and guides continuous planning.
211
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Focus on
Strategic Planning for Community Transformation / John Shapiro

A planning process for the South Bronx demonstrates community-
based planning informed by market realities and focused on early
implementation.
Renewing Washington’s Neighborhoods / Julie Wagner

Planners respond to a political mandate to address a broad array of
community problems with ten coordinated strategies.
Stapleton’s Public-Private Planning / Thomas A. Gougeon

Denver works with the private sector to realize the value of an
abandoned airport site while promoting long-term community benefits.
212
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213
Plans that fit the purpose

Barry Miller
Urban plans address a vast array of topics, have extraordinarily diverse intentions, and
cover geographic areas that range from a single parcel to an entire metropolis. Their
common trait is that they guide change through a coordinated set of deliberate actions.
They lead us from the way things are today to the way we’d like things to be in the
future, while taking into consideration all the uncertainties that the future holds.
For the purposes of this article, the word plan refers to the printed or digital pre-
scriptions or representations that urban and regional planners use to shape the built
and natural environments. Over the past century, and especially since the 1960s, the
range of such plans has expanded as the challenges of managing cities, towns, and
natural resources have become more complex.
Most plans share a few common elements. For instance, they typically
• Require some assessment of existing conditions (“where we are”), trends
(“where we’re headed”), and goals (“where we’d like to be”)
• Reconcile individual needs with broader community needs
• Require trade-offs to achieve goals
• Result in a commitment of resources, such as capital dollars or staff time
• Are vetted through a public process, from a single public hearing to an elaborate
series of community workshops
• Result in a tangible work product—usually a document or map—that sets a
course for decision makers to follow
• Are adopted or endorsed by an elected body (such as a city council), an
appointed body (such as a planning commission), or a stakeholder organization
(such as a board of directors).
Beyond these shared qualities, plans differ in scope, format, structure, scale,
intent, time horizon, level of detail, and legal status (see Table 5-1). There are also
significant regional differences: in many cases, state laws preempt the question of
which plan best “fits the purpose.”
Finding the right fit

The following factors influence the type of plan used in a given setting:
• Desired outcome. The desired outcome is what the plan is supposed to accomplish.
• Size and complexity of the geographic area covered. Larger geographic areas tend to
require less prescriptive and more flexible plans than smaller geographic areas.
• Time horizon. Plans with shorter horizons tend to be more detailed and task-
oriented than those with more distant horizons.
• Regulatory parameters. Many states have legal statutes that prescribe the
contents of a plan or require particular planning tools to be used in specific
situations.
• Local planning context. As noted in Chapter 2, the local planning context is
determined by a range of factors, including cultural norms, local politics, the state
of the economy (including the real estate market), and the natural environment.
• Resources. Plans must reflect the financial and staffing resources of the
jurisdiction or entity doing the planning.
• Audience. Plans should be designed and written for the people who will
ultimately use them. Characteristics such as writing style, layout, length, and the
balance between text and graphics should all vary with the audience.
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214 Making Plans
Table 5–1 Plan types and characteristics
Characteristics
Time Prepara- Level of Legal
Plan type Geography horizon tion time detail status Essential content
Vision Varies 20 to 6 months Low Advisory Motivational “big”
50 years to 1 year ideas, design concepts,
renderings
Framework State or 20+ years 1 to 2 years Low Advisory Broad goals and
plans region policies
Comprehensive Municipality 10 to 2 to 3 years Moderate Regulatory, Topical elements that
plans or county 25 years though include goals, policies,
general in actions, and maps
intent
System plans Municipality 5 to 1 to 2 years High Advisory or Needs assessment,
or county 20 years regulatory data, design and siting
guidelines, operating
policies, list of capital
projects
Area plans Sub-area 5 to 6 months High Advisory Place-based recom-
(including 10 years to 1 year mendations and
neighborhood guidelines
plans)
Downtown Sub-area 10 to 1 to 2 years High Advisory Place-based recom-
plans, water- 20 years mendations and devel-
front plans, opment strategies
corridor plans
Reuse plans Site 20 to 2 to 3 years Very high Advisory Site plan, reuse and
for large sites 50 years impact mitigation
strategies
Specific plans Sub-area 10 to 1 to 2 years Very high Regulatory Development stan-
and redevelop- 20 years dards, financing plan
ment plans
Strategic plans Municipality 4 to 3 months Moderate Advisory Program
or county 6 years to 1 year recommendations
Capital Municipality 4 to 3 to Very high Regulatory Project lists, evalua-
improvement or county 6 years 6 months tion criteria, budget,
plans financial data
Private sector Site 5 to 1 to 2 years High Advisory or Site plan, systems
or institutional 15 years regulatory plans, impact mitiga-
plans tion strategies
Land develop- Site 5 years 3+ months High Advisory Site plan, infrastructure
ment plans (until details
codified)
Note: This table reflects common practice; the characteristics of plans from particular communities may differ from
those shown here.
A similar set of factors must be addressed when designing the planning process—
particularly when it comes to determining the level and type of public involvement. Public
input can substantially improve the quality of decision making, build trust between plan-
ners and the communities they represent, and ensure that plans are responsive to local
concerns. Plans that proceed without public trust may be perceived as arrogant, out of
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Making Plans 215
Creating the technical foundation for planning
Every plan, regardless of scope, should be grounded in data: good plans take stock of
existing conditions, analyze trends, develop projections for the future, and test the
impacts of decisions and choices on the community. These tasks require a variety
of quantitative methods and mapping techniques, ranging from simple windshield
surveys to elaborate geographic information system analyses and scenario testing.
The collection and analysis of spatial and socioeconomic data are important functions
of most large planning offices and are typically accomplished through long-range- or
strategic-planning divisions. To provide the rationale for local policies and programs,
these divisions undertake land suitability analyses, demographic studies, and envi-
ronmental impact reviews; they also inventory vacant land and track development
activity. In the absence of quantifiable data, the public may view plans as little more
than wish lists.
touch, or undemocratic. On the other hand, plans that strive for complete agreement run
the risk of getting watered down or being rendered meaningless. The challenge for every
planner is to find the right balance between “top-down” principles and “bottom-up” input.
The family of plans

Prior to 1900, most city plans were two-dimensional drawings showing the locations
of streets, parks, and public buildings (see “From Town to Metropolis” in Chapter 1).
Over the course of the twentieth century, these plans evolved in several important
ways. Hybrid plans emerged that recognized social, economic, and environmental
factors as integral parts of land use and physical design. Policy plans were created,
supplementing maps and illustrations with narrative policies to guide daily decisions.
Regulatory plans were developed to provide a legal foundation for controlling land use
and development. And strategic plans, which are action-oriented and short term in
focus, were widely adopted. Today’s comprehensive plans incorporate all four of these
approaches to varying degrees. The accompanying sidebar uses the metaphor of a tree
to explain the origins and evolution of the modern comprehensive plan.
The planning “family tree”
In a 1995 article in the Journal of the American Planning Association, Edward Kaiser
and David Godschalk use the analogy of a tree—with multiple trunks—to chronicle the
evolution of the comprehensive plan.1 The trunks correspond to
• Land use design plans, which are prescriptive and map-focused
• Land classification plans, which are more conceptual and oriented toward urban
form
• Verbal policy plans, which are narrative and less spatially oriented
• Development management plans, which are regulatory and focused on growth
management and short-range actions.
Kaiser and Godschalk describe the modern comprehensive plan as the canopy of this
tree; in essence, it is a hybrid that incorporates attributes of each plan type. They
also note that in most jurisdictions, the comprehensive plan is just one aspect of a
dynamic, long-range planning program that includes the capital improvement pro-
gram, land use controls, small-area plans, and functional (or system) plans.
1 Edward J. Kaiser and David R. Godschalk, “Twentieth Century Land Use Planning: A Stalwart Family Tree,”
Journal of the American Planning Association 61 (Summer 1995): 365–385.
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216 Making Plans
Figure 5–1 Washing-

ton, D.C.’s Vision for
Growing an Inclusive
City (2004) combines
renderings, photos, site
plans, and aspirational
text challenging
residents to visualize a
new future for the city.
Source: D.C. Office of Planning
A model based on family relationships is useful for understanding the connec-

tions between plans. State and regional plans, visions, and other broad policy docu-
ments are the grandparents, providing the conceptual framework and wisdom (and
sometimes the requirements) that underpin the comprehensive plan. The compre-
hensive plan is the parent, providing jurisdiction-wide land use maps and a policy
and action framework for an ever-expanding array of topics. A host of siblings—
system plans—address topics such as parks, transportation, housing, and resource
management. Area plans, neighborhood plans, and other plans covering subcompo-
nents of the jurisdiction are the children. Figure 5–1, an excerpt from Washington,
D.C.’s comprehensive plan update, A Vision for Growing an Inclusive City, uses the
“family” metaphor to show the relationship among urban plans.1
Laying the foundation through visioning

Visioning is planning at its boldest. As Lewis Hopkins has explained, “A vision is an
image of what could be. Visions compel action. Visions work by changing beliefs
about how the world works.”2 Visioning provides a tool for identifying and articu-
lating what matters most to a community. It is a good way to establish a sense of
direction, define shared values, and pinpoint desired outcomes before proceeding too
far down a particular path. It also provides an opportunity to identify issues that will
require greater focus later on. Vision plans allow creative, “outside the box” think-
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Making Plans 217
ing that may be missing from the more measured, analytic, and rigorously structured
comprehensive planning process.
In some respects, today’s vision plans are a throwback to the City Beautiful
plans of a century ago. They are highly visual and may be accompanied by elaborate
renderings and maps. They often have a strong physical emphasis, and may depict
desired development patterns in illustrative form. Vision plans are seldom imple-
mented directly; instead, they provide the foundation for more detailed planning.
Vision plans typically have long time horizons and are less focused on con-
straints than other types of plans. A vision might feature watercolor renderings of a
magnificent new waterfront park, or it might describe a day in the life of a resident
in a new community built on the site of an abandoned factory. However, such plans
probably would not address in any detail the logistics of obtaining easements from
waterfront property owners, the plan for financing the new park, or the program
for cleaning up hazardous materials on the factory site. The intent of the vision is
simply to show a possible future and gain general agreement about a concept before
proceeding to the details.
Visioning provides a tool for identifying and articulating

what matters most to a community.
Not all visions focus on reshaping the physical environment. A vision may be a
statement of a community’s values or an expression of an ideal future. Washington,
D.C.’s Vision for Growing an Inclusive City, for example, identifies the social and
economic challenges facing the District of Columbia and describes a future in which
these challenges have been resolved through thoughtful, effective planning. Such
products are not really plans per se, but they do articulate the values of a commu-
nity and define the priority issues to be addressed in the future. Getting there is a
subject for another day.
A vision can be an effective way to generate widespread interest in the planning
process. Visions are short; they often take the form of stories; and they are designed
to capture the attention and imagination of citizens and other stakeholders. Their
tone is engaging and emotional. They can spark the dialogue needed to create effec-
tive and responsive policies in the detailed planning efforts that follow.
Framework plans
A framework plan presents guiding policies for a large geographic area such as a
state or a region. Such plans may cover thousands of square miles and typically
emphasize broad issues and principles—such as environmental quality, farmland
preservation, and transportation—rather than specific actions. The vast geographic
scope of these plans necessitates this approach. The best examples of framework
plans are the many state and regional policy plans that have been prepared to pro-
mote smart growth across the country.
The advantage of framework plans is their ability to address issues that span
jurisdictional lines. An individual town or city may find it difficult to assess prob-
lems like water pollution and traffic congestion, but a regional council of govern-
ments can analyze an entire watershed or transportation network. Similarly, a state
can provide overarching policy direction on issues such as historic preservation,
coastal management, and habitat management more effectively than can a village
or small city. As they prepare comprehensive plans, local governments may look to
state and regional plans for guidance to ensure that place-specific policies also reflect
a state or regional perspective.
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218 Making Plans
Comprehensive plans
Municipalities and counties use comprehensive plans (which are also called general
plans or master plans) to manage physical development, typically over a ten- to
twenty-five-year time horizon. The word comprehensive applies to both geography
and subject matter: a comprehensive plan covers an entire municipality or county,
not just a part of it, and it addresses all issues that touch the physical environment.
Although its main focus is land use, the plan also addresses transportation, housing,
natural resources, community facilities, and other topics. With the recognition of
the strong relationship between the physical environment and social and economic
conditions, the scope of comprehensive plans has expanded to include issues such
as public health, culture and the arts, and sustainability.
Preparing a comprehensive plan usually takes at least two to three years and
often requires two years or more. The process begins with an assessment of issues
and the development of broad goals for the community’s future. This is followed by
an inventory of existing conditions, which involves data collection, the preparation
of maps, and consultation with major stakeholders. On the basis of the data and
identified trends, various scenarios for the community’s future may be developed. A
public vetting process is used to select the alternative that best fits the community’s
goals. Plan policies and maps are then drafted, and the document is put forward for
public review and adoption.
Content of comprehensive plans

Most comprehensive plans are organized by topic into a series of chapters called
elements. The core elements address land use, transportation, housing, and environ-
mental resources. Plan elements may also cover natural hazards, parks and recre-
ation, open space, infrastructure, community facilities, historic preservation, urban
design, and other topics relating to the community’s physical setting. In some cases,
issues such as governance and intergovernmental coordination are addressed. There
is also a growing trend toward including “implementation” chapters in comprehen-
sive plans to highlight the administrative, regulatory, programmatic, and financial
measures necessary to carry out the plan.
Each plan element usually includes narrative text that describes existing condi-
tions, trends, issues, and recommendations. The text is accompanied by some combi-
Essential qualities of a comprehensive plan
In addition to broad geographic coverage, comprehensive plans share the following

characteristics:
• Generality. Comprehensive plans are broad policy documents designed to provide
general direction. They should not include small details about individual properties
or address operational issues such as street sweeping or sidewalk repair.
• Internal consistency. The policies, actions, and diagrams in a comprehensive plan
should be internally consistent. For example, if a plan includes policies to produce
affordable housing, its land use policies and maps should identify locations where
such housing can be built.
• Long-term perspective. Most states require local comprehensive plans to take a
long-term perspective, which usually translates into about twenty years. The plan’s
horizon does not mark the “end” of the plan as much as it provides a set of objec-
tives to guide day-to-day decisions.
• Legality. Comprehensive plans are often adopted as law by local governments.
Once a plan is adopted, all local government land use decisions should be consis-
tent with it.
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Making Plans 219
Figure 5–2 Graphic

patterns in the compre-
hensive plan future
land use map for San
Juan Bautista, a city of
about 2,000 people in
Central California, are
used to show allowable
land uses in different
parts of the city.
Source: Barry Miller
nation of goals, objectives, policies, actions, and standards that are intended to guide
day-to-day decisions by elected officials and local government staff. Maps may be used
to convey information visually, and data tables may be included for reference.
Most comprehensive plans include a future land use map in which different colors
or patterns represent the types of land uses envisioned for the community by the
horizon year. The map may also show the general location of public improvements
such as roads, parks, and schools. Such maps—often presented in a large-scale, poster-
sized format—provide a graphic interpretation of the plan’s recommendations and
offer a compelling visual image of how the community intends to grow. More than any
other part of a plan, the future land use map provides a tool to help residents grasp
the significance of the plan to their community, neighborhood, and home. The map
is especially critical to plan implementation: it provides the benchmark for evaluating
proposed development and serves as the foundation for the local zoning map.
Adapting the plan to the community

Even where state requirements dictate what a plan must address, both the approach
to planning and the plan itself should reflect the size of the community, its antici-
pated growth rate, its physical setting and character, its ability to annex land, the
values of its residents, and other factors that create the context for land use deci-
sions. Table 5–2 on page 220 identifies the typical array of issues that are likely to be
addressed in comprehensive plans, depending on the community setting.
The contents of comprehensive plans also reflect regional differences—in politi-
cal beliefs, social customs, growth rates, real estate dynamics, planning laws, and
especially natural hazards. In California, for example, local general plans must
include a safety element addressing earthquakes, wildfires, and landslides; Florida
requires its coastal communities to develop coastal management elements that
include policies on hurricane evacuation, beach erosion, and shoreline access.
Historically, states with a strong tradition of self-reliance and self-determination
have had less stringent planning requirements than those with a reputation for social
advocacy and progressive politics. But it would be oversimplifying to assume that
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220 Making Plans
Table 5–2 Typical issues addressed in a comprehensive plan
Setting Land use pattern Issues

Central city Stable to evolving Downtown revitalization, neighborhood improvement, economic
development, housing affordability, social equity, urban “greening,”
reuse of catalytic sites, historic preservation
Inner-ring suburb Stable Renewal of older commercial corridors, conservation of aging postwar
housing stock, strengthening of community identity, changing
demographics, sustainability
Outer-ring suburb Evolving Growth management, location of schools and parks, improvement of
infrastructure to keep pace with development, preservation of open
space, community character
Small towns/rural Stable to evolving Agriculture, management of resource-based industries, economic
communities development (including small-business growth), tourism, community
character, growth management, housing
Urban and suburban Evolving Intergovernmental coordination, transportation management, smart
counties growth, preservation of open space, service delivery
Rural counties Stable to evolving Economic development, resource production, hazard mitigation,
tourism, agriculture, conservation
comprehensive planning requirements are determined primarily by a state’s general

political leanings. Since the 1990s, such states as Tennessee and Georgia have begun
requiring local comprehensive plans, while others, such as Arizona and Utah, have
moved to increase the power of local comprehensive plans as a tool for shaping
growth.3
New approaches
The essential form of the comprehensive plan, particularly its organization into
topic-based elements, has persisted since the 1950s. While this structure is logical
and predictable, it does have drawbacks. For one thing, as new elements have been
added, plans have become unwieldy: in some communities, plans may include entire
elements devoted to topics such as agriculture, educational facilities, geothermal
energy, local tourism, and even the siting of electric transmission lines. The inclu-
sion of sub-area plans within the comprehensive plan has had a similar effect, turn-
ing many plans into multivolume documents. As comprehensive plans have become
longer (some are more than 1,000 pages), their basic purpose—which is to provide a
general framework for future growth—has become obscured.
The element-based format has also been criticized for having a “silo” effect—
that is, for yielding plans that treat topics in parallel, without recognizing the
crosscutting, integrated nature of urban and regional issues. Lack of integration is a
particular risk for land use and transportation, which are typically treated in sepa-
rate elements of a comprehensive plan. Emerging issues such as climate change,
sustainability, and environmental justice may also be difficult to address in the
context of an element-based plan. Some communities have tackled this challenge
by creating “super-elements” that span multiple topics. Others have reinvented their
plans entirely, grouping plan elements around larger themes: Baltimore’s compre-
hensive plan, for example, is organized into chapters titled “Live,” “Work,” “Play,”
and “Learn.”
New approaches to the content of comprehensive plans also are being explored.
In response to criticism that comprehensive plans are too vague, some jurisdictions
have introduced objective benchmarks and performance standards. For example, the
state of Florida requires local comprehensive plans to include concurrency require-
ments to ensure that infrastructure and services are in place as new development
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Making Plans 221
comes on line. A growing number of plans include standards such as fire-response

time, park acreage per capita, and number of affordable-housing units to be pro-
duced over a given time period. Such standards make it possible to evaluate plan
implementation, allow for corrective measures in the event that targets are not being
achieved, and provide a clear basis for regulatory controls.
System plans
Communities are made up of natural systems, such as watersheds and air basins,
and man-made systems, such as utilities, highways, transit systems, and park
networks. Comprehensive plans provide general direction for these systems, but
cannot—and should not—address each topic in detail: that is the function of sys-
tem plans. System plans may be specifically called for by the comprehensive plan,
may be required to obtain a grant or public funding, or may be ad hoc—designed to
respond to a particular issue and prepared at the request of elected officials. They
typically contain background data, analyses of needs and opportunities, and action
programs. Although they may include policies, system plans are more likely to focus
on design and siting issues, operations, management, and capital projects.
The concept of systems planning has expanded to include dozens of issues
addressed by the comprehensive plan. Today, cities have public arts plans, pedes-
trian safety plans, child care facility plans, historic preservation plans, street tree
plans, and more. In many large planning departments, the preparation of system
plans is the principal activity of the long-range planning division during the years
between comprehensive plan updates.
Area plans
For all the benefits that comprehensive plans and system plans provide, they usually
cannot provide place-specific prescriptions for each neighborhood, business district,
or corridor in a community. In large cities with diverse neighborhoods, a citywide
plan may be too general to strike a chord with residents and businesses. The same
could be said of countywide plans that cover dozens of small, unincorporated com-
munities. Plan users will search the document for references to their neighborhoods
or townships, but will instead find only general statements about the city or county.
Area plans—also known as district plans, small-area plans, or sector plans—refine
the comprehensive plan and establish policies that are grounded by geography and
the issues that are unique to smaller sub-areas.
The process of preparing an area plan is similar to that of preparing a compre-
hensive plan: issues are identified, data are collected and analyzed, alternatives
are evaluated, policies and maps are developed, and a plan is created. This process
can be a highly effective way to address localized land use and design conflicts and
to engage people who might not participate in a citywide or countywide planning
process. However, the immediacy and small scale of area planning can also lead to a
loss of objectivity and to a myopic perspective on what is best for the wider commu-
nity. It is therefore important when developing area plans to help stakeholders keep
the broader context in mind.
Neighborhood plans
Neighborhood plans are among the most common type of area plan. The neighbor-
hood provides a geographic scale that almost everyone can relate to, and it evokes
a sense of ownership that is conducive to public involvement. In fact, many larger
planning departments have neighborhood planning divisions charged with preparing
and implementing plans for areas ranging in size from a few blocks to several square
miles. The neighborhood plan can become a tool for resolving neighborhood land
use conflicts, reinforcing neighborhood identity, and empowering the community.
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222 Making Plans
Figure 5–3 Residents

of San Leandro,
California, take part in
a “General Plan Fair”
using adhesive dots to
indicate their level of
support for different
policy statements.
Source: Barry Miller
There are two schools of thought on how neighborhood plans should relate to a
city’s long-range planning. In one approach, the city develops neighborhood plans to
complement the comprehensive plan. Seattle, for example, is divided into thirty-eight
neighborhood-scale planning districts that collectively represent all the land within
the city. In the other approach, used in Columbus and Indianapolis, neighborhood
plans are prepared only as needed, for areas facing unique land use or economic
development issues; neighborhoods otherwise address land use issues through the
comprehensive plan and through zoning regulations. (Indianapolis has an online
request form for organizations seeking neighborhood plans.)
In most cities, neighborhood plans focus on areas with vacant and underused
land, underperforming business districts, aging housing stock, unique historic
resources, or some degree of visual blight. Priority is often given to areas where the
neighborhood plan can create new housing and economic development opportuni-
ties or encourage higher-quality design than would otherwise occur.
Downtown plans
A downtown plan is essentially a neighborhood plan for a central business district
(CBD). It addresses the unique role that downtowns play in the identity, economy,
culture, and design of cities.
Downtown planning and market demand
The approach to a downtown plan varies with the local real estate market. In central
business districts (CBDs) with weak demand, downtown plans strive to enhance the
area’s image and competitive edge so that the downtown area will compare favor-
ably with other parts of the metropolitan area or region. Such plans often feature the
construction of new amenities and the restoration of neglected or deteriorating assets
such as historic buildings. In CBDs with strong market demand, downtown plans focus
more on the design of infill development and public spaces. The plans may contain
incentives or requirements relating to the mix of future uses—for example, limiting
the rate of office development, encouraging housing and ground-floor retail space,
or requiring public art and plazas within new projects. Regardless of market demand,
most downtown plans cover parking, traffic, security, and the quality of the pedestrian
environment.
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Making Plans 223
Downtown plans emerged as a response to the decline that occurred in many

central cities during the 1950s and 1960s. Early downtown plans promoted large-scale
urban renewal, including pedestrian malls and self-contained retail or office com-
plexes that were intended to compete with suburban shopping centers and business
parks. More recent downtown plans have capitalized on the distinctive qualities of the
CBD—in some cases undoing the very projects that had resulted from the first genera-
tion of downtown plans. Today’s downtown plans are more likely to stress the adap-
tive reuse of older buildings; the protection of cultural heritage; the restoration of the
urban street grid; and new facilities such as stadiums, convention centers, museums,
and hotels. A common theme in many downtown plans is the attraction of housing,
restaurants, and entertainment venues; the goal is to transform the downtown area
from a place that shuts down at the end of the business day into an active twenty-four-
hour neighborhood.
Most downtown plans include conceptual diagrams, future land use and trans-
portation maps, urban design illustrations, and implementation strategies identifying
specific public improvements and actions. In addition, the plans often include recom-
mendations on key topics or themes, and proposals for specific subdistricts or catalytic
sites. For example, Pittsburgh’s 1998 downtown plan includes strategies organized
under six headings: retail/attractions, business climate, housing, institutions, transpor-
tation, and urban design; it also includes specific proposals for eleven subdistricts.
Waterfront and corridor plans

While it might seem odd to group urban waterfronts and highway corridors in the
same category, they share physical qualities that lead to a similar plan structure.
Both are linear in form and are often bordered by a large supply of underused land.
Both can be barriers in an urban landscape, yet both have the potential to be con-
nectors. Both share histories as gateways, transportation routes, and centers of com-
merce. Both shape the visual image of the city. And finally, both may benefit from
plans that integrate land use, transportation, and urban design improvements.
Until the 1970s and 1980s, many urban waterfronts were dominated by large
industrial tracts, shipping terminals, rail yards, wastewater plants, and military
bases. Freeways sometimes severed these areas from adjacent neighborhoods,
thereby creating a no-man’s-land along urban shorelines. Urban waterfront plan-
ning emerged in response to the decline of industry, changing environmental and
aesthetic values and encouraging new recreational and lifestyle trends. Waterfront
plans were developed to bring life back to these areas, balancing maritime and
industrial activities with new uses that included conservation, recreation, housing,
and retail. Waterfront plans today are often unified by linear parks, bike paths, and
promenades, and enlivened by connections from the shoreline to adjacent neighbor-
hoods. Habitat restoration and the improvement of water quality are also important
goals. If a waterfront offers large development sites, the plan may include entire new
neighborhoods.
Corridor plans have similar characteristics, although they are designed for
landscapes that are usually dominated by strip commercial development rather than
by industry. Corridor plans attempt to humanize highways and adjacent uses by
increasing their visual appeal, accommodating other modes of transportation (such
as bicycles and rapid buses), reducing land use conflicts, and creating a stronger
sense of identity. Different land uses, densities, and design treatments may be rec-
ommended for different corridor segments, reinforcing some areas as activity centers
(often called nodes), and converting others to new uses.
Waterfront and corridor plans do not follow a particular template; rather, they are
designed to meet the needs and conditions of a given locale. Because of their linear
character, they often begin with areawide recommendations, then proceed to more
detailed guidelines for each segment. The 1998 estuary plan for Oakland, California,
for example, presents overarching objectives for open space, public access, land use,
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224 Making Plans
and circulation along the nine-mile shoreline, and then shifts to detailed, site-specific
recommendations for three waterfront sub-areas.
Reuse plans for large sites

Planning for the reuse of large sites, such as surplus military bases, former airports,
contaminated industrial land (brownfields), and vacated state hospitals, is an impor-
tant activity in many communities. In any given metropolitan area, these sites may
occupy hundreds of acres and be the largest development sites available. Because they
are often part of a well-established urban landscape, ensuring that they are carefully
planned and designed is a matter of great concern to residents and civic leaders.
On the one hand, large underused sites offer the opportunity to develop entire
new neighborhoods and business districts, knit together adjacent neighborhoods,
improve crosstown circulation, or accommodate major new public facilities. On the
other hand, these sites are rarely blank slates. They may contain historic buildings,
valued natural landscapes, or active uses that face displacement. They may require
hazardous materials cleanup and expensive remediation measures. Neighbors who
perceive the sites as buffers or who hope to retain them as permanent open spaces
may raise strong opposition to any reuse other than parkland. Ideally, the local
comprehensive plan should provide general direction for the use of large sites; more
often, however, planning for these sites will have to be undertaken separately, in a
highly contentious environment.
Specific plans and redevelopment plans

A final type of area plan is regulatory in nature, containing prescriptive requirements
and detailed standards for development. These plans address infrastructure and
financing issues to a much greater extent than policy plans.
Specific plans are a form of area planning that incorporates zoning and capital
improvement programming and financing. Unlike plans that are adopted by resolu-
tion, which are usually administrative in nature and provide guidance in policy mak-
ing, specific plans are usually adopted by ordinance, resulting in a legal orientation.
In California, for instance, many cities use specific plans to manage the development
of large sites or other sub-areas. A specific plan includes detailed land use, infra-
structure, and transportation plans; sets forth standards and criteria for development
and conservation; and outlines implementation measures, including regulations,
programs, public works projects, and financing strategies. The emphasis on imple-
mentation—particularly the financing of infrastructure and public works projects—
distinguishes the specific plan from the comprehensive plan.
Like specific plans, redevelopment plans combine aspects of policy plans,
zoning ordinances, capital improvement programs, and development agreements.
By adopting the redevelopment plan, the local government declares its public pur-
pose and gives the redevelopment agency the authority to take land if necessary to
carry out the plan. Redevelopment plans are designed to eliminate blight, stimulate
infill development, attract new business, encourage housing production, and cre-
ate economic opportunity within a designated area. They address issues such as
land acquisition and assembly, affordable-housing set-aside requirements, business
relocation, demolition of structures, and permitted uses. A financing plan—which
enables the redevelopment agency to issue bonds for capital improvements and to
use tax increment financing to pay off the bonds as the area redevelops—is central
to any redevelopment plan.
Regulatory plans
The idea of a regulatory plan may seem counterintuitive: after all, plans are sup-
posed to provide vision and guidance, whereas regulations are the tools for imple-
menting them. In some cases, however, the most effective approach to managing
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Making Plans 225
Figure 5–4 The planning process for reuse of the 4,700-acre site where Denver’s Staple-
ton Airport once stood explored different options for how the land might be redeveloped. A
preferred option was ultimately selected, refined, and implemented.
Source: City and County of Denver
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226 Making Plans
growth is to fuse policy and regulation. This can happen in the context of a plan, but
where there is no plan, the zoning regulations themselves become the de facto plan.
In fact, thousands of communities across the country—from large cities like New
York and Chicago to small towns and rural counties—do not have a comprehensive
plan. In these communities, zoning standards for use, intensity, height, bulk, and
other development features take the place of land use and urban design policies. The
zoning map becomes a makeshift plan, with the local planning or zoning commis-
sion administering map amendments as the jurisdiction grows.
In the early 2000s, for example, a variety of factors compelled Chicago, which
had last updated its comprehensive plan in 1966, to revise its zoning code rather
than embark on a plan update. New York, meanwhile, has elected to make its zoning
code more “planlike” by producing a colorful, user-friendly zoning handbook that
illustrates the provisions of each zoning district. At first glance, the handbook looks
more like the land use element of a comprehensive plan than like a zoning code.
Although the handbook is not a policy document, its diagrams and standards reflect
policy assumptions. Both New York and Chicago conduct long-range planning, of
course, but such efforts focus on sub-area and system plans.
In the case of small towns and rural counties, the zoning ordinance may be the
de facto plan simply because there are no resources to prepare a comprehensive
plan—or because the pace of growth is such that the zoning map and regulations
suffice as the jurisdiction’s physical plan. In a community with no staff planner, a
constrained budget, no state mandate for planning, and little or no development
activity, a clear zoning ordinance and map may be all that is needed.
Short-range plans
Viewed from the perspective of time, urban plans can be placed on a continuum:
short-range plans would be on the left, comprehensive plans in the center, and
vision plans on the right. Short-range plans typically look two to six years into the
future. They emphasize service delivery, cost-effectiveness, and immediate results
rather than long-term, systemic change. The two principal types of short-range plans
are strategic plans and capital improvement plans.
Strategic plans
A strategic plan defines objectives and provides detailed strategies designed to
achieve them. The strategic planning model has been used in corporate settings
for decades as a way to plan for growth, competition, and change. Urban planners
adopted strategic planning in response to the political realities of local govern-
ment. In most American municipalities and counties, the governing body serves
four-year terms. While many elected officials recognize the benefits of long-range
planning, they are also mindful of the need for short-term results. Faced with
the choice, a newly elected mayor will generally want to be remembered as the
champion of a four-year “action plan” that transformed the city during her term,
rather than as the promoter of a twenty-year policy plan that took her entire term
to prepare and may not be implemented by her successor. Strategic urban plans
provide a basis for legacy projects as well as clear development targets for a politi-
cal administration.
A local government strategic plan is typically prepared by the staff of the mayor
or the governing body, by the chief administrator’s office, or by the economic devel-
opment arm of the local government, rather than by the planning department. The
plan focuses on service delivery and quality of life. Thus, it may cover such topics
as crime prevention, health care, and educational quality; and recommended actions
may include the addition of police officers, the creation of wellness programs for
seniors, and the modernization of local schools. Performance measures may be built
in so that implementation can be evaluated regularly.
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Making Plans 227
Capital improvement plans

Local governments use the capital improvement plan (CIP) to coordinate investment
in infrastructure, transportation, and community facilities.4 Typically, the CIP has a
four- to six-year time horizon. It is usually updated annually or every other year to
reflect shifts in priorities or resources or to take into account the addition of new
projects and the completion of old ones.
Several departments often share responsibility for preparing the CIP; adminis-
tration, finance, and public works generally take the lead. In a few communities,
capital improvement planning is delegated to the planning commission, housed
within the planning department, or coordinated by the planning department under
the guidance of the local government manager or administrator.
Ideally, a CIP should be consistent with the local comprehensive plan to ensure
that public investment in infrastructure and community facilities reinforces the
desired land use pattern.
The CIP typically includes a map, a description of projects and their costs, and
a schedule for project financing and implementation. CIP projects usually exceed
a specified dollar threshold (such as $100,000) and have a life expectancy of more
than five years. Regular operating expenses are excluded, although maintenance and
replacement costs may be covered. Some CIPs include explanations of how projects
were selected, ranked, and justified. Project descriptions are often organized by
topic. For example, the 2006–2008 CIP for Vancouver, British Columbia, is divided
into sections on public works, parks and recreation, civic facilities, community ser-
vices, and supplementary needs.
Ideally, a CIP should be consistent with the local comprehensive plan to ensure
that public investment in infrastructure and community facilities reinforces the
desired land use pattern. Several states, including California and Florida, require
such consistency. Nevertheless, in many jurisdictions, the CIP process is not coordi-
nated with long-range planning, and priorities may originate from a number of dif-
ferent sources outside the comprehensive plan. For example, project proposals may
arise from “an attempt to equalize distribution of funds among council wards . . . ;
a response to citizen complaints . . . ; a safety recommendation of the community’s
engineer or risk manager; conditions of a grant; or simply a very old plan.”5 In fact,
safety and security arguments almost always trump long-range planning, particularly
in communities with severe fiscal constraints.
Private sector and institutional plans

Rounding out the spectrum of urban plans are those prepared by the private sec-
tor or by large institutional landowners. These include site plans, land development
plans, campus plans, and plans prepared by business improvement districts and
nonprofit organizations. Private and institutional plans feature some of the same
characteristics as area plans and strategic plans, but they are neither developed nor
formally adopted by local government. The exceptions are in cities such as Boston
and Philadelphia, where institutions seeking zoning relief must submit development
plans for adoption by the local government.
Land development plans

Countless cities and towns across the United States began with nothing more than
a map showing a street grid oriented around a railroad station, a riverfront, or a vil-
lage green. Before the advent of modern urban planning, this is how American cities
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228 Making Plans
were conceived and developed. Even many of America’s postwar suburbs developed
without the benefit of a comprehensive plan; instead, local governments relied on
private developers to set aside sites for schools, parks, shopping centers, and a vari-
ety of housing types.
Today, private land plans—particularly those of large, master-planned com-
munities and new towns—share some of the characteristics of municipal plans. An
illustrated plan document can be an effective way to communicate the overall vision
for the project, define development principles, and address logistical issues such as
project phasing, financing, and infrastructure design. A number of factors affect the
design of a private land plan: local government approval requirements, marketing
needs, real estate economics, and emerging development philosophies such as the
new urbanism. Such communities may encompass thousands of acres; house more
than 100,000 residents; feature elaborate amenities such as lakes, golf courses, and
park systems; and even contain their own downtowns and neighborhood centers.
Celebration, Florida, and Anthem, Arizona, for example, are being developed accord-
ing to detailed master plans that address much more than the layout of streets and
parcels. Such projects typically have detailed design guidelines, environmental con-
servation and mitigation plans, trip-reduction strategies, and even affordable-housing
programs.
Institutional plans
Institutional plans for hospitals, campuses, military bases, and other large-acreage
land uses have evolved from simple maps showing the locations of new buildings
to elaborate, multivolume documents addressing everything from habitat restoration
to carpooling incentives. The dynamic and competitive nature of higher education
has compelled many colleges and universities to grow, often on constrained sites
hemmed in by established neighborhoods. In some communities, campus planning
has taken on an adversarial tone characterized by protracted battles over expan-
sion and off-site impacts. But while campus plans can be lightning rods for conflicts
between “town and gown,” they also create opportunities for partnership, collabora-
tion, and mutually beneficial solutions.
Creating a family of plans

As the planning profession evolves, new types of plans will inevitably emerge. New
forms of public participation, new laws, new issues, and new technologies will drive
new solutions. In the end, each community must create its own “family of plans,”
indigenous to its setting, planning culture, and political past and present. The trick is
to keep the family from becoming dysfunctional. This can best be achieved by being
vigilant about plan consistency, building a strong constituency for planning, and
educating civic leaders and local government staff about the value and importance of
long-range planning.
Notes
1 Office of Planning, A Vision for Growing an States (Washington, D.C.: APA, 2002),
Inclusive City (Washington, D.C.: Government planning.org/growingsmart/pdf/states2002.pdf
of the District of Columbia, 2004), 75, planning (accessed May 18, 2008).
.dc.gov/planning/cwp/view,a,1354,q,614757. 4 For additional information, see “Infrastructure
asp (accessed May 18, 2008). Planning” in Chapter 7.
2 Lewis D. Hopkins, Urban Development: The 5 Eric Damian Kelly and Barbara Becker,
Logic of Making Plans (Washington, D.C.: Community Planning: An Introduction to the
Island Press, 2001), 38. Comprehensive Plan (Washington, D.C.: Island
3 American Planning Association (APA), Press, 2000), 267.
Planning for Smart Growth: 2002 State of the
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Making Plans 229
Focus on changes, and to protect established

neighborhoods where there are very
Planning on a active citizen groups. Interstate access

that is advantageous to one city or to
crowded stage the university is not likely to be advanta-

geous to the other city in attracting new
development, and neighborhood groups
Lewis D. Hopkins within each city may oppose such new
access. Although there are intergovern-
Plans affect urban development by mental agreements on certain issues
providing information and ideas that and the city governments talk with each
influence decisions and other plans.1 For other, they make separate decisions and
example, when local, state, and federal create many plans either alone or as part
governments decide to fund a highway of various coalitions, some of which do
project, they consider others’ plans as not include both cities.
well as their own. A plan for a metro-
politan area influences, and is influenced The IL 130/High Cross Road Corridor Plan
by, plans for municipalities. The ways in of April 2007, developed collaboratively
which organizations use plans suggest by the city of Urbana, the Illinois Depart-
principles for making plans.2 ment of Transportation, the Champaign
County Highway Department, Urbana
Instead of thinking about a plan first and
Township, Somer Township, and UIUC,
then about its implementation, I recommend
includes proposals that are typical of area
that planners first analyze the people and
or corridor plans (see the last column of
organizations and how they use the many
Table 5–3). It identifies projects, such as
different plans that already exist. Each cell
bridge widening and the addition of lanes
in Table 5–3 on pages 230–231 identifies
and traffic lights, and indicates who has
how each type of organization might use
responsibility for funding construction: the
each particular type of plan when making
city of Urbana, for example, is responsible
decisions.
for building intersection improvements
and a multiuse path. Each of the entities
Overlapping plans in
involved in developing the plan, as well as
Champaign-Urbana
other types of public and private sector
Like most metropolitan areas in the organizations identified in Table 5–3, takes
United States, Champaign-Urbana in Illi- the plan into account in its decision mak-
nois contains numerous governmental and ing. Retailers, for example, are developing
quasi-governmental entities: Champaign sites in and near the corridor, both expect-
and Urbana, contiguous twin cities; Cham- ing and justifying the proposed capital
paign County; the Champaign-Urbana improvements.
Urbanized Area Transportation Study
(the metropolitan planning organization
for transportation planning); the Urbana- Each of the entities involved
Champaign Sanitary District; and other in developing the plan, as well as other
special districts. The University of Illinois types of public and private sector
at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) sits astride organizations, takes the plan
the jurisdictional boundary that separates into account in its decision making.
Champaign and Urbana. Of course, the
metro area is also home to many private
sector firms, nonprofit organizations, and
Several other plans overlap spatially and
citizens’ groups.
interact functionally with the IL 130/High
Champaign and Urbana compete to obtain Cross Road Corridor Plan, and each plan
tax revenues, to avoid losing taxable land provides different information. The 2004
to the university, to gain accessibility Long Range Transportation Plan, which was
advantages such as interstate inter- federally mandated by the metropolitan
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230 Making Plans
Table 5–3 How various organizations and entities use different types of plans
Plan type and use

Capital Long-range
Comprehensive Regional improvement transportation
Actor plan vision plan plan Area plan
Property Indicates Raises aspira- Informs on Indicates stability Provides design
owners stability or tions for com- likely timing, or change in use guidelines
change in use munity identity funding, and or value and details of
or value and quality potential tax project design;
assessments for indicates facility
improvements placement
Developers Indicates what Raises Informs on Provides Provides design
is likely to be aspirations likely timing, information on guidelines
permitted and for growth funding, and the relation- and details of
where or quality potential tax ship between project design;
development assessments for transportation indicates facility
improvements capacity and placement
demand
Lending Indicates sta- Informs on how Indicates stability Provides
institutions bility or change timing and fund- or change in project-level
in property ing of improve- property value details pertinent
value ments may to financial
affect property viability
values
Business Indicates what Raises Provides Provides Indicates busi-
owners is likely to be aspirations information information on ness feasibility
permitted and for growth or on timing and the relation- in specific con-
where quality of life likelihood of ship between text and design
(and therefore potential tax transportation guidelines
the value of assessments for capacity and
businesses) improvements demand
Civic Provides Advocates for Documents Provides support Provides a
organizations information on the aspirations public commit- for arguments for public record of
future develop- in the civic ment to capital or against project the quality of
ment patterns coalition’s projects funding development
interests
planning organization, identifies the ring road. Six months before the corridor
corridor as a link in a proposed metropoli- plan was released, the Urbana-Champaign
tan ring road, but it acknowledges that Sanitary District elaborated on the details
neither the city of Urbana nor the univer- of its own plan and discovered that it could
sity supports this ring road proposal. The provide sewer services one-quarter mile
2005 Urbana Comprehensive Plan identi- further east of the corridor than had been
fies criteria for choosing among three previously expected. The projects identi-
locations for a new interstate interchange, fied in the corridor plan do not require an
but it does not commit to an interchange interchange at Route 130, nor do they pro-
at Route 130, and it designates the north- vide sufficient alignments for a ring road,
ern part of the corridor as rural residential, but they do not preclude such possibilities,
which is inconsistent with the idea of a either.
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Making Plans 231
Table 5–3 (continued)
Plan type and use

Capital Long-range
Comprehensive Regional improvement transportation
Actor plan vision plan plan Area plan
Neighborhood Indicates Advocates for Informs on Provides support Provides a
organizations stability or the neighbor- timing, funding, for arguments for public record of
change at the hood’s inter- and likelihood or against project the quality of
neighborhood ests through of potential tax funding development
level the planning assessments for
process improvements
Public-private Indicates what Advocates for Provides Provides informa- Documents pub-
partnerships is likely to be aspirations information on tion on the rela- lic commitment
permitted and related to capital projects tionship between to site develop-
where partnership’s that may affect transportation ment and design
interests partnership capacity and guidelines
demand
Local Provides Advocates for Provides Provides informa- Documents pub-
governments support for the aspirations information on tion on the rela- lic commitment
the imple- for the quality related capital tionship between to site develop-
mentation of of life in the projects transportation ment and design
ordinances community capacity and guidelines
demand vis-à-vis
future projects
Special Indicates loca- Indicates Provides Provides informa- Provides a
districts and tion and land aspirations for information on tion on the rela- public record of
authorities use attributes growth related capital tionship between the quality of
of demand projects transportation development
capacity and
demand; input to
other plans
Metropolitan Provides input Indicates Demonstrates Meets federal Provides a
planning for long-range aspirations for that the mandates for fund- public record of
organizations transportation growth transportation ing and provides the quality of
planning improvement the basis for man- development
plan meets fed- dated transporta-
eral mandates tion improvement
programs
On the other side of the twin cities, a new region and as an agenda item for an action
interchange was under construction at the coalition. The proposed regional commercial
southwest edge of Champaign. In April 2007, development in the Champaign draft plan
the same month that the corridor plan was would compete with the expectations of
published, the city of Champaign released the city of Urbana, private sector develop-
a draft plan that proposed regional comers, and transportation project funders for
mercial development for that interchange commercial development in the Illinois 130
in addition to the existing retail concentra- corridor on the east edge of Urbana. The
tion on the north edge of the city. In the potential competition from Champaign will
same week, the final report of a countywide undoubtedly affect the decisions of various
visioning effort identified edge develop- organizations about zoning and interstate
ment patterns as a priority concern for the access east of Urbana.
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232 Making Plans
Chicago’s many plans Focus on

In large cities, urban development pat-
terns result from the decisions of many
organizations that take into account many
The planning
plans whose timing and scope overlap.
Since 2000, three regional plans have
process
been developed for metropolitan Chicago:
Frederick C. Collignon
Metropolis 2020, which was developed by
the Commercial Club of Chicago; Common
All planning processes have certain tasks in
Ground, developed by the Northeastern
common:
Illinois Planning Commission; and Shared
• Define the goals that are to be
Path 2030, developed by the Chicago Area
achieved, or identify the problems that
Transportation Study (CATS). Shared Path
must be addressed. This first task can
2030 explicitly acknowledges that the
be accomplished through a number
other two plans serve purposes that are
of public participation processes,
different from its own and appropriate
including visioning, surveys, and
to the interests of the organizations that
hearings.
made them. The CATS plan also identifies
many other plans and organizations that • Gather information on the situation, and
identify the alternative courses of action
are interacting through separate decisions
that can be used to achieve the goals or
about urban development in the Chicago
address the problem. Some alternatives
region.
will be obvious from the start, but creative
efforts will be needed to develop other
Some principles possibilities.
Local government administrators must • Agree on the criteria that will be used to
decide what kinds of plans to make. They evaluate the alternatives, and develop
should also remember to use existing plans. guidelines for decision makers on how
Other principles are as follows: to weigh the criteria or make trade-offs
• Before making a new plan, use the among them. Agreeing on criteria is a
information that is already available in complex task in community planning,
other plans, and think carefully about where there are many stakeholders, all
how to make a plan that will add valuable with varying objectives that must be
information. balanced.
• Make a list of the situations in which you • Gather sufficient information to

expect to use your plan or want other evaluate each of the alternatives,
organizations to use it. and apply the criteria and guidelines
to identify the best course of action.
• For these situations, identify information
Once the best course of action is clear
that will be credible and useful and that to those engaged in the planning
can be presented without pretensions of process, it is often necessary to
certainty. persuade decision makers that it is
• Publicize how you will use any plan in the public’s interest to follow this
you make, and explain how it fits into course.
the many planning activities of your • Finally, implement the chosen course
organization and other organizations in of action. Ideally, the participants
your community. in the planning process will have
considered the strengths and weak
Notes nesses of various implementation
1 Gene Bunnel, Making Places Special: Stories of Real strategies in the course of evaluating
Places Made Better by Planning (Chicago: APA Plan- the alternatives; in fact, feasibility and
ners Press, 2002).
ease of implementation are generally
2 Lewis D. Hopkins and Marisa A. Zapata, Engaging
the Future: Forecasts, Scenarios, Plans, and Projects considered to be important criteria for
(Cambridge, Mass: Lincoln Institute, 2007). assessing options.
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Making Plans 233
But the planning process doesn’t stop there. and probable consequences must be identi-
After implementation has been initiated, an fied. Failure to anticipate and adequately
assessment will be undertaken to deter- address constraints may slow down imple-
mine whether the intended outcomes are mentation or thwart it entirely. Support-
being achieved. As part of the assessment, ers and opponents of particular courses
stakeholders will be given an opportunity of action often lack the background and
to comment. After the evaluation, plan- objectivity to weigh constraints, however;
ning may well start again, either to refine it is in the evaluation of constraints that
the approach or to address new goals and the technical knowledge and skills of the
problems. Planning is iterative—an ongoing planning professional are essential. Plan-
process. ners must address questions such as the
These steps are generic: they apply to any following: is the action technically feasible,
government agency, business, or nonprofit legally permissible, and affordable? What
organization that engages in planning. In are the true costs and likely outcomes?
community planning, the steps are embed- How does the action affect the local
ded in a political process that involves government’s finances?
the mayor and/or the local government
manager, the governing body, local commis- Securing agreement—and doing so
sions, and civic groups, all of whom work within a reasonable time
together to define goals and identify desired
Securing agreement among diverse stake-
outcomes. Broad opportunities for public
holders is difficult; securing agreement
participation and comment are usually an
integral part of the process. Although public within a reasonable time is even more
engagement is vital, it does pose a number so. Engagement and consensus are both
of challenges: planners must (1) ensure essential to timely action. The broader
that the public understands the intercon- the agreement about the best course of
nectedness of decisions, (2) strive to obtain action, the easier it will be to coordinate,
agreement within a reasonable time, (3) and the more likely it will be that the
anticipate issues that may arise during desired outcomes will be achieved. If the
implementation, and (4) help create a “cul- process takes too long, however, citizens
ture of planning.” may lose enthusiasm or interest, and
cease participation.
Interconnectedness
Planners often describe interconnected-
ness as the rationale for comprehensive The way in which the planning process is
planning—that is, for planning that takes conducted often influences the public’s
into account the many interrelated facets of perception of the legitimacy of the final
community life. When presenting informa- recommendations and decisions.
tion or scenarios, planners must highlight
the interconnectedness of decisions and
actions undertaken by households, busi- Despite planners’ best efforts to maintain
nesses, government, and other entities. For momentum, however, a number of factors
example, it may be obvious that land use can delay agreement. Groups that have
decisions, construction, and property invest- various objections to the proposed course
ments affect transportation, housing costs, may file suits or use other political means
the cost and quality of public services, the to postpone action. Even if a political
local labor supply, and many other aspects majority of the governing body is in place,
of the community. But personal choices— it may take time to secure the agreement
how we travel, shop, and use our leisure of decision makers. A plan can die or
time—also have repercussions. change if the governing body changes or
if a plan is brought forward during an elec-
Constraints and consequences tion season.
As information is gathered and possible Even those who may disagree with some
courses of action are evaluated, constraints elements of a proposal are more likely
11255-05_CH05.indd 233 1/16/09 10:58:09 AM

234 Making Plans
to support it if they perceive the process citizens’ committees, planning consult-

as fair and inclusive. The way in which ing firms, and university-based planning
the planning process is conducted often programs—that review plans and policies.
influences the public’s perception of the Advocacy groups, also an important part
legitimacy of the final recommendations of the local planning culture, focus on
and decisions. particular issues such as farmland pres-
ervation, environmental conservation,
Assembling the majority of the governing
homelessness, or the interests of elderly
body needed to adopt a policy normally
or disabled citizens. There are roles
requires the political skill of elected repre-
for planners in these nongovernmental
sentatives; it is therefore wise to involve
organizations, and public planners need
them early in the planning process. Plan-
to have good working relationships with
ners can help by anticipating conflicts and
them.
disagreements. Planners are an important
part of the political process—building An effective and ongoing planning pro-
support as alternatives are evaluated, cess helps the community solve problems,
suggesting compromises, and providing adapt to change, and move toward the
the information needed to persuade public future it desires. It also educates citizens
decision makers that the recommended about their community and its needs, helps
course of action is in the best interests of develop citizen leaders, and creates greater
the community. capacity for responding effectively to
future problems.
Anticipating implementation
A community planning process is not suc-
cessful unless the agreed-upon actions are Focus on
implemented. However, citizens and busi-
nesses rarely understand who needs to do
what inside government to implement a cho-
Civic
sen course of action. Instead of waiting until
plans are complete, planners should consult
engagement
with other local government staff to obtain
Barbara Faga
feedback on constraints, costs, and other
factors that might affect implementation.
Every night, in public buildings, auditori-
This information should then be taken into
ums, and church basements across the
account during efforts to choose a course of
country, people assemble to participate in
action.
acts of collective imagination. Planners,
The overall implementation plan should developers, designers, and elected officials
include some actions that can be put into present their plans and ideas, and engage
place quickly and that will be highly visible local citizens in discussion. Everyone comes
to the public. When citizens do not have to the meetings with a different vision.
visible evidence of progress, they are less Members of the community base their
likely to participate in future planning initial responses on what they’ve seen and
processes. heard from the media, their neighbors,
friends, and other sources. Each of the
Creating a culture of planning attendees imagines how the proposed plan
will change his or her life, for better or
The presence of local planning institu-
worse, and responds accordingly.
tions facilitates the development of a
“culture of planning.” In most communi- Projects can go forward or are held up,
ties, these institutions with authority to depending on the outcome of these meet-
undertake planning in support of the gov- ings. Some projects may even be doomed.
erning bodies take the form of a planning Despite the high stakes, the power of the
commission, a zoning board, or a plan- public discussion is now recognized as one
ning department. Official planning bodies of the essentials of entitlement planning
may be aided by various groups—such as for both public and privately developed
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Making Plans 235
projects. Elected officials and public plan- Web sites, e-mail, and chat rooms. The
ners are beginning to value citizens’ under- combination of open meetings policies
standing of and commitment to public (known as sunshine laws in most states),
planning processes. And the professionals freedom of information acts, and the
with expertise in building consensus have Internet guarantees that the media—and
gained new respect from both their public the public—can find out almost anything
and private clients. Building consensus is at any time. These new and highly inter-
a long and involved and, in many cases. active modes of communication will only
tough process. become more common and sophisticated
as time goes on.
Any project that affects the public

The power of the public discussion
now involves some form of community
is now recognized as one of the
engagement, and the trend is toward an
essentials of entitlement planning
ever-expanding public role. The design
for both public and privately
developed projects. of Ground Zero in 2002 was a watershed
moment in public process: 5,000 people
converged on the Jacob Javits Conven-
Public discourse wasn’t always an essential tion Center to press buttons on electric
part of planning. From the 1930s to the polling keypads and voice their opinions
1950s, master builders, such as New York’s on proposed designs for the new World
Robert Moses, envisioned great plans and Trade Center and memorial. Despite the
built them with little debate or discussion. reputation of community engagement as
Many of these plans were highly disruptive, time-consuming, expensive, and of dubi-
displacing people and neighborhoods for the ous value, the Ground Zero experience
sake of highways, infrastructure, and new demonstrated just how powerful the voice
development. The community did not have a of citizens can be.
voice in these planning decisions, and those Communities can be highly valuable con-
who tried to speak up were quickly and stituents and allies for the planner, for the
effectively silenced. following reasons:
But times change. Citizens now expect • Knowledge. The public at times knows
and demand a role in planning projects more about what will make the project
that will affect their neighborhoods and successful than the planner or design
quality of life. Some professionals still consultants do. Community members,
believe that involving the community in when given the information, can
major decisions homogenizes the out- envision how the space, site, street,
comes and entails too much time and and location will actually work, and can
expense. But the reality is that the public suggest changes that will improve the
has every right to be fully informed project.
about, and to thoroughly discuss, any
• Transparency. The key word is trust: if
plans that will ultimately change their
community members trust the process
lives. Planners benefit as well: well-
and the planners involved, they will stick
informed and supportive community
with the process until a workable decision
members will become advocates for the
is reached.
project and proponents of thoughtful
planning. • Constituency. Elected officials are
influential only during their term of
Terms of engagement office, but the public can play a role for
Citizens today are pummeled by media the duration of the project, seeing it
messages and continuous entertainment. through to implementation.
They question presidential candidates • Cost. Reaching consensus through
in real time via YouTube and CNN, and an extensive public process can
they bring down public figures with viral prevent lawsuits and the associated
video clips. They read blogs, receive delays, attorneys’ fees, and general
instant newsfeeds, and network through frustration.
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236 Making Plans
Innovative communication strategies for planning processes
Deliberative public forums draw together demographically representative groups

of citizens for daylong discussions of planning, budgeting, and policy issues. One
example of such a forum, AmericaSpeaks’ 21st Century Town Meeting, relies on a
sophisticated combination of large-group polling methods and intimate, face-to-face
discussion.1 The results are made available to participants, decision makers, and the
media as a blueprint for local and regional action (see table).
Rethinking the public meeting: Beyond conventional practice

Conventional practice Current best practice
Speaker focused Participant focused
Experts deliver information Experts respond to participants’
questions
Citizens air individual ideas and Citizens identify shared ideas and con-
concerns cerns and assign them relative priority
Participants share anecdotal evidence Participants work from balanced back-
ground materials
Participants tend to be the “usual sus- Participants are recruited from diverse
pects”—citizens and other stakeholders populations; targeted efforts to reach
who are already actively involved in underrepresented groups drawn in citi-
efforts to address specific issues zens who are not usually active
No group discussion of questions Participants engage in facilitated small-
group discussions
Participants offer individual testimo- Real-time discussion and polling produces
nies that are summarized in meeting a shared voice for everyone in the room
transcripts
“Findings” are reported weeks after “Outcomes” are reported at the end of
the meeting each day
The AmericaSpeaks model

AmericaSpeaks has adopted a set of seven principles for any deliberative engagement
process:
1. Educate participants. Provide citizens with accessible information about the
issues and choices involved so that they can develop informed opinions.
2. Frame issues neutrally. Present policy issues in a way that allows the public to
struggle with the most difficult choices facing decision makers.
3. Achieve diversity. Ensure that the demographic makeup of the participant group
reflects that of the affected community.
4. Get buy-in from policy makers. Obtain commitment from decision makers to
engage in the process and to use the results in policy making.
5. Support high-quality deliberation. Facilitate discussion that is designed to ensure
that all voices are heard.
6. Confirm public consensus. Ensure that formal communications clearly highlight
the public’s shared priorities.
7. Sustain involvement. Support ongoing public involvement—including monitoring,
feedback, and evaluation.
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Making Plans 237
The New Orleans experience

Careful and sophisticated outreach and recruitment can produce demographi-
cally representative participation. The importance and difficulty of this critical
aspect of public engagement was demonstrated in New Orleans, where—if the
process was to have legitimacy with local leaders—organizers had to ensure
demographic representation that matched pre-Katrina population patterns and
obtain sizable participation among evacuees in five off-site locations (Atlanta,
Baton Rouge, Dallas, Houston, and Memphis). These remote sites, connected
via satellite television, played an important role in ensuring that pre-Katrina
populations were represented in the process, and were essential to a recovery
strategy that would attract these former residents back to a city in which they
have a stake.
Community Congress I, the first meeting convened in New Orleans, employed tradi-
tional outreach tactics that relied heavily on mainstream media; it failed to turn out a
representative group of participants. The second and third efforts—Community Con-
gress II and III—used more robust, resource-intensive and multilayered communication
strategies. Despite considerable skepticism on the part of seasoned local planners,
city officials, and citizens themselves, participants at the second and third congresses
very closely matched demographic targets.2
Three forms of effective outreach

Successful strategies to ensure demographic representation rely on three forms of
outreach: the mass media, networks, and person-to-person contact.
• Mass media: Leveraging mainstream media outlets such as radio, print, and, where
possible, television to ensure that broad public markets are penetrated
• Networks: Identifying and working through existing networks of community-
based groups to ensure that organized constituencies are targeted and fully
engaged
• Person-to-person contact: Sending volunteer recruiters to make person-to-person
contact in key geographic areas where there are hard-to-reach populations.
One key to success involves linking participant registration data to outreach efforts: if
outreach teams receive daily registration reports, coordinators can quickly adjust their
efforts at any of the three levels—particularly at the person-to-person level—to ensure
that all demographic and geographic targets have been reached by the day of the town
meeting.
Giving citizens a voice

Citizens want a voice in the decisions that affect their quality of life and their experi-
ence of place. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, hard-to-reach groups will turn
out for public meetings when certain conditions have been met—for example, when an
effective outreach strategy has been employed, a transportation plan is in place, deci-
sion makers are in the room, basic needs (such as child care) have been attended to,
and participants have been invited by a trusted source.
When planners bring all voices into the decision-making process, they strengthen the
very fabric of democracy.
Source: Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer

1 AmericaSpeaks: Engaging Citizens in Governance, 21st Century Town Meetings, americaspeaks.org/index
.cfm?fuseaction=page.viewpage&pageid=487&parentID=472 (accessed April 28, 2008).
2 To learn more about the Unified New Orleans Plan, visit unifiedneworleansplan.com (accessed April 28, 2008).
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238 Making Plans
Figure 5–5 Ketan

Gada, Washington, D.C.,
Office of Planning
official, speaks with
community organizer
Jessica Rucker.
Source: Kevin Chapple
Two examples from Atlanta for a new road. But GDOT had failed to take
Public engagement is relevant to issues rang- into account the new residents of these
ing from rezoning the corner of the next block neighborhoods: many were young attor-
to redesigning the city. Two major projects in neys and other professionals who had no
Atlanta illustrate the shift in thinking about intention of allowing their renovated homes
public process and how it can benefit planning. to abut a highway. The residents organized
CAUTION (Citizens against Unnecessary
Freedom Park, 1994 Thoroughfares in Older Neighborhoods)
I-495 was proposed in the late 1960s as a to fight GDOT; over the course of two
new expressway for Atlanta, and it soon decades, they successfully blocked every
became famed as one of the most litigated action GDOT took to build the road. In 1982,
projects in Georgia. In the early 1970s the President and Mrs. Jimmy Carter opened
Georgia Department of Transportation the Carter Presidential Center on what was
(GDOT) proceeded to demolish older, gen- to have been the central interchange of two
trifying inner-city neighborhoods—a num- highways. The Carter Center remained the
ber of which included historic Victorian and only development on the kudzu-covered
craftsman houses—in order to make way site until 1995.
Six essential elements of civic engagement
• Transparency. Ensure that all information is available to everyone.

• Listening. Understand what people are saying. Ask questions.
• Ground rules. Establish how meetings will be conducted; publish and post the
ground rules.
• Solutions. Propose ways in which the project can enhance the community, and
explain how community interests can advance the project. Engage nonprofit orga-
nizations and other stakeholders as supporters.
• Graphics. Provide drawings that the community understands. Assume that
90 percent of the public cannot read plans: instead, use graphics and photos of
comparable projects to communicate the design.
• Closure. Make certain that the public comes to some agreement, however small, by
the end of every meeting. Reiterate points of agreement in the concluding remarks,
and restate the points at the opening of the next meeting. Always move forward.
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Making Plans 239
Transparency
Transparency is an essential part of any fair public engagement process. A transpar-

ent process
• Is open and honest
• Involves no secret meetings or assurances
• Is open to the press and reporters
• Includes the active participation of elected officials
• Is portrayed honestly to the public
• Makes all information available to the public
• Is led by a recognized and impartial community leader
• Is founded on the belief that an agreement can be worked out.
Source: Barbara Faga, Designing Public Consensus (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2006), 141.
In the early 1990s, with the 1996 Summer The Atlanta BeltLine, 2005
Olympics fast approaching, the City of Ryan Gravel, a young design student at the
Atlanta, GDOT, and the Carter Center tried Georgia Institute of Technology, developed
again to engage CAUTION in a discussion. the idea for the Atlanta BeltLine in his mas-
Numerous ideas and plans had been pre- ter’s thesis, and city council president Cathy
sented over the years, but the residents had Woolard took up and championed the vision.
successfully stood their ground: there would In 2004 Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin com-
be no roads, and therefore no development. missioned a feasibility study for redevelop-
GDOT, meanwhile, was equally committed to ing a mostly abandoned, twenty-seven-mile
seeing what was then called the “Presiden- railroad right-of-way that circled downtown
tial Parkway” built. It was only after Leon Atlanta into a mixture of housing and com-
Eplan, then director of planning for the city, mercial space. This project—now known
spent weeks in mediation, as directed by a as the BeltLine—would weave together
state judge, with GDOT and CAUTION mem- trails, parks, and transit for an urban area
bers that an agreement was reached. The experiencing its first influx of residents in
new road—to be known as Freedom Park- thirty years. A tax-allocation district, or
way—would be a divided parkway connecting TAD (known in most states as tax increment
downtown, the Martin Luther King Center, financing, or TIF), was identified as the best
and National Historic Site and the Carter financing mechanism for the BeltLine.
Center. The remaining open space would Approval of the TAD required the support
be developed as a 207-acre regional park of three elected bodies: the Atlanta city
with replacement housing along the edges, council, the Fulton County Commission, and
based on Frederick Law Olmsted’s design the Atlanta Public Schools Board. The for-
principles. mal public process to introduce the BeltLine
to the community and gain consensus began
The public got it right. Freedom Park, cur-
in May 2005 guided by the BeltLine Part-
rently the most heavily used park in the
nership, the private board, and the Atlanta
region, is a highly successful centerpiece Development Authority, the public partner.
for the resurgence of several in-town neigh- Two consultants—EDAW and Urban Collage—
borhoods, including Inman Park, Poncey- created the redevelopment plan, and media
Highland, Candler Park, and the Old Fourth and public relations consultants took charge
Ward. Arguably, the pain and cost of the of public information needs. To attract new
twenty-five-year standoff could have been businesses and residents—and to make room
avoided through some early and careful for them—the redevelopment plan called for
consensus building. The saga serves as a 20,000 market-rate residential units; 5,600
cautionary example of the value of timely workforce housing units; retail uses; 1,200
public engagement. acres of parks; 33 miles of bike and walking
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240 Making Plans
trails; office space; light industry; and 22 Local and national nonprofit advocacy groups
miles of transit. Among the plan’s primary also contributed to the design and public
goals were the preservation of existing process. The Trust for Public Land produced a
neighborhoods and historic buildings and detailed study conducted by Alexander Garvin,
sites located along the BeltLine. a prominent planner and urban expert. The
Figure 5–6 To ensure community buy-in for the proposals embodied in Atlanta BeltLine plan, public meetings,
open houses, discussion panels, public forums, and educational seminars were held for citizens in all affected
council districts, neighborhood planning units, and neighborhoods.
Source: Atlanta BeltLine
Source: Atlanta BeltLine
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Making Plans 241
resulting publication, The Beltline Emerald neighborhoods.1 The Atlanta Department of

Necklace: Atlanta’s New Public Realm, illus- Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs; Park
trated the potential for developing the first Pride Atlanta; and several parks conservancies
great park of the twenty-first century, as well also voiced their approval of the plan to trans-
as a mix of urban uses connected to adjacent form Atlanta into a city of parks and trails.2
Figure 5–6 (continued)
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242 Making Plans
But new parks and trails, attractive as they to be used to fund TADs is scheduled for
were to the community, took a back seat to November 2008. No doubt there will be
concerns about transportation and density. many public meetings before the vote to
Educating the community about the benefits discuss the advantages and disadvantages
of increased density and reassuring resi- of TADS. In the meantime, the BeltLine
dents about the timing of the transit and planning continues, with the city and county
traffic improvements proved difficult in the tax revenues and bonds released for sale in
context of a $3.5 billion master plan with an spring 2008.
estimated thirty-year build out.
Numerous public meetings were held Notes
through-out the city to gain consen- 1 Alex Garvin and Associates, Inc., The Beltline Emerald
sus on the proposals embodied in the Necklace: Atlanta’s New Public Realm (San Francisco:
Trust for Public Land, December 2004), tpl.org/
plan. Because the BeltLine would weave content_documents/AtlantaBeltline_Rpt_Garvin_
through the city, agreement was needed TPL_complete.pdf (accessed April 28, 2008).
from eight different council districts, 2 Trust for Public Land, “The Atlanta BeltLine Park
System,” tpl.org (accessed April 28, 2008).
twenty-four neighborhood planning units,
3 BeltLine Atlanta Connected, beltline.org (accessed
and forty-five neighborhoods. To set the April 28, 2008).
stage for the discussion, the BeltLine
Partnership produced an eleven-minute
video, shown at every venue where Mayor
Franklin, community leaders, and resi- Focus on
dents met to discuss the changes that the
BeltLine would bring to the city. The video
was valuable in identifying the basic idea
Omaha by design
and vision of the BeltLine. Computer disks Jonathan Barnett
of the video were available to community
groups to view in their meetings. Omaha’s master plan, like those of many
other cities, is made up of separate elements
The mayor and council were committed to
such as transportation, public facilities, and
making the process transparent: a frequently
land use, which are compiled, revised, and
updated Web site gave Atlanta residents
access to everything connected to the con- approved by the planning board and city
sultation process, including meeting sched- council separately as they are completed.
ules and minutes, lists of attendees, videos, When reviewing proposed buildings, the
maps, redevelopment and land use plans, Omaha planning staff uses the text of the
financial projections, traffic plans, com- master plan, particularly the land use ele-
ments, and press coverage.3 Open houses at ment, as a supplement to official develop-
the Atlanta Development Authority, public ment regulations. However, when the city
forums, discussion panels, and educational was confronted with a proposed Wal-Mart
seminars were scheduled to get the informa- that featured long, blank façades atop a
tion out to all interested citizens. More than huge retaining wall, and the architect was
150 meetings and forums were held over asked at a public hearing why the building
a seven-month period. In December 2005, seemed cheaper and clumsier than a recently
the Atlanta City Council, the Fulton County completed Wal-Mart in Fort Collins, Colorado,
Commission, and the Atlanta Board of Educa- the answer was, “Fort Collins has design
tion approved the TAD. The BeltLine would guidelines, and you don’t.” The proposal met
become a reality. And that reality included the zoning requirements, and master plan
a forty-six-member community advisory statements were too general to make Wal-
committee, many more public meetings, and Mart change the design of the project. The
countless other public processes. city had to approve it.
As an added complication, in March 2008, This incident brought home to Omaha’s

the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that the leaders that the real estate industry was
school board could not subjugate its tax becoming increasingly national: although
revenue without voter approval, thereby local developers might operate within a
affecting the more than twenty-five TADS shared understanding of the objectives of the
currently in effect in Georgia. A public master plan, Omaha’s quality-control mecha-
referendum to allow school board revenue nisms were not explicit enough for situations
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Making Plans 243
in which the principals would not be seeing under each category went beyond regulation
each other again at the golf course or in dis- to include both public investment and poten-
cussions about other projects. The mayor, the tial funding from philanthropic sources.
planning director, business leaders, and com-
munity activists decided that Omaha needed Green Omaha
design guidelines that could raise standards
The Green portion of the urban design ele-
throughout the city.
ment has seven sets of goals, objectives,
There was no question that the development and policies, many of which required capital
regulations would have to be amended—but spending:
first, the community had to decide what it • Safe floodways and floodplains forming a
wanted. The planning director pointed out that citywide park system. The goal here is to
the city charter actually called for an urban deal with Omaha’s distinctive topography—
design element as part of the master plan a series of creek valleys situated between
but that none had ever been prepared; once rolling hills. The creeks, which could be
adopted, the urban design element could serve waterfronts for adjoining property, have
as the basis for changes in zoning and subdivi- been misused for many years as drainage
sion regulations. Local business leaders and ditches. Realizing the design potential of
foundations raised the money for a compre- the creeks requires improved landscaping
hensive urban design study, and in 2003 my and raised water levels, both to create
firm, Wallace Roberts & Todd, LLC, and I were chains of lakes in the floodway itself and
retained to prepare it, along with Robinson & to provide parks and open space in the
Cole, a law firm with a strong record in land adjacent floodplains. (The approach is
use regulation. The project was administered similar to that used to redesign Brush
by the Omaha Community Foundation, which Creek, in Kansas City, in the 1990s.)
chose the name Omaha by Design (as opposed • A complete trail system. Omaha already
to “Omaha by Default,” said Robert Peters, has an extensive network of trails, many
who was then the planning director). The of them along the creeks. Completing
urban design element of the master plan was the system turned out to be a popular
adopted unanimously by the Omaha city coun- objective, backed by a policy to have an
cil in December of 2004; the comprehensive annual capital allocation for trails.
development regulations needed for imple- • Preservation of landscape at the city’s
mentation were adopted by the city council, edges. Preserving farmland on the great
also unanimously, in August of 2007. plains of Nebraska is not the same kind
of issue that it is, say, in densely settled
The advisory committee for Omaha by Design
eastern Pennsylvania, but the city of
included community leaders, developers,
Omaha nevertheless gives priority to
city officials, and design professionals. The
mapping parkland to serve new neighbor
consultants met with the committee regularly
hoods as the city grows, and it has created
and also held public meetings, usually right
special regulations to preserve some
after their meetings with the advisory com-
distinctive woodland and prairie areas.
mittee. Coverage of each upcoming meeting
in the Omaha World Herald meant that there • Landscaped highway edges. Omaha
was always a good public turnout. At each has 1,800 acres of land along the
public meeting, participants were given three edges of highways, most of them only
cards: red, yellow, and green—for “stop,” minimally landscaped. A relatively
small investment—possibly from private
“caution,” and “go.” At decision points, the
individuals or foundations—could
attendees held up cards to indicate their
transform the appearance of the city as
reaction to an idea—a technique that gave an
seen from the highways, although the
immediate sense of where participants stood
consultants turned out to be much more
and also prevented small numbers of people
interested in this possibility than were
with special agendas from monopolizing the
the civic groups in Omaha.
discussion.
• Green streets. Omaha’s subdivision
The consultants divided the issues into three ordinance has no landscaping
categories—Green, Civic, and Neighborhood, requirements for low-density residential
which corresponded to the three main constit- areas, and planting along state arterial
uencies for urban design. The issues discussed roadways has been minimal. The newer
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244 Making Plans
Figure 5–7 These “before” and “after” illustrations show how existing trails along creeks in Omaha can be
landscaped, including dams to raise water levels.
Source: Wallace Roberts & Todd, LLC
parts of Omaha lack the green setting requirements for parking lots to the
that provides much of the charm of older zoning code will improve both the
neighborhoods. Changes to the subdivision microclimate and the appearance in
code and a streetscape handbook to guide many parts of the city.
the choice and placement of street trees • A green image for Omaha. Consistently
will help green the newer parts of Omaha. applied, the first six policies will
• Green parking lots. In many areas, transform Omaha into a green city.
parking lots are the dominant Creating a special committee of city
design element. Adding landscaping commissioners to oversee and coordinate
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Making Plans 245
these policies is one way to ensure that out the noise, streetscape design does
the policies reinforce each other. have a significant, if subliminal, effect
on the way a city is perceived. Omaha by
Design prepared a streetscape handbook
Civic Omaha to guide government agencies in the
The second section of the urban design ele- selection and placement of streetlights,
ment, Civic Omaha, has nine sets of goals, traffic signals, and other streetscape
objectives, and policies: elements.
• Delineating areas of civic importance. The • Major commercial corridors and
places that need the most urban design intersections. The commercial strips that
attention are those where the greatest are not within the corridors recognized
number of people work, shop, go for as places of civic importance, but that
entertainment, and consider for urban still need attention, are perhaps the
living. Traditionally, such places would most difficult design problem in any city.
have been found only in the downtown, Design guidelines for large commercial
but in a modern metropolitan city such buildings, such as big-box stores, apply in
as Omaha, what used to be downtown these areas.
activities extend along corridors far from • Pedestrian-oriented mixed-use centers.
the traditional city center. Previously, the city’s reviews of retail
• Preserving and creating distinctive civic development were based on guidelines
places. The areas of civic importance included in the master plan. New
include some locations—civic place zoning provisions formalize those
districts—that require site-specific design guidelines, which require a mix of uses,
guidelines. Figure 5–8 shows the design the construction of sidewalks to allow
guidelines for such a district. people to walk from one building to
• Streetscapes. Streetlights, traffic signals, another, and walkable connections to
and traffic and parking signs are surrounding residential development
necessary aspects of urban life that, (see Figure 5–9 on page 247).
collectively, create a form of visual • Conservation of buildings. In the interests
“noise.” Although people generally tune of sustainability and continuity, the
Figure 5–8 The map shows the design guidelines for a civic place district in Omaha.
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246 Making Plans
urban design element recognizes that long and narrow, and not intensive
building conservation should extend enough, for modern retail needs.
beyond historic districts and includes a The urban design element identifies
presumption in favor of preserving any interventions—such as adding parking
sound structure. or a grocery store—that are designed to
• Lighting significant structures. Many of transform older commercial areas into
Omaha’s most significant structures are more vibrant retail centers.
illuminated at night. Such illumination is • Neighborhood retail and other amenities
a good way to enhance a city’s image, but in post-1950 neighborhoods. Newer
LEDs (light-emitting diodes) and other neighborhoods in Omaha often have
innovative installations are needed to no retail at all; instead, residents rely
reduce the amount of electricity that is on commercial corridors that may be
used. many miles away. These neighborhoods
• Public art. Omaha has adopted an need to be retrofitted with commercial
administrative standard under which centers and with public facilities such
1 percent of the construction budget as branch libraries in accordance with
for any public building must be used for neighborhood alliance plans.
works of art. • Walkable neighborhoods in newly
• General quality of public design. Omaha developing areas. Most of Omaha’s
has established a design review board to walkable neighborhoods are in the older
review all publicly funded above-grade parts of the city. Newer development has
construction. been likely to take the form of residential
subdivisions dependent on automobiles.
Neighborhood Omaha As Omaha expands, it has the power to
set standards for newly developed areas
Neighborhood Omaha has five sets of
that will eventually be annexed to the city.
goals, objectives, and policies, which apply
Like many cities, Omaha has a mile-square
urban design principles at the neighbor-
grid that could include four traditional
hood scale:
walkable neighborhoods, as the generally
• Creating neighborhood alliances. accepted size of a walkable neighborhood
Omaha has several hundred areas that is one quarter of a square mile (Figure
define themselves as neighborhoods— 5–10 on page 248). The suburban park plan
far too many for the city to be able to already identifies locations for a park that
deal with individually on public policy would be shared by these neighborhoods,
issues. The urban design element and the master plan identifies the
delineates fourteen areas within which intersections on the grid as locations
neighborhoods can form alliances, for commercial development. The new
and it directs the city to prepare a Walkable Neighborhood provisions in the
plan for each, in consultation with the zoning adopted to implement Omaha by
neighborhoods. Three such studies had Design, plus the mixed-use regulations
been completed as of 2008. that apply to commercial development
• Preservation and enhancement of older at intersections, enable Omaha to create
neighborhoods. Omaha has many well- new walkable neighborhoods as the city
thought-out neighborhood conservation grows.
programs, but they have not been
sufficiently funded. The urban design Looking ahead
element makes sufficient funding a policy The twenty-one goals, objectives, and poli-
within the context of neighborhood cies require seventy-three implementation
alliance plans. measures. In 2008, after the changes to
• Preserving and enhancing retail in the development regulations were enacted,
older neighborhoods. Like many several mixed-use districts, and the first
other cities, Omaha has commercial new walkable neighborhood, were approved.
districts that date from the days of Other completed initiatives include the
the streetcar and are therefore too streetscape handbook and the green streets
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Figure 5–9 This diagram illustrates the zoning guidelines for mixed-use centers in Omaha.
11255-05_CH05.indd 247
Making Plans

247
1/16/09 10:58:17 AM
248
11255-05_CH05.indd 248
Figure 5–10 Four walkable neighborhoods sharing parks and commercial centers fit within each square mile to be annexed by the city of Omaha.
Making Plans
1/16/09 10:58:18 AM
Making Plans 249
plan. The first phase of landscape and means aligning support (both financial and
sustainability improvements for one of the political) for the planning process before the
creeks is also under way. process even begins.
Each of the Omaha by Design recommenda- To stretch the budget and foster collabor-
tions had already been adopted and used ative thinking, PlanCheyenne integrated
successfully somewhere; what was unusual overlapping disciplines, combining land
about the Omaha initiative was the attempt use, transportation, and parks planning
to include every single element that was into one coordinated process. Although
viewed as necessary to a well-designed city. the history of collaboration came in
Omaha by Design is an ongoing process handy during adoption hearings, however,
that will take a generation or more to com- the integrated approach created several
plete, but its influence is already visible, logistical nightmares.
and its effectiveness should only increase
with time. Instant information
New plans must take account of their audi-
ence: stakeholders who expect targeted,
Focus on instantaneous information that’s intriguing
to them. A plan is a tool for marketing ideas
Planning Cheyenne to citizens, elected officials, and investors,
who want to get to the fundamental points
quickly. For PlanCheyenne, planners devised
Matthew J. Ashby
public communication strategies to ensure
that citizens could readily understand the
Transforming planning from a required
plan. To explain how this plan (and future
exercise, viewed with suspicion, into
plans) would be constructed, and to help
a collaborative process that yielded a
market the vision expressed in the plan, plan-
modern development framework was a
ners named the four phases of the planning
challenging but productive venture for
process “Snapshot,” “Structure,” “Shape,”
Cheyenne, Wyoming, a city poised to
and “Build” (see sidebar on page 250).
become the next “hot spot” on the Rocky
Mountain Front Range. By focusing on Attractive formatting can make a plan more
education and marketing, and by integrat- interesting to laypeople, who often play a
ing three different planning disciplines, major role in its implementation. Taking
PlanCheyenne, the community’s compre- their cues from magazines and Web sites,
hensive plan, bent the rules of traditional planners can devise a graphic format that
planning and promoted a holistic view of catches readers’ interest while quickly
the future for a community on the move. communicating critical messages through
The project advanced innovation and photographs, graphics, sketches, charts, and
challenged norms in ways that the com- text. In deciding what to put into the plan
munity was able to accept. document, the planner should ask, “Why is
this important?”
Planning strategically PlanCheyenne has an innovative “modular”
Creating a comprehensive plan doesn’t formatting style. Capsules of information
mean pulling out an old request for propos- are contained on single pages or groups
als, changing the dates, and hoping that of pages and can be lifted out of the plan
something innovative comes through the and used in staff reports, as printer-ready
door. Staff must begin by helping the com- handouts for citizens and developers, and
munity to identify its most pressing needs in information packets at public meet-
and determine how to meet them. The ings. The format allows each topic to stand
planners’ role is to shepherd the process alone, outside the context of the full plan.
to the edge of innovation—but to prevent Because planners had taken the time to
it from straying too far from reality. Lay- format the information during the plan-
ing the groundwork for an effective plan ning process, they were ready to seize the
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250 Making Plans
Planners’ terms or people’s words?
In PlanCheyenne, technical terms used by planners were replaced by descriptive terms

that could be understood intuitively by the average citizen, after a short introduction.
This approach allows the uninitiated to crack the code of planning and quickly grasp the
essentials. The documentation of existing conditions was known as the “Snapshot”; the
urban design, character, and vision elements were known as the “Structure.” Policies
and the physical plan were described in a section called “Shape”; implementation was
described in a section called “Build.” This naming convention created an easily under-
stood platform for planning, established consistency among documents, and provided
a framework for future plans. Cheyenne’s newest plan, the Belvoir Ranch Master Plan,
uses this convention to guide development of an 18,800-acre ranch located southwest
of town.
moment whenever their expertise was Throwing out the rule book
requested. Although full-color plans can be Local planners need to be strategic in
expensive and require more attention to crafting a planning process that will suit
graphic design from the outset, they can be the peculiarities of their jurisdictions and
a powerful marketing tool. remain within the bounds of what’s politi-
cally tenable. PlanCheyenne demonstrates
Marshalling broad support that education and marketing are crucial:
Plans can be counted as successful only implementation can be deemed successful
when diverse parties begin to carry the only when the products of planning—inno-
planners’ messages—but they will do so only vative ideas—are widely seen as improving
if they have been engaged in the planning citizens’ lives. By reinventing the process
process and find the plans compelling. and format of the plan, Cheyenne planners
Finding areas where goals overlap, and transformed the comprehensive plan from
communicating the benefits of pursuing a dusty reference document into a powerful
overlapping goals, mobilizes support for advocate for the community’s future.
plan implementation.
Communicating the overlapping and align-
While collaboration has many benefits, ing goals of public works and engineering
it takes time and effort to cultivate the departments, health and human service
relationships that make it possible. As the advocates, parks and recreation enthusiasts,
circle expands, each participating entity economic developers, and other stakehold-
or organization adds a new set of values ers is critical to implementing innovative
and goals to the project, placing even more initiatives. As a result of having incorpo-
demands on planners to balance the needs rated diverse interests in the plan, staff have
and interests of stakeholders. Yet the end become skilled at bringing new perspectives
result makes this strategy well worth the into daily decision-making discussions, and
effort. several mixed-use projects—a key initiative
The Fact Sheet format
People understand in very different ways; when key concepts are both shown and
explained to an audience, there is a greater chance that a plan will be used. Photo-
graphs too often are used as fillers or to decorate the page. Instead, it’s best to explain
to readers what they should be noting in the photograph, perhaps to highlight the key
points in the text by calling out quotations. Most audiences are accustomed to these
and other devices in the materials they read.
Source: City of Cheyenne
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Making Plans 251
of PlanCheyenne—have won approval having The challenge in Champaign is to create a

identified win-win situations. Holistic inte- broad understanding of the best cutting-
gration has also helped advance implemen- edge practices, demonstrate how they might
tation of PlanCheyenne, as evidenced by apply to planning issues specific to the com-
the city’s efforts to create a unified devel- munity, and develop proposals that reflect
opment code. By using educational tools the philosophy and policy direction of the
and marketing techniques, the city’s plan city’s officials.
is equipped to advance the community’s
vision. Planning issues
Champaign has many of the qualities of a
small town—and, thanks to the presence of
Focus on the University of Illinois, many of the ameni-
ties and problems of a larger urban area.
Champaign’s system The following issues were among those
addressed in the planning process:
of plans • The need to balance growth on the

urban fringe and the preservation of
Bruce A. Knight agricultural land
• Identification of areas that are
Champaign is a city of 75,000 located on appropriate for new development
the plains of central Illinois. Along with its • Urban form
twin city, Urbana, it is home to the Uni-
• Relations between “town” and “gown”
versity of Illinois. Historically, the city has
grown slowly and steadily; in recent years, • The health of residential neighborhoods
however, growth has accelerated. • Revitalization of the urban core,
especially downtown and Campustown
Champaign is surrounded by some of the
most productive agricultural land in the • Redevelopment of aging and
world, and some of the community’s growth deteriorating areas
has come at the expense of this valuable • Promotion of infill development
resource. The city has successfully pro- • Sustainability and balanced growth
moted infill development through a variety
• Protection of aquifers
of programs; nevertheless, public debate
during a 2007 countywide visioning project • Development of a transportation system
centered on the conflict between protecting that offers a balanced range of travel
irreplaceable farmland and providing for choices
urban growth and development. • Maintenance of a balanced economic
base.
In 2002, the city completely updated its
ten-year-old comprehensive plan. As part of
this process, planners evaluated the capac- A family of plans
ity of possible growth areas and identified To address these issues, Champaign created
these areas on a new future land use map. a family of plans that, taken together, make
In this and other planning efforts, it has up the city’s comprehensive plan: the lead
become clear that in the absence of any real document includes the community’s vision
crisis that would drive change, the case for for the future; a list of goals, objectives, and
tackling new and complex planning issues policies; and the future land use plan. Other
must be made carefully. Champaign has elements, focused on specific topical or
long been a fiscally conservative community, geographic areas, build on this foundation
with elected officials who pride themselves to establish more specific policy guidance.
on being developer friendly. In this environ- The lead document is updated every five
ment, planners must provide full, reliable, years as a matter of policy, and the other
and readily understandable information, plan elements are updated as needed.
educate both citizens and policy makers, Regular exposure to the planning process
and take small steps toward new solutions. has built credibility for planning and kept
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252 Making Plans
planning at the forefront of the community’s In addition to its broad framework for plan-
consciousness. ning, the city has used other techniques to
meet specific needs: these have included
In addition to the lead document, Cham-
a scenario-based planning exercise for the
paign adopted the following topical and
Downtown Plan; a visual-preference survey
geographic elements:
for the Curtis Road–Interstate 57 Inter-
• Neighborhood Wellness Plan1 change Master Plan; the Choices Work-
• Downtown Plan shop, a community conversation about the
• University District Action Plan update of the transportation plan; project-
based Web sites; citizen camera exercises—
• Northwest Growth Area Plan
citizens are given disposable cameras and
• Eastside Commercial Area Plan asked to take pictures of what they see
• North First Street Redevelopment Plan as strengths, weaknesses, opportunities,
• Beardsley Park Neighborhood Plan and threats for an area—for use in vision-
ing workshops; mobile city hall events, in
• Route 150 Corridor Plan
which city representatives visit neighbor-
• Transportation Plan hoods instead of requiring citizens to come
• Fire Station Location Study to city hall; and a “lemonade open house”
• Curtis Road–Interstate 57 Interchange on the streets of Campustown, which was
Master Plan. designed to reach University of Illinois stu-
dents, the population from whom it is most
difficult to get input.
Planning process
The comprehensive plan provides guid-
The planning process is custom tailored to
ance for the day-to-day decisions of
the specific type of plan being developed,
elected officials, city staff, other govern-
but the process for each individual plan has
mental agencies, and the private sector.
common features, including
To facilitate this use of the plan, each
• Evaluation of existing conditions element includes an implementation chap-
• Assessment of best practices ter that identifies changes to policies or
• Identification of issues and forces that regulations, assigns them to the appropri-
the plan needs to take into account ate department or agency, and indicates
their priority.
• Public engagement (through Web
surveys, workshops, open houses,
interviews with community leaders, Lessons learned
focus groups, and steering committee Over the years, Champaign’s planning
meetings) department has learned that the power of
• Workshops for the plan commission and planning does not reside in a document, but
the city council in a process that accustoms the community
• Visioning to identifying where it wants to go, and to
agreeing on how it wants to get there. Focus-
• Goal setting
ing on the approach to community decision
• Plan development making has made planning more central to
• Implementation strategies. community decisions, and has led both citi-
zens and elected officials to assign greater
The planning process is designed to
value to planners’ work. In Champaign, the
inform and educate citizens, and to
“family of plans” approach allowed policy
advance new ideas that may promote
makers to address difficult issues in manage-
positive change in the community. It
able increments, based on a sound founda-
builds community support for addressing
tion of information and policy.
difficult and contentious issues, identifies
common ground, and yields plans that
Note
combine a broad policy basis with focused
1 The first Neighborhood Wellness Plan won a National
strategies designed to achieve the desired Planning Award from the American Planning Associa-
outcomes. tion in 1994. The plan was updated in 2005.
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Making Plans 253
Focus on ing that the Mississippi watershed touched

every neighborhood in the city. Yet over
The Saint Paul on the past century, the banks had been
solidified into hard edges and virtually all
the Mississippi traces of nature removed.
Development New initiatives had to reflect the city’s

origins on the Mississippi River.
Framework
The effort to turn Saint Paul around gained
Ken Greenberg momentum in 1993, with the election of
Norm Coleman as mayor. The city’s empha-
Saint Paul, at the northernmost navigable sis shifted from attempting quick fixes to
point on the Mississippi River, is Minnesota’s taking a more long-range view: Saint Paul
state capital. In the early 1990s, the city was now seen as a dynamic, evolving organ-
was hemorrhaging—losing jobs, population, ism that had been founded in a unique natu-
and confidence in its future. With a few ral setting, had developed into a transfer
notable exceptions (including Lowertown, a point for barge fleets and rail lines, and had
reemerging warehouse district), the down- later become a business center—although it
town was in decline, its office facilities was rapidly losing ground in that role. This
weak and failing, and its nearby residential perspective fueled the sense that something
neighborhoods victims of the highway fundamental had to change, and that new
network that surrounded them. Saint Paul initiatives had to reflect the city’s origins on
was also very aware of its losses in rela- the Mississippi River.
tion to the successes of its stronger twin,
Minneapolis. Numerous projects, relying Mayor Coleman took the lead, working with
largely on federal programs and develop- the newly formed Saint Paul Riverfront
ment subsidies, had been launched in an Corporation, a private nonprofit umbrella
effort to stimulate a rebirth, but without group with broad representation from all
great success. sectors of Saint Paul’s diverse community.1
The charge was to flesh out and articulate a
There was also a nascent feeling among vision in which Saint Paul would once more
citizens, business leaders, and the political be “a city on the river.” The vision needed
leadership that something more funda- to be powerful enough to bring people
mental was needed. In 1992, Ben Thomp- together and to mobilize the necessary
son, a native son and a well-known Boston resources to move forward.
architect, was summoned by the city to
study the situation. Instead of preparing a
planning document, he produced a single The approach
watercolor image, The Great River Park. Every city has both unique physical assets
This remarkable illustration, which imag- and a particular culture of city building.
ined a verdant river valley running through Consultants and key staff members from
the heart of Saint Paul, turned everyone’s several city departments drew heavily on
eyes to the Mississippi, the city’s degraded Saint Paul’s well-established tradition of
and neglected back door. Thompson’s community support for important initiatives.
inspiration set the stage for work by Bill The effort began with broad outreach in
Morrish and Catherine Brown, of the workshop settings to assess the challenges
University of Minnesota’s Design Center and define core principles. Each of the ten
for the American Landscape, demonstrat- principles that emerged addressed specific
local concerns and aspirations:
Ken Greenberg led the team that produced the • Evoke a sense of place
Framework Plan, served for a year as the interim director
of the Design Center, and has continued to be involved
• Restore and protect the unique urban
with Saint Paul for many years since. ecology
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254 Making Plans
Figure 5–11 This 1997 watercolor by artist Jon Soules captures the spirit of the desired transformation; while
many details are different, the overall outcome has been very much as depicted.
Source: Saint Paul on the Mississippi Design Center
• Invest in the public realm the Mississippi. Then the emphasis shifted to
• Broaden the mix of uses working with local stakeholders in a number
of “precincts” that were identified in the
• Improve connectivity
framework as areas where the potential for
• Ensure that buildings support broader change seemed greatest. The goal was to
city building goals find catalytic actions that could ignite chain
• Build on existing strengths reactions, setting off a pattern of success.
• Preserve and enhance heritage resources By looking at precedents and case studies
• Provide a balanced network for both locally and from elsewhere, partici-
movement pants began to develop a shared under-
standing of how to stimulate and nurture
• Foster public safety.
positive change.
Together, these principles form a kind of
An extremely valuable step involved the
constitution, the essential underpinning for
preparation of overlays that made it pos-
the Saint Paul on the Mississippi Develop-
sible to view all current initiatives—including
ment Framework. The framework was the
development projects and improvements
product of a three-year process involving
to transportation, infrastructure, and the
thousands of people from all sectors of
public realm—side by side, regardless of
Saint Paul’s diverse community—including
whether they were under way, on the draw-
leaders from business, government, the non-
ing board, or in the early planning stages.
profit sector, and the community at large.
This dynamic picture of the city allowed
The framework was developed in two citizens and planners to gauge momentum
phases. Initially, the focus was on broad and to identify possible synergies between
themes: the environmental context, urban projects. It became clear to all parties that a
structure, movement patterns, and public shared vision, linked to the river, could make
realm for the roughly four square miles that a remarkable difference. Within a relatively
were in the heart of the city and straddled short time frame, a public realm—with
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Making Plans 255
continuous sequences of streets, parks, and context, the planning team gave shape to
trails, and active ground-floor uses—could the concepts underlying the framework,
become the foundation for broader goals. creating diagrams and descriptions that
portrayed the city center as a network of
interconnected urban villages, nestled in
The goal was to find catalytic actions that the lush green of a reforested Mississippi
could ignite chain reactions, setting off a River valley and bordered by a vibrant,
pattern of success. mixed-use downtown. Ultimately, the vision
coalesced as the Saint Paul on the Missis-
sippi Development Framework, a broadly
A shared narrative emerged: not just a set endorsed plan for the revitalization of the
of projects, not just a plan, but a belief in the city (Figure 5–13).
power of a collective vision to transcend previ-
ous limitations. The vision was place-based The development framework
and tied to the river. It drew together public
The Saint Paul on the Mississippi Develop-
and private objectives. The iterative commu-
ment Framework was not a typical prescrip-
nity process melded both lay and professional
tive plan. Instead, it took a more open-ended
knowledge, and confirmed the core hypothesis
approach to planning, supporting a deci-
about the role and importance of the river.
sion-making process that would be built on
At the same time, the emerging framework tenets of good city building and on guid-
posed some clear challenges to existing ing principles that celebrated Saint Paul’s
practices. It meant a difficult shift away from unique sense of place. On one level, the
auto-oriented urban design, with its parking framework was a call to action: by redefin-
structures and skywalks, toward pedestrian- ing the city’s relationship with the river, it
friendly design, which emphasizes an active set the stage for Saint Paul to redefine itself
and appealing street level. It also forced a and its future role in the Twin Cities region.
strategic reassessment and reshaping of And by building upon the city’s unique ame-
several key projects already in the pipeline, nities and existing strengths, the vision sus-
including the proposed Science Museum of tained the confidence of investors through
Minnesota. But the river-oriented develop- several market cycles and provided broad
ment strategy offered clear potential for direction for integrated private, public, and
greater rewards. community projects.
Moving back and forth between the pre- But the framework was also a set of practi-
cincts and the larger, four-square-mile cal tools. In describing and illustrating the
Figure 5–12 Underlying the framework was a profound paradigm shift that affected all aspects of city building.
Existing Paradigm New Paradigm
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256 Making Plans
Figure 5–13 The

framework proposed a
series of linked urban
villages, existing and
new, anchored by key
public spaces.
Source: Saint Paul on the

Mississippi Design Center
vision, it explored a number of related lary and syntax for planning discussion. The
themes—environmental quality, urban struc- process of realizing the vision has continued
ture, movement systems, and the quality of through activities such as charrettes, work-
the public realm—and established key goals shops, seminars, publications, and a lecture
for each. Next, it applied these goals to five series.
precincts that were ripe for change: the
Crescent, the Wabasha Corridor, the Rice
Stewardship of the framework
Park/Civic Center area, the Upper Landing,
and the West Side. Finally, the framework One of the things that ultimately makes
set out a list of principles and best practices a city successful is the ability to pass the
for city building in Saint Paul. baton from one political administration to
another, transforming political pledges into
As the framework was being prepared, the enduring civic commitments. This longevity
planning team had to make its best guesses requires actors outside electoral politics—
about the likely sequences of events, and ”stewards” who ensure that undertakings
there was an unavoidable level of uncer- are sustained. In the case of Saint Paul,
tainty. Now that it has been in effect for the Riverfront Corporation has played this
more than a decade, however, it is clear
essential role. With the full support of three
that the framework is resilient enough to
successive mayors, this nonprofit organiza-
respond to new challenges and opportuni-
tion occupies a place in the “city cabinet”
ties. Some changes were anticipated, includ-
and serves as a broker between city govern-
ing intensified development pressures and
ment, the Saint Paul Port Authority, and the
the active downtown land market; because
business-led Capital City Partnership.
of the strength of the market, developers no
longer expect or seek subsidies, and the city Another critical ingredient of success has
has had to expand its planning capacity to been the establishment of the Saint Paul
keep pace. Other changes—including propos- Design Center. Operating under the umbrella
als for an airport expansion and for The of the Riverfront Corporation, the center
Bridges, an enormous lifestyle center that has become a place for community dialogue,
would be situated just across the river from the exhibition of new projects, and the
downtown—were unforeseen. But as these dissemination of information about Saint
and other proposals come forward, the Paul’s design evolution; it is also a forum for
framework continues to provide a vocabu- discussion of design and city-building issues,
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Making Plans 257
and an environment where lateral thinking Jane Jacobs often said that great plans are
is encouraged. Through their membership those that liberate other people’s plans.
in the Design Center, city staff (including They are not blueprints, but invitations
parks department architects, landscape and inspirations. One of the most signifi-
architects, building department officials, and cant early initiatives in the revitalization of
traffic engineers), staff from other agencies, Saint Paul was a community effort to plant
Ramsey County staff, and design students 35,000 new trees in the Mississippi River
and faculty from the University of Minnesota Valley. Inspired by Ben Thompson’s initial
have become directly involved in shaping drawing of a reforested valley, the project
the Saint Paul vision. engaged schoolchildren and adults of all
ages. Companies gave employees time off,
Renewing the framework provided the saplings, and helped people
gain access to the valley to plant them. The
Since 1995, Saint Paul has hosted an annual
sense of ownership produced by this project
Millard Fillmore Dinner, named in honor of
was crucial to building support for larger
the thirteenth president of the United States
ventures.
and the Grand Excursion on the Missis-
sippi that he led in 1854. This dinner, which In the years since the framework was
consistently draws around 1,200 people, created, new downtown housing has been
brings together key community leaders built, and parks, trails, and new public
to celebrate Saint Paul’s ongoing renais- spaces have been created. Each effort has
sance. Through this and other community involved different people and groups. A
events—and through engagement, debate, 2004 study identified more than $2 billion
and constructive self-criticism—the city has in public and private investments related to
succeeded in keeping the vision alive. The riverfront initiatives over a ten-year period.
two local newspapers, the Pioneer Press Special seasonal events have multiplied,
and the Star Tribune, along with Minnesota along with opportunities to celebrate the
Public Radio and other local media outlets, city’s new relationship with its river. With
have also supported the vision by providing all this success, residents and community
regular updates on progress. leaders have set their sights even higher,
Figure 5–14 The framework provides a powerful tool for assessing the fit of emerging proposals within the
urban context.
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258 Making Plans
striving to make Saint Paul both more is the blink of an eye, but she did not want
urban and more green. the rush to build to overpower the need
for quality of life.1
The next logical phase in the city’s river-
front renaissance is a proposal to include Miller had recruited planners Xavier Souza-
more than 3,500 acres of largely open Briggs and John Shapiro, who worked
space within the National Great River with CDC staff, to integrate three planning
Park, which will ultimately encompass the approaches. The first was vision based: each
entire length of the Mississippi River as its community would plan for itself, and each
passes through Saint Paul. The park—whose plan would address quality of life as envi-
connection to Saint Paul is reflected in the sioned by residents—not by consultants, pub-
slogan “The City in a Park, a Park in the lic agencies, or elected officials. The second
City”—will integrate the Mississippi River was market based: the practicalities of the
valley’s unique natural systems and recre- private marketplace and availability of sub-
ational resources with all the communities sidies would be factored in from the outset
along the river and spur economic devel- to ensure that expectations were managed
opment in the adjacent neighborhoods, and the plans were actionable. The third
towns, and cities. was implementation driven: the CDCs would
partner with various other local organiza-
Note tions, including some that were heretofore
1 See riverfrontcorporation.com. competitors, to prepare the plans, problem
solve, and coordinate projects.
CCRP proceeded as follows:

Focus on
• The CDCs defined their own neighbor
Strategic planning hoods in accordance with not only natural

boundaries but also demographics,
turf, and political savvy. The planners
for community interviewed public agencies and others to
generate the full (and often illuminating)
transformation “de facto plan” for each neighborhood—

composed of zoning in addition to
the many, mainly uncoordinated,
John Shapiro
intentions of public agencies, community
organizations, local institutions, private
“Make no plan that can’t be implemented
developers, and political leaders.
in five years,” Anita Miller instructed her
team of planners for six neighborhoods in • Town hall meetings held at the outset
the then devastated South Bronx. In 1992, of the planning process energized
Miller founded the Comprehensive Com- participants and created an opportunity
munity Revitalization Program (CCRP), for them to explore quality-of-life issues,
which brought together six community and generate their vision of a positive
development corporations (CDCs) and a future. Another large-scale event, held at
group of foundations that had promised the conclusion of the planning process,
$10 million in funding. The City of New validated the plan and bound the various
York, the CDCs, and others were fast rede- implementers to it. (One CDC—the
veloping housing both before and during Mid-Bronx Desperadoes—held annual
the work of CCRP—but without coordina- barbecues to report on and update its
tion. Miller recognized that housing was CCRP plan.)
not enough. Her goal was to reconstitute • Each CDC led a fifteen- to thirty-
safe, sustainable neighborhoods, complete member task force made up of diverse
with parks, community services, and safe participants, including school principals,
streets (as CCRP was founded during the police chiefs, business people, day care
city’s crime wave of the 1990s). She knew operators, librarians, religious leaders,
that when it comes to planning, five years and neighborhood activists.
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Making Plans 259
Comprehensive Community Revitalization Program: Principles for success
Start with the de facto plan: everyone’s projects plus zoning

Engage residents through visioning
Use task forces made up of implementers
Conduct in-depth topical workshops
Use public workshops as needed
Use neutral parties to test ideas
Provide technical assistance
Create products with a purpose
Provide ready and flexible resources
• In each neighborhood, between four • In the task force workshops, the planners
and ten in-depth task force workshops tested concepts that had emerged in
addressed a range of topics. Some of the private interviews, which sheltered the
workshops were results-oriented (e.g., source of the idea (whether it was an
services and jobs); and still others were institution, a developer, a community
focused on broad, comprehensive themes leader, or another participant) from loss
(e.g., land use and community well-being). of face or controversy if the idea did
The planners were the “outside experts” not sell. This approach smoothed the
who came armed with analysis and options, way for implementation and often led
but not with recommendations. The task to commitments and compromises that
force members were the “inside experts” generated momentum.
who knew the neighborhood’s aspirations • Briggs and Shapiro then drafted a
and realities—and made the decisions. planning report documenting the
• Often, public workshops were held in process and recommendations for
which task force members sat at a table each neighborhood. The reports were
with the public surrounding them, or sufficiently technical to be credible to
the two groups intermingled (see Figure public agencies and funders, yet graphic
5–16 on page 261). Targeted advertising and punchy enough to grab the attention
encouraged merchants to attend the of political leaders and potential funders.
economic development workshop, A flexibly designed master slideshow
preservationists the development made it possible to tailor presentations
workshop, and so on. The presence of the to the audience—whether it was a single
task force at all public workshops ensured agency chief or attendees at a large
continuity. Conflicts between the plans conference. Creatively designed mass-
that emerged from topical workshops produced posters became popular and
were reconciled at a semifinal workshop lasting images; years later, they can still
attended only by the task force. be found on the office walls of the CDCs,
• Specialists addressed a number of elected officials, and public agencies.
issues, such as community policing, • The key to getting local competitors to
job placement, and new playgrounds. join the task force and work together
Although the specialists were funded by was the promise of financial, technical,
CCRP, they were lodged in organizations— or political support for their projects, and
such as the Trust for Public Land and the the potential to promote complementary
Community Service Society—that could projects and policy. Miller used her
bring to bear greater capacity, including original $10 million in foundation support
supervision and fundraising. This way, to serve as a catalyst (e.g., the Bronx River
the CDCs were able to leverage greater illustrative plan that inspired financial
resources than they could otherwise support from the U.S. Department of
afford. Agriculture); to provide targeted technical
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260 Making Plans
Figure 5–15 The Comprehensive Community Revitalization Program (CCRP) linked long-term visions with
projects that residents could implement immediately—for example, creating a new park, painting murals, and
taking back the streets from prostitutes and drug dealers.
Source: John Shapiro
Source: Mitchell Silver
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Making Plans 261
Figure 5–16 The CCRP planning process wed vision planning with residents to problem-solving workshops with
implementers.
Sources: (Left) John Shapiro; (right) Mitchell Silver
assistance (e.g., the advocacy efforts that Focus on

replaced a flophouse with a homeless
shelter); and to support the telling detail
(e.g., a plush interior for a new community
Renewing
health center).
Marrying long-range land use planning with

Washington’s
problem solving for revitalization, CCRP
was created expressly to address neighbor- neighborhoods
hood sustainability. More than $60 million
in financial assistance was pledged by all Julie Wagner
levels of government for projects, attest-
ing to the value of the plans. The CCRP In 1998, Anthony A. Williams was elected
process has been replicated in other cities, mayor of the District of Columbia on a plat-
form devoted to rebuilding trust in govern-
including Albany, Chicago, Philadelphia,
ment, improving the quality of neighbor-
and Wilmington. Each program is unique,
hoods, and helping the district’s diverse
yet commonalities prevail: start-up vision
inhabitants. During his first year, the mayor
quests, a task force of implementers, topical
and members of his new administration—
brainstorming, doing-while-planning, and
including staff from the revived Office of
strategic products. John McCarron, writing
City Planning—visited Washington’s neigh-
in Planning magazine, commented on the
borhoods to learn what citizens viewed
work in Chicago and on the original CCRP:
as the key priorities for the administration.
“Bricks and mortar only get you so far. To
Across the city—whether in wealthy Kalorama
make a lasting, positive change in people’s
and Foxhall, or in economically struggling
lives, virtually every aspect of a neighbor-
Douglass and Shipley—the pleas were eerily
hood must be addressed: schools, employ-
the same: don’t bother making lofty visions
ment, health care, public safety, recreation, and plans for our neighborhoods; just fix
and open space . . . the works.”2 them. Restore our trust in government—and
start by listening and responding to our
Notes needs. Help the residents who need the
1 Anita Miller and Tom Burns, Going Comprehensive: most help.
Anatomy of an Initiative That Worked: CCRP in the
South Bronx (New York: Local Initiatives Support
Corporation, May 2007), lisc.org/content/ Challenges
publications/detail/5396 (accessed May 18, 2008).
2 John McCarron, “The Power of Sticky Dots,” Planning Despite the similarities of the responses,
(July 2004): 12. the condition of D.C.’s neighborhoods varied
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262 Making Plans
considerably. The 2000 census analysis, while some neighborhoods in East D.C.
combined with data collected from D.C. had rates as high as 12 percent (see
agencies, identified the range of challenges Figure 5–17).1
the city faced. • The city was plagued by thousands of
• The city was sharply divided by income, vacant and abandoned properties. Not only
educational attainment, and employment. were these properties eyesores, but they
For example, in many neighborhoods presented health and safety risks as well—
in West D.C., fewer than 10 percent of harboring homeless populations, illicit
residents were living in poverty; in many drug activity, and rats. Taken together,
neighborhoods in East D.C., however, these properties offered potential space
the poverty rate was over 45 percent. for more than 30,000 housing units.2
Similarly, in West D.C., fewer than 25 per- • Housing was becoming less affordable.
cent of residents over age 25 lacked a At the same time that properties were
college degree compared with over 50 being abandoned, housing prices in many
percent of residents over age 25 in East areas were skyrocketing. Between 1994
D.C. And in the area of employment, and 2003, average housing prices in West
some neighborhoods in West D.C. had D.C. increased by 75 percent in constant
unemployment rates as low as 2 percent, dollars.3
Figure 5–17 GIS maps showed clearly the geography of urban problems in Washington, D.C., in 2000.
Poverty rates Employment rates
Poverty unemployment rate

2002 census blockgroup 2002 wards
Poverty rate Percent unemployment
0%–13% Less than 3.00%

13.01%–26% 3.00%–7.00%
26.01%–44% 7.01%–12.00%
44.01%–91% Greater than 12.00%
Educational attainment Vacant and abandoned buildings
Adults without
college degrees
2002 census tracts
Lack of college degree
Persons 25 and older
0.00%–25.00%
25.01%–50.00%
50.01%–75.00%
75.01%–100.00%
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Making Plans 263
• Residents were plagued by chronic risks properties. The responsibility to transform

to health and safety. In many parts of school programs and facilities clearly rested
the city, abandoned properties, illegal with the local government. At the same
dumping, rats, and illegal activities— time, a broader, citywide vision was required
including open-air drug markets—had to knit together the individual efforts of
eroded the quality of life. Agencies local CDCs, universities, hospitals, and other
acting independently had been unable organizations.
to improve conditions in areas suffering The mayor turned to the public to help
from entrenched, multifaceted problems. shape the city’s agenda. At a “citizen sum-
• Neighborhoods lacked retail facilities. A mit,” thousands of residents from across
citywide economic analysis revealed that the city helped to create a vision and
D.C. could support an additional 7 million establish short-term priorities. Ultimately,
square feet of retail space. At the same the weaving together of citizen guidance
time, once-thriving commercial corridors with mayoral goals became the underlying
had vacancy rates of 30 percent or more. foundation for a wide range of programs
As a consequence, district residents were and initiatives in all corners of the new
traveling to suburban areas to find the administration. For those agencies that
products and services they needed.4 were focused on neighborhood quality and
economic development, it helped establish
• Poor-quality schools were hurting
ten strategies intended to restore trust
families and the city. For several decades,
in governance, strategically invest scarce
Washington, D.C., had consistently lost
resources to improve the city, and empower
population. The 2000 census identified
residents in the process.
that a significant proportion of the
residents leaving the city consisted
D.C.’s “Neighborhood 10” approach
of families with children. This out-
migration, combined with the fact Under the leadership of the mayor’s office,
that many of the remaining students multiple agencies joined together to develop
were transferring to private or charter ten neighborhood strategies: the deputy
schools, was leading to declines in both mayor for planning and economic devel-
public school enrollments—between opment, the city administrator’s Office of
1993 and 2002, public schools lost Neighborhood Services, the D.C. Office of
approximately 15,000 students5—and Planning, and D.C. Public Schools. The list
educational quality. that follows summarizes the “Neighborhood
10” strategies:
• Large tracts of land were underused.
Hundreds of acres of federally owned • Empower residents. Washington’s 131
parcels remained off-limits for the creation neighborhoods were grouped into 39
of new neighborhoods. Many city-owned clusters, and citizens in each cluster
parcels and large swaths of privately designed their own strategic neighborhood
owned land were vacant or occupied by action plan. Each plan focused on three
parking lots or outmoded uses.6 to four priorities (such as affordable
housing or public safety) and included
Local government steps up recommendations to address each
priority. One recommendation, for
To take on these challenges—some of which
example, was to “support and expand
were concentrated in particular neighbor-
neighborhood-run infant care and child
hoods, others of which were widespread—
care programs.”7 Ultimately, more than
required D.C. government to devise a mix of
1,600 citizen recommendations helped
strategic interventions. To make up for years
of neglect, the new administration’s efforts define how to target new government
had to be proactive and comprehensive. Nei- funding and where to redirect existing
ther community development corporations funding.
(CDCs) nor a handful of developers could • Improve service delivery. The
transform neighborhoods without the city’s Neighborhood Services Initiative
powers to cite—and ultimately raze—blighted was established to resolve persistent
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264 Making Plans
problems that could not be addressed Fund—a revolving fund used to finance
by the intervention of a single agency. neighborhood revitalization efforts—
Residents helped to identify the most helped to finance improvements to
troublesome areas, and thirteen D.C. recreation centers, training centers,
agencies developed coordinated parks, and libraries. In 2006 alone, more
interagency strategies to resolve the than $32 million were earmarked for the
identified problems. twelve target areas (see Figure 5–18).8
• Invest in strategic areas. The Strategic • Generate quality housing. To help offset
Neighborhood Investment Program steeply rising housing prices, D.C.
targeted neighborhoods in transition, established a three-pronged strategy:
where carefully coordinated government first, protect affordable housing and
resources could catalyze private sector prevent displacement by limiting
investment and lead to widespread property tax increases for long-term,
change. This initiative evaluated dozens low-income homeowners; second,
of economic, social, and physical produce new affordable housing by
variables and ultimately targeted committing revenues from recording
twelve areas. Between 2004 and and transfer taxes to a trust fund
2006, the Neighborhood Investment dedicated to the construction and
Figure 5–18 GIS maps provided a framework for solutions targeting the urban problems of Washington, D.C.
Strategic Neighborhood Investment Transit-oriented development, targeted areas

Program (SNIP), targeted areas
snIP boundaries
FY 2002–2004
FY 2003–2005
Home Again Initiative, targeted areas Potential new neighborhoods
Potential neighborhoods
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Making Plans 265
rehabilitation of affordable housing; Streets had been designated through a

third, produce new housing for people competitive process, and more than 300
of all incomes by providing tax breaks buildings had been rehabilitated through
to developers who build mixed-income private investments of over $67 million.
housing downtown and in the city’s In 2005 alone, more than 5,000 D.C.
most affluent neighborhoods. By residents received small-business technical
2004, more than 12,000 new units assistance.11
of affordable housing had been • Promote transit-oriented development.
constructed across the city.9 Despite the fact that Washington has
• Eliminate blight. To tackle its thousands one of the country’s most advanced
of vacant and abandoned properties, transit systems, many of the Metro
the city established the Home Again stations are surrounded by vacant
Initiative, which targets areas with parcels and low-density development,
high concentrations of blight. Under and lack adequate commercial uses. As
the program, the city bundles together part of the Neighborhood 10 initiative,
between five and twenty properties and several transit-oriented development
sells them to nonprofit developers. As of plans have been completed, activating
2007, there were 137 properties that had zoning changes that encourage higher
been awarded to developers, who will densities and a mix of uses, including
use them to build almost 300 housing neighborhood retail (see Figure 5–18).
units. Existing owners or developers have Areas targeted for transit-area planning
rehabilitated 335 additional homes (see are also eligible for streamlined
Figure 5–18).10 Thirty percent of the new development processes.
or rehabilitated units have been set aside • Partner with anchor institutions.
for low-income families. Partnerships with anchor institutions,
• Modernize and reinvent public schools. such as colleges, universities, and
The strategy involved modernizing hospitals, are crucial to linking
schools while incorporating a range D.C. residents to jobs and housing
of new services for the surrounding opportunities. The strategy encourages
communities—such as health facilities and anchor institutions to incentivize its
job-training services. employees—through employer-assisted
housing programs—to live in the District,
• Enhance neighborhood commercial centers.
thereby increasing D.C.’s population
To promote new retail opportunities in
and activating its neighborhoods.
neighborhood commercial corridors, the
Specifically, employers provide housing
district created “reSTORE DC,” which offers
at reduced rates or pay a percentage
four coordinated programs: the Main Streets
of employee housing costs, as a means
Program, Commercial District Technical
of bridging the affordability gap and
Assistance, the Commercial Property
increasing the district’s resident
Acquisition and Development Program, and
population.
the Small Business Development Program.
These programs increased business • Create new neighborhoods. Large
formation and retention and improved tracts of federal, city, and privately
the physical character of key corridors. owned property were targeted for the
The D.C. Main Street, based on the model development of new neighborhoods.
developed by the National Trust for Historic In each area, surrounding residents
Preservation, is a comprehensive strategy to engage in a detailed master-planning
revitalize commercial districts. The strategy process to develop a vision for the new
includes the organization of local businesses community. As of 2007, six of the seven
to collectively devise a revitalization areas had finalized their master plans
program, the promotion of businesses, and and initiated neighborhood-oriented
the targeting of investments to improve development (see Figure 5–18).
the design and physical environment of the Neighborhood 10 provided the D.C. govern
commercial district. As of 2007, ten Main ment with a unique combination of targeted
11255-05_CH05.indd 265 1/16/09 10:58:32 AM

266 Making Plans
programs and policies to combat the complex the site, the city wanted the redevelopment
challenges confronting its neighborhoods. to produce the greatest possible long-term
Each strategy was designed to address specific benefits for the community. But as opera-
problems, but the real benefits came from tor of the airport and a recipient of federal
applying them in a coordinated way to the grants, the city also had several obligations
neighborhoods that were most in need. For to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA):
citizens, Neighborhood 10 brought involvement to liquidate the site, to recover the fair
and empowerment, legitimizing their role in market value of the asset, and to reinvest all
shaping the future of their communities. proceeds within the airport system.
Notes First approaches

1 Office of Planning, A Vision for Growing an Inclusive Planning for the future of the site began
City (Washington, D.C.: Government of the District of
Columbia, 2004), 8–9, planning.dc.gov/planning/cwp/
in 1989, with the formation of a citizens’
view,a,1354,q,614757.asp (accessed February 19, 2008). advisory committee representing a cross-
2 Ibid., 29. section of neighborhood, business, and civic
3 Ibid., 24.
interests known as Stapleton Tomorrow.
4 Ibid., 48.
5 Deanna Newman, The Physical and Spatial Aspects of Working with city staff from planning and
Public Schools in the District of Columbia, prepared other departments, the committee identified
for the D.C. Office of Planning (Minneapolis, Minn.: community objectives, developed an initial
Public Pathways, October 1, 2003), 3, planning.dc.gov/
set of redevelopment principles, and pro-
planning/lib/planning/documents/pdf/Education.pdf
(accessed February 19, 2008). duced a concept plan in the form of a bubble
6 Office of the Mayor, “10 Strategies for a Stronger diagram depicting broad categories of land
Washington” (Washington, D.C.: Government of the use for various portions of the site.
District of Columbia, n.d.), 8.
7 Strategic Neighborhood Action Plan: Neighborhood At the same time, a group of community
Cluster 27. Prepared by the D.C. Office of Planning
leaders from the business and philanthropic
(Summer 2002), 27.
8 Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic world formed the nonprofit Stapleton
Development, “Neighborhood Investment Fund” Redevelopment Foundation (SRF). The SRF’s
(Washington, D.C.: Government of the District of mission was to maximize the long-term com-
Columbia, 2006), 1–2.
9 Mayor Anthony A. Williams, “State of the District”
munity benefits resulting from the reuse of
speech (Washington, D.C., February 5, 2004). the Stapleton site while ensuring that the
10 Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic city could meet its obligations to the FAA.
Development, “Home Again: Revitalizing Communi-
The SRF raised several million dollars in
ties One Home at a Time,” app.dcbiz.dc.gov/services/
vacant_housing.shtm (accessed May 18, 2008). private funds in support of this mission.
11 Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Eco-
nomic Development, reSTORE DC, “DC Main Streets: In the early 1990s, with construction of the
FY 2006 Mid-Year Report” (Washington, D.C.: Govern- new Denver International Airport well under
ment of the District of Columbia, 2006). way, some city staff felt ready to begin sell-
ing portions of the Stapleton site. But the
SRF and others in the community felt that
Focus on such dispositions were premature. No plan
or development program—other than the
Stapleton’s public- highly conceptual products created by
Stapleton Tomorrow—had been prepared.
private planning There was a real danger that the piece-

meal disposition of property would yield
a hodgepodge of development and leave
Thomas A. Gougeon large remnant parcels that would be virtu-
ally unusable. Neither the community’s
In 1985, Denver, Colorado, decided to build redevelopment goals nor the monetary
a new international airport northeast of the requirements of the local airport operating
city; with voter approval of the plan several entity and the FAA would be met.
years later, the 71/2-square-mile former
airport became one of America’s largest and Forging a partnership
most interesting urban infill sites.
Out of the initial friction that arose between
Denver faced two important and somewhat the city, the SRF, and other stakeholders, a
contradictory obligations: as the owner of partnership emerged. The SRF was charged
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Making Plans 267
Figure 5–19 This aerial view shows the 4,700-acre site on which the former Stapleton Airport in Denver had stood.
Source: Thomas A. Gougeon
with two tasks: (1) to create a development • Produce a bold, achievable vision. The
plan that would articulate community objec- plan had to express a bold, unifying
tives and define a framework for redevel- vision. At the same time, it needed to
opment and long-term value creation, and be deeply rooted in the physical and
(2) to recommend a disposition process economic realities of site redevelopment.
that would move the site from municipal • Provide a physical framework for
ownership to the marketplace in an orderly redevelopment where none existed. The
manner. The SRF would work in partner- 4,700-acre site had been an island in
ship with the city planning staff and other
the community for nearly seventy years.
departments, but it would take the lead in
It had no obvious physical framework
structuring and advancing the Stapleton
for redevelopment, little infrastructure
redevelopment process.
outside the terminal area (other than
The SRF assembled a team of local and runways), and few connections to the
national professionals from a wide variety of surrounding community. The plan needed
fields. The first task was to determine what to provide that framework and to show
kind of plan could address all the needs and how this island could be knit back into
circumstances of the Stapleton site. the fabric of the surrounding community.
• Relate the site to its larger regional
Plan objectives context. As large as Stapleton was, it was
The SRF staff, working under the direction only a part of an even larger transition
of its board and in collaboration with the taking place in the area. To the north,
city staff and a community advisory panel, the adjacent 27-square-mile Rocky
established the following objectives for the Mountain Arsenal was being converted
development plan:1 from a chemical-weapons facility to a
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268 Making Plans
national wildlife refuge. Immediately imperatives. The open space system also
to the south, Lowry Air Force Base made very conscious habitat and recre-
was being converted from military to ational links to the large military redevelop-
civilian use. Altogether, almost 37 square ment sites to the north and south as well as
miles of urban land (all formerly fenced to the region’s extensive system of hiking,
and secured islands) were undergoing biking, and equestrian trails.
dramatic change at the same time.
The framework also included a number of
• Educate the community regarding the other important elements:
enormous scale and long time frame
• Urban villages: Communities that are
inherent in redevelopment. Few people
walkable, provide a mix of uses, are
understood the scale of the site, or the
capable of being served by transit, and
need for a redevelopment plan that
are connected by the open-space system
would remain relevant for decades,
through multiple economic cycles and • Mobility: The provision of environments
through changes in technology, culture, that are dense, walkable, bike friendly,
and lifestyles. and served by transit so as to provide
as many alternatives as possible to the
• Make the site relevant, and not
personal automobile
redundant, to the regional economy. The
role of the site in the larger marketplace • Diversity: Communities that feature
needed to be better defined. The diverse uses and diverse types of housing
Denver market did not lack raw land: stock, and that appeal to residents with a
the challenge was not how to fill up range of needs and circumstances
space, but how to achieve things on the • Smart infrastructure and technology:
Stapleton site that would not otherwise Support for emerging best practices in
happen elsewhere in the community. areas such as storm-water management,
• Raise the bar and provide a better model efficient use of resources, renewable
of development for the region. Stapleton technologies, green building, and waste
needed to be a better model for the minimization and reuse
new development that was occurring • Community linkages: A wealth of physical,
throughout the region. At the time that social, and cultural connections, both
the early planning for Stapleton got under within the site and across its boundaries,
way, terms like smart growth and the new such as the avoidance of walls and
urbanism were largely unknown. Stapleton physical barriers on the site’s perimeters,
could define the new regional paradigm. and investment in better schools, both
on the site and in the surrounding
The plan communities
The plan that emerged over the course of • Social infrastructure: New models
nearly two years focused on value creation— for community governance, service
for the greater Denver community and for delivery, and citizen participation, such
the property and adjacent neighborhoods. as community-based recycling and
Value would come from creating certainty conservation programs, a community-
about the future direction of the site, devis- based transportation management
ing a compelling physical framework for system focused on alternatives to
development, and preparing the site to meet the automobile, and a citizen-driven
the economic, social, and environmental initiative in partnership with the region’s
challenges of the future. premier health care education and
delivery center focused on all aspects
The development framework was based,
of healthy living.
first and foremost, on the open-space
system. Occupying nearly one-third of the The plan went well beyond describing a
site, the system is a permanent, sustain- physical framework for redevelopment. It
able interface between the urban and also laid out an ambitious agenda for inte-
the wild within the city, serving not only grating economic, social, and environmen-
recreational needs but also habitat, water- tal goals as fundamental elements of the
quality, and storm-water management redevelopment program. Finally, it provided
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Making Plans 269
Figure 5–20 The development framework for the Stapleton Land Use Plan of 2007, based primarily on the
open-space system, was also designed to accommodate urban villages and to provide for mobility, diversity,
community linkages, social infrastructure, and smart infrastructure and technology.
Source: Calthorpe Associates
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270 Making Plans
Figure 5–21 The former control tower of Stapleton direction on the structure, management,
Airport provides a backdrop for residents of the and financing of the redevelopment process.
redeveloped site.
Lessons learned
The Stapleton Development Plan was com-
pleted in early 1995 and adopted unani-
mously by the Denver city council later that
year. The plan has achieved much of what
it was intended to do: create certainty and
coherence, articulate the long-term frame-
work for development, raise community
ambitions for the site, provide a benchmark
against which to evaluate alternative out-
comes, depoliticize the disposition process,
forge a common language for public and
private redevelopment partners, and build a
strong constituency for a more sustainable
approach to development. It was an imagi-
native plan that integrated physical, social,
economic, and environmental objectives,
galvanizing the public around a far more
ambitious redevelopment vision than the
community or city had originally envisioned.
Note
1 Stapleton Redevelopment Foundation, City and
County of Denver and Citizens Advisory Board,
Stapleton Development Plan: Integrating Jobs, Envi-
Source: Stapleton Foundation ronment and Community (Denver, Colo., March 1995).
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CHAPTER
6
Putting Plans to Work
Transforming Policy into Reality
Implementation techniques are evolving, multifaceted, and integral to
good planning.
—Paul H. Sedway
FOCUS ON
Public-Private Partnerships / Lynne B. Sagalyn

Successful partnerships increase resources and opportunity for
creative solutions but demand careful management.
Zoning Codes: Form and Function / Daniel R. Mandelker

Traditionally the workhorse for implementing plans, the static zoning
code can impede response to new land use challenges.
Chicago’s Zoning Reform / Alicia Berg and Thomas P. Smith

Chicago replaced an outdated zoning ordinance, but the absence of a
plan complicates things.
Transferable Development Rights in San Francisco / George Williams

TDRs use market forces to help steer development.
From Zoning to Smart Growth / John D. Landis and Rolf Pendall

Planners invent new strategies to control the location, timing, and
extent of development.
Regulating Greenfield Development / Thomas Jacobson

Open land is developed in an increasingly complex regulatory
environment.
271
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FOCUS ON
Preserving Agricultural Land / Thomas L. Daniels

Farmland preservation works best as part of a comprehensive plan.
Negotiated Development / Robert H. Freilich

Development agreements reduce risk for both the local government
and the developer.
Design Review / Brian W. Blaesser

The effectiveness of design review depends on well-crafted
design standards.
Eminent Domain / Dwight H. Merriam

After Kelo, the power of government to appropriate private property
for public use comes under new scrutiny.
The Aftermath of Oregon’s Measure 37 / Robert Stacey

A public referendum undermines the state’s planning system.
Financing Public Infrastructure / James B. Duncan

Funding based on benefit and use is replacing funding based on ability
to pay.
Impact Assessment / Michael B. Teitz
A host of mandates and interests converge in the impact assessment
process.
272
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273
Transforming policy into reality

Paul H. Sedway
Implementation, one of the most neglected aspects of the planning process, is often
an unwelcome afterthought to plan making. But far from being an afterthought,
implementation should be integral to plan development. A focus on implementation
at each step in the plan-making process reveals internal inconsistencies, provides a
reality check for each policy and each plan element, and creates opportunities for
early adjustments and trade-offs.
It’s no wonder that implementation is often deferred until the public realizes that
costly and elaborate comprehensive plans have yet to be acted on: it lacks the flashi-
ness of visioning and the pizzazz of the plans themselves, with their striking covers
and wealth of illustrations. Moreover, implementation has the potential to gener-
ate substantial controversy. Typically, it involves sorting through legal or legislative
necessities, determining financial needs and financing methods, and identifying and
addressing the plan’s direct impacts on private property. But a comprehensive plan
is not truly complete until the means for carrying it out have been settled.
Sound implementation involves choosing the most efficient, effective, and
coherent steps for making a comprehensive plan a reality. It invariably requires both
public power and private collaboration, and it may call for zoning, urban renewal,
infrastructure financing, land acquisition, environmental assessment, capital
improvements, growth management, greenfield conservation actions, brownfield
conversion programs, subdivision regulation, and design review. Depending on the
plan, other powers, programs, and public and private actions may also be involved.
The evolution of implementation

In the early history of the public management of land use in the United States, the
zoning ordinance was the de facto implementation program. All that was needed was
enactment and enforcement. But as planning matured, plans and planning policies
rightly became the linchpins of the planning process. Myriad new instruments, pro-
cesses, and procedures—in addition to zoning—were devised for carrying out plans.
The state legislative context

States must grant localities the power to implement comprehensive plans; thus, state
legislation underlies virtually all implementation actions. Many states (including Cali-
fornia, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington) have adopted zoning con-
sistency requirements to ensure that zoning and other implementation methods reflect
adopted plans and policies, although the term consistency is hard to define. Several
states, however, have addressed the relationship between comprehensive plans and
zoning more directly. Florida requires both local plans and zoning codes to be adopted
by ordinance. Washington State requires urbanizing counties (mostly in the western
part of the state) and the cities within them to prepare plans, and it gives them one year
to adopt consistent regulations. The widely heralded Oregon statewide planning system
requires local governments to submit plans and regulations for state approval. Some
states simply require local governments to adopt a comprehensive plan before applying
zoning; others are silent on this subject. The general rule is that plans and policies iden-
tify the destination, while implementation methods chart the best route to get there;
public and private actions within those methods are the actual journey to reality.
New implementation techniques

Implementation techniques are constantly evolving, the result of new types of plans
(e.g., policy plans, strategic plans, area plans, urban design plans, neighborhood
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274 Putting Plans to Work
plans, and conservation plans) and of Figure 6–1 Modular zoning is a hybrid that
the fact that new entities (e.g., improve- provides flexibility by combining valid
ment districts, ports, school districts, choices among many highly specific points
and public-private entities) are initiating on a regulatory spectrum, essentially
plans. Hence, the sheer diversity of poli- creating a tailored zone.
cies, plans, and administering entities
demands innovation.
Zoning remains the perennial work-
horse for implementing land use plans,
but the character, effects, forms, and uses
of zoning are changing dramatically. The
original purpose of zoning was to protect
property values and separate diverse
uses; its current role is to promote the
kind of development that neighborhoods,
residents, and businesses like. This shift
presents a challenge to developers, who
typically work in many different commu-
nities and are confronted by a patchwork
of disparate controls.
There are antipodal forces at work.
On the one hand, there is a trend toward
discretionary review systems, which
allow broad latitude and flexibility for
private plans, but also entail citizen
involvement at hearings and the resultant
political negotiation to ensure respon-
siveness to public needs. On the other
hand, design standards, specific plans,
and new approaches such as form-based
zoning have reduced flexibility by more
precisely defining what the public wants.
Innovative hybrids, such as modular or
building-block zoning, are somewhere
between these poles as they combine
flexibility with specificity, offering a
range of regulations that are linked to dif-
ferent variables (such as density, inten-
sity, height, and off-street parking) and
can be mixed and matched to apply to
almost any need or context. The range of
variables can be keyed directly to differ-
ent kinds of public policy and settings. Source: Sedway Cooke Associates
Other new zoning systems have
arisen with the advent of new types
of plans. These systems include single-map zoning, in which the plan is spe-
cific enough to serve as both the policy and the regulatory document; plan-based
administrative review (as is used by various environmental agencies, such as the
Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and
Development Commission), which interposes a more robust review system that is
based directly on very detailed plan policies but with some discretion involved; and
performance zoning (whose name derives from traditional industrial performance
standards) or impact zoning (whose name derives from anticipated outcomes of
a project as noted in environmental impact reports [EIRs]), both of which involve
extracting specific limiting indicators from a plan and have become feasible because
other anticipatory project studies exist, such as EIRs. Finally, zoning approaches
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Putting Plans to Work 275
have been devised to serve specific needs: for example, incentive zoning fosters
publicly desired development, while use classification systems eliminate the need for
endless lists of allowable uses.
Vocal advocates champion each of these approaches, all of which have their
place in the list of zoning options. In the 1980s, for example, in place of a conven-
tional comprehensive plan and related zoning ordinance, the Florida Department of
Community Affairs allowed the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the governing
entity for the single-ownership Disney World area in Florida, to submit a detailed
and regularly updated assessment of all current and future external impacts on
other jurisdictions. Adjacent communities welcomed this departure because they
were better able to plan with precise knowledge of Disney World’s impacts.
Issues in implementation
Plan implementation has generated controversies that have pitted planners against
developers, growth advocates against environmental conservationists, and legal
scholars of various stripes against each other.
Predictability versus flexibility

In the realm of zoning, there is a perennial conflict between proponents of as-of-right
regulations (what you see in the code is what you get) and proponents of administra-
tive review and negotiation, injecting human involvement—that is (to oversimplify
a bit), between supporters of predictability and supporters of flexibility. Some legal
scholars, such as Daniel Mandelker, champion hybrid approaches—in which, for
example, projects that would normally be subject to review and negotiation, such as
planned unit developments, are allowed as of right, without review, provided that they
meet relatively straightforward criteria.
Those who advocate discretionary review and negotiation decry rigid regula-
tions, arguing that the public interest can be protected best through widespread
public notice, frequent hearings, and the publication of explicit findings on specific
criteria. Others contend that this freewheeling approach invites political influence
peddling and inequitable treatment. They believe that regulations must be clear
about limits, and that people who purchase property want to know in advance what
they can do with it. Requirements for consistency between planning and zoning are
often invoked as a brake on such flexibility. One faction in the city of New Orleans,
in its new start after Hurricane Katrina, is launching a crusade for a “plan-as-law”
approach in an attempt to curtail political influences.
Changing attitudes toward mixed use

Traditional zoning, which was rooted in nuisance law, carefully separated land uses by
district. The most widely invoked example—preventing a single-family home from being
surrounded by factories—colored attitudes toward any kind of mixed use for decades.
Today, however, residents and businesses are eager to take over industrial lofts,
both in areas where some nonresidential activity still occurs and in former nonresi-
dential areas that are being gentrified. Live-work districts abound. Growing interest in
sustainability, and a desire to reduce travel and to make efficient use of infrastructure,
have also led to much greater tolerance of mixed use. New building forms—vertical
mixes of parking, retail, office, hotel, and residential use—have become commonplace,
even in the same buildings in larger cities. Moreover, with the growth of service and
high-tech industries, light-industrial areas are no longer the undesirable neighbors that
they once seemed to be.
Planners have responded to these new arrangements by revising the traditional
“Euclidean” (a play on words referring to both the famous Supreme Court zoning
case1 and the physics theories by the famous scientist) approach to zoning, which
focused on single zoning categories that began at the foundation and reached to the
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sky. Many zoning codes now acknowledge that a land use includes both activity
(what happens) and facility (the structure within which activities occur) compo-
nents, and that each should be considered—and regulated—independently.
Technological advances
The use of computers and the Internet for conveying codes and permitting actions
has great potential. If codes are online, property owners can quickly identify the
relevant provisions without leafing through a compendious document. When zoning
maps are combined with geographic information systems, property owners can view
or use computers to assess the overlays and underlying regulations for each property,
and can identify appropriate sites for different uses.
One of the side benefits of putting regulations online is greater coordination
between related departments and agencies, such as planning, zoning, building, and
housing, and the opportunity to instantly detect conflicts between codes. Technologi-
cal advances have also facilitated one-stop citizen service centers, where citizens
may instantly access regulations applicable to their lots. Washoe County, Nevada;
Miami–Dade County, Florida; and San Francisco, California, are in the vanguard
among communities that have adopted such centers.
The role of the private sector

As projects increase in scale and cost, conventional public redevelopment efforts, in
which a public agency acquires land and conveys it to private developers to develop
in accordance with an area plan, have largely given way to public-private partner-
ships launched by competition between rival private groups. Public-private partner-
ships involve turning over previously public functions to the private sector, while
establishing parameters for private action and retaining suitable public oversight.
Private sector firms may take the lead in preparing comprehensive plans, working
collaboratively with the relevant public agencies. Such arrangements lessen the need
for detailed land use regulations because the two sectors work together from the
start, continuously recording agreements.
Although public-private development has advantages, it also raises a host of
legal and political issues. For example, many local governments have largely abdi-
cated responsibility for creating comprehensive plans by soliciting development or
redevelopment proposals from private entities; too often, the choice of developer
is based solely on financial factors, and public needs are relegated to a secondary
status. Other issues include the extent of the powers of general law versus charter
cities (i.e., cities that are able to define their own powers within limits) to pursue
such programs, and whether a proposal by a state-created redevelopment agency is
consistent with the comprehensive plan adopted by a local planning commission.
Such issues generate public controversy and, not infrequently, litigation.
As projects increase in scale and cost, conventional public redevelopment efforts,

in which a public agency acquires land and conveys it to private developers,
have largely given way to public-private partnerships launched by competition
between rival private groups.
The power of eminent domain, which was widely used in the early days of
urban redevelopment, has come under increasing attack when the purpose is to
acquire private lands—particularly private homes—which are then conveyed to pri-
vate developers for more profitable development. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court’s
Kelo decision upheld the use of eminent domain for economic revitalization but
included a caution about abuse of the power.2 In the wake of the Court’s decision,
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approximately forty states adopted laws or constitutional amendments that restricted

public takings for private projects.
With increased scrutiny of eminent domain, it will be more difficult to assemble
land for redevelopment and other projects. In June 2008, California’s Proposition 98, a
draconian effort to expand the definition of a taking to cover most regulatory actions as
part of an anti-Kelo crusade, was defeated in a referendum—but at the cost of precluding
any condemnation of land with a residential use in another measure, Proposition 99.
The implications of this change for future needs (e.g., for essential transit-oriented
development adjacent to high-speed transit, near waterborne transit terminals, and
possibly for land readjustment along water bodies with rising water levels from global
warming) remain undetermined. (For more information on eminent domain, see
“Eminent Domain” and “The Aftermath of Oregon’s Measure 37,” both in this chapter.)
A more surgical use of public powers is inevitable, as is a closer relationship
between the public and private sectors in initiating and implementing projects.
More large-scale projects will be initiated by the public sector but completed by the
private sector (such as for high-speed rail and freeway construction); as a result,
much of the burden of regulating development will be placed on detailed contractual
agreements.
The merger of regulation and financing

To obtain public benefits, local governments are increasingly likely to provide incen-
tives to developers, or to allow increased density or intensity of development in
exchange for impact fees. In other words, the formerly discredited notion of “selling
zoning” is staging a comeback. One example is in Curitiba, Brazil, where zoning
along a new expressway with good transit, replacing an abandoned railroad line, will
be sold to the highest bidder. This raises the old conundrum as to how zoning and
transferable development credits can be sold to exceed plan-based limits under the
police power.
Local government can capture the financial benefits of development in various
ways—for example, through development charges, tax increment financing arrange-
ments, impact fees, and linkage agreements. Recently, covenants running with the
land have been used to ensure that the charges for transit access flow through to
subsequent owners of office condominiums, ensuring a steady stream of subsidies
for public transit. In San Francisco, impact fees, real estate transfer taxes, and
property taxes from a new high-rise structure at the Transbay Transit Center may
assist with the construction of a new, multibillion-dollar rail terminal that will be
the nexus for regional transit lines and a future high-speed rail system between
San Francisco and Los Angeles.
To limit density increases, some localities use a system, referred to interchange-
ably as transferable development right (TDR) or transferable development credit
(TDC) systems. Such arrangements, which compensate owners of historic and other
valued properties or structures for preserving low-density uses, advance public pres-
ervation goals at minimal public cost, but they require careful delineation of import
and export areas, and vigilance to ensure that some areas are not being overdevel-
oped. TDRs were instrumental in the preservation of Grand Central Terminal in
New York City and are used widely throughout downtown San Francisco.
Greenfield protection
Greenfield sites are often protected by subdivision review, which has moved well
beyond its original intent, to ensure adequate access, services, and facilities for new
homes. In many communities, subdivision review is now the principal means of pre-
serving open space and agricultural lands, reducing hazards, and protecting natural
resources. Subdivision approval also involves setting exactions, on which many com-
munities have come to rely in order to fund improvements.
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Where authorized to do so by state enabling legislation, localities can establish

urban growth boundaries to restrict the spread of development. Beyond these lines,
if development is allowed, developers will need to bear the burden of all public
services and impacts. One of the most ambitious schemes is in Oregon, where all
localities must establish such boundaries. Despite political backlash and two state-
wide referendums, the system remains in place, although it is weaker than when it
was first established in 1972.
Obstacles to implementation
A number of factors can undermine implementation. Among the most prominent are
regulatory inertia, intergovernmental conflict, and environmental impact assessment.
Regulatory inertia
Regulatory inertia is perhaps the single most powerful obstacle to change in urban and
suburban development patterns and practices. While cities such as Chicago, Oakland,
and Rochester, and counties such as Klamath (Oregon), Loudoun (Virginia), and San
Diego have totally overhauled their zoning codes, many jurisdictions (particularly
larger ones) are unable to mount the effort to comprehensively revise outdated and
increasingly unintelligible codes. One barrier, of course, is the high cost of revision.
But there may also be active resistance from professionals (e.g., lawyers and plan-
ning consultants) who are well versed in the old codes, and who often profit from this
knowledge; from developers who are uncertain about how changes will affect their
investments; and from citizens who worry about how they will be affected when zon-
ing maps are revised. The usual “inertial” solution is to adopt new review procedures.
But when virtually any project requires a long list of permits and variances, in addition
to some form of environmental review, the credibility and fairness of land use controls
are eroded.
Regulatory inertia is perhaps the single most powerful obstacle to change in urban and
suburban development patterns and practices.
One strategy for regulatory reform is to separate the adoption of the text of new
zoning codes from the mapping of zoning changes using the new zones. This two-
step sequence is often overlooked as a sound and valid strategy because of the belief
in the plan-code nexus, which code authors interpret as requiring contemporaneous
change. However, under the alternate approach, the existing zoning maps con-
tinue to apply while the inherent logic of the new regulations is being debated—to
the extent that they can be intelligently debated absent zoning map change. Once
the new regulations are agreed upon, the more contentious effort of adjusting the
boundaries or names of the new zones can begin. Oakland, California, used this
two-step process to advantage.
Another useful approach is targeted change, which does not require a wholesale
revision of zoning codes. In recent years, planning policies such as infill develop-
ment, transit-oriented development, densification, and resource conservation have
gained currency and been implemented in a surgical way. As an element of the Los
Angeles City General Plan Framework—a pioneering effort in what later came to be
called smart growth, or “responsible land use”—the city amended its zoning code
to direct growth into targeted areas, which bordered the new public transportation
systems.3 This initiative required novel techniques, such as minimum rather than
maximum densities and intensities; off-street parking requirements based on prox-
imity to transit lines; and, in congested areas, the elimination of off-street parking
altogether. Chicago recently amended its citywide code without the benefit of an
11255-06_CH06.indd 278 12/23/08 2:57:15 PM

Figure 6–2 A
sound strategy
for applying new
regulations is to
base a regulatory
specific plan
directly on a newly
prepared plan for
a defined area of
a community—in
this case, for a
transit station area
in Pleasant Hill,
California.
Source: Sedway Cooke Associates
up-to-date citywide comprehensive plan, using instead a downtown plan revision as

the starting point.
Intergovernmental conflict
Another challenge to implementation involves conflicts over intergovernmental roles
in decision making. Although in the past, oversight by state or regional entities was
generally weak or absent, local decisions are now often questioned. An equally
contentious issue is the fact that when it comes to their own projects, federal and
state governments can ignore local regulations. Such conflicts are usually resolved
through a give-and-take process during planning and design, but the parties at the
bargaining table are seldom on an equal footing, and there is an implicit threat
of override by the higher level of government. These relationships and decision
processes need to be considered and institutionalized in advance to ensure that a
federal or state project can find a suitable “home” and that the locality is not over-
powered by a poorly designed, scaled, or sited project.
Environmental impact assessment

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is not easily integrated into the more con-
ventional aspects of plan implementation. State environmental protection acts have
been on the books since the early 1970s, yet environmental assessment continues
to be parallel to, but separate from, planning and zoning processes. EIAs typically
result in an agglomeration of findings and proposals for mitigation measures that
go well beyond what regulations require. Under most state laws, governing bodies
cannot approve a project in the face of unmitigated adverse environmental impacts.
The result is generally boundless give-and-take between the project proponent,
neighbors, and the governing body, often with the threat of litigation hanging over
the negotiation. Deals are struck or settlements secured in face-to-face negotiations.
Occasionally, lawsuits are used to resolve differences and to enforce the provisions
of state or federal environmental law. This system does not result in the most ratio-
nal planning and permitting outcomes.
11255-06_CH06.indd 279 12/23/08 2:57:15 PM

Citizens’ growing involvement in (and sophisticated understanding of) environ-

mental impact assessment means that planners must be fully aware of the public’s
perceptions of impacts. But the rigid and inefficient procedures that are mandated,
the countless administrative guidelines that must be followed, and the mountain-
ous reporting requirements that must be met currently hinder efforts to synchronize
environmental review with other regulatory processes. Ironically, most states laws
require environmental impact reports (EIRs) for comprehensive plans, but such
assessment is an obvious redundancy because sound plans routinely assess the
impacts of alternatives. Many jurisdictions prohibit those who prepare a compre-
hensive plan (e.g., the planning department or a retained planning consultant) from
preparing an EIR on the grounds of lack of objectivity. This prohibition suggests that
the plan preparer is, at best, just another applicant or, at worst, incompetent or not
to be trusted.
Devising an implementation program

The institutional setting is a key determinant of how implementation comes about:
who (which agency), what (which program or process), when (which procedure), and
where (which intergovernmental contacts, if any). Components of the setting include
state legal mandates, local government and planning agency structure, available fund-
ing, the extent of public powers, and the tradition of how planning occurs. An under-
standing of the institutional setting allows planners to identify the best approaches to
implementation. Too often, the breadth and complexity of the comprehensive plans do
not match the staff and resources required to implement them—in which case, the effort
flounders. Sometimes this mismatch is attributable to unavoidable “one-size-fits-all”
state requirements, but often it is just a matter of poor judgment.
Establishing institutional arrangements

Many important development projects require early investment actions and coordina-
tion among redevelopment, infrastructure, and planning agencies. In too many cases
there is no agreed-upon structure to ensure such coordination. Moreover, in most
states, redevelopment agencies—which are often involved in comprehensive plans
and implementation—are not local entities but are chartered as creatures of the state,
meaning that the local planning agency and even the local governing body cannot
assert total control over them. The same holds true for various special districts.
Ad hoc task forces or other arrangements may be essential to bridge institutional
differences. Task forces or other entities must have full scrutiny over all actions,
including public investments that are not generally under the purview of the com-
prehensive planning agency. Alternatives to creating an ad hoc arrangement include
appointing a joint city-county organization as liaison, creating a development coordi-
nator position, or developing memoranda of understanding on essential issues.
Interagency cooperation is especially important in coordinating transit and land
use development. Joint development around stations requires careful synchroniza-
tion of planning, public works, and transit, and may require development incentives
that go beyond the powers that any one of these entities would have if acting alone.
In many cases, there is no entity charged with oversight or mediation; hence, the
project simply does not get done.
Programming and budgeting actions

Implementation needs to be addressed directly in any comprehensive plan. Initially,
a matrix depicting priorities and responsibilities can be helpful. Once the plan is
adopted, however, the first step is systematic programming. In 1978, San Diego County
decided to carry out its comprehensive plan through a series of sub-area plans. Since
every sub-area had a distinct geography and distinct demographic characteristics, the
county decided to use modular zoning, which was a major departure from the prevail-
11255-06_CH06.indd 280 12/23/08 2:57:15 PM

ing zoning approach. Over a six-month period, a detailed work program was prepared
and adopted, which elaborated the timing, staff allocations, consultant costs, public
input, and decision points for officials. The work program ensured the success of a
system that has proved its worth for more than three decades.
Early results
Coordination with other agencies is essential, but successful implementation may
also hinge on early and visible progress. If implementation is deferred for too long,
developers and the public may lose interest; political winds may shift; and the com-
prehensive plan, project, or policy may never be pursued.
Comprehensive plans need to be articulated in bite-sized elements; as each ele-
ment is completed, momentum builds. The Mission Bay Plan launched in San Fran-
cisco in the early 1980s was the subject of an extensive public-private programming
effort coordinated by the private landowner and the city. Because of the large size
of the project area, the northern tier of the site was the focus of early work. Detailed
programming was followed by incremental approvals of projects in this area. This
approach resulted in public confidence about the viability of the overall project—
which has been transformed over the years but continues to advance through new
construction.
Covering all the bases

Effective implementation is integral to any comprehensive plan, but the contents
of the implementation program will vary with the circumstances and purposes. To
ensure that the plan or policy is achieved, it is useful to cross-reference policies and
implementation techniques. In deciding among priorities, some criteria to consider
include the urgency of the need, the anticipated efficacy of a particular policy or
project, administrative costs, efficiency, political acceptability, simplicity and ease of
understanding, and the ease with which results can be monitored.
Covering all the bases in implementation will give decision makers and oversight
agencies the assurance that a comprehensive plan can be achieved. As Joe Riley,
the long-serving mayor of Charleston, South Carolina, once said, “The job of plan-
ners is to make politicians feel that a project is as easy to carry out as adding to their
back porch.”
Notes
1 Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., 272 U.S. 3 The Citywide General Plan Framework: An
365 (1926). Element of the City of Los Angeles General Plan
2 Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (1995), lacity.org/pln/Cwd/Framwk/fwhome0
(2005). .htm (accessed July 23, 2008).
11255-06_CH06.indd 281 12/23/08 2:57:15 PM

FOCUS ON housing, school buildings, government

offices, fire and police stations, hospitals
Public-private and other health services, affordable

housing, prisons, secure training centers,
partnerships parking stations, and museums and other

projects that support recreation and tour-
ism. Table 6–1 on pages 284–285 presents
Lynne B. Sagalyn a list of illustrative PPP projects.
Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are a The flexibility of the PPP format—the oppor-
favored strategy for implementing complex, tunity to tailor terms and conditions to a
large-scale projects. For more than thirty given project, and to fine-tune the public-
years, U.S. government officials have used private sharing of risks and responsibilities—
PPPs to redevelop downtowns, revitalize makes the PPP model highly adaptable.
neighborhoods, and foster economic devel- Although PPPs were first used in initiatives
opment. Across the globe, policy makers for downtown development, the approach
has expanded to waterfront transformation,
see such arrangements as an innovative
historic preservation, brownfields redevel-
and resourceful means for dealing with
opment, the revitalization of neighborhood
the intensifying demands of urbanization.
commercial centers, the conversion of
In particular, PPPs can play a central role
military bases, and lending for community
in meeting the pressing demand for new,
development. Nevertheless, PPPs for some
large-scale infrastructure investments and
services, such as prisons, remain controver-
the equally urgent need to refurbish existing
sial, while other services, such as informa-
systems.
tion technology and small capital projects,
Officials at all levels of government have are not particularly amenable to the PPP
been quick to apply the PPP model to an strategy.
ever-broadening set of urban needs. In
the realm of service infrastructure, for A range of formats
example, partnership projects include Access to financing has been the driv-
wastewater and sewage-treatment plants, ing force in this paradigmatic change of
power plants, pipelines, telecommunica- policy for delivering urban services and
tions infrastructure, high-speed Internet building (or rebuilding) the urban environ-
infrastructure, public roads and highways, ment. Worldwide, governments face fiscal
toll roads, toll bridges, tunnels, road constraints from limited (or cash-starved)
maintenance and improvements, railways, budgets and heightened voter sensitiv-
subways, light-rail systems, airport facili- ity to taxes. Efforts to cope with fiscal
ties, harbors, affordable housing, student pressures at all levels of government
Figure 6–3 Public-

private partnerships,
originally used for
downtown development,
have now extended to
include community and
economic development
in suburban settings,
such as Belmar in
Lakewood, Colorado.
Source: Courtesy of
Continuum Partners, LLC
11255-06_CH06.indd 282 12/23/08 2:57:15 PM

have prompted officials to experiment ment arrangement in which governmental

with innovative approaches to the intense responsibility for service delivery or capital
technical challenges of planning, design- facilities is shifted to the private sector.
ing, financing, and executing large-scale The many formats, listed in Table 6–2 on
projects. page 286, have one fundamental and
significant commonality: the redistribution
The three most common PPP formats—sale
and sharing of risk.
of assets, contracting out, and joint-venture
or cooperative agreements (the first Successful public-private initiatives gener-
are legally binding; the second may not ally share four characteristics:
be)—afford public officials a range of
• Because their interests are aligned,
alternatives to the traditional public-sector
partners are cooperative rather than
procurement model, which many experts
adversarial.
regard as costly, inefficient, and burdened
by bureaucracy. “Contracting out” (often • Formal contracts set the terms
called privatization) is a formal procure- under which the partners share risk,
Types of public-private arrangements
Business improvement district (BID): A business-initiated arrangement in which

property owners or businesses within a defined geographic area are subject to addi-
tional tax assessments that are used to fund services and improvements within the
district, and to pay for the administrative costs of the BID operations.1
Community development bank: A lending venture jointly capitalized by public and

private sector funds that is designed to leverage private capital for loans, guarantees,
venture capital, grants, and technical assistance to small businesses in disadvantaged
neighborhoods.
Concession: A legal arrangement in which a private firm is granted land or property

for a particular purpose (e.g., to provide water or electricity), and uses that land or
property to provide services for a contractually defined period of time, after which the
land (and improvements on it) or property is returned to the public entity.
Franchise: An arrangement in which a private firm is granted a license to operate or

provide services in a particular territory for a contractually defined period of time.
Joint venture: An arrangement in which private and public entities jointly undertake
the development (and sometimes also the operation and maintenance) of a service
facility.
Outsourcing or contracting out: An arrangement in which the public sector main-

tains ownership or policy control of a function (e.g., the right to set rates), but
contracts with a private operator to discharge that function through some type of
procurement process over a contractually defined period of time.
Procurement process: An arrangement in which the public sector decides on a mix

of rights and responsibilities—risk allocation, operation, financing, maintenance,
performance—of a service over a contractually defined period of time.
Redevelopment partnership: A project-based arrangement that typically involves

co-investment by the public sector. The public investment may include all manner of
direct or indirect financial assistance, regulatory relief, bureaucratic expediting, and
other forms of assistance. The public entity (or entities) may or may not legally
co-own the project, even if profit-sharing arrangements are in place.
1 Richard Briffault, “A Government for Our Time? Business Improvement Districts and Urban Governance,”
Columbia Law Review 99 (March 1999): 365–477.
11255-06_CH06.indd 283 12/23/08 2:57:17 PM

Table 6–1 Examples of public-private projects in North America
Type of project Location Form of PPP1 Date begun2

Development
Abbotsford Hospital Abbotsford, British Columbia DBFOM 1987
Battery Park City New York City DDA 1969
California Plaza Los Angeles DDA 1981
CityPlace West Palm Beach, Florida DDA 1988
Downtown Silver Spring Maryland DDA 1999
Excelsior and Grand Minnesota DDA 2001
Montage Gardens and Garage Beverly Hills, California DDA 2000
Rowes Wharf Boston, Massachusetts DDA 1985
Southside Works Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania DDA 2000
Yerba Buena Center San Francisco DDA 1980
Redevelopment
Atlantic City Outlets—The Walk New Jersey DDA 2002
Belmar Lakewood, Colorado DDA 2002
42nd Street/Times Square New York City DDA 1980
Fruitvale Village Oakland, California DDA 2002
Horton Plaza San Diego, California DDA 1977
Hotel Burnham Chicago, Illinois DDA 1998
James F. Oyster School/Henry Adams House Washington, D.C. DDA 1999
Union Station Washington, D.C. DDA 1985
Transportation
Alliance Airport Fort Worth, Texas DDA 1989
Charleswood Bridge Winnipeg, Canada DBFO 1993
responsibility, and opportunities for • Disposition and development

financial gain and social benefit. agreements between private firms and
• Central decisions about the project are the government detail the terms and
made jointly. conditions of development; they also
involve the private sector in the public
• Customized business arrangements
planning process much earlier than has
often persist after the project is up and
traditionally been the case, even under
running.
conventional urban renewal programs.
These attributes differentiate public- • Relatively limited public resources are
private ventures from subsidies, which leveraged to attract larger amounts of
involve a one-way flow of money, tax private investment.
incentives, and regulatory entitlements
• Public financial commitments represent
awarded by the government to the private
a risk on the part of the public sector;
entity.
thus, the local government’s participation
in a public-private project (1) engenders
A different process concerns about transparency and
Even though public-private initiatives public accountability, and (2) creates
involve many steps that are similar to those expectations that the project will not only
of conventional development, they differ in increase property tax revenues but also
several core ways that reshape the planning generate additional financial returns and
process: social benefits.
11255-06_CH06.indd 284 12/23/08 2:57:17 PM

Type of project Location Form of PPP1 Date begun2

Chicago Skyway Lease Illinois Concession 2004
Confederation Bridge Borden-Carleton, DBFOT 1985
Prince Edward Island, Canada
Dulles Greenway Virginia DBFO 1988
E-470 Tollway Colorado DBO 1985
Highway 30 Texas DBFO/concession 2006
Highway 407 Ontario, Canada DBO 1993
Hudson-Bergen Light Rail New Jersey BOT/DBOM 1994
Indiana Toll Road Lease Indiana Concession 2005
JFK International Airport, Terminal 4 New York City DDA 1995
Las Vegas Monorail Nevada BOT/DBOM 1993
Pearson International Airport, Terminal 3 Toronto DBFO 1986
Pocahontas Parkway (Route 895) Virginia DBFO 2004
Richmond-Airport-Vancouver Line Canada DBFO 2001
Route 28 Virginia DBT 2002
Route 91 high-occupancy vehicle lane California BTO 1995
South Bay Expressway (Route 125) California DOT/franchise 1991
Water and sewer facilities
Atlanta Water Service Georgia O & M contract 1998
Franklin Waste Water Treatment Plant Ohio DBFOT 1995
Phoenix Water Treatment Facility Arizona DBO 2000
1 PPP = public-private partnership; DDA = disposition and development agreement (see Table 6–2 for other acronyms).
2 Generally, the start date of public sector planning; where date was unavailable, the date on which the private vendor
was selected was used.
• The active involvement of public, private, ants) are likely to benefit from higher levels
and community stakeholders creates of amenities than might be provided in a
complex public-private interactions, strictly private undertaking. For the pub-
which must be skillfully coordinated and lic sector, PPPs allow closer control over
managed. projects and permit the local government
• The public’s nonfinancial objectives (such to pursue a variety of off-market physical
as affirmative action goals, resident- and social objectives, such as affordable
hiring targets, and design criteria) must housing, parks and open space, affirma-
be integrated into the development tive action, the use of minority contractors,
equation alongside market-driven and the creation of jobs for low-income
feasibility and profitability. residents. When the land used for a public-
private project is publicly owned, the gov-
PPPs offer many advantages to both sets
ernment is often able to leverage the value
of players. When developers partner with a
of its ownership position to expand public
government agency, they can expect greater
benefits.
certainty and a more cooperative regulatory
environment. They perceive government as Public-private projects also beget specific
more apt to approve (and possibly acceler- procedural and policy concerns for both sets
ate) the approvals process. When a PPP of players. Planners, public negotiators, and
adheres to strong urban design standards, elected officials have to design and manage
investors and other private stakeholders exacting procedures for public participation,
(such as commercial and residential ten- specify contracting requirements to ensure
11255-06_CH06.indd 285 12/23/08 2:57:17 PM

Table 6–2 Formats for public-private project implementation
Category of public-private arrangement Abbreviation Type of public transaction

Outsourcing/contracting out General procurement
Service provision contracts Service procurement
Design and construct D&C Service procurement (traditional)
Sale and leaseback S&L Ownership transfer and contracting
Operate and maintain O&M Service procurement
Operate, maintain, and manage OM & M Service procurement
Build lease transfer BLT Service procurement and capital asset
Build lease transfer maintain BLTM Service procurement and capital asset
Build own operate BOO Service procurement
Build own operate maintain BOOM Service procurement
Build own operate remove BOOR Service procurement
Build own operate transfer BOOT Service procurement and capital asset
Build own operate train transfer BOOTT Service procurement and capital asset
Build operate transfer BOT Service procurement and capital asset
Build transfer operate BTO Service procurement and capital asset
Design build finance operate DBFO Service procurement
Design build finance operate manage DBFOM Service procurement
Design build finance operate transfer DBFOT Service procurement
Design build operate DBO Service procurement
Design build operate manage DBOM Service procurement
Design build transfer DBT Service procurement
Design construct manage finance DCMF Service procurement
Design operate transfer DOT Service procurement and capital asset
Lease renovate operate transfer LROT Service procurement and capital asset
Rehabilitate own operate ROO Service procurement
Rehabilitate operate transfer ROT Service procurement and capital asset
Franchise Licensed service agreement
Concession Licensed service agreement
Business improvement district BID Special taxation and joint decision making
Community development bank CDB Co-capitalized lending venture
Redevelopment partnership Co-investment “mixed enterprise”
Joint venture JV Co-investment “mixed enterprise”
financial accountability, and balance the An expanded set of planning skills

practical demands of negotiating a business
deal with political sensitivity to the need The public-private strategy calls on plan-
for transparency.1 For developers, litigation ners to take a direct role in the develop-
and the involvement of pressure groups are ment process. This role may complement
more likely because of the publicity that the public sector’s traditional spheres of
usually accompanies public-private ven- engagement—land use regulation and the
tures. Under most conditions, the receipt direct provision of infrastructure—but it also
of public monies and the participation of a places planners in the forefront of a process
public partner mean greater disclosure than that exposes the government to new risks as
is common in a private development project. it seeks economic rewards, public amenities,
11255-06_CH06.indd 286 12/23/08 2:57:17 PM

and social benefits. Through both policy and Zoning Enabling Act proposed by the U.S.
practice, joint-venture projects blur conven- Department of Commerce in 1924.2 The act
tional distinctions between the private and authorized communities to (1) draw up a
public sectors. They have generated busi- zoning map dividing the jurisdiction into
ness opportunities, economic development, zoning districts, and (2) enact a zoning ordi-
and municipal benefits—along with contro- nance that would provide land use and site
versy, criticism, and concern.2 development regulations.
To engage in public-private ventures, plan- Development could occur as of right if it

ners need to add new skills to their reper- complied with the zoning ordinance; the
toire. They need to understand the process, exercise of discretion was limited to the
strategy, and procedures for how public- approval of variances and special exceptions
private projects are defined, structured, (also called conditional uses), which provide
financed, and implemented. Whether the relief by modifying the zoning regulations
local government manages the process in that apply to a particular site. A variance—
house or hires specialized consultants and permission for a use that is not normally
legal counsel to assist, planners are respon- allowed in the district, or for a change in
sible for specifying the public objectives, the site development regulations—may be
programmatic goals, developer-selection granted if the applicant proves hardship;
criteria, forms of assistance, and terms and an example may be for a garage that uses
conditions of development that make up up some of the side yard setback. A special
the core of a request for proposals. They exception is permission for a use that is
must understand the dynamics of the real not normally permitted in the district but
estate market and the business imperatives that may be authorized if criteria con-
of development as well as land use plan- tained in the zoning ordinance are met—for
ning and community development. And, example, a church in a residential district.
beyond the development of the plan, they Both variances and special exceptions allow
need to be highly attentive to the politics of concerned neighbors to participate in the
implementation.3 decision-making process.
Zoning ordinances divide the community
Notes into residential, commercial, and industrial
1 Lynne B. Sagalyn, “Explaining the Improbable: Local districts. However, there are usually many
Redevelopment in the Wake of Federal Cutbacks,” subdistricts within each category, and
Journal of the American Planning Association 56
(Autumn 1990): 429–441. additional districts are often created for
2 Lynne B. Sagalyn, “The Longer View: Public/Private new types of use; residential districts, for
Development: Lessons from History, Research, and example, are divided into single-family and
Practice,” Journal of the American Planning Associa-
tion 73 (Winter 2007): 7–22. multifamily districts. Each zoning district
3 Lynne B. Sagalyn, “Meshing Public and Private Roles in has an assigned density. Site development
the Development Process,” in Real Estate Develop- regulations describe a building envelope
ment: Principles and Process, 4th ed., ed. Mike E. Miles
et al. (Washington, D.C.: Urban Land Institute, 2007).
that determines what kind of structure can
be built on the property. Lot size, height
regulations, and building setbacks are
usually included, and lot frontage and lot
FOCUS ON
coverage may also be included. In com-
mercial districts, additional regulations are
Zoning codes: commonly provided for landscaping and
on-site parking. Intensity of use can be regu-
Form and function lated through floor-area ratios, which are
designed to ensure that the cubic area of a
Daniel R. Mandelker building is proportional to the size of the lot.
Zoning is the basic tool for regulating land Discretionary review

use at the local level.1 Zoning ordinances As zoning practice matured, the zoning ordi-
are authorized by state statutes—which, nance was gradually transformed from
although they have evolved somewhat, a set of regulations that allow develop-
continue to be based on the Standard State ment as of right to a set of regulations that
11255-06_CH06.indd 287 12/23/08 2:57:17 PM

guide discretionary approval—for example, increasingly comprehensive design reviews.

variances and special exceptions. Another Zoning ordinances were not effective in reg-
type of discretionary approval, zoning map ulating these developments because they
amendments, were also authorized by the did not authorize mixed uses and did not
Standard Act for approval by the legislative provide for design review or the provision of
body. Such amendments are especially com- open space. To remedy these problems, local
mon today in urbanizing areas, where munici- governments can adopt ordinances regu-
palities often zone land at a lower intensity lating planned unit developments (PUDs).
than the market demands in order to have These ordinances authorize the adoption
an opportunity to review new development of PUD districts, either as overlay districts
proposals as they are presented. or as districts that displace the underlying
A variant of the zoning map amendment zoning district.
is the floating zone. Usually, a zoning dis- The PUD ordinance may authorize the local
trict is mapped at the same time that it is government to allow density increases and
adopted as a text amendment. In the case of mixed uses for approved project devel-
a floating zone, however, a zoning district is opment plans. Thus, where authorized,
adopted in the text of the zoning ordinance, mixed-use infill projects in urban centers
but it is not mapped until a landowner and master-planned communities, which
applies for a map amendment for that dis- can cover several square miles and include a
trict, and the legislative body approves it. town center as well as office and retail cen-
Under conditional rezoning, another variant ters, can take the form of PUDs. Ordinances
of the zoning map amendment, the legisla- that apply to master-planned communities
tive body approves the rezoning after the may also contain provisions that require
landowner records restrictions that specify in social objectives to be met, such as a bal-
detail how the site will be developed and made ance of jobs and housing, the provision of
compatible with its neighbors. Not all courts affordable housing, and the preservation of
approve of conditional zoning, however. environmentally sensitive areas.
Discretionary review can also control the After a PUD district is adopted, a developer
details of site development. For example, the who wants to build such a development
zoning ordinance may require that planning must submit a plan to the local govern-
staff or the planning commission review and ment for discretionary approval. Plan
approve development plans for individual review for residential projects may include
sites. Site plan review is designed to ensure full scrutiny of the project design. It may
compliance with requirements for landscap- also require the provision of common open
ing, parking, signs, and other site develop- space, in which case the plan usually allows
ment issues. Discretionary review is also increased densities elsewhere in the project
incorporated into historic preservation ordi- to compensate for the reservation of open
nances to ensure that any work on historic space, although project density remains the
structures is compatible with the structure’s same. The approved plan provides the land
historic features—and with the character of use regulations that control how the project
the historic district, if the structure is within is built.
one. Design review may be required for new
buildings; it may also be incorporated into Form-based codes
site plan review and the review of new devel- Form-based codes, which have been adopted
opments such as planned communities. by many communities, are a recent innova-
tion designed to implement the principles
Discretionary review is important in zon-
of new urbanism: that is, to provide a sense
ing administration, but it can also lead to
of community by encouraging walkability,
problems such as arbitrary and subjective increased density, attractive public spaces,
decision making. and a mix of uses. An example of a typical
form-based code is the one that was used
Planned unit developments for the station area of Farmers Branch,
The large residential developments that Texas.3 Form-based codes shape the physical
became common after World War II required form of development rather than the use.
11255-06_CH06.indd 288 12/23/08 2:57:18 PM

Such codes differ from traditional zoning in eral highways, but it also authorizes states
their focus on to make agreements with the federal agency
• Building types to allow billboards in industrial and commer-
cial areas or in areas that have been zoned
• The horizontal and vertical mix of
for industrial or commercial use.
land uses
• Design character Historic preservation ordinances designate
and protect historic districts and landmarks.
• The continuity of the street (as exemplified
They may be part of the zoning ordinance,
by requirements for build-to lines rather
but they may also be adopted independently
than setbacks)
as overlay ordinances.
• A pedestrian orientation
Environmental concerns have led to ordi-
• Mixed uses.
nances that regulate land use in environ-
Form-based codes can foster development mentally sensitive areas; under wetlands
that is more attractive and integrated; how- ordinances, for example, developers must
ever, their detailed requirements and inflex- obtain a permit from the local govern-
ibility may create implementation problems, ment in order to build in wetland areas. For
and variances may be needed to deal with landowners in a floodplain to participate in
unanticipated uses. the National Flood Insurance Program, their
local government must adopt a floodplain
Performance zoning ordinance, and may be required to prohibit
Performance zoning is an approach to regu- development in floodways and to closely
lation in which land use and density require- regulate it in the flood fringe. Ordinances
to protect hillsides may include grading,
ments are discarded in favor of performance
slope, and density regulations; requirements
standards that encourage good design.
for setbacks from ridge lines; and prohibi-
Performance measures indicate how well a
tions on the removal of native vegetation.
use relates to its site, its neighbors, and the
Groundwater protection ordinances may
community infrastructure. Such measures
limit or prohibit development in areas adja-
vary widely; some ordinances incorporate
cent to groundwater sources. Austin, Texas,
criteria that are more qualitative than
is an example of a municipality with a good
quantitative. For example, in New Britain
groundwater protection program.
Township, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, all
housing types are permitted in all districts
Land uses that require
as long as they conform to performance
standards. The performance measures special protection
protect community character by imposing A number of land uses require special
both maximum density and minimum open protection in the zoning ordinance. Adult
space standards for each design option in entertainment uses and messages on signs
the district. are protected by the free speech clause of
the U.S. Constitution. Local governments
New types of land use regulation must provide an adequate number of
available sites for adult uses, and must not
In addition to including new forms of
discriminate against noncommercial speech,
discretionary review, zoning ordinances
including political signs, in sign regulations.
have expanded to include new types of use
regulations. Sign regulation is one example. Religious uses are protected by the federal
Although local governments have regulated Religious Land Use and Institutionalized
signs for some time, they originally did so Persons Act of 2000, which restricts local
through freestanding ordinances; today, sign governments from imposing “substantial
regulations are usually included in the zon- burdens” on religious exercise, including
ing ordinance. Sign regulations distinguish the use of land. Group homes for disabled
between, and separately regulate, signs that people are protected by the federal Fair
are on business premises and off business Housing Act of 1968, which prohibits zoning
premises. The federal Highway Beautifica- that excludes group homes from a commu-
tion Act of 1965 requires states to prohibit nity and requires local governments to make
billboards within a certain distance of fed- “reasonable accommodation” for them.
11255-06_CH06.indd 289 12/23/08 2:57:18 PM

Zoning participants and procedures coordinated with zoning, which can occur one
Decision making for zoning ordinances of two ways: (1) through a coordinated permit
involves a number of participants.4 The application review process, or (2) through the
local legislative body is responsible for adoption of a uniform development code, a
adopting the ordinance and for making map single process that covers all necessary land
and textual amendments. Because there use approvals.6
is no predetermined separation of powers
between different branches of government The challenge of zoning revision
at the local level, the legislative body may After a while, zoning codes become over-
also be given responsibility for administra- loaded with text provisions and map changes
tive decisions, such as special permits. that reflect compromises on a wide variety of
land uses throughout the city. When this hap-
The planning commission is generally an
pens, the zoning ordinance must be revised.
advisory lay body created under the author-
ity of the state planning act. The commission A critical issue is how the revised zoning
advises the legislative body on the com- ordinance should be structured. Today,
prehensive plan and the zoning ordinance, much of the geography of a jurisdiction,
including amendments to those documents. It especially residential areas, requires simple
also has an administrative function because restrictions that maintain neighborhood
it can serve as the decision-making body for character. Increasingly, however, other parts
subdivision review, site plan review, and the of a community, such as downtowns and
review of development plans for PUDs. historic areas, require specially tailored
regulations. Such difficulties should not
The zoning administrator is charged with
deter communities from updating their zon-
interpreting and administering the zoning
ing, however. The zoning ordinance of Cary,
ordinance. A zoning board of adjustment or
North Carolina, is an example of a recent
appeal (ZBA) is authorized to hear appeals
effective and comprehensive revision.7
of decisions made by the zoning adminis-
trator and to grant variances and special
exceptions.
Efficacy, benefits, and shortcomings
of zoning
In short, zoning is a fragmented system.
The zoning system as initially conceived has
Unless the municipality has adopted a uni-
many advantages. Where it is linked to the
fied development code, there is no provision
community’s plans, it provides a predictable
for a single permit that can grant all the
and comprehensible basis for the regulation
approvals needed for a development.
of land use, minimizing subjectivity and pref-
erence in decision making. Traditional zon-
Relationship to the comprehensive ing creates a relatively stable environment
plan and the subdivision ordinance in which marginal changes in land use occur
The Standard State Zoning Enabling Act through variances and special exceptions.
states that zoning must be “in accordance Criteria for limiting variances and special
with” a comprehensive plan. Early court deci- exceptions provide guidance to zoning
sions did not apply this mandate to require boards, and are open enough to allow for a
zoning to comply with the comprehensive negotiated outcome that is acceptable to all.
plan, but this has changed. State statutes and
The difficulty is that the changes described
court decisions have increasingly mandated
here have substantially modified the
the adoption of a comprehensive plan and
traditional form and function of zoning
required zoning to be “consistent” with it.5
ordinances. Zoning is now used for a wide
This requirement means that zoning decisions
variety of purposes that extend its original
will follow planning policies rather than solely
function, and changes in the zoning format
responding to requests for change
have modified the criteria applied to new
Subdivision ordinances authorize the divi- development. The most significant change
sion of land into lots and blocks, most often is the increased use of discretionary review,
for residential development, and mandates which can provide flexibility and the oppor-
infrastructure improvements and exac- tunity to encourage better development,
tions for public uses when subdivisions are but it can also produce arbitrary decisions.
approved. Subdivision approval needs to be Special regulations and procedures have
11255-06_CH06.indd 290 12/23/08 2:57:18 PM

been created to address potentially con- than moving to the suburbs. The city’s
tentious land use decisions. For example, Latino population was booming.
areas that need special protection, such as
The good news was that throughout the
environmental and historic areas, have their
1990s, pre–World War II neighborhoods
own sets of regulations. And large-scale
had experienced significant new residential
developments, such as master-planned com-
development. The problem, however, was
munities, are generally approved through a
discretionary process that requires com- that the new single-family homes, multi-
prehensive review of project development unit buildings, and condominium towers
plans. The challenge for the future is to pre- were adhering to the city’s postwar zoning
serve the capacity of discretionary systems code that mandated “tower in the park”
to yield better development, while providing high rises, did not impose limits on building
controls that ensure fairness in decision heights or require yards or open space, and
making. Achieving this goal will require did not address the issue of context—that is,
improvements in procedures as much as whether the new construction blended in
refinements in development criteria. well with older existing development in the
immediate vicinity.
Notes The new construction did not fit in with the
1 For discussion of zoning, see Daniel R. Mandelker, Land existing character of the neighborhoods:
Use Law, 5th ed. (Newark, N.J.: LexisNexis, 2003).
2 U.S. Department of Commerce, Standard State “three-flats on steroids,” as they were nick-
Zoning Enabling Act (1924, republished in 1926). named, were built towering over adjacent
3 See Kaizer Rangwala, “Form-based Code: The Farmers two-flats (two-unit buildings with a dwelling
Branch Experience” (American Planning Association,
2008), planning.org/practicingplanner/print/05fall/ on each floor) and cottages. Where the older
essentials.htm (accessed July 29, 2008); and City residential units had 9- to 10-foot ceilings,
of Farmers Branch, Farmers Branch Station Area
the infill units had 10-, 12-, and even 20-foot
Conceptual Master Plan (2002), ci.farmers-branch
.tx.us/Planning/stationareaplan.html (accessed ceilings, making the buildings that much
July 29, 2008). taller than their neighbors. To make matters
4 For discussion of this process and recommendations
for change, see Stuart Meck, ed., Growing Smart
worse, historic structures were routinely
Legislative Guidebook: Model Statutes for Planning demolished—and replaced by unattractive
and Management of Change (Chicago: American monstrosities.
Planning Association, January 2002), chap. 10,
huduser.org/Publications/pdf/growingsmart_guide Throughout the city, zoning disputes pit-
.pdf (accessed June 3, 2008).
5 Edward J. Sullivan, “Answered Prayers: The Dilemma ting community groups against developers
of Binding Plans,” in Planning Reform in the New became a tiresome routine: the developer
Century, ed. Daniel R. Mandelker (Chicago: American
would propose a building that was sig-
Planning Association, 2004), chap. 9.
6 A proposal of this kind is included in the American nificantly larger than the existing build-
Planning Association’s proposed model planning and ing stock; the neighbors would object; the
zoning legislation.
7 See Code of Ordinances, City of Cary, North Carolina
developer would (correctly) explain that the
(December 13, 2008), municode.com/resources/ zoning code allowed an even larger build-
gateway.asp?sid=33&pid=13841 (accessed ing, implying that the community should
July 29, 2008).
be grateful for his more modest proposal.
After months of negotiation brokered by the
local alderman, the community group would
FOCUS ON win minor modifications, and the developer
would get most of the units included in the
Chicago’s zoning original proposal.
Residents complained that they had

reform purchased homes and condominiums in
a particular neighborhood because of its
Alicia Berg and Thomas P. Smith appearance and character—and that the
very appearance and character that had
In 2000, after showing decades of decline, drawn them to the area were being ruined.
Chicago’s population census revealed a In response, in 1993 the city created special
turnaround. People were moving back to the zoning overlay legislation so that neigh-
city. Longtime city residents were expanding borhood groups, in conjunction with their
existing homes and building new ones rather aldermen, could override the existing zoning
11255-06_CH06.indd 291 12/23/08 2:57:18 PM

regulations and control development using In 2000, Mayor Richard M. Daley formally
special standards tailored specifically to committed to undertaking a comprehensive
preserving their neighborhood’s charac- rewrite of the Chicago zoning ordinance.
ter. By the summer of 2000, there were To oversee the process, he established a
already twenty-four such overlay districts, twenty-one-member zoning reform commis-
and numerous stopgap amendments to the sion made up of elected officials and repre-
existing zoning ordinance had been passed sentatives from the fields of planning, urban
as well; these amendments included a 1998 design, and community development. A Web
design-standards ordinance for townsite was created to keep citizens informed
houses and a 2000 ordinance that imposed and to solicit public input. Community hear-
height limits in medium-density residential ings were held at the beginning of the pro-
districts. cess to identify community concerns and,
at the end, to get feedback on the proposed
revisions. In between, public meetings were
Residents complained that they had held in locations relevant to the issue being
purchased homes and condominiums in reviewed. The new ordinance was officially
a particular neighborhood because of its adopted in the spring of 2004.
appearance and character—and that the
very appearance and character that had Zoning reform and
drawn them to the area were being ruined. development policy
In a city the size of Chicago, preparing a new
Other concerns arose because of the pro- comprehensive plan in order to revise the
liferation of strip malls and drive-through zoning ordinance would have been impracti-
businesses. These automobile-oriented cal. In May 2002, in lieu of a traditional plan,
developments necessitated the demolition the Mayor’s Zoning Reform Commission
of older, often historically significant com- issued a sixty-eight-page report—Principles
mercial buildings, and fragmented many for Chicago’s New Zoning Ordinance—that
successful neighborhood “main streets.” laid out the overall direction of zoning
A 1999 ordinance regulating the design of reform and incorporated goals related to
drive-through businesses was only a stop- job retention, housing affordability, “green”
gap measure. building incentives, building rehabilitation
and reuse, and the preservation and protec-
A plethora of other problems were attrib- tion of residential neighborhoods.1 While the
uted to the outdated ordinance—and to the commission was meeting, the Department of
many piecemeal measures that had been Planning and Development issued Chicago’s
undertaken to repair it. For example, among Central Area Plan, a comprehensive plan for
the thousands of map changes passed each downtown Chicago.2 Among other things,
year were rezonings to allow old manufac- the Central Area Plan called for the estab-
turing properties to be redeveloped as hous- lishment of specific zoning classifications
ing and big-box stores; such changes were for downtown, better management of down-
viewed by some as a threat to the city’s town parking, and more thoughtful use of
industrial base. Citizens had lobbied for downtown zoning bonuses. All of the plan’s
changes to address the flaws inherent in the recommendations were incorporated into
one-size-fits-all residential zoning districts. the new Chicago zoning ordinance.
Local chambers of commerce had lobbied
for amendments because the fine distinc-
The new code
tions of the city’s more than fifty different
commercial zoning districts added signifi- The new zoning ordinance represented a
cant time and cost to establishing a business fundamental shift in the city’s land use poli-
in the city. As a result of such piecemeal cies. The ordinance included the following
changes, the rules for development were changes:
confusing and unpredictable for residents, • Several new residential zoning
businesses, and the development commu- classifications and districts were added
nity. Zoning had to be more transparent and to reflect the complexity of Chicago’s
easier to understand. neighborhoods.
11255-06_CH06.indd 292 12/23/08 2:57:18 PM

• Business and commercial zoning placement of driveways in front yards and

classifications were simplified, and the requires that all lots that are served by a
number of business and commercial rear alley use that alley to access private
zoning districts was reduced from garages or parking pads. Given that more
fifty-two to twenty-four. than 95 percent of the city is served by
• A new business classification was added alleys, the front-yard driveway prohibition
that would allow developers the option of was an important step in protecting the
building all residential, all retail, or a mix city’s historical development pattern.
of residential and retail uses. • The new code created nearly fifty
• The number of manufacturing “pedestrian shopping districts” where
classifications was reduced from fifteen auto-oriented businesses are banned. In
to nine to reflect the changing nature of these districts, new buildings are required
industry in Chicago. to abut the sidewalk, incorporate
storefront windows, and include doors
• A parks and open-space zoning district
and entrances at the street front. Off-
was added.
street parking is discouraged along these
• A transportation zoning district was streets; where it is provided, it must be
created to preserve rights-of-way for located at the rear of the property.
future trails and bikeways.
• Chicago has had a downtown density-
• Standards for the review of large planned bonus system since the 1950s. By
developments were modernized. 2000, more than fifteen types of
• New requirements were added for the improvements—including underground
posting of notices for rezonings and parking, transit improvements, the
other discretionary zoning reviews. restoration of designated historic
• New criteria were adopted for the buildings, river-walk improvements, green
planning department’s review of rezoning roofs, and winter gardens—had become
applications. eligible for floor-area-ratio bonuses. As
part of the zoning reform, builders who
• Stricter standards were adopted for construct affordable housing units in
business and advertising signs. downtown or who contribute to a fund for
The layout and the readability of the zoning affordable downtown housing are eligible
ordinance were also greatly improved, and for both floor-area and density bonuses.
for the first time in more than forty years, In addition, builders are now required to
many of the rules and regulations were illus- use the affordable housing bonus before
trated. Both the ordinance and the zoning taking advantage of any other bonus, and
maps were made accessible via the Internet. where builders use multiple bonuses, at
least 20 percent of the total bonus must
be obtained by building or contributing to
Innovations
affordable housing.
The new code incorporated a number of
• The new zoning code includes provisions
zoning innovations:
for shared parking, cooperative parking
• For the first time, the code provides for arrangements, and a cap on the amount
a variety of contextual standards for of parking that can be built in downtown
residential development. These standards zoning districts. The downtown parking
were designed to create sensitive “infill” caps are intended to support the city’s
development by ensuring that new policy of “transit first” for travel trips
development “fit in” with the size, scale, downtown. In addition, the new code allows
density, and building orientation found in substantial reductions in minimum parking
existing neighborhoods—a difficult task requirements for new developments within
for a city with diverse residential building 600 feet of a train station. Since very little
types. Included in the new contextual parking space is required to be provided
standards are allowances for front-yard in buildings downtown, the principal
averaging, height limits tied to the zoning impact of the transit-oriented parking
classification, and limits on blank walls requirements is for new buildings in the
facing the street. The code prohibits the vicinity of neighborhood train stations.
11255-06_CH06.indd 293 12/23/08 2:57:18 PM

Figure 6–4 The new code has established front-yard averaging to prevent the gap-toothed look of some new
development. The building in the photo had been set back to meet the pre-2004 zoning requirements. Under the
new code, as shown in the diagram, the front-yard requirement is the average of the front yards of the two
structures to the left and the two to the right.
A Subject B
lot
Street
Average front yard depth of nearest two
adjoining properties (average of A and B)
Source: Kirk Bishop/Duncan Associates
Figure 6–5 Under the

new ordinance, which
establishes height limits
for each zoning
classification, this
building—which is
approximately fifty-five
feet high—would be
limited to a height of
thirty-eight feet.
Source: Dennis
McClendon/Chicago
CartoGraphics
Figure 6–6 Blank walls

are prohibited on walls
facing the street.
Source: Tom Smith/

Duncan Associates
11255-06_CH06.indd 294 12/23/08 2:57:19 PM

Figure 6–7 The new

code bans driveways in
front yards.
Source: Tom Smith/

Duncan Associates
Figure 6–8 Buildings

must come within five feet Alley
of the sidewalk, and Parking
parking is optional. When
parking is provided, it must Buildings
be located at the rear. 0’–5’
Build-to line
Sidewalk
Source: Doug Farr Associates
Pedestrian-oriented street
Figure 6–9 Display windows and store entrances are required adjacent to the sidewalk.
Source: Doug Farr Associates
Overcoming barriers to reform done, however: the changes made in 2004

Chicago, like other big cities with out-of-date updated the zoning text, but only minor
zoning ordinances, found that its land use con- updates were made to the zoning maps.
trols created obstacles to innovation. More- Although a few zoning map changes were
over, many groups had a vested interest in automatic—for example, some of the twenty-
maintaining the status quo: city bureaucrats, four special districts created in the 1990s
zoning lawyers, architects, and developers, for were automatically rezoned—most were
example, were all comfortable with the 1957 not. In Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods,
zoning code. Change meant retraining staff; updating the zoning maps will require study,
revising procedures, forms, and other aspects public hearings, and public notice.
of practice; and requiring building-permit
applicants to learn about the new standards. Notes
1 Mayor’s Zoning Reform Commission, Principles for
Despite the barriers, Chicago made dramatic Chicago’s New Zoning Ordinance (Chicago: City of
changes. The new zoning code has already Chicago, 2002), duncanplan.com/pdfs_all/chicago_
zoning_principles.pdf (accessed July 28, 2008).
proven its value and has faced no signifi- 2 Department of Planning and Development, Chicago’s
cant legal challenges. Much remains to be Central Area Plan (Chicago: City of Chicago, 2003).
11255-06_CH06.indd 295 12/23/08 2:57:22 PM

FOCUS ON of the office sector, one of the city’s major

sources of employment opportunities, would
Transferable be halted unless action was taken, city

planners had the opportunity to advance
extensive changes to development rules.
development rights At that time, the city’s zoning ordinance
was quite permissive. As an outgrowth of
in San Francisco San Francisco’s 1971 landmark urban design
plan, large sections of the city had been
George Williams designated as commercial use districts and
divided into sub-areas for financial (office),
The transferable development right (TDR) retail, downtown services, and general com-
system permits density to be transferred mercial uses. The size of these districts sub-
from one parcel of land, where the local gov- stantially exceeded the current use areas
ernment wishes to retain existing density, and allowed for far more growth than was
to another parcel, where the local govern- desirable or could realistically be expected.
ment wants higher density. TDRs can be an Density was controlled by height limits and
effective tool: when San Francisco under- floor-area ratio (FAR),1 both of which were
took a comprehensive revision of the zoning very high in the financial and retail districts.
controls governing downtown development, The city’s landmarks ordinance was so
TDRs were the key mechanism used for cumbersome that architecturally significant
reorienting and reshaping the downtown structures were being demolished to make
while retaining its character and ambience. way for new buildings at a rate far faster
From the late 1970s through the 1980s, than the landmarks advisory board could
San Francisco saw explosive growth in the designate and attempt to preserve them.
construction of new buildings, primarily for Furthermore, the landmarks ordinance
office use, in and around the downtown. offered relatively weak protection against
Prevailing zoning regulations and other demolition.
development controls permitted older, archi-
tecturally distinguished structures to be The process
demolished, and allowed the new buildings The goal was to accommodate expansion
to encroach on the nearby low-income resi- of the office sector while preventing or
dential areas of Chinatown and the Tender- ameliorating the potential adverse effects of
loin and on the smaller-scale retail district such expansion, including traffic congestion,
adjacent to the office core. crowded parks, loss of sunlight and open
space, and high wind currents at ground
level. Effective measures were developed to
Because of concern that expansion of deal with these problems, but the archi-
the office sector, one of the city’s major tectural heritage of downtown remained
sources of employment opportunities, vulnerable.
would be halted unless action was
taken, city planners had the opportunity The planning department opted to bypass
to advance extensive changes to the existing building-by-building landmark-
development rules. ing process (no objections were raised
to their doing so) and establish a system
through which hundreds of buildings could
The citizenry was divided: while many com- be protected at one time. Expanding on
munity groups applauded the job growth work done by a local preservation organi-
that was driving the office boom, others zation, the Foundation for San Francisco’s
expressed a growing concern that office Architectural Heritage, the department
development was eroding the downtown inventoried all downtown buildings and clas-
environment and surrounding neighbor- sified them according to their architectural
hoods. Every few years, ballot measures value and their contribution to the visual
that sought to limit new development came richness and character of the city. After
closer and closer to obtaining a majority identifying the 250 buildings of the highest
vote. Because of concern that expansion architectural importance, it developed rules
11255-06_CH06.indd 296 12/23/08 2:57:23 PM

to prohibit their demolition unless it could Table 6–3 Floor-area ratios (FARs) in downtown
be shown that, taking into account the abil- San Francisco
ity to sell its TDRs, the property retained no
Additional FAR
substantial market value or reasonable use,
As-of-right permitted with
or an imminent safety hazard was found to
District FAR TDRs1
exist. In addition, an ordinance was passed
designating almost the entire retail district Office 9:1 9
and five smaller areas within the financial Retail 6:1 3
district as conservation districts; within Downtown service 5:1 2.5
these districts, 183 additional buildings were
General commercial 6:1 3
identified.
Office: Special 6:1 12
Although the buildings in this second group Development District
were of somewhat lower quality than the
1 TDRs = transferable development rights
first 250, the two groups of buildings, taken
together, created areas of unique charac-
The new zoning rules, while restricting the
ter. These buildings could be demolished,
demolition of the 433 buildings on “preser-
but the size of a replacement building was
vation lots,” allowed the sale of the unus-
limited in order to reduce the incentive to
able development potential—the difference
do so; they could also sell their TDRs (see
between the gross floor area of the existing
below), after which their demolition would
building and the gross floor area of a build-
be restricted. In this manner, 433 structures
ing that could be built within the base FAR
were protected in varying degrees in one
limitation. This potential could be sold, or it
legislative action.
could be transferred to a “development lot”
Meanwhile, the planning department in areas where tall, high-density buildings
identified areas or parcels where growth were desired.
would be desirable and spelled out their
The objective was to shift the focus of new
proposed intensities (height and FAR). The
development from the already dense areas
existing use districts were made smaller
north of Market Street, where the archi-
and reshaped to stop the encroachment of
tecturally important buildings were largely
high-density commercial uses into nearby concentrated, to the underdeveloped area
residential and smaller-scale retail districts. south of the office core. This area (which
Height limits were revised in line with these was ultimately labeled the “Office: Special
policies. An obsolete industrial area immedi- Development District”) had low allow-
ately south of the office core, well served by able height and FAR, and contained many
transit, was identified as a new growth area, smaller, underused structures that were
where the office sector could expand with ripe for replacement by office buildings with
fewer adverse impacts. much greater heights and densities. It was
proposed that heights of up to 600 feet and
FARs of up to 18:1 would be allowed but only
The objective was to shift the focus through the purchase of TDRs.
of new development from the already
dense areas north of Market Street, The TDR scheme was designed to func-
where the architecturally important tion through the private market. The city
buildings were largely concentrated, government’s only role was to calculate the
to the underdeveloped area south of number of TDRs on each site and to record
the office core. the transfer in the land titles of the parcels
involved. To ensure that the private-market
approach would work, the city had to ensure
The planners developed a two-tier FAR that there would be more demand for
scheme. It consisted of a base FAR, to which TDRs than there was supply. The planners
the owner was entitled as of right and a assessed the likelihood of various develop-
higher FAR, which could be achieved only ment lots actually being developed, and
through acquisition of additional square foot- carefully calibrated the FAR numbers so that
age from one or more of the 433 preserva- potential demand would be approximately
tion lots. The ratios are shown in Table 6–3. twice the potential supply of TDRs.
11255-06_CH06.indd 297 12/23/08 2:57:24 PM

Figure 6–10 San Francisco’s Transbay Transit Center (foreground) south of Market Street is proposed to be
developed more intensely using transferable development rights sold by owners of smaller architecturally
significant buildings elsewhere in downtown.
Source: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
In designing the scheme, the city felt that it The other planning goals have largely been
was important to treat all property owners achieved, and new, high-rise, high-density
equitably. In practical terms, this meant that development has shifted to the area south
no one would receive a “windfall” increase of Market Street, which is now the center of
in property value as a result of “upzoning” most of the new office space in the city.
the amount of development permitted; nor
would anyone suffer a substantial decrease Note
in property value (a “wipeout”) as a result 1 The floor-area ratio (FAR) is the relationship between
the square footage of a building and the square foot-
of “downzoning.” That the scheme was age of the parcel on which it is built. Thus, a FAR of
perceived as fair is evidenced by the fact 4:1 would allow a four-story building that covers
that, in public hearings, only one property 100 percent of the lot, an eight-story building that
covers 50 percent of the lot, and so on.
owner protested—and the protest was out
of bemusement that anyone would consider
his building worthy of preservation. FOCUS ON
The results
The TDR system has been in effect since
From zoning to
1985, and it is still functioning smoothly.
The prices paid for TDRs have fluctuated, smart growth
depending on market conditions, between
about $15 and $30 per square foot. Well John D. Landis and Rolf Pendall
over 2 million square feet have been
transferred from at least 56 buildings for By 1960, most U.S. urban municipalities
use in new buildings on other sites. Of the had adopted some form of zoning and
433 buildings that were to be protected, all subdivision regulation.1 Their popular-
remain standing except two, which suf- ity and widespread use notwithstanding,
fered irreparable damage in the 1989 Loma zoning and subdivision regulations have
Prieta earthquake and required demolition. significant limitations. They control neither
11255-06_CH06.indd 298 12/23/08 2:57:24 PM

the precise location or timing of develop- pursued more or less independently; starting
ment, nor its ultimate extent. Because in the mid-1990s they were combined under
they are rarely linked to public infrastruc- the rubric of smart growth.
ture investments, zoning and subdivision
regulations do little to anticipate or avoid Linking development and infrastructure
problems of traffic congestion, overloaded Longtime federal funding for local transpor-
sewer systems, water shortages, and tation and sewer and water infrastructure
overcrowded schools. Because they work investments began declining in the early
through standards, zoning and subdivision 1970s. Instead of making up the difference
regulations also promote uniformity, which with state or municipal funds, local vot-
many people find monotonous. Planned ers increasingly decided that development
unit development (PUD) zoning has helped should be required to pay its own way. This
overcome some of these problems, but shift in thinking, which began in California in
PUDs don’t always work well when multiple 1978 in response to the passage of Propo-
landowners are involved. sition 13, has spawned a number of new
In response to these shortcomings, planners, approaches to planning and funding local
attorneys, and citizens began in the late 1960s infrastructure.
to put forth a battery of new tools known as Impact fees, exactions, dedications, in-lieu
growth management (or growth control) regu- fees, and linkage fees Planners and devel-
lations,2 which provided the basis for what ulti- opers alike have long recognized the desirabil-
mately became known as smart growth. This ity of linking development with infrastructure,
article identifies and discusses the principal and where possible, of using property value
growth management and smart growth tools increases to finance infrastructure construc-
currently in use in the United States. tion. Impact fees—in which the local govern-
ment assesses developers and landowners
Growth management approaches a fee that covers some or all of the cost of
Intended to supplement rather than to replace providing infrastructure to their proper-
traditional zoning and subdivision regula- ties—are the most common means of linking
tions, growth management tools served three development and infrastructure. Twenty-six
broad purposes: (1) they linked the timing states now explicitly authorize the use of
and location of new development to available development impact fees,3 and some local
infrastructure capacity; (2) they controlled governments have imposed impact fees even
the rate and location of urban expansion; and in the absence of state enabling legislation.
(3) they sought to protect the natural environ- Among the fifty largest metropolitan areas,
ment and historical and cultural resources an estimated 37 percent of local governments
(see Table 6–4). Initially, these purposes were currently impose impact fees.4 Regardless
State growth management programs
Thirteen states have adopted state growth management legislation intended to

preserve environmentally sensitive areas, improve the quality of urban development,
and reduce urban sprawl. Hawaii was the first to do so in 1961, followed by Vermont
in 1970, and Oregon in 1973. After years of experimenting with project-based impact
assessment programs, Florida adopted a comprehensive state growth manage-
ment act in 1985. New Jersey followed suit in 1987, Rhode Island in 1988, Georgia in
1989, Washington State in 1990, Maryland in 1992, Arizona and Tennessee in 1998,
and, more recently, Colorado and Wisconsin. In none of these thirteen states (except
Hawaii) do state officials directly involve themselves in local planning issues. Instead,
the states coordinate planning efforts among different levels of government and
across neighboring jurisdictions, and ensure that regional infrastructure investments
are consistent with local land use decisions and conservation efforts. Given their dif-
ferent political histories, growth rates, natural landscapes, and planning requirements,
it is not surprising that each of the thirteen states takes a different approach.
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Table 6–4 Characteristics of selected growth management and smart growth tools and programs (in rough
order of popularity)
Tool or Difficulties and

program Purpose Process Extent of use complications
Adequate Match development Approval of individual Widespread, The effects of cumula-
public approvals to nearby projects is made particularly in tive and out-of-area
facilities public service contingent on the growing suburban development cannot
ordinances levels and capacity adequacy of nearby communities readily be addressed.
public infrastructure.
Concurrency Conditions plan and/ Plan and/or project Required of all Mismatch between the
or project approvals approvals must await jurisdictions in locations of proposed
on the availability of provision of adequate Florida; selectively projects and available
adequate community- community-wide required in infrastructure capacity
wide public facilities, infrastructure and Washington State
especially roads public services.
Impact fees Raise revenues to Payments or improve- Impact fees are Nexus between impact
and exactions cover infrastructure ments are “exacted” allowed in 26 and fee amount isn’t
and social costs as a condition of states; use of always clear. Municipal
associated with subdivision or build- exactions is also budgets may become
private development ing permit approval. widespread. overly dependent on
Impact fees are development activity.
determined from a
published schedule
based on an estab-
lished cost nexus.
Development Ensure that private Municipality agrees Widespread, Market and budgetary
agreements and public facilities to pre-approve a especially for large conditions may change
are provided in development schedule projects in the over the course of the
tandem with project and program in South and West agreement, requiring
build-out exchange for devel- renegotiation.
oper-provided public
improvements
Environmental Restricts the type, Development types, Farmland zoning Unless properly docu-
and historic amount, and density densities, and is very common; mented, such zoning
overlay zoning of urban land uses footprints are limited, hillside zoning is is prone to takings
on or near environ- depending on the common; riparian challenges.
mentally sensitive physical or environ- and wetland zoning
locations mental characteristics are less common.
of the site
Environmental Deny approvals Nonexempt projects Depending on their EIA requirements
impact assess- to projects with are reviewed for size and location,
ment (EIA) excessive adverse specific and cumula- private projects
requirements environmental and tive environmental are subject to
community impacts; and community some level of
require appropriate impacts as part of an environmental
impact mitigation. annexation, zoning, review in California,
subdivision, or build- Hawaii, Minnesota,
ing permit review New York, and
process. Washington.
11255-06_CH06.indd 300 12/23/08 2:57:26 PM


Conservation Protect farm or Municipality (or land Use of county- Priority parcels may
easements resource lands at trust) and landowner level contracts not be available or
and resource the metropolitan enter into a voluntary is widespread in may be too expen-
protection edge from prema- contract limiting the parts of California. sive; there may be
contracts ture or inappropri- amount and/or timing Use of conserva- difficulties in renewing
ate development; of development. tion easements contracts; proper
protect open space and purchase of land management is
development rights expensive.
by land trusts
and conservan-
cies is growing
nationwide.
Urban service Match rate and loca- Urban services are Widely used in the Boundary designa-
boundaries tion of development not extended to West, especially tions may be ad hoc or
to infrastructure projects outside the by local water and inconsistent.
and public service boundary. sewer districts
availability
Urban growth Protect farm or Outside the bound- Widely applied in Once established,
boundaries, resource lands at the ary (or within the Oregon (notably in these boundaries or
urban limit metropolitan edge greenbelt), conversion the Portland met- limit lines may be
lines, and from premature or of lands to urban ropolitan area) and difficult to extend out-
greenbelts inappropriate devel- uses and densities in suburban com- ward to accommodate
opment; spatially is strictly limited. munities in the San additional growth.
match new develop- Boundary may be Francisco Bay Area
ment to existing extended when inter- and Ventura County
infrastructure nal land supplies are (Los Angeles)
capacity; promote close to build-out.
redevelopment and
upgrading in infill
areas.
Permit caps Tie the rate of Projects are approved Use is most Project rating
development to based on a rating sys- common in the criteria are likely to be
infrastructure tem or first-in/first- San Francisco controversial.
capacity and public out queue, until the Bay Area and San
service levels annual cap is reached. Diego regions of
California; limited
use elsewhere.
Priority Link some state Discretionary grants Currently limited to Funding may help with
funding areas funding to communi- are directed to Maryland particular projects,
ties’ commitment to communities with but cumulative effects
smart growth approved policies and are unclear.
programs for limiting
sprawl and promoting
redevelopment and
infill development.
(continued)
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Form-based Promote mixed Developers are Unknown, but
codes uses and walkability allowed more flex- interest is growing
through the use of ibility than with nationwide
prescriptive codes traditional zoning and
that govern building subdivision codes,
size, footprint, provided the pro-
massing, and the posed land uses can
relationship between be accommodated
a project and the within the prescribed
adjoining sites building envelope.
Inclusionary Ensure production Private housing devel- Use is growing Most ordinances allow
zoning of housing afford- opers are required nationally, espe- developers to substi-
able to low- and to set aside a fixed cially in high-priced tute off-site produc-
moderate-income proportion of their coastal markets. tion or in-lieu fees for
households production for low- on-site construction.
and moderate-income
households, as locally
defined.
of where they are used, fees must be strictly ties ordinances (APFOs) tie permission for
linked to the impact of growth. (For further development to the availability of local public
discussion of impact fees, see “Financing services beyond the immediate development
Public Infrastructure” in this chapter). site. APFOs are designed to address prob-
lems such as traffic congestion, overcrowded
Impact fees are a subset of a broader family
schools and parks, and overloaded sewage
of land use requirements known as exactions,
systems. Project sponsors may meet APFO
which require payments or property dedica-
requirements either by remedying a defi-
tions as a precondition of land development.
ciency themselves or by contributing to a
In addition to impact fees, exactions include
fund for the same purpose.
property or improvement dedications, in-lieu
fees, and linkage fees. Dedication require- Most APFOs are applied to individual proj-
ments force developers to donate land (and ects and their immediate vicinity. Florida
sometimes facilities) for a public purpose and Washington, however, require that
such as a park or school. In-lieu fees allow new infrastructure investments match new
developers to pay a fee instead of dedicat- development on a community-wide basis, a
ing land or building public facilities. Linkage principle known as “concurrency.” A sound
fees finance socially desirable facilities such idea in theory, in practice the concurrency
as affordable housing and day care centers, experience has been bumpy, especially in
and programs such as job training. Whereas Florida, where the state has not adequately
impact fees are most commonly imposed funded local infrastructure, making it dif-
on residential development, linkage fees are ficult to meet concurrency timetables. Local
usually assessed on commercial projects as governments in Florida have dealt with the
a means for sharing the financial benefits of problem by making exceptions for individual
property development and job growth with projects or by watering down their concur-
lower-income households. rency thresholds.
Adequate public facilities ordinances Development agreements Development
and concurrency requirements Used in agreements (DAs) are legally binding con-
about 20 percent of jurisdictions in major tracts between developers and public agen-
metropolitan areas,5 adequate public facili- cies that govern allowable land uses and
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required public facilities. Local governments and/or rezone until intermediate areas are
and developers look to DAs when there is a developed. Urban growth boundaries (UGBs)
risk of a shift in political winds, since such are lines beyond which local governments
agreements generally lock in approvals even will not approve rezonings to urban or sub-
if future elected officials wish to reopen urban uses or densities during the current
debate. California has been a prime prov- planning period. Except for metropolitan
ing ground for DAs. When compared with Portland’s unitary UGB, which encompasses
traditional zoning and subdivision codes, separate jurisdictions, UGBs are usually
DAs provide developers with additional drawn around individual municipalities.
certainty and municipalities with additional Greenbelts are intended to serve as perma-
bargaining power. (For more information on nent edges for cities. “Rolling greenbelts,”
DAs, see “Negotiated Development” in this where the protected zone moves progres-
chapter.) sively outward, have long been advocated,
but they have never been successfully
Controlling the extent and pace implemented.
of urban growth
Real estate markets are cyclical and rarely
Containment policies are designed to
adhere to the smooth development sched-
prevent leapfrog development, protect
ules prescribed in local plans. The vagaries
open space and farmlands, and, if
of suburban development—which take form
possible, redirect urban development
spatially as leapfrog development and
inward to previously bypassed or
temporally as booms and busts—complicate
underdeveloped sites.
planning and make it more difficult for
residents to cope with growth. In response,
planners and concerned citizens have devel-
Outside a UGB or greenbelt, development
oped a number of approaches intended to
limits are usually imposed through large-lot
eliminate leapfrog development and even
zoning, coupled with strategic purchases
out community growth rates.
of land or development rights; inside the
Urban service boundaries, urban limit boundary, approaches vary. In no case, how-
lines, urban growth boundaries, and ever, can a landowner’s development rights
greenbelts The success and visibility of be entirely and permanently extinguished
Portland’s Urban Growth Boundary—first without compensation. In Oregon, local
delineated in 1979 under Oregon’s landmark governments must demonstrate that they
1973 Growth Management Act—have put have enough land inside the UGB to accom-
urban containment at the forefront of smart modate twenty years of projected growth
growth planning efforts. Containment poli- at market-based densities.7 At the same
cies are designed to prevent leapfrog devel- time that it has made development outside
opment, protect open space and farmlands, its UGB more difficult, Portland has made
and, if possible, redirect urban development development inside the UGB easier, princi-
inward to previously bypassed or underde- pally through a series of zoning reforms. By
veloped sites. Among the fifty largest U.S. contrast, Boulder, Colorado, which also has
metropolitan areas, 16 percent of jurisdic- a UGB, has imposed strict height restric-
tions covering 42 percent of the land area tions and a cap on annual building permits.
have adopted some form of urban contain- These regulations have preserved Boulder’s
ment program.6 The majority of jurisdic- greenbelt, but have also contributed to high
tions that have adopted urban containment housing prices and to leapfrog development
programs are in the West. in other parts of the region.
Urban containment programs take four Permit caps Permit caps, which are a
forms. Urban service boundaries (USBs) means of smoothing out the ups and downs
delineate the maximum extent of sewer, of growth, limit the number (and sometimes
water, police, or fire service during the the type) of development permits given out
current planning period, thereby discour- in a particular period. Local governments use
aging development outside the boundary. permit caps to ration residential construction
Urban limit lines (ULLs) identify far-flung (by the number of housing units; owner-built
areas that local governments will not annex homes and affordable housing are commonly
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exempt), and less frequently, to limit com- tion easements (i.e., purchases of develop-
mercial development—usually by means of a ment rights), which leave the land in private
yearly limit on building square footage. Proj- ownership; and preferential taxation in
ects may be approved on a first-come, first- exchange for an agreement to leave the
served basis or through a competitive rating site in a nonurban use. Land acquisition,
system. Only about 2 percent of jurisdictions although permanent, is expensive and
in the fifty largest metro areas—mostly in requires the public agency to maintain
California, Colorado, and Massachusetts—use and manage its land holdings. Conserva-
permit caps.8 tion easements are less expensive, and
keep the site in active resource use and on
Environmental impact assessment The
the tax rolls, but they don’t always permit
advent of growth management coincided
public access. Protection contracts are less
with the rise of the environmental move-
expensive still, but landowners must peri-
ment, and the two have long been inter-
odically renew them, fueling potential land
twined. Five states—California, Hawaii,
speculation.
Minnesota, New York, and Washington—
require local governments to evaluate the
Smart growth
environmental impacts of private sector
development projects and to mitigate such If the first era of land use regulation was
impacts where possible. Local governments focused on zoning and subdivision regula-
elsewhere have adopted similar measures, tions, and the second on growth manage-
even when the state has not required it. ment, then the third and current period
They commonly undertake environmental must be seen as the era of smart growth.
impact assessment (EIA) as part of subdivi- An approach that is supported by leading
sion, rezoning, or site-plan reviews, although planning, development, and environmen-
EIA certification criteria usually differ from tal organizations, smart growth replaces
those used to approve zoning or subdivision approval-based land use controls such as
permits. (For more information on EIA, see zoning and housing caps, with outcome-
“Impact Assessment” in this chapter.) oriented planning policies designed to
accommodate additional population growth
Environmental and historic overlay within a more environmentally and socially
zoning Environmental and historic overlay beneficial land use pattern. Smart growth
zoning restricts the type, massing, density, programs encourage compact development,
or footprint of allowable land uses on a redirect development away from greenfields
site; requirements are linked to the site’s and toward older central cities, promote
physical, environmental, and historic char- social equity, and strive for a development
acteristics. Usually applied as an overlay approvals process that is simpler, more
zone—that is, in addition to traditional use- transparent, and more predictable for all
based zoning designations—environmental involved. Smart growth makes use of many
zoning limits development on hillsides, in growth management approaches and tools
wetlands, in watersheds, and in riparian but adds some new ones as well. Three are
and aquifer-recharge areas. Depending on worth noting: priority funding areas, form-
local regulations, historic district overlays based codes, and inclusionary zoning.
may discourage the demolition of historic
structures and/or ensure the compatibility Priority funding areas
of new development with the historic fabric.
A core principle of smart growth is that “car-
Protective overlays are simple to add to tra-
rots beat sticks.” Unlike growth management
ditional zoning ordinances and are common
programs, which typically employ mandatory
throughout the United States.
and sometimes punitive regulations, smart
Conservation easements and resource growth relies largely on incentives. In Mary-
protection contracts Throughout the land, for example, where the state planning
United States, public agencies are working law has “smart growth” in its title, local gov-
with nonprofit organizations to preserve ernments are required to designate priority
farm- and forestlands through nonregula- funding areas (PFAs) within which additional
tory means. The most common techniques state planning and infrastructure state grants
involve outright land purchases; conserva- are available to support new development.
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Figure 6–11 Smart

growth calls for
outcome-oriented
planning policies that
accommodate additional
population growth in a
way that benefits both
the environment and the
urban pattern. Santana
Row in San José,
California, clusters retail,
office, and housing uses
in a compact area.
Source: Eric Fredericks
Most of Maryland’s PFAs are located in or Local governments have many choices when
adjacent to urban cores and older suburbs. they adopt IZ. Voluntary programs offer
New Jersey’s state planning act of 1985 took incentives such as additional density, while
a similar incentive-based approach: once mandatory ones require that a fraction of
the state had accepted a local plan, it would new units be affordable. Jurisdictions can
adopt state policies and make infrastructure give their IZ programs more flexibility by
investments supporting the plan. allowing developers to transfer IZ units to
other sites, or by paying an in-lieu fee that is
Form-based codes used to subsidize the construction of afford-
Missing in most zoning and growth manage- able units elsewhere.
ment regulations are policies and programs
The oldest and best-known IZ program in
for encouraging high-quality and/or consis-
the nation is in Montgomery County, Mary-
tent urban design. Form-based codes fill this
land. First adopted in 1973, the program
gap by addressing the relationship between
currently requires developers of subdivi-
buildings and the public realm, the rela-
sions with at least twenty units to provide
tionships of buildings to each another, and
between 12.5 percent and 15 percent of
the scale of streets and blocks. Not to be
those units to low- and moderate-income
confused with design guidelines or general
families in return for a density bonus of up
statements of policy, form-based codes are
to 22 percent.9 As of 2004, more than 200
regulations, not advisory documents. Some
analysts see form-based codes as supple- local governments in the United States had
menting traditional zoning; others see them adopted some type of mandatory IZ ordi-
as replacing traditional zoning. nance; in 2003, nearly one-quarter of the
jurisdictions in the fifty largest metropolitan
Inclusionary zoning areas had incentive-based affordable hous-
ing programs.10
Whereas zoning and growth management
work by excluding inconsistent or “undesir-
able” development forms, smart growth What works?
emphasizes land use complementarity and Most states—particularly those that are
social and economic inclusion. To accom- home to large and fast-growing metropoli-
plish this aim, growing numbers of local gov- tan areas—have authorized some form of
ernments are adopting inclusionary zoning local growth management and/or smart
(IZ) ordinances, which require or encourage growth program. Viewed broadly, four major
developers of market-rate housing to set “families” of land use regulations stand
aside a percentage of units for low- and out: reform, exclusionary, laissez-faire, and
moderate-income households. traditional:11
11255-06_CH06.indd 305 12/23/08 2:57:27 PM

• Local governments in the Pacific and body of literature showing that zoning often
Rocky Mountain regions, as well as in “follows the market” and that development
Florida and Maryland, typically fall into patterns would look much the same in the
the “reform” family. Local governments absence of zoning.15
in these locations use most of the tools
What of nonzoning regulations? Do growth
discussed in this article, although in
boundaries and similar regulations really
different combinations.
rein in growth? Many do, but some don’t;
• Communities in Massachusetts and New scattered and low-density development can
Jersey typically fall in the “exclusionary” still occur inside boundaries, and leapfrog
family, where low-density zoning remains development can occur outside them.16 Do
the land use regulation of choice, and few permit caps really reduce housing con-
growth management or smart growth struction? Again, some do and some don’t,
tools are used. When local governments depending on how strictly the limits are
do innovate—by adopting permit caps or set and how long they remain in place.17 Do
environmental review, for example—the Maryland’s priority funding areas redirect
effect often heightens the exclusionary growth? Early results suggest that the share
impacts of low-density zoning. (It is of growth in PFAs expanded marginally,18
worth noting that both Massachusetts but it’s still unclear whether the first PFA
and New Jersey have made state-level designations anticipated or shaped develop-
efforts to undo the exclusionary effects ers’ decisions.
of local regulations. New Jersey adopted
a form of statewide IZ in the aftermath
of the New Jersey Supreme Court’s
Surprisingly little is known about
Mount Laurel decisions.12 Massachusetts’s
whether local land use regulations—even
“anti-snob” zoning ordinance allows
zoning—work as advertised.
a statewide land use review court to
override local land use decisions that
exclude affordable housing.)
Most of the evidence about whether land
• In “laissez-faire” states and regions—such use regulations work is indirect; it comes
as Texas, the South, and the Great from dozens of studies that have investi-
Plains—land uses are altogether less gated whether housing prices are higher
regulated, both inside and outside city in regulated jurisdictions.19 Study results
limits. vary widely depending on the location,
• Local governments in “traditional” period, type of program studied, and the
metropolitan areas rely primarily on quality of the research design. Studies
zoning and subdivision regulation, conducted during the 1980s and early 1990s
sometimes adopting impact fees, but regularly found inflationary price effects in
almost never at the stratospheric excess of 20 percent, but more recent and
levels reached in reform states such as careful studies have generally found the
California. price effects of individual regulations and
programs to be much lower. The cumulative
Surprisingly little is known about whether
effects of multiple regulations, on the other
local land use regulations—even zoning—
hand, can be quite high, especially when a
work as intended. And what is known is often
majority of communities in a region limit
based on older and/or community-specific
housing construction below market levels.
comparisons. Outside the reform states, local
governments tend to adopt only those land Precisely how regulations affect housing
use regulations that are acceptable to local prices remains unclear: is it by limiting sup-
real estate interests.13 It is thus no surprise ply; by increasing demand (i.e., by improv-
that regulated and unregulated land use ing housing and neighborhood quality such
outcomes differ so narrowly. Indeed, this was that households are voluntarily willing to
Bernard Siegan’s most forceful conclusion pay more); or, more likely, through some
in his landmark 1972 study of zoning-free combination of the two? This distinction
Houston14—which, then as now, differs little in matters. If higher prices result mainly
form or pattern from most other large met- from reductions in supply and not from
ropolitan areas. Indeed, there is a significant improvements in quality, the effectiveness
11255-06_CH06.indd 306 12/23/08 2:57:28 PM

of growth management regulations—which 13 John R. Logan and Harvey Molotch, Urban Fortunes:
The Political Economy of Place (Berkeley: University
are designed to improve the quality of
of California Press, 1987); Marc A. Weiss, The Rise of
residential environments—should be called the Community Builders: The American Real Estate
into question. If our knowledge of the direct Industry and Urban Land Planning (New York:
Columbia University Press, 1987).
effects of regulations is incomplete, so too
14 Bernard Siegan, Land Use without Zoning (Lanham,
is our knowledge of their indirect effects on Md.: Lexington Books, 1972).
social composition, metropolitan land use 15 Nancy Wallace, “The Market Effects of Zoning
Undeveloped Land: Does Zoning Follow the Market?”
patterns, and environmental quality.
Journal of Urban Economics 23, no. 3 (1988):
307–326; J. M. Pogodzinski and Tim Sass, “Measuring
The most important conclusion about “what
the Effects of Municipal Zoning Regulations:
works” is that implementation makes all the A Survey,” Urban Studies 28, no. 4 (1991): 597–621.
difference. Local governments should adopt 16 Yan Song and Gerrit-Jan Knaap, “Measuring Urban
regulations that fit particular local purposes, Form: Is Portland Winning the War on Sprawl?” Journal
of the American Planning Association 70, no. 2 (2004):
and then monitor them to see whether they 210; Arthur C. Nelson and Casey Dawkins, Urban
work as desired and whether they have Containment in the United States (Chicago: APA Press,
undesirable side effects. Here again, Oregon, 2005); Pendall, Puentes, and Martin, From Traditional
to Reformed.
which requires communities with urban 17 Ned Levine, “The Effects of Local Growth Controls on
growth boundaries to monitor both positive Regional Housing Production and Population Redistri-
and negative impacts, is a model. bution in California,” Urban Studies 36, no. 12 (1999):
2047–2068; John D. Landis, “Do Growth Controls
Work? A New Assessment,” Journal of the American
Notes Planning Association 58, no. 4 (1992): 489–508; John
1 By 2004, more than 90 percent of local governments D. Landis, “Growth Management Revisited,” Journal of
in the fifty largest U.S. metropolitan areas had zoning the American Planning Association 72, no. 4 (2006):
ordinances, and an even higher percentage probably 411–430; Madelyn Glickfeld and Ned Levine, Regional
had subdivision regulations: see Rolf Pendall, Robert Growth . . . Local Reaction: The Enactment and Effects
Puentes, and Jonathan Martin, From Traditional to of Local Growth Control and Management Measures in
Reformed: A Review of the Land Use Regulations California (Cambridge, Mass.: Lincoln Institute of Land
in the Nation’s 50 Largest Metropolitan Areas, Policy, 1992).
Research Brief (Washington, D.C.: Metropolitan 18 Q. Shen and Feng Zhang, “Land-Use Changes in a
Policy Program, Brookings Institution, 2006), 10, Pro-Smart-Growth State: Maryland, USA,” Environ-
brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/reports/2006/ ment and Planning A 39, no. 6 (2007): 1457–1477.
08metropolitanpolicy_pendall/20060802_Pendall. 19 See John M. Quigley and Larry A. Rosenthal, “The
pdf (accessed July 29, 2008). Effects of Land Use Regulation on the Price of
2 Regulations that limit the locations and impacts of Housing: What Do We Know? What Can We Learn?”
development are properly known as growth manage- Cityscape 8, no. 1 (2005): 69–137, for a useful review
ment regulations. By contrast, regulations that limit of these studies.
the amount and/or flow of development well below
market levels are known as growth controls. In
practice, the line between growth management and
growth control is easily blurred. FOCUS ON
3 Jennifer Evans-Cowley and Larry Lawhon, “The
Effects of Impact Fees on the Price of Housing and
Land: a Literature Review,” Journal of Planning
Literature 17, no. 3 (2003): 351–359.
Regulating
4 Pendall, Puentes, and Martin, From Traditional to
Reformed, 10.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid, 11: This difference is due to the fact that counties
greenfield
are much more likely to have adopted urban contain-
ment programs than cities.
7 In Portland, this has been accomplished by establish-
development
ing minimum density levels and identifying large land
tracts suitable for future industrial growth. Thomas Jacobson
8 Pendall, Puentes, and Martin, From Traditional to
Reformed, 11.
Greenfields are lands adjacent to cities and
9 Karen Destorel Brown, Expanding Affordable Housing
through Inclusionary Zoning: Lessons from the Wash- towns, or beyond, that have been in agri-
ington Metropolitan Area (discussion paper, Brook- cultural or very low density residential use,
ings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan
Policy, Washington D.C., 2001), 30, brookings.edu/~/
or that simply have not yet been reached
media/Files/rc/reports/2001/10metropolitanpolicy_ by development. Historically, greenfields
brown/inclusionary.pdf. have been easy places to develop, but times
10 Rendall, Puentes, and Martin, From Traditional to
Reformed, 11.
have changed. Communities are increas-
11 Ibid., 19–25. ingly resistant to greenfield development,
12 Southern Burlington County NAACP v. Mount Laurel, and where it is not precluded altogether, it is
67 N.J. 151, 336 A.2d 713, appeal dismissed and cert.
denied, 423 U.S. 808 (1975); South Burlington County likely to be subject to requirements for care-
NAACP v. Mount Laurel, 92 N.J. 158 (1983). ful planning, regulation, and management.
11255-06_CH06.indd 307 12/23/08 2:57:29 PM

Outright prohibitions are often based on regulations may also mandate the protec-
concerns about losing important natural tion of natural resources and features. More
resources (e.g., agricultural lands, wetlands, sophisticated approaches to regulating
habitats, and watersheds) or a valued “open greenfield development include compre-
feeling.” Alternatively, prohibitions may be hensive plan policies, project master plans,
primarily intended to prevent inefficient zoning approaches (such as planned unit
infrastructure provision. There are also development [PUD]), subdivision regula-
concerns that greenfield development may tions, environmental impact assessment,
result in more and longer vehicle trips, and exactions.
with consequent increases in energy use
and greenhouse gas emissions. Finally,
restricting greenfield development may Communities are increasingly resistant
encourage more compact development: to greenfield development, and where it
higher densities, urban infill, and the reuse is not precluded altogether, it is likely to
of brownfields (which may be complicated be subject to requirements for careful
by the presence of a hazardous substance, planning, regulation, and management.
pollutant, or contaminant) and of “gray-
field” sites (generally older, economically
obsolete sites that are either empty or have Efforts to protect greenfields are not limited
low occupancy and low economic produc- to local governments: there are also new
tivity). (Sometimes, of course, restrictions roles for federal and state resource agen-
on greenfield development are not accom- cies; for federal, state, and regional provid-
panied by a commitment to development ers of infrastructure; and for governmental
elsewhere. The local preference may be to and nongovernmental conservation orga-
allow neither.) nizations. In short, the view of greenfield
development is no longer “anything goes,
Where greenfield development is allowed,
because it’s ‘empty land.’”
communities are increasingly likely to
demand the mitigation or elimination of Despite the complexity that has come to
unwanted effects. Plans and regulations characterize much greenfield develop-
may, for instance, limit or prohibit bland, ment, interest in it often remains strong.
“mono-use” development, and may attempt Greenfield development may offer certain
to decrease auto dependence by encour- benefits. For example, greenfields may
aging mixed use (e.g., by requiring that provide an opportunity for larger-scale
residential or office developments incor- “new towns”; for other large, comprehen-
porate some commercial uses). Plans and sive developments; and for design innova-
Figure 6–12 Outright

prohibitions on
development are often
based on concerns over
losing important natural
resources.
11255-06_CH06.indd 308 12/23/08 2:57:29 PM

tions (such as new urbanist communities). tunities without establishing requirements.

Residential development near decentralized California’s “general plan” requirements
employment centers (and the reverse—new for land use, open space, and conservation
employment centers constructed near exist- elements, for example, require that various
ing residential development) may offer the topics be addressed but do not mandate a
potential to improve the jobs-housing bal- particular policy.
ance, although without any guarantee that
the jobs will be held by nearby residents.
Greenfields may also permit increases in Any effort to develop and implement
housing availability and affordability in greenfield policies through the
areas where affordability is a pressing issue. comprehensive plan should begin with an
And greenfield development adjacent to assessment of state requirements.
an already urbanized area may be a ratio-
nal way to complete an established urban
development pattern. From a developer’s Among the policies in the comprehensive
standpoint, greenfields may offer cheaper plan that may be particularly relevant to
land and less resistance from neighbors. greenfield development are those that
Furthermore, lively debate persists over address urban growth boundaries, the
whether there is enough potential in exist- preservation of agricultural land (includ-
ing urban areas—available infill, brownfield, ing policies to strengthen the agricultural
grayfield, and other nongreenfield sites—to
economy), the extension of infrastructure,
meet development demands.
minimum parcel sizes, and development
For various reasons and in various ways, standards (e.g., creek setbacks, ridge and
greenfields are increasingly becoming slope development restrictions, and lim-
the focus of planning interest and efforts, its on building footprints).1 Marin County,
as well as innovation. Municipalities and California, for example, has used its general
counties can use a number of tools to limit plan since the 1970s to designate broad
the negative consequences of greenfield areas of the county for nonurban develop-
development. The menu varies by state, ment, to promote agriculture, and to protect
but certain nearly universal principles and habitat and other sensitive lands.
practices apply.
Project master plans
Comprehensive plans Large-scale planned projects guided by
Because the potential for comprehensive master plans, specific plans, and compa-
plans to determine greenfield policies rable tools are often touted as a means
depends on the role of such plans in the of avoiding the potential negative con-
state planning framework, any effort to sequences of greenfield development; at
develop and implement greenfield policies the same time, such projects effectively
through the comprehensive plan should address open space protection, ensure the
begin with an assessment of state require- adequacy of infrastructure and public ser-
ments. Where municipalities and counties vices, and achieve a good mix of uses. The
are required to develop comprehensive kind of thorough approach made possible
plans, those plans provide an opportunity by planning at this scale can be used to
to address greenfields-related issues. This protect against the threats, on- and off-site,
is particularly so in states that require con- often posed by piecemeal development. Of
sistency between the comprehensive plan, course, it is the policy content of the plan
zoning and subdivision regulations, and the that will ultimately determine its success in
extension of infrastructure. this regard.
Some states require local governments to One controversial application of master

implement state-level greenfield policies planning is the new urbanist greenfield
through the comprehensive plan; Oregon’s community. To begin with, is a new urban-
provisions regarding urban growth boundar- ist greenfield community a contradiction?
ies and the protection of agricultural lands Some critics contend that to deliver on the
are an example. Other states create oppor- promise of new urbanism, such communities
11255-06_CH06.indd 309 12/23/08 2:57:30 PM

Other influences on greenfield development
Federal and state natural resource protection

Federal and state regulations and agencies play increasingly important roles in
greenfield development. The federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), for example, has
become a critical de facto land use planning tool. Under an interpretation of the act
that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court,1 adversely modifying the habitat of a pro-
tected species may violate the act, making certain areas off limits to development.
Two elements of the act, however, allow habitat modification under certain circum-
stances. A provision for “incidental take” (the permitted destruction of a protected
species’ habitat if such destruction is incidental to otherwise legal activity), and the
accompanying requirement for a habitat conservation plan, are often used to deter-
mine where habitat will be protected and where development can be allowed on
habitat lands without jeopardizing protected species.2 Some observers feel, however,
that ESA-driven processes have usurped much of the land use authority of local
governments.
Other examples of federal and state natural resource protection laws that may
overlay local planning processes include the wetlands provisions of the federal Clean
Water Act, and various state laws that address farmland preservation and forest
management.
Regional, state, and federal infrastructure

Regional, state, and federal providers of infrastructure (roads, water, sewers) have the
potential to significantly influence development patterns, particularly in greenfields.
A water provider, for instance, may claim a degree of land use planning authority
through its decisions on where to provide water. Similarly, through improvements to
roadways, a state department of transportation may increase the potential for green-
field development by expanding the effective commute shed.
Nonprofit and governmental land conservation organizations

Land conservation—the protection of important greenfield lands through outright
acquisition or through an enforceable conservation easement—has taken on an impor-
tant role in shaping development patterns. In some cases, lands are secured by local,
state, or federal agencies, such as park or open space agencies or districts, water
districts, or state resource management agencies. However, nonprofit organizations
are becoming more and more prominent in such efforts. Some, such as the Nature
Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land, are large and well funded, but there has
also been an explosion of more than 1,000 local land trusts.
1 Babbitt v. Sweet Home Chapter of Communities for a Great Oregon, 515 U.S. 687 (1995).
2 Habitat conservation plans (HCPs) vary dramatically in terms of their geographic scope and their
approaches to mitigating the effects of habitat loss. Among the hundreds of HCPs prepared around the United
States, an especially interesting effort is the Riverside County (California) Integrated Project, which combines
the Western Riverside County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan with the county’s comprehensive
plan and transportation plan.
must be integrated into a larger fabric of Zoning

community institutions, economic activity, Zoning—particularly PUD techniques—offers
and transportation infrastructure, includ- a means of realizing many of the benefits of
ing mass transit. Yet some of the most project master plans without the rigidity of
notable examples of new urbanism are a fixed plan. By taking a comprehensive but
greenfield developments, including Seaside flexible approach and establishing a general
and Celebration in Florida, and Kentlands in framework that is often characterized by
Maryland. clustered development, PUDs may make
11255-06_CH06.indd 310 12/23/08 2:57:31 PM

it easier to accomplish development goals tice, environmental mandates, and infra-

while protecting natural values, such as structure requirements, and that are not
views, habitat, and water quality. Typically, in compliance with modern standards? The
PUDs require single ownership and some answer varies from state to state. Califor-
minimum size. nia, for instance, through a combination of
state legislation and its interpretation by the
Zoning ordinances may also be used to
courts, has “grandfathered” certain old lots
establish development standards that can
(primarily on the basis of when they were
reduce the negative consequences of green-
created), leaving some—but not all—older
field development: creek setbacks, ridgeline
parcels potentially subject to contemporary
and slope protections, limited building foot-
subdivision regulation.
prints, and tree preservation, for example.
Environmental impact assessment

Subdivision regulations
Environmental impact assessment is a
Subdivision regulations offer a prime
valuable way of identifying and mitigat-
opportunity for avoiding the negative conse-
ing environmental impacts associated with
quences of greenfield development, espe-
greenfield development. One emerging
cially when used in conjunction with other
issue is whether environmental impact
planning and regulatory efforts.
assessment laws mandate the analysis of
Subdivision regulations should be based greenhouse gas emissions. Projecting the
on policies adopted by the municipality impact of greenfield development on vehicle
or county or, in some cases, the state. In miles traveled—and, therefore, on green-
those jurisdictions with a comprehensive house gas emissions—has the potential to
plan, the plan is an important source of influence development decisions. Another
policy, as are zoning and other regulations. critical issue that is receiving more atten-
Subdivision regulations address site design, tion through impact assessment is whether
both for aesthetic purposes and in order to the current water supply can support new
protect and enhance natural resources. For greenfield development.4
example, the regulations may limit runoff by
restricting building footprints and requiring Exactions
detention ponds, and they can be linked to Many of the potential negative conse-
policies on water supply, traffic mitigation, quences of greenfield development can be
and conservation of natural features. In Cali- addressed through exactions such as impact
fornia, for example, before approving sub- fees, dedications, or in-lieu fees. (For more
divisions that include 500 or more parcels, information on exactions, see “Negoti-
municipalities and counties must obtain a ated Development” in this chapter.) While
written statement from the applicable public initially limited to the most basic infra-
water system confirming that a sufficient structure (typically roads, water systems,
water supply is available.2 and schools), the scope of exactions has
expanded dramatically, and they are now
Conservation subdivisions demonstrate how
being used to address a wide array of public
subdivision regulations can be used to pro-
concerns, including habitat, air quality, and
mote greenfield-related goals. In conserva-
water conservation.
tion subdivisions, development is typically
clustered on a portion of the site, and larger
areas are retained as open space for private
Notes
1 Depending on the structure of state law governing
or public use. In some cases, developers are comprehensive plans and on local preference, spe-
awarded density bonuses for providing open cific development standards may first be articulated
areas. Farsighted communities link conser- in the comprehensive plan or, alternatively, be
expressed only in the zoning or subdivision ordinance
vation subdivisions to create a coordinated or other regulations.
open-space network.3 2 California Government Code, § 66473.7.
3 See, for example, Randall Arendt, Conservation
The regulation of old subdivisions is an Design for Subdivisions: A Practical Guide to Creating
important and evolving issue. What should Open Space Networks (Washington, D.C.: Island Press,
1996).
be done with the (literally) millions of lots 4 See, for example, California’s approach, Government
that predate contemporary planning prac- Code § 66473.7 and Water Code §§ 10910 et seq.
11255-06_CH06.indd 311 12/23/08 2:57:31 PM

FOCUS ON the temptation to sell land for development;

and keeping support services—the feed mills,
Preserving machinery dealers, processing, and trans-

portation companies—alive and thriving.
Farmland preservation can help address all
agricultural land these challenges.
Land preservation, which is voluntary on the

Thomas L. Daniels
part of a landowner, can happen in three ways:
America’s farmers and ranchers own about • The land can be sold to a government
930 million acres—most of the nation’s pri- agency or qualified nonprofit
vately held land—and each year, more than organization, often known as a land trust.
a million acres of farmland are converted to • The development rights to the land (also
nonfarm uses.1 Most of the land threatened known as a conservation easement) can
by conversion is located in metropolitan be sold, donated, or conveyed through a
counties, where four out of five Americans bargain sale (part cash, part donation)
live, and it is this farmland that produces to a government agency or qualified
most of the nation’s fruits, vegetables, and nonprofit organization.
dairy products. Moreover, most of the popu-
• Limited development can be permitted,
lation growth in the United States through
and a conservation easement can be
2050 is expected to occur in metropolitan
placed on the remaining open land.
regions. As a result, farmland preservation
will be a crucial aspect of managing growth The second option is especially attractive
in metro areas. because it allows the landowner to obtain
cash and/or tax benefits without having to
Today, the average American farmer is
sell the land for development.
54 years old;2 this means that many farm-
ers are thinking about retirement—and that
within the coming decades, tens of millions The purchase and donation
of acres of agricultural land will change of development rights
hands. What the heirs or buyers of this A landowner in America owns a bundle
land decide to do with it will have powerful of rights to the land, including air, water,
implications for sprawl, local agricultural and mineral rights; the right to use, sell, or
economies, local food supply chains, and develop the land; and the right to pass the
environmental quality. Farmers and ranchers land along to heirs. Any one of these rights
face four main challenges: passing the farm can be separated from the bundle and sold
or ranch to the next generation; maintaining or donated to someone else. When selling or
the profitability of the business; resisting donating development rights to a state
Figure 6–13 Urban

incursions undermine the
viability of agricultural
production.
Source: Tom Daniels
11255-06_CH06.indd 312 12/23/08 2:57:31 PM

or local government or a land trust, the ment rights (TDR) programs. Under a
landowner gives up only the right to develop PDR program, the development rights are
the land and retains all the other rights and purchased by a government agency and
responsibilities of ownership (such as the retired. In a TDR program, a local govern-
right to sell the property and liability for ment must first identify sending areas for
property taxes). The land remains private protection and receiving areas where more
property, and no public access is allowed. development is desired. It then gives TDRs
to landowners in the sending area, and
The value of development rights is deter-
requires developers to purchase TDRs if
mined by a professional appraiser, who
they want to build at a higher-than-normal
estimates the difference between the
density in the receiving areas. The price of
fair-market value of the property and the
the TDRs is set as in a market between the
value of the property if it remains restricted
landowners and the developers. Two local
to agricultural and open space uses. The
TDR programs to preserve farmland stand
value of development rights is influenced by
out: in Montgomery County, Maryland, and
zoning, road frontage, proximity to central
in the New Jersey Pinelands.
sewer and water, and the local land market.
In addition to PDR programs, hundreds of
When a landowner sells or donates devel-
land trusts are preserving agricultural land
opment rights, the landowner and the gov-
by means of conservation easements, often
ernment agency or land trust sign a deed
through cooperative efforts with local gov-
of easement, a legally binding contract
ernments. There are about 4 million acres
that is recorded at the county courthouse.
of preserved farms and ranch lands in the
Typically, easement prohibits any commer-
United States.3
cial or residential development, except as
needed for the farm operation. The gov-
Preservation strategies
ernment agency or land trust has the right
to monitor the property and enforce the The most successful growth management
terms of the easement, which runs with programs at the county level use a set of
the land (i.e., it applies to future owners techniques that typically includes a com-
as well). Most conservation easements are prehensive plan, agricultural zoning, growth
perpetual, although there are some term boundaries, the purchase or transfer of
easements. development rights, or the purchase of land
(see Figure 6–15). Key implementation strat-
Twenty-seven states and more than 150
egies include
local governments have created purchase
of development rights (PDR) programs to • Preserving agricultural land in large,
preserve farmland. Such programs differ contiguous blocks
significantly from transfer of develop- • Preserving land zoned for agriculture
Figure 6–14 Over the

past twenty years, the
New Jersey Pinelands
TDR program has
permanently conserved
more than 40,000 acres
of farms and forests in
the nation’s most
densely populated state.
Source: Joel M. Mott
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Figure 6–15 Lancaster

County, Pennsylvania,
uses urban growth areas
(in gray), agricultural
zoning (in light green),
and the purchase of
development rights to
farmland (in dark green)
to manage growth.
Source: Lancaster County

Agricultural Preserve
Board
• Allowing development on agricultural ernments and land trusts for purchasing

land inside growth boundaries development rights to farmland. The federal
• Preserving land close to certain parts government will pay up to half the cost of
of growth boundaries so as to steer the purchasing these rights. State farmland
expansion of the boundaries away from preservation programs either work directly
highly productive agricultural areas. with landowners, as in Delaware and Ver-
mont, or make matching grants to counties,
Sources of funding as in Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Funding for farmland preservation comes State funds come from a variety of sources,
from four sources: federal, state, and local including bonds, a farmland conversion tax
governments, and private donors (founda- (Maryland), a real estate transfer tax (New
tions, corporations, and individuals). In the York), and even a cigarette tax (Pennsylva-
2002 Farm Bill, Congress authorized $985 nia). Dozens of counties have raised funds
million in grants to state and local gov- for farmland preservation. The sale of
bonds is the most popular financing method
because purchasing development rights can
Table 6–5 Leading counties in farmland be seen as a long-term capital investment in
preservation, 2007 green infrastructure, analogous to investing
in gray infrastructure such as schools and
County Acres preserved
sewer and water facilities. Since 1988, U.S.
Lancaster, Pennsylvania 72,831 voters have approved nearly $46 billion to
Montgomery, Maryland 69,023 preserve open space, parks, watersheds, and
Berks, Pennsylvania 52,686 farms and ranch land.4
Chester, Pennsylvania 52,324

Agricultural land preservation
Carroll, Maryland 50,285 and growth management
Burlington, New Jersey 49,382 Many local governments have recognized
Baltimore, Maryland 45,346 the need to plan for the preservation of
Source: Deborah Bowers, ed., Farmland Preservation farmland, just as they plan for development,
Report, September 2007 in order to manage metropolitan growth.
11255-06_CH06.indd 314 12/23/08 2:57:33 PM

Government sources have provided more but the municipality or the applicant pro-
than $5 billion for farmland preservation, posed “unilateral conditions or promises,” the
with more in the pipeline.5 Land trusts have approved rezoning or site plan was catego-
also played an important role, especially rized as contract zoning and became void.6
in states and localities where public fund- In short, to protect against ad hoc treatment,
ing has lagged. Still, farmland preservation favoritism, or bribery, local governments
works best as part of a package of growth were forbidden to resolve land use issues
management techniques, such as agricul- through negotiation, or through contract or
tural zoning and urban growth boundaries, conditional zoning.
which put a comprehensive plan into action.
Loosening the regulatory noose
Notes In a trio of historic rulings made between
1 Tom Daniels and Katherine Daniels, The Environmen- 1951 and 1972, the New York Court of
tal Planning Handbook (Chicago: APA Planners Press,
2003), 8. Appeals led the nation in recognizing the
2 Ibid., 217. need for flexibility in land use planning and
3 Deborah Bowers, Farmland Preservation Report, controls in order to meet the needs of a
September 2007.
4 Trust for Public Land, LandVote 2007 (San Francisco: changing society in the decades after World
Trust for Public Land, 2007). War II. Rodgers v. Village of Tarrytown in
5 Bowers, Farmland Preservation Report. 1951 upheld the “floating zone,” which made
overlay zoning and planned unit develop-
ment (PUD) possible.7 Local ordinances that
FOCUS ON authorized PUDs recognized the need to
negotiate the conditions that augmented
Negotiated the underlying zoning. PUDs treat a tract
of land as a whole, avoiding the inadequa-
development cies of lot-by-lot Euclidean zoning; they can

range from rural “cluster subdivisions,” in
which land for public facilities is dedicated
Robert H. Freilich or environmentally sensitive areas are
reserved through open-space easements, to
This year I published (with S. Mark White) a large-scale, mixed-use residential, commer-
new zoning and subdivision model for local cial, and office projects, with design control
governments to deal with smart growth, and site planning leading to new urbanism.
new urbanism, and sustainability.1 One of the As attorney Steven Siegel notes,
key tools discussed at length in the 21st Cen-
The planned unit development con-
tury Land Development Code is the modern
cept can be understood as a form of
use of negotiated development tools and
“grand bargain” where the community
agreements. This article discusses these
lowers its servicing costs for low den-
techniques in depth.
sity sprawl development by condition-
“Euclidean” zoning under the Standard Zon- ing development approval upon site
ing Enabling Act of 1926 is a noncontractual planning design, clustering and the
regulatory framework in which the zoning creation of homeowner associations
ordinance is applied to specific property which assume the cost of public ser-
through a zoning map.2 Any attempt to favor vicing and capital facilities, including
an application for rezoning that was incon- the maintenance of the open space.8
sistent with an adopted master plan,3 or with
A number of other modern techniques
the zoning ordinance itself,4 was regarded as
involve flexible and creative use of “condi-
“spot zoning”5 or as “contract zoning,” both
tions” in rezoning (a practice known as
of which were illegal. Spot zoning property
“conditional rezoning”).9
differently from its neighbors was illegal
because it violated the uniformity clause; In the second case, Church v. Town of Islip
contract zoning—negotiations between the (1960), the New York Court of Appeals upheld
local government and the applicant—was ille- the power of local governments to place
gal because it involved bargaining away the unilateral conditions on rezonings, subdivi-
police power. Even if no bargaining occurred sion approvals, conditional use permits,
11255-06_CH06.indd 315 12/23/08 2:57:34 PM

PUDs, and variances.10 The court’s majority that are not authorized by local law or
distinguished unilateral conditions from might not be legal if imposed as condi-
contract zoning, and reasoned that if a local tions of development approval under
governing body can validly rezone a resi- the U.S. Supreme Court Dolan “rough
dential district to commercial or mixed use, proportionality” test that development
it can also impose conditions to benefit and exactions, impact fees or dedications
protect the owners of surrounding residential cannot exceed the needs generated by
land, as long as the conditions do not solely the development.13
benefit the developer. Other modern zoning
To protect developers from the uncertainty
techniques—including site plan approval, zon-
ing with compensation, transfers of develop- and delays of the development approval
ment rights, bonus and incentive zoning, process, and to meet the public facilities
performance zoning, airport and historic needs of local governments, thirteen
preservation zoning, transect and form-based states have adopted statutes enabling local
zoning, transit-oriented development, and governments to enter into development
traditional new development—depend on local agreements with property owners.14 In states
governments’ ability to impose contractual that have not enacted enabling statutes,
arrangements or legislative conditions that the authority to enter into development
reflect the unique physical, financial, design, agreements may be drawn from the plan-
infrastructure, and service needs of indi- ning and zoning enabling acts that provide
vidual projects. for the adoption and implementation of a
comprehensive plan.15 Other municipalities
Growth management (also known as smart have found authority under home rule,16
growth) originated in the third of the New redevelopment statutes, intergovernmental
York Court of Appeals cases, Golden v. Plan- cooperation acts, economic development
ning Board of the Town of Ramapo (1972), statutes,17 or approval of settlement agree-
which authorized the first use of developments reached during litigation,18 as long
ment agreements to allow for timed and as the actions are reasonably related to the
sequenced zoning tied to the availability of police power—that is, to the protection of
adequate public facilities over an eighteen- the public health, safety and welfare.19 All
year comprehensive improvement plan, thus development agreements must contain limi-
approving the constitutionality of growth tations on the duration of the agreement, to
management in the United States.11 avoid the charge of permanently bargain-
ing away the police power.20 As long as the
Development agreements municipality retains the power to control the
In the land development process, local future permitting process through regula-
governments need to ensure positive fiscal tion and includes provisions for contract
outcomes for the jurisdiction, and developers default,21 the agreement will be upheld.
need assurance that development approvals Municipal impact fees, dedications, and
will not be derailed by subsequent zoning. exactions are authorized only for new needs
Since many state and local governments, as generated by the development itself. Under
well as the federal government, are adopting most impact-fee statutes and court rul-
new land use regulations to allow for sustain- ings, the funds must be placed into trust
able development, new urbanist develop- funds and spent within a five- to six-year
ment, smart growth, and environmental period. Impact fees cannot be imposed for
review, developers seek greater certainty for existing deficiencies or for operation and
their projects, which they can obtain through maintenance.22
development agreements. According to
The most significant use of development
Daniel Curtin, the leading attorney in the
agreements for local governments is for
nation on impact fees and exactions,
implementing adequate public facilities
The development agreement, when ordinances (also known as concurrency).
available, provides the developer with Under adopted concurrency requirements,
another option to obtain vested rights,12 local governments may deny development
while at the same time benefiting local approval on the basis of existing deficien-
government by enabling it to obtain cies that cannot be addressed through the
exactions and impose other conditions limited provision of new facilities obtained
11255-06_CH06.indd 316 12/23/08 2:57:34 PM

through impact fees, dedications, in-lieu fees, Recently it has been suggested that develop-
or conditional zoning.23 By denying development agreements could be used to require a
ment approval, the local government forces developer or a property owners’ association
the developer to rectify the deficiencies to provide for traditional municipal functions,
in a development agreement, which is not such as fire and police services, in perpetu-
subject to the Dolan rough proportionality ity.34 The legal question of whether tradi-
requirement.24 Because the Dolan rule does tional municipal operations, such as policing,
not apply to voluntary consensual agree- can be delegated to a private association
ments to provide facilities,25 a challenge remains open. If such requirements were to
based on the argument that the government be upheld—that is, if outlying “private govern-
is bargaining away its police power would ments” were required to pay taxes while
fail.26 In several cases, the courts have stated receiving no services—it would be a massive
that a developer who enters into a develop- incentive to develop in areas (such as down-
ment agreement waives his Dolan constitu- towns) that are already built up, that have
tional rights.27 Where transportation facilities the benefit of existing governmental facilities
are deficient, for example, the proper action and services, and that are typically exempted
for the local government is to deny the appli- from impact fees as an incentive.35
cation under an adequate public facilities
ordinance, rather than to condition approval Eminent domain and
on the payment of an excessive exaction,28 development agreements
which would violate the rough proportional- In the wake of the June 2005 U.S. Supreme
ity requirements of Dolan.29 Court decision in Kelo v. City of New Lon-
don,36 which upheld the condemnation of
private housing for economic development,
All development agreements must property-rights organizations have success-
contain limitations on the duration fully lobbied nationwide for constitutional
of the agreement, to avoid the charge and legislative amendments that limit local
of permanently bargaining away the government eminent domain and regula-
police power. tory powers. California’s Proposition 90,
together with twelve other state measures,
was on the November 2006 ballot. Playing
In drafting development agreements, on homeowners’ fears that condemna-
local governments must keep in mind that tion would take their homes, the initiators
developers may have a choice of remedies. added a provision specifying that any local
Breach of contract would lie in state court, government land use regulation that caused
whereas an action for the impairment of the “substantial” depreciation of property would
obligation of contract would lie in federal constitute a regulatory taking.37 Proposition
court. Under the U.S. Constitution’s impair- 90’s limitations on condemnation for eco-
ment of obligation of contracts clause,30 the nomic development were far less significant
actions of local governments are subject to than the limitations on the authority of
a higher level of scrutiny when the local gov- municipalities to pass legislation involving
ernment itself is a party to the contract and planning, zoning, consumer rights, environ-
subsequently adopts ordinances that make mental protection, and the preservation of
the agreement impossible to perform.31 future rights-of-way, without having to pay
compensation for any loss of value due to the
Local governments must be very careful
regulation. Such a statutory limitation, Mea-
in choosing the wording of a development
sure 37, was passed by initiative in Oregon
agreement. In a 2002 case in Florida, for
in 2004.38 The restrictions on planning and
example, the terms of the agreement pro-
environmental regulation were so great that
vided that the county had “an obligation to
the voters, having second thoughts, adopted
support the developer’s request for rezon-
Measure 49 in 2007, removing large subdivi-
ing,” and the court voided the agreement as
sions as well as commercial and industrial
illegal contract zoning.32 A developer does
development from Measure 37 protection.
not have a vested right to obtain discretion-
ary approvals after a development agree- Development agreements, if properly used
ment is signed—only the right to rely on the by local governments, can avoid the poten-
law at the time of execution.33 tial liabilities of takings claims that are the
11255-06_CH06.indd 317 12/23/08 2:57:35 PM

bedrock of Proposition 90 look-alikes. Once 12 The majority rule in the United States is that rights to
complete a project do not vest unless a valid building
landowners agree to the use of a develop-
permit is obtained and substantial construction has
ment agreement in order to avoid denials ensued.
based on adequate public facility deficien- 13 Daniel J. Curtin, “Development Agreements, Exac-
tions and Impact Fees” (paper presented at the
cies, they waive the bringing of takings
annual program of the Institute on Planning, Zoning
claims. Development agreements allow and Eminent Domain, Center for American and Inter-
for public participation, and also provide national Law, San Francisco, California, December 6–8,
for continuous regulatory and contractual 2006), 1.
14 Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho,
control through default provisions. They can Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, South
provide for joint public use, service and facil- Carolina, Virginia, and Washington.
ity conditions, site plan review, and, where 15 See Almquist v. Town of Marshan, 245 N.W.2d 819
(Minn. 1976) (interim development controls); City of
there is public ownership of the land, lease College Station v. Turtle Rock, 680 S.W.2d 802 (Tex.
provisions to ensure that the agreement 1984) (money in lieu of land for parks); Call v. City of
allows for local government control and West Jordan, 606 P.2d 217 (Utah 1980) (impact fees);
Save Elkhart Lake, Inc. v. Village of Elkhart Lake, 512
accountability.
N.W.2d 202 (Wis. App. 1993).
16 Giger v. City of Omaha, 442 N.W. 2d 182 (Neb. 1989);
Through development agreements, local
Crane v. City of Baltimore, 352 A.2d 786 (Md. 1976).
governments can become true partners with 17 Texas Local Government Code § 42.044, allowing
development entities, which can ensure pub- local governments to enter into written contracts in
their extraterritorial jurisdiction for economic devel-
lic use and public purpose. In today’s develop-
opment purposes with private developers.
ment climate, which is strongly influenced by 18 Murphy v. City of West Memphis, 101 S.W.3d 221 (Ark.
new urbanism and sustainability, local gov- 2003); Leroy Land Development Corp. v. Tahoe
Regional Planning Agency, 939 F.2d 696 (9th Cir. 1991).
ernments are achieving higher densities by
19 State ex rel. Myhre v. Spokane, 422 P.2d 790 (Wash.
assembling land for transportation-oriented 1967).
development, which promotes walkability and 20 City of Homestead v. Beard, 600 So. 2d 450, 453 (Fla.
1992); Judith Wegner, “Moving toward the Bargaining
jobs-housing balance, reduces traffic conges-
Table: Contact Zoning, Development Agreements and
tion, and improves air quality. the Theoretical Foundations of Government Land Use
Deals,” North Carolina Law Review 65 (1987): 957,
983–984.
Notes
21 Santa Margherita Areas Residents Together v. San
1 Robert H. Freilich and S. Mark White, 21st Century Luis Obispo County, 84 Cal. App. 4th 221 (2000);
Land Development Code (Chicago: APA Planners Westborough Mall, Inc. v. City of Cape Girardeau, 673
Press, 2008). F. 2d 733 (8th Cir. 1982); Bollech v. Charles County,
2 See Peter W. Salsich Jr. and Timothy J. Tryniecki, 166 F. Supp. 2d 443 (D. Md. 2001), aff’d 69 Fed.
Land Use Regulation: A Legal Analysis and Practical approx 178 (4th Cir. 2003).
Application of Land Use Law (Chicago: Section of 22 Freilich and White, 21st Century Land Development
Real Property, Probate and Trust Law American Bar Code, 285; Home Builders & Contractors Ass’n v.
Association, 1997), 2. Board of County Commr’s, 446 So. 2d 140, 151
3 Standard Zoning Enabling Act (SZEA), section 3. (Fla. App. 1983).
4 Kozesnik v. Township of Montgomery, 131 A.2d 1, 8 23 See Freilich and White, 21st Century Land Develop-
(N.J. 1957). ment Code, 293, 296; see Beaver Meadows v. County
5 Griswold v. City of Houser, 925 P.2d 1015 (Alaska of Larimer, 709 P.2d 928 (Colo. 1985).
1996): “The classic definition of spot zoning is the 24 Leroy Land Development Corp., 939 F.2d at 696, 697.
process of singling out a small parcel of land for a 25 Ibid.; Nollan v. California Coastal Commission, 483
use classification totally different from that of the U.S. 825 (1987); and David L. Callies and Julie A.
surrounding area for the benefit of the owner of such Tappendorf, “Unconstitutional Land Development
property. . . .” (emphasis supplied). Conditions and the Development Agreement:
6 The SZEA contract zoning restriction was applied Bargaining for Public Facilities after Nollan and
even to unilateral conditions imposed by the legisla- Dolan,” Case Western Law Review 51 (Summer
tive body. 2001).
7 Rodgers v. Village of Tarrytown, 302 N.Y. 115, 26 Giger v. City of Omaha, 182, 192–193.
96 N.E.2d 731 (N.Y. 1951). 27 Meredith v. Talbot County, 560 A.2d 599, 604 (Md.
8 Steven Siegel, “The Public Role in Establishing App. 1984); Pfeiffer v. City of La Mesa, 69 Cal. App. 3d
Private Residential Communities,” Urban Lawyer 38 74 (1977).
(Fall 2006): 859, 877. 28 Beaver Meadows v. County of Larimer, 928; Annapolis
9 Floating zones, performance standards, PUDs, incen- Market Place, L.L.C. v. Parker, 802 A.2d 1029, 1044
tive and bonus zoning, TDRs, cluster and conserva- (Md. 2002).
tion subdivisions: see Patrick J. Rohan, “Conditional 29 Lingle v. Chevron, U.S.A., Inc., 544 U.S. 529 (2005).
and Contract Zoning,” in Zoning and Land Use 30 U.S. Constitution, article 4, clause 8.
Controls (Albany, N.Y.: Matthew Bender and Company, 31 United States Trust Co. v. New Jersey, 431 U.S. 1 (1977).
LexisNexis, 1978), section 1; see also State ex rel. 32 Morgan Co. Inc. v. Orange County, 818 So. 2d 640,
Zupancic v. Schimenz 2, 174 N.W.2d 533 (Wisc. 1970). 643 (Fla. App. 2002).
10 Church v. Town of Islip, 168 N.E.2d 680 (N.Y. 1960). 33 Sprenger, Grubb & Assocs. v. City of Hailey, 903
11 Golden v. Planning Board of the Town of Ramapo, 285 P.2d 741 (Idaho 1995); Pardee Const. Co. v. City of
N.E.2d 291, app. dismissed, 409 U.S. 1003 (1972). Camarillo, 690 P.2d 701 (Cal. 1984).
11255-06_CH06.indd 318 12/23/08 2:57:35 PM

34 Siegel, “Private Residential Communities,” 859, 861. Broadly conceived, the purpose of design
35 See Florida State and Local Government Planning
Act, chap. 163, for exemption of downtown and infill
review is to address not just the architec-
areas from concurrency and impact fees. tural styles of buildings, but also the spatial
36 Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005); relationships of buildings, streets, and public
Robert H. Freilich and Seth D. Mennillo, “The Kelo
Revolution Ends in California,” California Real Estate
spaces that make up the urban fabric. Urban
Journal, November 13, 2006; see also Hannah design can establish an image for areas of
Jacobs, “Searching For Balance in the Aftermath of civic importance, and in areas that are dete-
the 2006 Takings Initiatives,” Yale Law Journal 116
(May 2007): 1518. riorated or blighted, it can provide a vision
37 For similar provisions, see Oregon’s Measure 37 and to garner public support and persuade
Florida’s Bert J. Harris Act, described in Edward J. investors of the potential for redevelopment.
Sullivan, “Year Zero: The Aftermath of Measure 37,”
Urban Lawyer 38 (Spring 2006). Public review of design concepts and plans
38 Oregon Revised Statutes § 197.352. can be a key tool in urban transformation.
39 See David L. Callies, Robert H. Freilich, and Thomas
E. Roberts, Cases and Materials on Land Use (Eagan,
Minn.: Thomson West, 2008), 388. Legal considerations
40 See Freilich and White, 21st Century Land Develop-
ment Code.
Courts in the majority of states have
accepted the proposition that land use regu-
lation can be justified by aesthetics alone if
there are adequate standards and if those
FOCUS ON
standards are applied appropriately. But
Design review those can be big “ifs”—first, because of the

limitations inherent in zoning enabling leg-
islation; second, because of the difficulty of
Brian W. Blaesser fashioning meaningful standards, given the
subjectivity of design judgments; and third,
Design review is a discretionary review because communities may try to reach too
process intended to preserve and enhance
far through aesthetics-based regulations.
the built and natural environments in ways
that the community considers to be “good
Authority for design review
design” or visually pleasing. A survey of
design review practices offers the following Local government authority to exercise the
definition: “the process by which private police power for zoning and other land use
and public development proposals receive purposes, including urban design review, is
independent scrutiny under the sponsor- derived from the state. Under Dillon’s rule,
ship of the local government unit, whether local governments do not have inherent pow-
through informal or formalized processes. ers but are limited to those powers explicitly
It is distinguished from traditional (Euclid- granted to them by the state constitution or
ean) zoning and subdivision controls, in legislature.4 Absent a state constitutional or
that it deals with urban design, architec- statutory grant of home rule authority, which
ture, or visual impacts.”1 Of the three terms gives local governments broader powers of
used—urban design, architecture, and visual self-government, courts have construed Dil-
impacts—urban design is perhaps the least lon’s rule to require strict adherence to the
understood. It has been described as “the scope of land use regulation and procedures
composition of architectural form and established by the state. In order to imple-
open space in a community context”;2 the ment constitutionally granted home rule
author goes on to note, “The elements of a powers, most local governments will adopt a
city’s architecture are its buildings, urban charter that defines their home rule author-
landscape, and service infrastructure just ity. But unless a community has this “home
as form, structure, and internal space are rule” status, which gives it broader land use
elements of a building. . . . Like architecture, regulatory powers, the extent and manner of
urban design reflects considerations of aesthetic regulation which is permissible is
function, economics, and efficiency as well limited by the provisions in the state zoning
as aesthetic and cultural qualities.” enabling legislation.
Thus, design review focuses attention on the In the absence of specific state enabling
urban fabric: light, air, views, open space, authority for exercising urban design controls,
and spatial and functional relationships.3 local governments often tie design review to
11255-06_CH06.indd 319 12/23/08 2:57:35 PM

state-enabled discretionary decision-making In Washington State, for example, a court

processes, the three basic types of which are found that the building design criteria that
parcel zoning changes, special permit approv- a city had established were too vague: the
als, and planned development approvals. In criteria stated that evaluation of a proposed
addition, where development parcels are building project would be based on the
part of an existing or former urban renewal “quality of its design and relationship to the
area, a local government may retain the fee natural setting of the valley and surround-
interest in those parcels and, on that basis, ing mountains.”5 Windows, doors, eaves, and
have clear authority to impose urban design parapets were required to be of “appropriate
standards through design review. Neverthe- proportions” and, as recited by the court,
less, the fact that a local government may be seldom “bright” or “brilliant”; mechanical
legally entitled to undertake design review equipment was to be screened from public
does not guarantee that the design review view; and exterior lighting was be “harmoni-
process has been implemented in a way that ous” with the building design. Monotony was
is legally defensible. to be “avoided,” and the project was to also
be “interesting.” “Screens and site breaks,
Vague or meaningless standards or other suitable methods and materi-
Lack of clarity or certainty in the language als,” were to be used to render buildings
of regulation triggers the “void for vague- and structures “compatible” with adjacent
ness” doctrine, which is derived from the buildings that had “conflicting architectural
constitutional right to notice under the due styles.” Finally, “harmony in texture, lines
process clause of the Fourteenth Amend- and masses” was “encouraged.”6
ment of the U.S. Constitution. The purpose
Imprecise language Although urban
of the due process clause is to prevent deci-
design criteria are usually focused on
sion makers from arbitrarily implementing
the totality of a project,7 imposing design
the law. Because of the subjective nature of
criteria on individual development projects
urban design considerations, various vague-
ness problems can occur in design review, affects constitutional rights. Hence, the
the four most common examples being the language used in design criteria must be
failure to use commonly understood terms, sufficiently precise to enable an applicant
the use of imprecise language, the use of to ascertain what is being requested, and
language that lacks practical application, to enable decision makers to arrive at fair,
and the use of vague principles to define the consistent decisions. Admittedly, this is a dif-
context of design review. ficult task. Examples of imprecise language
abound. For example, the following criteria,
Terms that are not commonly under- which applied to signs in the borough of
stood A common failing in design review Stone Harbor, New Jersey, were successfully
regulations is the use of terms that do not challenged on the grounds of vagueness.
give meaningful guidance to those who are The court italicized the offending terms:
expected to implement and comply with the
regulations: notably, public officials, appli- Signs that demand public attention
cants, and the design professionals who are rather than invite attention should be
often appointed to serve on design review discouraged. Color should be selected
bodies or are hired to assist applicants. to harmonize with the overall building
Terms can fail to meet this standard in one color scheme to create a mood and
of two ways: (1) they may not be sufficiently reinforce symbolically the sign’s pri-
technical or precise to be understood by mary communication message. . . . Care
design professionals, or (2) they may not must be taken not introduce too many
have any settled meaning on the basis of colors into a sign. A restricted use of
usage and custom—what the courts call color will maintain a communication
“common law” meaning. These two require- function of the sign and create a visu-
ments may occasionally contradict each ally pleasing element as an integral
other; that is, a word that is sufficiently part of the texture of the street.8
technical and precise may be considered too
professionally oriented and therefore lack- Language that lacks practical application
ing in any settled meaning. Sometimes language appears to have a
11255-06_CH06.indd 320 12/23/08 2:57:35 PM

commonly understood meaning, but when Address preliminary considerations

it is applied to actual circumstances, the Before embarking on design review, a com-
language fails to give meaningful guidance. munity should carefully consider whether
In a New Jersey case, for example, the court it has the prerequisites for establishing a
reviewed a design standard that required meaningful, effective, and legally defen-
that a building design be “early American.”9 sible program. A community that attempts
The court did not address whether “early to impose design controls but that has no
American” was an adequately precise definable character, or that lacks a clear
standard; instead, it examined the standard
vision of what it is or what it wants to
in light of the physical development in the
become, will develop vague and often con-
surrounding area and found that nearby
tradictory standards that are applied on an
structures had no consistent character. Con-
ad hoc basis, with inconsistent—and legally
sequently, the court noted, “early American”
indefensible—results.
could refer to anything from log cabin or a
tepee to a Cape Cod or Dutch colonial style.
Establish a vision that is supported
Vague principles for defining the context by plans and studies
for design review The concept of the A visioning or goal-setting process, in which
public realm—”those parts of the urban a community creates a fifteen- or twenty-
fabric that are held in common, such as year vision of what it wants to become, can
plazas, squares, parks, thoroughfares and provide the foundation for more in-depth,
civic buildings”10—is central to new urbanism, geographically based plans and studies.
which emphasizes walkability, interconnect- Such plans and studies, in turn, are legally
edness, and the ways in which streets, lots, necessary to justify design standards. Some-
and buildings fit together. The form-based times the exercise can expose real fissures
code is an important regulatory tool in new in the community, and a fractured vision at
urbanism; and the public realm, in turn, is best. But if done properly, the vision step
one of the central organizing principles of can provide the foundation for preparing
form-based codes. The “reach” of the public more in-depth, geographically based plans
realm is critical in efforts to redesign exist- and studies—a necessary legal component—
ing, built-up areas; however, it may also raise to justify the resulting design standards.
concerns about the vagueness of design
criteria. Define the basic characteristics
For example, one way to implement the of community form
concept of the public realm in form-based Defining community form addresses two
codes is to apply building design standards basic issue:
and to require design review of aspects that • The location of a building in relation
are “clearly visible from the street.” The to the front property line and adjacent
term “street” typically means squares, civic buildings, which defines the basic
greens, parks, and all public spaces except form and spatial characteristics of an
alleys. This definition is inherently vague urban area and also addresses the idea
and arbitrary, dependent as it is on what is of certain uses along the street. For
visible to the human eye. Such a definition example, a building that is set back from
can raise legal issues under the “void for the street leaves open the possibility of
vagueness” doctrine. a parking lot that faces the street, which
has a far different visual effect than
Principles for drafting design review a row of shops or homes. The build-
standards and guidelines to line also determines the degree of
Where the local government has legal continuity—as opposed to separation and
authority to impose urban design standards, discontinuity—along a street.
whether the standards can be success- • Land uses at the street level—that is,
fully applied depends on how well they are whether the street will have regular
drafted. Planners should keep the follow- pedestrian activity. Is it a shopping street
ing principles in mind when creating urban where pedestrians are invited in, or a
design standards. residential environment where people
11255-06_CH06.indd 321 12/23/08 2:57:35 PM

seek privacy from passersby? With standards to be applied. A design manual

respect to locations of entrances, both alone, unaccompanied by an ordinance that
pedestrian front doors and service, where establishes basic standards, can become
is the pedestrian activity to be located? an open invitation for the abuse of discre-
Where are the back doors? tion by staff or a design commission. To
select graphics and photos for the manual,
Determine the level of control planners should consult with design profes-
that will be exercised sionals who are commonly retained by
Once community form has been identi- landowners and developers. Such design
fied, the next step is for the community to professionals have practical experience
decide what level of control it wishes to with which standards or guidelines can be
exercise through design review, and whether depicted effectively through graphics.
state law (statutory or judicial decisions)
authorizes that level of control. Mandatory Select the type of review process
(“shall”) controls are usually limited to such There are five basic ways to structure the
judicially accepted areas that have design design review processes; which model is
implications, such as build-to lines, height, appropriate will depend on the constraints
bulk, and setbacks. Whether the scope of and opportunities within a particular
mandatory aesthetic regulations may be jurisdiction.
broadened will depend on two factors:
From the perspective of the developer and
(1) whether the specific studies or plans
the local government, the first model repre-
have been done to support such require-
sents an ideal design review process. Why?
ments and (2) the extent to which state law
Because the structure is based on state leg-
can be read to authorize such prescriptions.
Design guidelines, in contrast, set down islation that authorizes the establishment of
desired design outcomes (“should”), but as a separate design review board to implement
they are not mandatory, they leave room for design review policies. The state legislation
the applicant and the local government to should also require that the local government
work out design solutions that are consis- take certain steps, including a careful plan-
tent with the aspirations of the community. ning study that identifies the critical design
elements of a geographic area, followed by
Choose a format and structure the adoption of clear standards and proce-
dures to implement the plan.
From the perspective of both the developer
and the government, design review is best The second model ties the objectives of
implemented through an ordinance after a design review to economic development by
thorough debate about the objectives and empowering a local development author-
11255-06_CH06.indd 322 12/23/08 2:57:36 PM

ity, enabled under state legislation, to carry police power, it is usually possible to establish
out both economic development and design a design review board to advise the planning
review. This model can be found, for exam- commission—the body that, in most jurisdic-
ple, in Kentucky’s state legislation, which tions, is authorized by statute to make certain
authorizes the establishment of overlay dis- discretionary decisions. This structure has the
tricts that provide additional regulations for advantage of limiting the design review board
design standards and development in areas to an advisory role—and, provided that there
that have historical, architectural, natural, are adequate standards, allows the planning
or cultural significance and are suitable for commission to take account of the design
preservation or conservation.11 review board’s recommendations in con-
ditional use decisions, rezonings, or other
The third model reflects the typically con- actions. In addition, the appeal to the local
strained situations of jurisdictions that legislative body is often desirable in this
want to implement design review processes. instance because, as in Model No. 2, it pro-
Provided that state legislation recognizes vides a safety valve through which disputes
urban design as a legitimate object of the can be resolved administratively.
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The fourth model reflects the reality in projects that are subject to design review
many villages and small cities—namely, that involve significant sites or large structures
the planning commission does not have the that can substantially benefit or impair the
authority to make final decisions on matters downtown, and the local legislative body
involving aesthetic considerations or even wants to be involved from the beginning.
to grant conditional uses. Under such an This model allows for that involvement, but
arrangement, the local legislative body acts its success depends on the effectiveness of
as the final decision maker on most land use staff in presenting to local legislators the
approvals. issues that emerge from the design review.
In the fifth model, the local legislative body

is the final decision maker on development Conclusion
projects. This model has potential applica- Whether driven by the desire to implement
tion in those circumstances, usually a down- smart growth or new urbanist principles,
town, in which a city has retained control urban design has become a centerpiece of
of certain parcels of land through urban current planning and regulatory initiatives
renewal or other means. Usually, downtown around the country. Urban design, with its
11255-06_CH06.indd 324 12/23/08 2:57:36 PM

focus on spatial relationships of buildings, granted rights to the use of land but contin-
streets, and public spaces that make up the ued to exercise eminent domain over it. It
urban fabric, can make communities func- was not until the Magna Carta, in 1215, that
tion better physically and make urban life compensation was required before property
more enjoyable. Design review, if properly could be taken.2
structured and based on meaningful stan-
Given the fundamental nature of eminent
dards and guidelines, can be an effective
domain, the U.S. Constitution does not so
means for communities to produce design
much authorize the power as limit its use.
outcomes that achieve a balance between
The Fifth Amendment provides that private
planning objectives and market constraints.
property cannot be taken “for public use,
without just compensation.” This clause was
Notes intended to “bar Government from forcing
1 Survey by Brenda Case Lightner, cited in Brenda Case
Scheer and Wolfgang F. E. Preiser, “Introduction,” in
some people alone to bear public burdens
Design Review: Challenging Urban Aesthetic Control which, in all fairness and justice, should be
(New York: Chapman and Hall, 1994), 2. borne by the public as a whole.”3
2 Richard Tseng-yu Lai, Law in Urban Design and Plan-
ning (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1988), 1.
3 The term design review, as used here, means “urban Impacts of the Kelo case
design review.” The legal principles and some of the
implementation concepts in this brief are adapted
The takings clause of the Fifth Amendment,
from Brian W. Blaesser, Discretionary Land Use which was extended to the actions of state
Controls: Avoiding Invitations to Abuse of Discretion and local government by the application of
(Eagan, Minn.: Thomson-West, 2007).
4 Dillon’s Rule is named after Judge John F. Dillon, a
the due process clause,4 requires that private
nineteenth-century authority on municipal law. property may be taken only for a public use
5 Anderson v. City of Issaquah, 851 P.2d 744 (Div. 1 and that just compensation must be paid.5
1993), citing City of Issaquah Municipal Code (IMC)
16.16.060 (D) (1)–(6).
The interpretation of those two terms—public
6 Ibid., 16.16.060 (B) (1)–(3). use and just compensation—has spawned
7 James L. Bross, “Taking Design Review beyond much litigation, including the provocative
the Beauty Part,” Environmental Law 9 (1979):
211, 226–227, quoting John W. Wade, Architecture,
split decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in
Problems, and Purposes (New York: John Wiley, Kelo v. New London—which, in 2005, upheld
1977): “[T]eachers of architecture ‘respond to the the right of the city of New London, Connect-
“Gestalt,” the perceived totality of the project being
presented. . . . [T]here is considerable flexibility in the
icut, to take private properties for private
weighting of critical values applied. . . .’” economic redevelopment.6
8 Diller and Fisher Company, Inc. v. Architectural
Review Board, 587 A.2d 674, 678 (N.J. 1990). The definition of public use was central to
9 Hankins v. Rockleigh, 150 A.2d 63 (N.J. 1959). the Kelo case. Even though a private devel-
10 Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co., The Lexicon of the New
Urbanism (Version 3.2: 2002), A5; for more on the
oper would ultimately receive the property,
new urbanism, see the Web site for the Congress of the Court carefully weighed other factors in
the New Urbanism at cnu.org/. the case, including the following:
11 1990 Kentucky Acts, chap. 479, §§ 2 and 3.
• The city imposed restrictions on the
future use of the property to ensure that
it remained a public use.
FOCUS ON
• The city was committed to a carefully
Eminent domain thought-out plan that was in the public

interest.
• The benefit to the private developer was
Dwight H. Merriam
incidental to the public benefit.
Eminent domain is the power of federal, Had one or more of these three factors
state, or local government to appropriate leaned in the other direction, New London
private property for public use.1 It connotes might have lost. In structuring redevelop-
coercion because it is often the last resort ment plans that involve the use of eminent
when a voluntary purchase at a reasonable domain, it is essential for planners to apply
price cannot be negotiated. the requirements outlined in Kelo.
The power to condemn private property For eminent domain to be permitted, many
for public use has been inherent in English state laws require a finding that the prop-
law since the feudal era, when the crown erty, or the area surrounding it, is blighted.7
11255-06_CH06.indd 325 12/23/08 2:57:36 PM

Figure 6–16 The

controversial Kelo
decision upheld the
condemnation of this
single-family dwelling to
make way for a large
economic development
project.
Source: Dwight H. Merriam
Elimination of blight is a public purpose, and Most knowledgeable commentators—

thus the resulting redevelopment is a public conservative and liberal—agree that the Kelo
use. Planners have the skills to help decision decision merely restated existing law dating
makers determine whether a property or an back half a century and did not create any
area is blighted. new precedent. However, the decision did gal-
vanize public interest in a number of issues:
The Kelo ruling reiterated what the Court
the tremendous power inherent in eminent
had held in Hawaii Housing Authority v.
domain, its effectiveness in revitalizing dying
Midkiff two decades before: that the prob-
communities, the potential for egregious mis-
ability of success in the redevelopment is
use by power brokers, and the risk of running
not required.8 It is enough that the govern-
roughshod over disenfranchised owners and
ment could rationally believe that the taking
tenants (see sidebar). Kelo sparked efforts at
would benefit the public, even if the results
the federal, state, and local levels to change
ultimately contradict that belief. Finally, the
the law. The Court invited this reaction: “We
Kelo decision stressed the need for legisla-
emphasize that nothing in our opinion pre-
tive decision making. Allowing an administra-
cludes any State from placing further restric-
tive official to make the final decision about
tions on its exercise of the police power.”9
the use of eminent domain is less defensible,
especially at the local level, than assigning Kelo addressed only the U.S. Constitution,
the decision to the legislative body. but there are fifty state constitutions, and
Equity and just compensation
Just compensation is usually defined as fair-market value: what a willing buyer would
pay a willing seller when neither is under compulsion to buy or sell. Fair-market value
does not reflect the tendency of people to overvalue their property, fails to take into
account subjective and sentimental value (“This was the house my grandfather built
with his own hands”), and ignores the emotional toll of moving to a new neighborhood
and forging new connections and relationships. Tenants in rundown buildings—the kinds
of properties that the government takes first when it implements renewal plans—have
the fewest resources and almost always get short shrift under current laws. Equity
and just compensation are controversial issues that have yet to be fully resolved at
any level of government. Planners may well find themselves serving as advocates for
households whose properties are the object of eminent domain proceedings.
11255-06_CH06.indd 326 12/23/08 2:57:37 PM

what is legal under the federal constitution Land readjustment, in which landowners
may be illegal under a state constitution, participate in a redevelopment rather than
and vice versa. After Kelo, courts in Okla- simply having their property taken, offers
homa and Ohio interpreted their state con- hope of cutting the Gordian knot created
stitutions to have greater limitations than by the public’s reaction to Kelo.13 In this
the federal constitution, as had four other approach, many parcels are replatted or
state courts beforehand. assembled into a unified parcel, of which
the owners continue to own fractional
Statutes and executive orders can also
shares; alternatively, the owners may be
change the law. Aligning himself with compensated for the value of the assembled
property-rights advocates, President George properties. In some countries, the local gov-
W. Bush issued an administrative regulation ernment covers the cost of new infrastruc-
on June 23, 2006, that ostensibly limited ture for development by selling portions of
the federal government’s power of eminent the land before returning the balance, or
domain. Thirty states have enacted consti- shares, to the original landowners. Parcel-
tutional amendments or statutory changes by-parcel voluntary purchases and acquisi-
limiting the reach of the Kelo decision.10 Some tion by eminent domain cannot offer the
states, such as Arizona, have swung far to the increment of assemblage value in most
right, adding new limitations on regulatory cases because the highest and best use
takings as well. Numerous local governments valuation of each parcel does not reflect the
have also limited the use of eminent domain value of the total assemblage. Land assem-
by legislative enactment and administrative bly can capture that, however, and distribute
rule. Many of these changes have mimicked that increment of additional value on a pro
others, and many terms have been left to rata basis to the individual parcel owners.
inevitable litigation. Ultimately, a number of
these laws will prove difficult to implement
and will have to be amended. Planners can Land readjustment, in which landowners
help guide this second round of legislation to participate in a redevelopment rather
a middle ground.11 than simply having their property taken,
offers hope of cutting the Gordian knot
Land readjustment created by the public’s reaction to Kelo.
The focus of the eminent domain debate in
coming years will likely be on three areas:
constitutional amendments, legislation, and Land readjustment, which is practiced in
regulation. Planners have much to offer in Japan, Germany, Taiwan, the Netherlands,
each area, but need to be wary: in words and Israel, is not a new idea, even in the
that are often attributed to Mark Twain but United States. The practice emerged in
that are probably from an 1866 decision by Japan during the late 1860s and was ulti-
Judge Gideon J. Tucker, “No man’s life, lib- mately legalized under the City Planning
erty, or property is safe while the legislature Act of 1919. In Japan, as long as two-thirds
is in session.”12 of the area’s owners and tenants agree to
go forward cooperatively, land readjustment
Voluntary exchange and eminent domain—
can be implemented privately, without gov-
the two means currently employed to
ernment involvement; this occurs about half
assemble parcels for redevelopment—have
the time. In Germany, where land readjust-
not proved optimal in terms of either
ment dates back over a century, the projects
efficiency or equity. And in some instances,
are compulsory and are always government
neither has furthered economic develop-
controlled, although landowners and devel-
ment. The redevelopment area in Kelo, for
opers can initiate the process with govern-
example, remains undeveloped eight years
ment consent.
after the taking and three years after the
U.S. Supreme Court’s decision upholding the Interestingly, the roots of land readjustment
taking, arguably because of the lack of any in the United States can be traced back as
shared vision or consensus on the plan and far as 1791, when George Washington per-
its implementation. Nowhere did the process suaded landowners to convey their property
of assembling the land result in a meeting of to him, in trust, to develop the District of
the minds. Columbia in accordance with Pierre-Charles
11255-06_CH06.indd 327 12/23/08 2:57:38 PM

Figure 6–17 In
Bangkok, land
readjustment—in which
an agreement is
negotiated to divide the
land into two parts, one
for the landowner and
one for the occupants—is
used as an alternative to
eviction.
Source: S. Angel and S.

Boonyabancha, Third
World Planning Review 10,
no. 2 (1988)
L’Enfant’s plan. Under the agreement, Wash- 400,000 square feet of retail uses, and
ington had the authority to set aside for the 1,500 residential units—all without going to
government, without cost, certain land that the U.S. Supreme Court.
would be used for roads, places of public
Neighborhood pooling or neighborhood
assembly, and other public purposes, and to
buyout—a form of land readjustment but
purchase additional land at $57 an acre for
without downstream rights—has been used
government buildings. The balance of the
as a land assembly tool in Atlanta, Dallas,
land was platted as building lots, and then
Houston, Phoenix, and metropolitan Wash-
allocated to the federal government and the
ington, D.C., as well as in Jacksonville, Palm
original owners in pro rata shares.
Beach, Panama City, and Pompano Beach,
Washington was able to assemble seventeen Florida. Under this arrangement, groups
large farms and two small hamlets to create of property owners form associations to
the District of Columbia. No money had to sell their land, at considerable profit, for
be advanced, and the federal government’s redevelopment.
total outlay was $35,000 to acquire a tract
Land readjustment is a concept whose time
of 600 acres in the center of the city and
has come. There is much to be learned from
to pay for surveys of 10,136 building lots
how it has been practiced in the past, and
for later use or sale. Planners today marvel
planners can assist state legislatures in
at the implementation of the L’Enfant plan
creating enabling legislation to allow it to be
without realizing that it was accomplished
used more extensively.15 Although California,
through land readjustment.
Florida, and Hawaii have considered propos-
In several other instances, land readjust- als for enabling legislation, no local govern-
ment has solved critical problems. A ments appear to have established formal
premature subdivision, laid out long before programs. Nonetheless, redevelopment
there was any real market for the lots, agencies have applied similar approaches to
was replatted at Ormond Beach in Oxnard, redevelopment projects.
California, from the original plat of 1906.14
Underused land in the Canal Square area of Notes
Schenectady, New York, was assembled by 1 United States v. Carmack, 329 U.S. 230, 241–242
merchants, who joined together in 1973 to (1946).
2 Magna Carta (1297), “No man of what state or condi-
redevelop the area. Obsolete land uses tion he be, shall be put out of his lands or tenements
have also been redeveloped effectively nor taken, nor disinherited, nor put to death, without
through land readjustment. At the Farmer’s he be brought to answer by due process of law,” 28
Edw. 3, c. 3.
Market district in downtown Dallas, for 3 Armstrong v. United States, 364 U.S. 40, 49 (1960).
example, thirty separate parcels were 4 Chicago B. & Q. R.R. v. City of Chicago, 166 U.S. 226,
assembled through a master development 233, 236–237 (1897).
5 Fallbrook Irrigation Dist. v. Bradley, 164 U.S. 112,
agreement. The result was 10 million square 158–59 (1896).
feet of office space, 1,500 hotel rooms, 6 Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005).
11255-06_CH06.indd 328 12/23/08 2:57:38 PM

7 A finding of blight was not required for the taking in Their efforts failed. The Rehnquist Court did
Kelo and was not an issue before the Court.
not rewrite the Constitution, and Congress
8 Hawaii Housing Authority v. Midkiff, 467 U.S. 229 (1984).
9 Kelo v. City of New London, at 19 of the slip opinion. declined to strip state and local govern-
10 National Conference of State Legislatures, Eminent ments of their fundamental powers to
Domain (2008), ncsl.org/programs/natres/
balance competing interests in the use of
EMINDOMAIN.htm (accessed August 4, 2008).
11 The American Planning Association’s Policy Guide on land and to shield the public from the over-
Public Redevelopment is worth consulting: see planning zealous pursuit of personal gain. However,
.org/policyguides/redevelopment.htm (accessed August a number of states did enact limitations
4, 2008). Also available is a site that tracks eminent
domain legislation: planning.org/legislation/ on local governments’ regulatory power; in
eminentdomain (accessed August 4, 2008). 2000, they were joined by Oregon, whose
12 1 Tucker 248 (N.Y. Surr. 1866). voters approved Ballot Measure 7, a “pay
13 See Yu-Hung Hong and Barrie Needham, eds.,
Analyzing Land Readjustment: Economics, Law and for lost value” amendment to the state’s
Collective Action (Cambridge, Mass.: Lincoln Institute constitution.
of Land Policy, 2007); Frank Schnidman, “Subur-
ban Land Assembly,” in 1991 Zoning and Planning
Handbook 125 (New York: Clark Boardman, 1991),
125; Frank Schnidman and R. Lisle Baker, “Planning According to a 1922 ruling by the
for Platted Lands: Land Use Remedies for Lot Sales U.S. Supreme Court, government
Subdivisions,” Florida State University Law Review 11,
no. 3 (1983): 505–597; and Frank Schnidman, “Land
regulation effects a taking—and requires
Readjustment,” Urban Land (February 1988): 2–6. compensation—when it “goes too far,”
14 See City of Ormond Beach, Oxnard, California, “Minor eliminating all reasonable economic use
Plat Review Checklist,” ormondbeach.org/bc/sprc/
minorplat.pdf (accessed August 4, 2008).
of private property.
15 Prof. Frank Schnidman of Florida Atlantic University
argues for the use of land readjustment in the
Norquist amicus brief he authored in the Kelo case:
see Florida Atlantic University, Center for Urban
The Oregon Supreme Court tossed out
and Environmental Solutions, “Norquist Amicus Measure 7 on procedural grounds in 2002.
Brief to the USSC in Kelo,” at cuesfau.org/cra/rdvlp_ But the unusual coalition of aggrieved rural
resources/Legal/Kelo-Norquist%20Amicus%20Brief
.pdf (accessed August 4, 2008); see, generally,
landowners and well-heeled ideologues that
Frank Schnidman, “Land Assembly by Assembling had campaigned for Measure 7 came roaring
People,” Zoning and Planning Law Report 30 (Sep- back in 2004, with a “pay or waive regula-
tember 2007), cuesfau.org/cra/rdvlp_resources/
tions” version, Ballot Measure 37, which
Land%20Assembly/ZPLR%20Land%20Assembly
%20article%20Sept.2007.pdf (accessed August 4, passed with surprisingly strong support in
2008). a state known for comprehensive land use
planning. In the fall of 2006, voters in four
Western states considered similar measures,
FOCUS ON all but one of which failed. Nevertheless,
the idea of limiting “regulatory takings”
The aftermath clearly continues to exert appeal. Accord-

ing to a 1922 ruling by the U.S. Supreme
Court (Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, 260
of Oregon’s U.S. 393), government regulation effects a
taking—and requires compensation—when
Measure 37 it “goes too far,” eliminating all reason-
able economic use of private property. In
Robert Stacey Measure 37 and its progeny, however, that
constitutional standard is abandoned, and
any reduction in value becomes cause for
The libertarian campaign to limit govern-
compensation or waiver.
mental regulation of land use reached
its national zenith in the 1990s. In cases The fifteen-word caption that appeared
brought to the Supreme Court and in bills on the ballot captured the visceral appeal
brought to Congress, a coalition ranging of Measure 37’s “pay or waive” concept:
from the National Association of Home- “GOVERNMENT MUST PAY OWNERS, OR
builders to the Club for Growth demanded FORGO ENFORCEMENT, WHEN CERTAIN
compensation for property owners who LAND USE RESTRICTIONS REDUCE PROP-
experience a reduction in the market value ERTY VALUE.” Polling at the outset of the
of their holdings as the result of a govern- campaign showed that 59 percent of voters
mental regulation. supported the idea; eight months later, the
11255-06_CH06.indd 329 12/23/08 2:57:38 PM

measure passed 61 percent to 39 percent, The vast majority of claims demanded the
garnering a majority in every region of the right to build large numbers of houses that
state and failing in only one of Oregon’s would not be permitted by the agricultural
thirty-six counties. or forest zoning applied under state law.
Other claims went even further, seeking to
Such overwhelming support made it
mine pumice in Newberry Crater National
impossible for the 2005 legislature (which
Monument or to build a million-square-foot
convened just two months after the Novem-
retail complex on a country road in the fer-
ber election) to pass legislation clarifying
tile Willamette Valley.
or amending the measure, and the measure
survived constitutional challenge in the
Oregon Supreme Court in early 2006. In the
Counties produced maps of the land
fall of 2007 the voters approved a legisla-
affected by claims, which showed that
tive referral, Measure 49, which repealed
key agricultural regions of the state
most of Measure 37 and significantly limited
could reach a “tipping point”: if scattered
the effects of several thousand individual
development were allowed to continue,
“waivers” of land use regulations that had
the remaining lands could be rendered
been granted by state or local governments
uneconomical to farm.
during the three-year life of Measure 37.
Implementing Measure 37
Despite the number of claims, however, the
Measure 37 applied both to current and wording of the measure meant that little
future regulations. To qualify for relief, changed in practice. Under the measure,
claimants were required to show that they property owners could not pass on to a
owned the property before the law or rule buyer the right to develop in violation of
was enacted. Since Measure 37 (and, to a current zoning. This, in turn, would prevent
more limited extent, its successor Measure banks from recouping the development
49) inhibits local governments from even value in the event that foreclosure became
considering new zoning rules, the focus necessary; as a result, developers could
was on retroactive claims against laws not obtain financing for projects. This
going back thirty years or more—many of Catch-22 stymied development and encour-
which stem from Oregon’s landmark 1973 aged claimants (and the measure’s drafters)
statewide planning statutes. Oregon’s Land to seek some form of legislation to expand
Conservation and Development Commis- Measure 37.
sion (LCDC), which was established by the
statewide planning statutes, mandated that While owners of neighboring properties,
millions of acres of private land be zoned for government officials, editorial writers, and
agricultural or forest use. The overwhelming other opinion leaders worried about the
majority of Measure 37 compensation claims harm that could come from unbridled devel-
were on these rural farm- or forestlands. opment of so much of Oregon’s countryside,
the absence of actual development quieted
By fall 2006, less than two years after the public concern during the measure’s first
passage of the measure, 3,500 property two years. That all changed in November
owners had filed claims seeking money or 2006, when landowners across the state
development permissions on more than filed last-minute claims to avoid the proce-
300,000 acres across the state. The dollar dural deadline in Measure 37. The number of
claims soared into the billions, but the reality claims doubled, and the amount of property
was that no unit of government, including affected soared to more than 750,000 acres.
the state, had appropriated even a nickel to A sizable portion of this land rush involved
compensate property owners for compliance timber companies with large holdings—a far
with existing land use regulations. Therefore, cry from the campaign images of widows
all attention turned to waivers, the default and elderly couples seeking to realize their
option under Measure 37 when governments lifetime dream of a place in the country for
can’t or won’t pay compensation. Waivers themselves or their children. Counties pro-
allowed property owners to build a use that duced maps of the land affected by claims,
could have been made of the property at the which showed that key agricultural regions
time that the claimant acquired it. of the state could reach a “tipping point”: if
11255-06_CH06.indd 330 12/23/08 2:57:38 PM

scattered development were allowed to con- on new regulations that limit agricultural,
tinue, the remaining lands could be rendered forest, or single-family residential use of
uneconomical to farm. private property.
The public reacted to the scale of claims

with shock. Support for Measure 37 fell
Lessons from Measure 37
below 45 percent, and in March 2007, Proponents of Measure 37 assert, and
69 percent of Oregon residents told many opinion leaders believe, that regula-
pollsters that they wanted the legislative tory excesses and inflexibility created the
assembly to either limit or repeal Measure conditions for the passage of Measure 37.
37. Early in the session, legislative lead- According to some Oregon observers, rural
ers created the Joint Special Committee landowners’ anger about land use planning
on Land Use Fairness, which held stormy laws stems from a rigorous farm income
public hearings that drew hundreds of test, applied since 1994 to proposals to build
witnesses for and against Measure 37. dwellings in farm zones, which has pre-
Ultimately, the legislature adopted and vented the construction of housing on some
referred to the people a comprehensive farm parcels. Others point to a huge dispar-
rewrite of the measure, now known as Mea- ity in land values between parcels inside
sure 49, which passed in a special election and outside urban growth boundaries as a
on November 6, 2007. source of tension or perceived unfairness.
Measure 49 limits the scope of waivers, However, several polls conducted after 2004
including those awarded under the 7,500 show simultaneous support for Measure
claims already filed. Commercial or 37, and for land use planning in general
industrial development is barred. Claim- and farmland protection in particular. This
ants may develop a total of three houses suggests that the simplicity of the message
put out by proponents of Measure 37, which
(counting existing dwellings) per claim
focused on mistrust of government and the
without evidence of loss in property value;
attractive concept of compensation from
if the property owner demonstrates that
government, had far more to do with the
the actual loss of value is equal to or
measure’s success than with any widespread
greater than the value of the number of
repudiation of Oregon’s land use policies.
housing development rights claimed, up
to ten houses per claim may be allowed. Nevertheless, there are strong indications
However, no claims larger than three that voters—at least in the western United
houses are permitted on high-value farm- States—reflexively support the idea that
or forestland or in areas with limited well property ownership should be reasonably
water. Future claims may be based only unfettered, and that government should
Figure 6–18 A sign giving notice of a meeting about a lumber company’s plans to subdivide 1,100 acres (left),
and heavy equipment moving earth for a new subdivision in Yamhill County (right), illustrate the aftermath of
Oregon’s Measure 37.
Source: 1000 Friends of Oregon
11255-06_CH06.indd 331 12/23/08 2:57:39 PM

have to pay to limit landowners’ use of their Development exactions

land. To improve the climate for regula- Development exactions are a means of
tions such as zoning, supporters of planning ensuring that new development pays its fair
should take two steps.
share of infrastructure costs. Usually levied
First, they should remind property owners of on developers in exchange for approvals
the principle of “reciprocity of advantage”: to proceed with a project, exactions may
although regulations limit the use of land, involve land dedications or equivalent cash
landowners benefit from the imposition of payments. When imposed properly, they are
the same limits on neighboring properties. tied to the public costs generated by a proj-
Many homeowners in single-family residen- ect.1 Until 1960, approximately 10 percent of
tial zones understand that use limitations local governments imposed exactions; by the
prevent harmful developments on neighbor- mid-1980s, about 90 percent did.2
ing properties; many farmers in Oregon also
Although development exactions have been
“get” this concept.
challenged in the courts, they have been
Second, supporters of planning should upheld as a justifiable use of the police
inform the public about the purposes and power—that is, local government authority
performance of plans, and engage citi- to protect the public health, safety, and wel-
zens in plan development. In Oregon, the fare. In two seminal federal court cases—
thirty-year gap between the enactment of Nollan v. California Coastal Commission and
comprehensive state land use policies and Dolan v. City of Tigard, the U.S. Supreme
the legislative review of those policies was Court validated exactions and established
about twenty years too long for the state clear rules for them, stipulating that exac-
to go without engaging Oregon’s citizens in tions must have a reasonable connection
a broad dialogue about the purposes and (“essential nexus”) to—and a close relation-
performance of the state’s planning system. ship (“rough proportionality”) with—the
anticipated measurable impact of the
proposed new development.3 If the local
FOCUS ON
government fails to demonstrate an essen-
tial nexus, or if it is found that the exaction
Financing public is not roughly proportional, the court will
view the exaction as a taking, which requires
infrastructure demonstration of a clear public purpose and
payment of just compensation.
James B. Duncan Under subdivision exactions, which are
part of the project approval process,
As cities grow, the demand for infrastructure— developers must dedicate land for public
and the cost of meeting that demand— streets, schools, and parks. Because some
increase. Historically, infrastructure has been dedicated parcels may be unsuitable for
funded almost entirely by government, on such purposes, however, the payment
the theory that it serves a public purpose of fees-in-lieu has become an alterna-
and accelerates private investment. However, tive to the dedication of land. The choice
a number of factors have changed the way between accepting land or fees is the local
localities fund infrastructure: rapid urban government’s prerogative. The fee should
growth, the decline of federal and state be roughly equivalent to the value of the
assistance to local governments, the increase land that would otherwise be required. The
in unfunded mandates and tax limitation first successful legal defense of a required
measures, and the widespread use of growth street dedication was along La Cienega
management and smart growth tools.
Boulevard in Los Angeles; the exaction was
When it comes to funding public infrastruc- upheld by the California Supreme Court
ture, there has been a philosophical shift in 1949.4 By 1958, almost 90 percent of all
since the 1970s, away from funding based on municipalities over 10,000 “with adopted
ability to pay (property and sales taxes) and subdivision regulation” were requiring
toward funding based on benefits and use some developer improvements within sub-
(developer exactions and user fees). divisions they were platting.5
11255-06_CH06.indd 332 12/23/08 2:57:40 PM

Figure 6–19 New

development increases
pressure on public
infrastructure. Exactions
on developers contribute
funding or secure
dedication of land for
public streets, schools,
parks or other
infrastructure.
Source: Charles Rowland,

photo courtesy of Cherry/
See/Reames Architects
Impact fees are precalculated assessments fixed-fee formulas, such as impact fees. The
on new development that are designed to cost of administering negotiated exactions
cover the costs of off-site capital improve- is considerably greater than that of admin-
ments that are necessitated by and that istering an impact fee program. Developers
benefit the new development. Impact fees also tend to prefer impact fees over nego-
can be assessed at various points in the proj- tiated exactions because impact fees are
ect approval process, but most are collected known amounts that can be incorporated
when the building permit is issued. Impact into financial plans.
fees first came onto the scene in Florida and
Excise taxes—often called facilities taxes,
California in the 1970s, and quickly spread
privilege taxes, and development taxes—are
throughout the Sun Belt and the western
levied on the business of developing prop-
states. According to a survey conducted by
erty. Although they are similar to impact
the U.S. Government Accountability Office in
fees, excise taxes are based on the taxing
2000, 59.4 percent of all cities with popula-
power rather than the police power, and
tions over 25,000 and 38.4 percent of all
must be specifically authorized by state law.
metropolitan counties used impact fees.6
Because an excise tax does not have to meet
Impact fees have many aliases. When such the rational nexus test, it is not required
fees were first implemented, water and to bear a relationship to the actual cost of
wastewater impact fees were called capital providing services. Since excise taxes must
recovery, acreage, hookup, or connection often be approved by public referendum,
fees. Today, impact fees are also known as they have become popular in states (like
development fees, facility fees, mitigation Colorado) where citizen approval is already
fees, system development charges, and required to increase taxes and fees. In 2006,
service availability charges. lobbying on the part of homebuilders suc-
cessfully deterred the growing use of excise
Negotiated exactions and developer agree-
taxes by municipalities in Kansas.7
ments are arrived at during the project
approval process, through ad hoc bargaining
Special assessments
sessions between the developer and the
local government. Depending on the type Three tools are used to finance infrastruc-
and location of the project and the resources ture through assessments: special districts,
of the bargaining parties, the nature and tax increment financing, and utility fees.
value of negotiated exactions can vary
greatly, and the process can be extremely Special districts
time-consuming. As a result, there has been The primary purpose of most special
a steady movement away from negotiated districts is to provide water, wastewater,
exactions and toward the use of legislated, drainage, and streets to large-scale, master-
11255-06_CH06.indd 333 12/23/08 2:57:40 PM

planned developments. Special districts in and administratively independent of local

California and Florida can also fund parks, government. They can issue tax-exempt
schools, libraries, and other community bonds, just as local governments can, but
facilities. In the early 1980s, several states their bonds are not backed by the local
authorized the creation of a new type of government and do not count against local
special district whose purpose is to provide debt limits. Critics note that special districts
public infrastructure beyond the service frequently create negative spillover effects,
areas of nearby cities. In California, such such as urban sprawl and traffic conges-
special districts are called community tion, and cannot address other important
facilities districts (CFDs); in Florida, they services, such as police and fire protection.8
are called community development districts Between 1952 and 2002, the number of
(CDDs); and in Texas, they are called munici- special districts in the United States almost
pal utility districts (MUDs). doubled, from 18,323 to 35,052, making
them the nation’s fastest-growing type of
As limited-purpose, quasi-governmental
governmental unit.9
entities, special districts have the author-
ity to issue bonds to fund infrastructure.
Tax increment financing
User fees and property assessments are
then imposed to pay off the bonds. Spe- Tax increment financing (TIF) is based on
cial districts convey significant benefits to the fact that public infrastructure invest-
developers by allowing them to incorporate ments, such as roads or schools, usually
internal subdivision costs into district bonds lead to new private investment and to
and pass those costs on to future residents, an increase in the value of real estate;
while keeping sales prices at market rates. In this, in turn, leads to an increase in local
some states, special districts are governed tax revenues. Under TIF, these increased
by the developers for up to ten years and revenues (the “tax increment”) are used to
then turned over to property owners. service debt that is issued to pay for the
initial improvements. Although TIF was first
Special districts are usually subject to local used in California in 1952, it did not become
land use regulations but are financially widespread until the 1980s and 1990s, when
Figure 6–20 Between 2001 and 2005, San Diego’s Redevelopment Agency issued a series of bond issues
backed by rapidly increasing tax increment revenue to finance several projects, including the construction
of Petco Park, the Padres’ new baseball stadium.
Source: Stone & Youngberg, LLC
11255-06_CH06.indd 334 12/23/08 2:57:42 PM

Figure 6–21 In tax increment financing, property tax adopted storm-water utility fees, only a few
revenue from the redevelopment of an area is used to cities, such as Austin and Orlando, have
finance development-related costs in that district. adopted transportation utility fees.
Notes
1 Daniel J. Curtin and W. Andrew Gowder Jr., “Exac-
tions Update: When and How Do the Dolan/Nollan
Rules Apply?” Urban Lawyer 35, no. 729 (Fall 2003).
2 Policy Link, Developer Exactions, policylink.org/
EDTK/Exactions (accessed August 6, 2008).
Property taxes from increased 3 Nollan v. California Coastal Commission, 483 U.S. 825
assessed value (1987), and Dolan v. City of Tigard, 512 U.S. 374 (1994).
4 Ayres v. City of Los Angeles, 34 Cal. 2d 31, 207 P.2d I
Base-year assessment (1949).
established 5 “City Planning Data,” in The Municipal Year Book
1958 (Chicago: International City Managers Associa-
tion, 1958), 259.
City, county, schools Redevelopment agency 6 U.S. Government Accountability Office, Survey of Local
Source: San José Redevelopment Agency Growth Issues, RCED-00-272 (September 2000), gao.
gov/special.pubs/lgi/ (accessed June 6, 2008).
7 Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City,
“New Kansas Law Limits Excise Taxes,” 2007.
federal and state aid to local governments 8 “An Introduction to Houston Area & Other Texas
MUDs,” Municipal Information Services (March
begin to disappear.10 Today, TIF is authorized
2003), mudhatter.com/MUD_Folder/Intro_2004.pdf
in all states except Arizona, Delaware, and (accessed June 6, 2008).
North Carolina.11 9 U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Census of Governments,
vol. 4, no. 2, Finances of Special District Governments:
Two of the most frequent criticisms of TIF 2002, GC02(4)-2 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government
Printing Office, June 2005), 7, census.gov/prod/
are that it leads to the displacement of low-
2005pubs/gc024x2.pdf (accessed August 6, 2008).
income households and that it is equiva- 10 Richard F. Dye and David F. Merriman, “Tax Increment
lent to “robbing Peter to pay Paul.” Since Financing: A Tool for Local Economic Development,”
Land Lines 18 (January 2006), lincolninst.edu/pubs/
TIF districts are, or should be, located in PubDetail.aspx?pubid=1078 (accessed August 6, 2008).
blighted, low-rent areas, it is not uncommon 11 Blake Smith, “Infrastructure Finance: Does Your State
for low-income residents to be displaced as Encourage Innovation?” (Washington, D.C.: National
Association of Home Builders, 2007), nahb.org/
property values rise. Probably the strongest fileUpload_details.aspx?contentTypeID=7&contentID=
criticism of TIF, however, comes from other 2470 (accessed June 6, 2008).
governmental taxing units, such as school
districts, which do not want to give up their
portion of future tax revenues. FOCUS ON
Utility fees
Utility fees are recurring assessments that
Impact assessment
create a dedicated funding source for the Michael B. Teitz
maintenance and operations of certain
public infrastructure; they also fund capital Impact assessment—the evaluation of the
improvements that enhance capacity. One consequences of projects, programs, and
major difference, however, between the plans—is a relatively recent element in
utility fee and other impact-based financing American planning, dating mainly from 1945
tools is that the utility fee is assessed on all onward, although it has older roots. Impact
properties, rather than just on newly devel- assessment may be conveniently described
oped properties.
in terms of two dimensions: first, analysis of
Similar in concept to water and waterwater plans versus projects (or programs); and sec-
fees, utility fees are typically included on ond, prospective versus retrospective analy-
monthly utility bills. Roadways and storm- sis. An argument could be made that impact
water drainage facilities are examples of analysis is inherent in any planning process,
infrastructure that might be supported by because the exploration and assessment of
utility fees. The amount of the fee is deter- alternatives is undertaken in the course of for-
mined by the level of benefit received by mulating a plan.1 Nevertheless, plans are rarely
the user: for example, the more storm-water subject to formal impact analysis, although
runoff or traffic a property generates, the some U.S. jurisdictions mandate it. Projects—
higher the fee. While many localities have and, to a lesser extent, programs—have been
11255-06_CH06.indd 335 12/23/08 2:57:44 PM

and continue to be the major focus of impact that the dam has an overall net benefit of
assessment, with significant consequences for $20 million, while a cost-effectiveness analy-
planning. sis might reveal that the dam would destroy
historic monuments for which no value can
With respect to the second dimension, most
be assessed. The idea that planning should
impact assessments are now prospective,
be assessed along with other public poli-
the intent being to determine and docu-
cies and projects led Nathaniel Lichfield to
ment whether projects meet legally required
explore the potential of cost-benefit analysis
procedural and substantive standards, and and evaluation in a series of path-breaking
therefore, whether they should go forward publications from the 1960s onward.2 How-
or be modified or canceled. The prospective ever, it was the environmental legislation of
nature of impact assessment raises serious the 1960s and 1970s that actually propelled
questions about the methodology employed assessment into planning.
and the accuracy of the projections.
Federally required impact assessment
The idea of assessing the prospective impact
of plans or projects, in its modern form, can The National Environmental Policy Act
be traced to the emergence of cost-benefit (NEPA) of 1969 established national environ-
analysis and the rise of the environmental mental policy and required federal agen-
movement. Although builders had certainly cies to assess the impacts of, and evaluate
thought about the cost and potential value alternatives to, their actions in relation to
of their projects from the earliest times, not the environment. Although other kinds of
until 1848 did Jules Dupuit, a French engineer, impact analyses have been proposed and
suggest a framework for evaluating projects, legislated from time to time—notably, the
and it was not until the twentieth century Urban Impact Analysis briefly employed dur-
that the U.S. Corps of Engineers developed ing the Carter administration—environmental
concerns have driven the use of assessment
both a theory and a procedure for quantifying
in planning since the 1970s. The Council on
costs and future benefits in aggregate financial
Environmental Quality oversees the imple-
terms. The difficulty of assigning a dollar value
mentation of NEPA—although, under the
to intangible benefits, however, led to intense
Clean Air Act of 1970, the U.S. Environmental
disputes about the method, giving impetus to
Protection Agency (EPA) plays a special role
the development of cost-effectiveness analysis.
in the process, especially in rule making.
In this approach, the effects of projects or pro-
grams are measured in their own terms and Under NEPA, federal agencies are mandated
compared with different levels of cost, and no to prepare environmental impact statements
attempt is made to summarize all the effects (EISs) for projects deemed to have signifi-
in a single number. For example, a cost-benefit cant environmental impact, and to engage
analysis of a proposal for a dam might find the public in the review process. For projects
Figure 6–22 Impact assessment provides a focused and rigorously analytical means for comparing alternative
futures for the setting and environs of plans, programs, and projects.
Source: Sedway Cooke Associates
11255-06_CH06.indd 336 12/23/08 2:57:44 PM

that are deemed likely to have some impacts of projects and to identify ways to
but less significant impact, agencies can reduce or eliminate those impacts.
instead submit a Finding of No Significant
As the principal basis for prospective
Impact (FONSI), or, in even less significant
assessment of both plans and projects, state
instances, an environmental assessment
legislation based on the CEQA model has
(EA). Although as many as 50,000 EISs have
become important for local planning, both
been done since NEPA was implemented,
for good and ill. More than twenty states
fewer than 500 per year are now under-
have adopted some form of impact analysis
taken; the great bulk of assessments are
based on NEPA. Among those, a smaller
FONSIs or EAs.3
number mandate local governments to
The great strength of NEPA was that for the perform environmental assessments. Where
first time, federal agencies were required state and/or local EISs are required, environ-
to assess the environmental consequences mental impact reports (EIRs) for the federal,
of their actions and to reveal those conse- state, and/or local level are combined in
quences to the public. In effect, an EIS has order to increase efficiency and control
been a surrogate for the planning process costs. The distinction between an EIS and
at the federal level, and has been welcomed EIR, albeit confusing, is primarily one of
accordingly by local planners seeking to nomenclature: EIS is the term used in fed-
understand federal policy and its underpin- eral legislation, and EIR is the term used in
nings. NEPA’s weakness is that the require- most state legislation, although some states
ments are entirely procedural: the law does use environmental impact analysis.
not establish any substantive standards for
environmental impact. Thus, little institu- Since CEQA is often the model, California will
tional learning occurs as a result of the be used here to illustrate the mechanisms
process. that are used for state environmental impact
assessment (EIA) and the issues that arise.
EISs tend to be large aggregations of According to the statute, CEQA’s four major
often unreliable predictions about specific purposes are to
impacts, which are needlessly expanded by
• “Inform governmental decision-makers
agency administrators seeking to protect
and the public about the potential,
themselves from lawsuits alleging gaps or
significant environmental effects of
omissions. On these grounds, as well as
proposed activities.”
on those of cost, NEPA has been heavily
criticized by development advocates. At • “Identify the ways that environmental
the same time, because it provides legal damage can be avoided or significantly
standing for environmental advocates chal- reduced.”
lenging projects, it has come to be viewed • “Prevent significant, avoidable damage
as a bulwark of environmental action. Since to the environment by requiring
its passage, NEPA has never been seriously changes . . . when the governmental
challenged. agency finds the changes to be feasible.”
• Ensure that a governmental agency
State and local impact assessment “disclose[s] to the public the reasons why
NEPA was swiftly followed by state legislation— [it] approved [a] project . . . if significant
notably, the California Environmental Quality environmental effects are involved”
Act (CEQA) of 1970, which was emulated in (italics added).4
other states. At the state level, especially in
Collectively, these purposes are designed to
California, the scope of the legislation was
balance environmental and economic goals.
expanded to include virtually all development,
Although there were initial legal disputes
the logic being that granting permits consti-
about the coverage of CEQA, it was ulti-
tuted governmental action. As with NEPA, the
mately found to apply to all public or private
requirements are procedural rather than sub-
projects regulated in some way by public
stantive, although CEQA allows less room for
agencies.
agencies to do nothing in response to identi-
fied impacts. The general aim of CEQA and its In content and approach, EIRs vary greatly,
sibling legislation is to inform decision makers although all contain certain basic elements,
and the public about the likely environmental such as a description of the project or plan
11255-06_CH06.indd 337 12/23/08 2:57:45 PM

and identification of the environmental development threatens open space and criti-
impacts that the project or plan might gener- cal habitats, both of which are highly valued
ate. The specific impacts that are identified in places such as California and Oregon,
depend on the scale and character of the where natural amenities are seen as an
project or plan. Analysis of potential impacts essential part of life.
may entail extensive field research or com-
Some local governments, in a constant
plex modeling of alternatives. The measure-
search for revenue sources, may issue Nega-
ment and assessment of cumulative impacts,
both of which are required under CEQA, are tive Declarations (the CEQA equivalent of a
particularly problematic. Any single project FONSI) for retail centers that will generate
may have insignificant effects, but the cumu- sales tax revenues, while simultaneously
lative impact of many similar projects may using CEQA to block housing that will raise
be devastating. How to identify and respond the cost of municipal services. Using CEQA
to such impacts is not well understood. to achieve fiscal objectives may also have
broader ramifications. For example, relying
Generally, development interests oppose on CEQA, local governments may attempt
legislation such as CEQA and similar acts, to regulate or exclude superstores such as
denouncing the bureaucratic and legal com- WalMart that are seen as threatening local
plexities that raise project costs both directly businesses. Whatever the specific issues
and indirectly (indirect cost increases often might be, repeated efforts to reform CEQA
come about through deals negotiated have focused on achieving a balance between
between developers and governments, which development and environmental conserva-
they argue reduce density and increase the tion. Apart from many minor changes, how-
price of new housing or other development). ever, no reform has yet been able to come to
Environmental advocates, on the other hand, grips with this central dilemma.
who are major players on this scene, regard
CEQA as the legal foundation for their ability
to shape development and deter the adverse Faced with budgetary constraints,
environmental consequences of growth. local governments may have little
As might be expected, a substantial mini- alternative but to allow developers to
industry of environmental consultants and fund the environmental impact report
attorneys works for each side. process, which may lead to
Local governments waver in their views of pro-development reports.
environmental impact laws, depending on
whether they see potential developments as
bringing costs or benefits. Citizens’ groups, The threat of global warming has focused
especially those that oppose development, new attention on state environmental policy
see CEQA as a key asset because it provides acts (SEPAs). Opponents of SEPAs contend
a basis for political action. Particularly that the costly environmental assessment
where such groups lack political influence process has inhibited infill housing, which
over pro-growth local officials, CEQA is is actually an environmentally desirable
valued for its potential to create the threat form of development because it may reduce
of costly litigation. vehicle-miles traveled. Supporters argue
that local EIRs are an ideal way to assess the
The effects of impact assessment effects of global warming, particularly in the
absence of more prescriptive regulations.
All the views, pro and con, about EIA reflect
some aspects of reality. In California, as in One way around the problem is to promote
other states with strong regulatory struc- planning that is sensitive to both the needs of
tures, housing prices have been far above growing populations and the value of environ-
national averages for many years. Build- mental and habitat conservation. In the case
ers of both market-rate and low-income, of California, however, the perverse impact of
subsidized housing complain that EIA either CEQA itself renders such an approach difficult.
prevents development altogether or drives CEQA requires EIRs—not in all cases, but in
up costs for the developer and prices for enough that the cost burden and diversion
the consumer. At the same time, greenfield of planning staff is substantial. Faced with
11255-06_CH06.indd 338 12/23/08 2:57:45 PM

budgetary constraints, local governments planning,” a term used in California for this
have little alternative but to allow developers process at a regional scale, are still in their
to fund the EIR process, which may lead to early stages, with mixed results.5 (Were
pro-development reports. Meanwhile, the local a regional blueprint plan to exist, costly
governments’ own general plans grow out- impact reports would be required only for
dated and irrelevant from neglect. Ultimately, projects with regional impacts. Local plans
the CEQA process more or less replaces plan- could also be measured against regional pol-
ning, with development decisions on specific icy.) Proposals to reform NEPA-like impact
projects shaping growth. Thus, paradoxically, analysis, however, still remain nascent.6
the effect of impact analysis is to attenuate
rather than to enhance planning. Notes
1 In this context, the words analysis and assessment
What approaches, then, might get around
are used interchangeably.
this impasse? Several alternatives to an 2 Nathaniel Lichfield, Evaluation in the Planning
EIR process have been tried; one of the Process (Oxford, UK: Pergamon Press 1975); Michael
most notable is the use of habitat con- B. Teitz, “Cost-Effectiveness: A Systems Approach to
Analysis of Urban Services,” Journal of the American
servation plans under California’s Natural Institute of Planners 34, no. 4 (1968): 303–311.
Communities Conservation Planning Act, 3 Bradley C. Karkkainen, “Toward a Smarter NEPA:
which uses the federal Endangered Spe- Monitoring and Managing Government’s Environmen-
tal Performance,” Columbia Law Review 102, no. 4
cies Act as both carrot and stick to bring (2002): 903.
governmental agencies, developers, and 4 California Environmental Quality Act, California Code
environmental advocates together to gener- of Regulations, title 14, § 15002, ceres.ca.gov/ceqa/
guidelines/15000-15007_web.pdf (accessed June 6,
ate effective development plans at a larger 2008).
scale, enabling them to avoid the problems 5 Elisa Barbour and Michael Teitz, Blueprint Planning in
inherent in a piecemeal process. In general, California: Forging Consensus on Metropolitan Growth
and Development (occasional paper, Public Policy
integrated environmental management and Institute of California, San Francisco, 2006).
collaborative governance with “blueprint 6 Karkkainen, “Toward a Smarter NEPA.”
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11255-06_CH06.indd 340 12/23/08 2:57:45 PM
CHAPTER
7
Planning for Urban Systems
The Systems of the City
All communities require systems of physical infrastructure to
support human life and economic activity.
—Martin Wachs
FOCUS ON
Planning for Global Climate Change / Timothy Beatley

Adapting to climate change requires concerted and sustained
attention to the interaction of urban systems.
Infrastructure Planning / Paul R. Brown

Planning for physical systems is about staying ahead of the
demand curve.
Planning for Accessibility / Randall Crane and Lois M. Takahashi

Once focused on mobility alone, accessibility has evolved to include
other factors critical to good planning.
Twelve Ideas for Improving Mobility / Susan Handy

Transportation planning demands extraordinary creativity.
Pedestrian and Bicycle Planning / Bruce S. Appleyard

In addition to engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement, and
environment, planners use evaluation to construct a “system” not yet in
place in many communities.
Transit-Oriented Development / Robert Cervero

Two case studies illustrate successful links between transit and urban
development.
341
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FOCUS ON
Promoting Housing Affordability / Rachel G. Bratt

Creating a supply of affordable housing pushes planners to consider
the full range of urban policy choices.
Curitiba, Brazil: Systems Planning Pioneer / Evandro Cardoso

dos Santos
Lessons learned in Curitiba illustrate the promise and the complexity
of planning urban systems.
The Urban Watershed / Rutherford H. Platt

Urban watersheds overlay complex political geographies, making
watershed planning a management challenge.
Water in the Urban Environment / Thomas L. Daniels

Securing safe water requires planners to consider land use, the reuse
or disposal of wastewater, and natural hazards.
Greenways and Green Infrastructure / Karen Hundt

Value aside, green systems need a champion.
Parks and Recreation / John L. Crompton

The planner’s first job may be to position parks and recreation as
essential to community goals.
Intelligent Cities, Virtual Cities / Michael Batty

The evolution from wired cities to wireless infrastructure creates a
new dimension for urban planning.
342
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343
The systems of the city

Martin Wachs
Trying to comprehend its limitless complexity, many observers have likened the
modern city to a living organism that is constantly changing in response to stimuli.
Like a living being, a city requires nourishment, generates waste, is coordinated by
a network of nerves, and is nourished by a circulation system. It grows, shrinks, and
constantly transforms itself in response to external stimuli and internal decisions.
While the metaphor of a living system is enticing, it also has limits and can mislead
planners and policy makers because cities are not, in the end, biological organisms. To
fully grasp the complexity of urban life, it is perhaps more productive to envision the city
as a “system of systems.” A system is a set of highly interactive or interrelated parts which,
when taken together, form a whole and perform a set of functions. In most cases, this
whole has properties that are dependent on, yet extend beyond, its constituent elements.
We think of an ideal city as a place of wonderfully varied residential neighbor-
hoods, vibrant commercial centers, verdant parks, strong cultural and educational
institutions, and a wealth of facilities that provide health care and other services, all
complementing one another and enriching the lives of those who live there. Neces-
sary, but usually less visible than the places and institutions that nurture daily life,
are a sizable number of critical support networks. We tend to take these for granted,
and we rarely take note of them unless they fail to meet our needs or expectations.
When an urban resident flicks a light switch, she expects the electric power to work;
when another turns a faucet, he is confident that clean and safe water will flow.
Those who wait at bus stops or train stations are reasonably certain of reliable ser-
vice. When we drop our trash down a chute in an apartment building or place it at
the curb in a barrel, we expect it to be taken away efficiently and on schedule.
Urban life is most satisfying when the many support services that make the city func-
tion are working smoothly and are therefore least noticeable. Each of these urban services
is associated with a physical and functional “system,” an institutional and governance
structure, a financial support network, and a group of highly trained professionals. Yet
the “public works” that constitute the systems of the city also interact with one another,
together forming the institutional and physical infrastructure that makes the modern city
so marvelous when it functions smoothly—and so exasperating when it does not.
Systems and the scale of cities

The growth of cities is closely related to the creation of systems that can support
intense concentrations of human activity. For most of recorded history, people
lived off the land, consuming resources that they found in their environment or
Essential urban systems

Urban systems that take the form Urban systems that are often
of networks represented as networks
Streets and highways Libraries
Public transit Schools
Water supply Hospitals
Sewers and waste-treatment plants Police patrol areas
Solid-waste collection and disposal Parks
Telephone and wireless Social services
telecommunications
Electricity
Mail service
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344 Planning for Urban Systems
managed to create through ingenuity and heavy labor, and generating wastes that
were absorbed by their environment. Communities—agglomerations of people and
activities large enough to nurture cultural, educational, recreational, and governance
institutions—could not grow beyond a modest scale because human ingenuity and
technology could not reliably provide nourishment, mobility, sanitation, the removal
of waste, or a means of communication. Modern technology has enabled cities to
grow to the point where several metropolitan regions have populations of more than
30 million. Yet environmental and economic sustainability remain among the most
daunting of issues facing modern civilization.
Networks and urban systems

The many systems that support modern communities are diverse; yet, as will be
seen throughout this chapter, they have many characteristics in common. People
everywhere require clean, safe water, which is most often collected from precipita-
tion that occurs in relatively unpopulated areas that are generally far removed from
cities. Modern communities also require energy, which is most often delivered in
the form of electricity. Like the water on which cities depend, the power plants that
produce electricity need not be located in the immediate vicinity of the communities
they serve. Cities also require the removal of solid and waterborne wastes, which
are transferred to locations where they can be disposed of without intolerable con-
sequences for people, animals, or plants. Also central to the smooth functioning of
cities are systems of paths—for walking, cycling, driving, and public transit—that
allow the movement of people and goods and link activities that take place in spa-
tially separated places. Because it consumes natural resources that are produced in
many places; creates goods that are transported by air, water, and land; and produces
wastes that are deposited outside its boundaries, a metropolitan area has an ecologi-
cal footprint that reaches far beyond its borders. The ecological impact of cities can
persist for many generations.
All the services mentioned already, and quite a few that have yet to be enumer-
ated, can be envisioned, planned, analyzed, and managed as systems composed of
“networks.” A network is a system that is typically represented as a web of nodes, or
fixed locations of activity, and links that connect those nodes. The nodes and links
provide the capacity that allows flows between the nodes and the urban populations
that benefit from the systems. The fact that many urban systems can be represented,
analyzed, and understood as networks is the basis for the tools and techniques that
are widely employed by those who plan and manage them. Scholars have studied
the properties of networks for centuries, and it is not uncommon to extend the
concept to the representation of human institutions as well.1
A metropolitan area has an ecological footprint that reaches far beyond its borders.
Networks have mathematical properties that make it possible for them to func-
tion efficiently in complex environments—as cities grow and change, for example.
Networks, beyond the most utterly simple ones, provide multiple paths and thus
alternate routes between nodes. As the number of nodes and links grows, the
number of paths grows more quickly, in nonlinear fashion, inviting the use of
mathematical analysis to manage flows so as to maximize efficiency and allow for
short-term adjustments in flow if there are problems on some links. Adding a new
link to a network of pipes, for example, or a new highway to a network of roads,
changes flows throughout the network and adds connectivity between nodes that are
quite far removed from the new link itself. As nodes grow in size and number, and
as a variety of specialized functions are associated with particular nodes, analytical
techniques for the management of flows become more sophisticated and complex.
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Planning for Urban Systems 345
The use of such techniques is fundamental to the study of all networks, although of
course specific systems adapt such methods to their particular functions and needs.
With only a slight stretch of the imagination, a variety of additional public ser-
vices can be envisioned as networks for the purposes of analysis and planning, even
though they “look” less like networks than, say, pipes and highways do. For exam-
ple, schools, libraries, public safety facilities, parks, and hospitals can be thought of
as networks. Although such facilities are not likely to be characterized by flows on
links between them, they are often characterized by zones, districts, or “catchment
areas” that are serviced by nodes—that is, by centers of activity or services. Thus,
the mathematical analyses applied to networks can often be applied to the opera-
tions of such systems.
Effectiveness, efficiency, and equity

The principles that are applied to the planning and management of urban systems
differ, to some extent, from those that are applied to urban physical planning. The
first concern in the planning and management of urban systems is effectiveness.
Effectiveness is a measure of the extent to which an urban system is performing
the function for which it is designed. A water system is effective if it delivers the
required amount of water; a sewer system is effective if it carries away waste with-
out polluting the environment or endangering health; and a transportation system is
effective if it allows the movement of people and goods.
But effectiveness alone is never a sufficient measure of the performance of an
urban system. Because resources—money, skills, land, and labor—are always limited,
efficiency must be considered as well. Efficiency is typically expressed as the relation-
ship between cost and effectiveness: so, for example, a more efficient public system is
one that is more effective per unit of cost than other alternatives. Virtually every plan
for the management or improvement of a public service or system is evaluated for
efficiency.
Economists generally use cost-benefit analysis to determine efficiency: in this
approach, the benefits of a project are quantified in dollar terms so that they can be
systematically compared with financial costs. Although this form of analysis brings
discipline and careful thought to the planning of public systems, the task of quantify-
ing benefits is often challenging and requires assumptions that may be controversial.
The pricing of services often results in some form of “cross subsidization,”

which means that some users pay more, and some less, than the direct
costs associated with serving them.
Economists devote a great deal of energy to defining and measuring the costs
and benefits of providing urban necessities such as water, power, and telephone
service; however, most political debates about those systems are not about efficiency
but about equity in the distribution of costs and benefits. If one neighborhood is
blanketed by bus service while another has none, or if one community has excellent
police protection while another feels underserved, complaints and pleas to munici-
pal authorities are likely to be loud and persistent. Similarly, regardless of whether a
service is supported through tax revenues or through fees, the relationship between
responsibility for payment and the quality and availability of services is frequently a
bone of political contention. For example, although the use of public transit is often
higher among inner-city residents than among suburbanites, tax collections to subsi-
dize transit are often higher in suburban areas—with the result that transit service is
better in areas where it is used less. Not surprisingly, inner-city residents assert that
the principles of equity call for service to be distributed according to demand, while
suburbanites claim that outlying areas should receive more service because their
taxes are paying for it—regardless of how much or how little the service is used.
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Externalities in urban planning
Because the systems that provide urban services must all coexist in dense and
complex urban environments, externalities are very important in urban planning. An
externality is a cost, or possibly a benefit, that is not directly planned for, paid for, or
incorporated into the calculation of a project’s effectiveness or efficiency. For exam-
ple, providing electric power to a city causes power lines to intrude on urban views;
the externalities of a transportation system include noise, air pollution, and the visual
intrusiveness of highways and rail lines. Debates about urban systems often focus on
the distribution of negative externalities, which are costs that were neither expected
nor planned for. Analytical techniques can help to sort out the differences, but in
the end, such contentious issues can be resolved only through participatory political
processes.
Today, public policy makers are increasingly focused on externalities whose effects
may emerge at places and times that are far removed from where they were created.
There is more and more concern, for example, about the global implications of using
carbon to produce electric power and to power automotive vehicles.
Tensions over the distribution of costs and benefits for services are common and
must be addressed by planners and managers.
Financing—that is, how services are paid for—is a major dimension in consider-
ations of the equity of urban systems. Some services—such as water, electricity, and
telephone—have traditionally been supported by fees that are based on use. While
there is wide agreement about the basic principle of linking cost to use, there is still
room for debate. For example, should those who use services heavily be given a
quantity discount? Should charges reflect the average cost of providing services to all
users and locations? The pricing of services often results in some form of “cross sub-
sidization,” which means that some users pay more, and some less, than the direct
costs associated with serving them. It is often argued, for example, that agricultural
users of water pay less than their fair share, while urban users pay more. Because it
is not always clear, however, what constitutes a fair share, policy debates about the
equity of financing services and systems are highly charged.
While some urban systems and services have traditionally been paid for by users,
others are more commonly paid for by all citizens through taxes of various sorts. The
argument for using general taxes to support services such as public schools, libraries,
and public safety is that they benefit all citizens generally. As is the case with user
fees, however, broad agreement on the basic principle—that all citizens should share
responsibility for some services—leaves a great deal of room for argument on specifics.
Public transit provides a good example: fares paid by transit users typically
cover only a portion of the system’s operating costs and little, if any, of the
capital costs. Transit advocates believe that fares should be kept low, and that all
citizens benefit from good transit service: infrequent users benefit from having
the opportunity to use transit even on rare occasions, and users and nonusers
alike benefit from the fact that transit use reduces urban congestion and air pol-
lution. Nevertheless, nonusers often believe that the burden of payment should
fall principally on users. The controversy is further complicated by the fact that
local, state, and federal governments typically provide some of the resources
needed to build, operate, and maintain transit service. Thus, users and nonusers
alike—even those from other cities and states—have an interest in determining
how public transit is financed. Because we all prefer methods of financing that
place the heaviest cost burdens on others, there are intense debates as priorities
are set and policies negotiated.
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Smart growth and urban systems

Many urbanists today criticize low-density, dispersed development, which character-
ized urban growth throughout much of the twentieth century, as costly and ineffi-
cient. “Smart growth” advocates urge planners to emphasize denser, more compact
urban development and to retrofit urban areas through denser infill and transit-
oriented development.2 These approaches are believed to lower construction and
operating costs for the infrastructure systems that are needed to support development,
and to decrease the externalities associated with infrastructure in low-density settings.
A vocal minority of analysts refute such claims, however, arguing that conventional
accounting techniques fail to consider a crucial fact: the vertical infrastructure and
capacity expansion required for high-density environments is actually more costly
than the horizontal infrastructure required for lower-density environments. Moreover,
the costs of vertical expansion are borne largely by the private sector, whereas those
for horizontal expansion are borne largely by the public sector.3 Despite such differ-
ences of opinion, it is clear enough that the costs, benefits, and functioning of urban
systems are among the most influential determinants of the quality of life in urban
areas, and are worthy of careful and continuing attention from planners and analysts.
Complementarity and conflict among systems

Although urban systems are often analyzed individually, they also interact. Some
of these interactions are obvious. Systems that supply urban areas with safe water
and those that collect waterborne waste are certainly connected in several ways:
a substantial proportion of the water that is delivered to urban users for drinking,
cooking, and irrigation flows into drains that lead to the sewage-treatment system;
and treated water that is discharged into waterways eventually becomes part of the
water supply for downstream communities. Similarly, highways and public transit
are related and often meet complementary travel needs; moreover, highways are the
operating environment for most public transit (buses and many light-rail vehicles).
Telecommunications systems are advancing rapidly, and most people use both
wired and wireless connections to accomplish everyday tasks, from arranging meet-
ings to managing their use of public services. Increasingly, telecommunications sys-
tems are also being used to monitor and manage, in real time, the efficiency of flows
in other urban systems such as transportation, water, and wastewater treatment.
Under normal conditions, the growing interconnectedness of telecommunications
and other systems increases efficiency and lowers costs. At the same time, however,
interconnectedness increases vulnerability to catastrophic failures, from natural
disasters to terrorism. A breakdown in a modern urban telecommunications system
can render many other public systems inoperable.
One of the most complex issues facing urban policy makers is the choice
between preserving the city’s natural systems and using those systems. Environmen-
talists wish to protect, to the extent possible, urban waterways, wetlands, shorelines,
forests, and other natural resources whose very existence provides society with obvi-
ous benefits. Yet there is always pressure to exploit such resources for development
and its associated infrastructure. Development produces income for private and pub-
lic landowners, and may well lower the costs of operating cities and their systems.
Planning and policy issues

Urban planners, civil engineers, budget officers, and other officials, both elected and
appointed, play important roles in the planning, construction, management, and
financing of urban systems. In fact, coordinating the many functions that are carried
out by this wide array of individuals is itself a complex and at times daunting dimen-
sion of urban policy making. Elected and appointed officials bear ultimate responsi-
bility for the smooth operation of urban systems; that is, they are responsible both
for the physical elements that make up the systems, and for overseeing the institu-
tions and organizations that manage the systems.
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Among the many problems faced by the planners and managers of urban
systems, the increasing pace of obsolescence is one of the most serious. Of course,
physical infrastructure ages and wears out as the result of constant use, but the
ever-increasing availability of new technology and management tools speeds up the
“aging” process. Managers are constantly barraged by vendors claiming that new
software and other devices will increase the productivity or efficiency of their
systems. Choosing wisely among such options is necessary but challenging.
It takes a large workforce to maintain and operate the systems that support daily
urban life. Recruiting, training, and retaining competent staff—both at the manage-
ment level and at the operational level—is one of the most demanding, complex,
and important tasks of local government. In some jurisdictions, conflicts between
management and the operators of certain urban systems have led to strikes and
other work actions, and even to acts of sabotage. In other places, poor management
of human resources has led to bankruptcy. At the same time, failing urban systems
have succeeded in modernizing and remaining vital. Moreover, urban services
employees have often acted heroically, protecting vulnerable citizens under the most
difficult of circumstances.
Lower operating costs and greater efficiency are among the widely cited
benefits of private operation of public services and facilities.
There is increasing interest in transferring to the private sector the provision

of services that have traditionally been considered public. As a result, metropoli-
tan areas all over the world are experimenting with various forms of public-private
partnerships. Some transit routes, for example, have been “contracted out” to private
operators, and school districts have contracted with private corporations to operate
elementary and secondary schools. Long-term leases have been awarded to private
organizations to operate airports, freeways, and hospitals.
Lower operating costs and greater efficiency—both of which arise from the pres-
ence of competition in an environment that was previously monopolized by expen-
sive public bureaucracies and heavily unionized public employees—are among the
widely cited benefits of private operation of public services and facilities. In some
cases, privatization of government services has allowed a transition from reliance
on taxes to reliance on user fees, enabling communities to avoid acrimonious public
debates about the means of financing. On the other hand, private firms are in busi-
ness to make a profit, not to maximize public well-being, and critics argue that the
private provision of services often reduces public cost burdens only by lowering the
standards for service quality.
The rise of metropolitan areas

Many of today’s cities arose generations ago as individual political entities; centuries
of migration and population growth, however, have created complex metropolitan net-
works of multiple and overlapping jurisdictions. Nearly all of the largest metropolitan
areas in the United States consist of many cities, counties, and special-purpose districts
that are responsible for services ranging from education to pollution control, solid-
waste management, and transit.
The systems that serve our daily needs cross multiple boundaries and function
best when managed in an integrated way. Yet the hundreds of political jurisdictions
that coexist in a metropolitan area have overlapping—and, at times, competing—
functions that are assigned by statute; they also have overlapping and competing
taxation and budgetary authority. Although capital and operating budgets have his-
torically been used to manage individual urban systems, such budgets have become
increasingly difficult to administer because so many different jurisdictions have an
11255-07_CH07.indd 348 12/22/08 2:46:52 PM

interest in each urban system. When a toll road was built in Orange County, Cali-
fornia, for example, neighboring Riverside County brought suit complaining that its
citizens would constitute the majority of the users and bear the cost of the tolls even
though that county had not been involved in the decision making. Later, when the
state tried to expand the capacity of adjacent roads, another suit was brought; this
suit was based on the accusation that the state was reducing the market for the toll
facility by creating increased toll-free highway capacity. Similarly, the performance
of a given system often depends on the performance of other systems. The use of
electronic toll systems on highways and the electronic metering of water use result in
losses of revenue to water or highway systems in case of power failures or malfunc-
tions in the electrical grid.
Because complex infrastructure systems increasingly serve many jurisdictions and
their service areas often do not align with traditional political boundaries, metropolitan
government has often been suggested as a way to improve the efficiency and equity
of urban governance. However, there are few examples of systematic governance of
multiple complex systems at the metropolitan scale. Typically, individual jurisdictions
want to maintain control over their own assets, income flows, and resource allocations.
Democratic, participatory, and decentralized governance is highly valued by Ameri-
cans, despite the fact that it may lead to suboptimal performance of technologically and
geographically complex systems. It is difficult to reconcile deliberative decision-making
processes and local political activism with the growing complexity and interdependence
of the systems that sustain modern urban living.
Conclusion
The articles that complete this chapter focus on the individual systems that deliver
goods and services within metropolitan areas. Planners and managers usually spe-
cialize: most have responsibility for one—or, at most, a few—urban systems. When
considering the challenges of building, expanding, and managing any of these sys-
tems, it is important to bear in mind their direct and indirect interactions, and their
place in the larger metropolitan area.
Notes
1 Albert László Barabási, Linked: The New 3 Randal O’Toole, The Vanishing Automobile and
Science of Networks (Cambridge, Mass.: Perseus Other Urban Myths (Bandon, Ore.: Thoreau
Publishing, 2002). Institute, 1996).
2 Peter Calthorpe, The Next American Metropolis
(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Architectural Press,
1993).
11255-07_CH07.indd 349 12/22/08 2:46:52 PM

FOCUS ON today are in the low to mid-80s (degrees

Fahrenheit) would be in the low to mid-90s—
Planning for global and, during periods of low rainfall, could

soar to between 100 and 110 degrees Fahren-
heit.2 Such changes would be in addition to
climate change the hotter temperatures that many urban-
ized areas already experience because of
Timothy Beatley the heat island effect: in New York City, for
example, summer nighttime temperatures
Few environmental issues today are as are already more than 7 degrees Fahren-
important, nationally and globally, as cli- heit higher than those of surrounding, less
mate change. Increasingly, however, climate urbanized areas.3 Increasing temperatures
change is viewed as a critical local issue, will, in turn, increase the demand for power
and for two reasons: first, cities and towns to meet summer cooling loads.
must prepare to adapt to and withstand the
Global warming is also likely to exacerbate
tremendous potential impacts associated
many existing environmental problems. A
with climate change; second, it has become
2007 study of fifty eastern U.S. cities pre-
increasingly clear that there is significant
dicts that by 2050, urban concentrations of
potential, at the local level, to moderate and
ozone for all cities will have increased by
offset the greenhouse gas emissions that
6.4 percent in daily average parts per bil-
lead to global warming. In the United States,
lion, and that the greatest increases will
many local governments are developing cli-
occur in cities that already have the highest
mate action plans—partly as a result of frus-
levels of ozone pollution.4 Perhaps more
tration about inactivity at the federal level,
important, the annual number of days on
but also out of the belief that local jurisdic-
which these cities fail federal ozone stan-
tions can and must make a difference.
dards will also increase (by 68 percent), and
the respiratory and other health implica-
What local governments tions will be significant. Similarly, as drought
must confront and water shortages become more common
The latest report of the Intergovernmental and protracted in many places, communities
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) declared are likely to have greater difficulty meeting
ominously that the “warming of the climate water-quality standards.
system is unequivocal.”1 As carbon dioxide
(CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions
have continued to increase, global surface Under the IPCC’s “business as usual”
and sea surface temperatures have increased scenario, average global temperatures
as well, and have risen particularly rapidly could rise by more than 7 degrees
since the early 1980s. Average global sur- Fahrenheit by the end of the century.
face temperatures have already risen by
1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.76 degrees Celsius)
since the preindustrial period. Even to non- Potential impacts are likely to be most severe
experts, the trends seem clear enough: the in coastal regions; considering that more than
years 1995 through 2007 were the hottest half the U.S. population resides in coastal
years on record, and many communities counties, local adaptation measures will be
have already had to grapple with the effects especially critical. Much of the U.S. coastline
of a warmer planet. The IPCC report predicts is highly vulnerable to even small increases in
that it will get worse, and under its “business sea level, and many urban population centers
as usual” scenario, which assumes continued are likely to be severely affected. An increase
reliance on fossil fuels, average global tem- in the sea level is not merely a theoretical
peratures could rise by more than 7 degrees possibility: increases were documented
Fahrenheit by the end of the century. throughout the twentieth century at a rate of
For many American communities, climate about 0.07 inches (1.8 mm) per year and have
change will mean much higher summer tem- accelerated since the late 1990s.5 Already
peratures and extended periods of heat and over the last century, much of the U.S. Atlan-
drought. In eastern U.S. cities by the 2080s, tic coastline has experiences a foot or more
for example, daily high temperatures that of relative sea level rise.6
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Table 7–1 Key trends and likely impacts from climate change
Likelihood that
trend occurred in Likelihood Likelihood of future trends
late 20th century of a human based on projections for 21st
Phenomenon and (typically post contribution to century using Special Report
direction of trend 1960) observed trend on Emissions Scenarios
Warmer and fewer cold days Very likelya Likelyb Virtually certainb
and nights over most land
areas
Warmer and more frequent Very likelyc Likely (nights)b Virtually certainb
hot days and nights over
most land areas
Warm spells/heat waves. Likely More likely than notd Very likely
Frequency increases over
most land areas
Heavy precipitation events. Likely More likely than notd Very likely
Frequency (of proportion
of total rainfall from heavy
falls) increases over most
areas
Area affected by droughts Likely in many More likely than not Likely
increases regions since 1970s
Intense tropical cyclone Likely in some regions More likely than notd Likely
activity increases since 1970s
Increased incidence of Likely More likely than notd,f Very likelyg
extreme high sea level
(excludes tsunamis)e
a Decreased frequency of cold days and nights (coldest 10%).
b Warming of the most extreme days and nights each year.
c Increased frequency of hot days and nights (hottest 10%).
d Magnitude of anthropogenic contributions not assessed. Attribution for these phenomena based on expert judgment
rather than formal attribution studies.
e Extreme high sea level depends on average sea level and on regional weather systems. It is defined here as the
highest 1% of hourly values of observed sea level at a station for a given reference period.
f Changes in observed extreme high sea level closely follow the changes in average sea level. It is very likely that
anthropogenic activity contributed to a rise in average sea level.
g In all scenarios, the projected global average sea level at 2100 is higher than in the reference period. The effect of
changes in regional weather systems on sea level extremes has not been assessed.
Source: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), “Summary for Policymakers,” in Climate Change 2007:
The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change, ed. Susan Solomon et al. (Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007),
Table 7.1, ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg1/ar4-wg1-spm.pdf (accessed August 11, 2008).
Sea levels are increasing for two reasons: Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets.
the first is the addition of fresh water from The portions of the Greenland ice sheet that
the melting glaciers and ice caps, and the experience summer melting have expanded
second is thermal expansion: as water dramatically (by 30 percent over the last
warms, it takes up more volume. The IPCC’s thirty years, according to University of Colo-
Fourth Assessment Report predicts that by rado Arctic researcher Konrad Steffen)8; the
the end of the twenty-first century, global volume of icebergs has increased markedly;
sea levels will have risen between 7 inches and there has been what Jim Hansen, direc-
and 1.9 feet (0.18–0.59 m).7 Some believe tor of the National Aeronautics and Space
that the IPCC estimate is too conservative, Administration’s Goddard Institute for Space
however, and fails to fully take into account Studies, refers to as a “shocking” increase in
the effects of melting, especially of the “icequakes” (caused by ice sheet movements):
11255-07_CH07.indd 351 12/22/08 2:46:52 PM

these are all disturbing signs of the instabil- nerable populations are identified and cared
ity of this important storehouse of fresh for during heat waves; a number of cities
water.9 already have policies for sheltering resi-
dents in public buildings during such events.
The IPCC report also concludes that global
Many communities will need to prepare
climate change will result in stronger and
today for the long-term water shortages
more frequent hurricanes and coastal
that tomorrow will bring, both by seeking
storms.10 Since the 1970s, sea surface tem-
new water sources and by implementing
peratures (SSTs) have increased by about
more extensive water conservation mea-
0.06 degrees Celsius, and it is these surface
sures (e.g., water-conserving bathroom fix-
temperatures that ultimately power hurri-
tures, low-water native landscaping, rooftop
canes. Scientists believe that increased SSTs
water-harvesting systems, and new systems
strengthened Hurricane Katrina: a rise of
for water reclamation and reuse).
even one degree can shift a hurricane into
a higher category on the Saffir-Simpson Coastal communities will need to redouble
Intensity scale. Increasing SSTs are also their efforts to prepare for and adapt to
believed to increase the rainfall associated severe weather and other natural forces.
with storms. As Kevin Trenberth (among an Potentially severe increases in sea level
increasing number of other researchers) should be incorporated into all planning deci-
concludes, global warming “clearly influ- sions; for example, more extensive shoreline
ences cyclone power and precipitation.”11 setback for any new building should be
required to take into account the likelihood
Local governments will bear much of the
of much faster shoreline erosion and more
brunt of a warming climate, and will face extensive areas of inundation (perhaps a
special challenges in responding to climate 250-year setback line would be an appro-
change. Policy and planning responses priate standard)12; protection of coastal
are broadly grouped into two categories: wetlands should be stepped up to allow for
adaptation (anticipating and planning for migration; and new infrastructure—including
likely impacts) and mitigation (reducing airports and rail lines—should be properly
greenhouse gas emissions, with the intent sited. A predicted increase in the number
of forestalling more severe impacts). and severity of hurricanes and coastal
storms, moreover, suggests the need for new
Adapting to a changing climate coastal construction standards and design
Even if greenhouse gases are dramatically criteria. For example, homes can be designed
curtailed, local governments will still need for “passive survivability,” allowing residents
to adapt to conditions that will get worse to live in them for many days without power
before they level off. Potential adaptation should outside assistance be slow in coming.
initiatives include a variety of measures for
“greening” cities: planting trees and restor- Opportunities for local climate mitigation
ing urban forests, installing green rooftops Many local jurisdictions are taking respon-
and green walls, using low-impact develop- sibility for tackling the sources of climate
ment, and employing storm-water manage- change and finding creative ways to
ment techniques that will help to moderate dramatically reduce their greenhouse gas
urban temperatures. emissions. The built environment—including
cities—is responsible for a large portion of
Increasing storm intensity and flooding
greenhouse gas emissions, and local govern-
suggest that local governments must steer
ments are an essential part of the solution.
development away from floodplains, require
There is growing consensus, moreover, that
more stringent flood mitigation standards
time is of the essence in stabilizing emis-
(such as elevating buildings), and site or
sions: we may have no more than ten years
relocate critical facilities and infrastructure
before tipping points are passed and we face
away from flood-prone areas. Regional land
catastrophic global climate change.
conservation plans and biodiversity plans
will be needed to preserve pathways that Many jurisdictions have developed climate
will permit flora and fauna to migrate or action plans, which include targets for the
to gradually adapt to changing conditions. reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Social strategies include ensuring that vul- For example, as of July 2008, 850 local
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Figure 7–1 The map

depicts flood evacuation
zones in New York City
for hurricanes of various
intensities.
Source: City of New York,

PlaNYC: A Greener, Greater
New York (2007), 137
governments had endorsed the U.S. Mayors’ this plan, cars would be charged depending
Climate Protection Agreement; under this on their level of carbon emissions: those that
agreement, which was developed under the emit the highest amounts of CO2 would be
leadership of Seattle mayor Greg Nickels, charged £25, or about $50, per day.16
signatories commit to striving to meet or
New York City’s newly unveiled green plan,
exceed the Kyoto Protocol targets.13 And
PlaNYC, contains an ambitious climate
more than 800 local governments in more
change element, calling for a 30 percent
than thirty countries are participating in
reduction in emissions through a host of
the Cities for Climate Protection Campaign
measures.17 A 2008 progress report on
run by the International Council for Local
PlaNYC shows much has been done in the
Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI).14
year since the plan was unveiled: the vast
majority of initiatives in the plan have been
launched, and the greenhouse gas emis-
Time is of the essence in stabilizing
sion targets have been codified by the
emissions: we may have no more than
city council. (There have also been some
ten years before tipping points are
setbacks—notably, failure of the state legisla-
passed and we face catastrophic global
ture to permit congestion pricing, which has
climate change.
resulted in the loss of $354 million in federal
funding).18 With Initiative 202, Boulder,
Colorado, has become the first American
London’s newly released Mayor’s Climate
city to adopt a carbon tax on electricity con-
Change Action Plan is inspirational: it sets
sumption. Approved by referendum in 2006
impressive CO2-reduction targets for the
(with 60 percent voting in favor), the tax is
city—a 60 percent reduction by 2025, double
an add-on to residential, commercial, and
the target set by the UK national govern-
industrial energy bills, and is based on kilo-
ment.15 Among the elements of the plan are
watts consumed. It is expected to generate
programs to reduce energy consumption
about $1 million in annual revenues through
in residences and commercial buildings,
2012, when the tax sunsets. Revenues will be
increased investment in public transit, a
used to fund Boulder’s climate action plan.19
proposal to increase the use of decentralized
heating and cooling systems, and support Local governments can take a number
for on-site and small-scale renewable energy. of measures to significantly reduce their
Some parts of the plan, such as congestion greenhouse gas emissions: for example,
pricing, have already been implemented. retrofitting public (and private) buildings to
Perhaps the most controversial proposal make them more energy-efficient; man-
calls for “carbon pricing for transport,” dating that new homes and commercial
which is essentially an extension of the buildings meet green building standards
congestion charge for central London. Under (such as the minimum standards for LEED
11255-07_CH07.indd 353 12/22/08 2:46:53 PM

[Leadership in Energy and Environmen- fleets, local governments can increase

tal Design] certification); and investing in transit use and opportunities for bicycling
solar, wind, and other renewable energy and walking; they can also convert transit
sources. Renewable energy can be creatively and public vehicles to green vehicles. Many
integrated into cities in a number of ways, policies and actions that help a community
both large (such as the Middelgrunden Wind adapt to climate change also reduce emis-
Turbine Co-operative, just offshore from sions, and vice versa. For instance, trees and
downtown Copenhagen) and small (the solar urban forests moderate warming in urban
mallee trees in Adelaide, Australia—photo- environments and reduce energy demands
voltaic streetlamps that produce some six as well. Since 1990, the Sacramento Munici-
times the power needed to provide public pal Utility District (www.smud.org) in Califor-
lighting, as shown in Figure 7–2). Many cities nia has planted and distributed at no charge
are now exploring the possibility of energy- more than 400,000 trees. The cost of plant-
neutral buildings and projects, which pro- ing and distributing the trees has been more
duce at least as much energy as they need, than covered by the resulting reductions in
and carbon- or greenhouse-neutral devel- summer cooling demands and greenhouse
opments, which offset or sequester green- gas emissions.
house gases. Austin, Texas, for example,
has declared that by 2012, all new homes Tackling climate change requires new ways
constructed in that city will be energy- of thinking: cities must be understood not
neutral ready: that is, as a result of stronger as black holes, drinking up vast amounts of
building standards and good design, they fossil fuel–generated power that must first
will require no more power than a rooftop be transported over long distances, but
photovoltaic system can provide. as spaces and places that, as architect
William McDonough says, function like trees
To offset the carbon and greenhouse gas
in nature: resilient, regenerative, and able
emissions associated with municipal car
to produce more power than needed. One
very positive model is the redevelopment of
Figure 7–2 Solar mallee trees in Adelaide, Australia, Western Harbor in Malmö, Sweden, where
an innovative installation, harness solar power for the goal was to achieve 100 percent renew-
lighting. Each tree uses about 15 percent of the energy able energy, produced from local sources.
it produces annually and returns the excess energy The goal has been realized by incorporating
generated to the power grid, thereby saving about two a number of different approaches to renew-
tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year. able energy production—including a wind
turbine and facade-mounted solar collectors—
into the fabric of this new urban neighbor-
hood (see Figure 7–3).20 This delightful
urban district features numerous sustain-
able features, such as innovative storm-
water management techniques, habitat and
biotope restoration, green courtyards, and
green rooftops. Elsewhere in Europe, district
heating (in which most buildings and homes
are connected to centralized system that
delivers hot water or steam) and combined
heat and power plants (that produce elec-
tricity as well as use waste energy) have
become standard in new developments; both
are more efficient and sustainable ways to
heat and power our communities.
Challenges in planning
for climate change
Among the many challenges involved in
local efforts to prepare and plan for climate
Source: Architects—Materne Pennino Hoare change, apathy is one of the greatest. Sixty-
11255-07_CH07.indd 354 12/22/08 2:46:53 PM

Figure 7–3 A façade-mounted solar water heating .gov/research/briefs/druyan_07/ (accessed August

11, 2008); Barry Lynn, Richard Healy, and Leonard
system in Western Harbor district, Malmö, Sweden. Druyan, “An Analysis of the Potential for Extreme
Temperature Change Based on Observations and
Model Simulations,” Journal of Climate 20 (April
2007): 1539–1554, pubs.giss.nasa.gov/docs/2007/
2007_Lynn_etal.pdf (accessed August 11, 2008).
3 Ronald B. Slosberg, Cynthia Rosenzweig, and William
D. Solecki, “New York Regional Heat Island Initiative:
Mitigating New York City’s Heat Island with Urban
Forestry, Living Roofs, and Light Surfaces,” Project
Update (May 2007), nyserda.org/programs/
environment/emep/project/6681_25/6681_25_
project_update.pdf (accessed July 25, 2008).
4 Michelle L. Bell et al., “Climate Change, Ambient
Ozone, and Health in 50 U.S. Cities,” Climate Change
82 (May 2007): 61–76.
5 Goddard Institute for Space Studies, “Research News:
NASA Looks at Sea Level Rise, Hurricane Risks to New
York City” (October 24, 2006), giss.nasa.gov/research/
news/20061024/ (accessed August 11, 2008).
6 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
“Sea Levels Online” (February 1, 2006),
tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/sltrends/sltrends.html
(accessed August 11, 2008).
7 IPCC, “Summery for Policymakers,” in Climate
Change 2007: Synthesis Report (Cambridge, UK, and
New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007), 21,
ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr_
spm.pdf (accessed August 11, 2008).
Source: Timothy Beatley 8 Reuters, “Interview: Global Warming and the Melting
of Greenland,” June 6, 2007, alertnet.org/thenews/
newsdesk/L06897244.htm (accessed August 11,
seven percent of respondents to a 2006 2008).
ICMA survey assigned climate change either 9 Jim Hansen, “The Threat to the Planet,” New York
Review of Books, July 15, 2006, nybooks.com/
low or very low priority when compared with articles/19131 (accessed August 11, 2008).
other local issues.21 Such views are changing, 10 IPCC, “Summary for Policymakers,” in Climate
to be sure, with the success of Al Gore’s film, Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis, 9.
11 Kevin E. Trenberth, “Warmer Oceans, Stronger Hur-
An Inconvenient Truth, and growing popular
ricanes,” Scientific American, July 2007, 51, chymist
support for tackling climate change. Still, .com/Hurricanes.pdf (accessed August 11, 2008).
many other obstacles remain, including the 12 In effect, such a line would require that all future
structures be built landward of where the shoreline is
perception that addressing climate change is
predicted to be in 250 years. Today, coastal setbacks
hopeless or too costly to tackle, and confu- are commonly only thirty years or sixty years, and
sion about what, if anything, can be done. do not adequately take into account the potentially
These are not insurmountable obstacles, but severe impacts of climate change and rise in sea level.
13 See Seattle Climate Action Now, seattlecan.org
they will require concerted and sustained (accessed August 11, 2008).
work on the part of local governments. 14 See the ICLEI’s “Cities for Climate Protection” Cam-
Adapting to and averting climate change paign, iclei.org/index.php?id=800 (accessed August
11, 2008).
will demand leadership, education, creative 15 Mayor of London, Action Today to Protect Tomorrow:
design and engineering work, and, ultimately, The Mayor’s Climate Change Action Plan (London:
a hopeful sense that a climate-friendly future Greater London Authority, 2007), xiii, london.gov
.uk/mayor/environment/climate-change/docs/
not only is desirable but opens opportunities ccap_fullreport.pdf (accessed August 11, 2008).
to create healthier and greener communities. 16 Ibid., xxv.
17 City of New York, PlaNYC: A Greener, Greater New
York (New York, 2007), nyc.gov/html/planyc2030/
Notes downloads/pdf/full_report.pdf (accessed August 11,
1 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2008).
“Summary for Policymakers,” in Climate Change 18 See “PlaNYC Progress Report 2008,” nyc.gov/html/
2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of planyc2030/downloads/pdf/planyc_progress_report_
Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report 2008.pdf (accessed August 11, 2008).
of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 19 See City of Boulder, “Boulder Voters Pass First Energy
ed. Susan Solomon et al. (Cambridge, UK, and New Tax in the Nation,” November 8, 2006, ci.boulder
York: Cambridge University Press, 2007), 5, ipcc.ch/ .co.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=
pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg1/ar4-wg1-spm.pdf 6136&Itemid=169 (accessed August 11, 2008).
(accessed August 11, 2008). 20 Timothy Beatley, Native to Nowhere (Washington,
2 Leonard Druyan, Barry Lynn, and Richard Healy, D.C.: Island Press, 2005), 293–321.
“Science Briefs: Precipitation and the Potential for 21 Mary L. Walsh, with Justin Spencer, “Local Govern-
Extreme Temperature Change” (New York: NASA God- ments and Climate Change,” in The Municipal Year
dard Institute for Space Studios, 2007), giss.nasa Book 2007 (Washington, D.C.: ICMA, 2007), 17.
11255-07_CH07.indd 355 12/22/08 2:46:54 PM

FOCUS ON these facilities are used by the community.

Where do demands originate geographi-
Infrastructure cally? How do patterns of use vary on an

hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal,
and annual basis? What are the average
planning and peak demands for each of these time
periods? To accurately forecast future
Paul R. Brown demand and patterns of use, it is essential
to collect and maintain this kind of detailed
Water, sanitation, transportation, and energy operational information.
facilities are essential, costly, and associated
with long lead times; thus, effective infra- Forecasting future demands
structure planning is critical. When it comes Among the primary inputs for forecasts
to infrastructure, failure to stay ahead of the of future infrastructure demands are the
curve can put public health and safety at population and economic forecasts, and
risk and lead to traffic congestion, localized
the projections of future land use prepared
flooding, water- and sewer-line breaks, rolling
by a region’s established planning agen-
blackouts, regulatory penalties, and increased
cies. The relationships between popula-
costs when improvements are finally imple-
tion changes and infrastructure demands
mented—often on an emergency basis. To
are difficult to establish, but they will be
avoid these consequences, most utilities and
scrutinized carefully by citizens and elected
public works departments routinely develop
officials. Because many facilities plans are
long-term facilities plans to ensure that the
derailed by concerns about the legitimacy
necessary infrastructure and funding are in
of demand forecasts, a great deal of empha-
place well before the capacity and/or useful
sis should be placed on ensuring that the
life of existing facilities is exceeded.
methodology used to arrive at projected
future demands is sound, defensible, and
The infrastructure planning process
easily explained. Rarely do straight-line per
The infrastructure planning process var- capita forecasts based on historical aver-
ies among utilities and local government ages satisfy decision makers. Thus, facilities
departments, but in most cases there are planners must use a proven and accepted
some basic steps that need to be taken. methodology to translate population and
economic growth into user demands. For
Evaluating the capacity and condition of
example, when converting an expected
existing facilities
increase of 10,000 people into per capita
The facilities planning process begins with future demand, a facilities plan for a water
good baseline information about the capac- system would need to consider such vari-
ity and condition of existing facilities. Many ables as family size, housing type, lot sizes,
communities have developed comprehensive forecasted conservation, building codes,
asset management programs that provide and income.
detailed maps and associated records for
all major elements of their water, sewer, In addition to dealing with the demands
transportation, and energy systems. A good of future growth, forecasts should include
asset management program should identify the impacts of any anticipated regulatory
the amount of investment in existing facilities changes that may affect facilities (e.g., higher
that will be needed to maintain the level of treatment standards for potable water).
service expected by the utility’s customers.
In addition, most utilities have developed Establishing objectives
dynamic, computer-based models that enable and evaluation criteria
engineers and planners to simulate the Establishing the objectives and evaluation
operations of existing facilities and evaluate criteria is one of the most important steps
future needs and operating conditions. in the facilities planning process—and one
of the most likely to be shortchanged. This
Analyzing historical and current demands step addresses the question: “What are we
In addition to knowing the condition of exist- trying to achieve?” A high level of stake-
ing facilities, it is important to know how holder involvement is critical at this point
11255-07_CH07.indd 356 12/22/08 2:46:55 PM

in the process: facilities planners should Developing feasible alternatives

seek input from institutional stakeholders Once objectives have been agreed on, plan-
(e.g., local government departments and ners, engineers, and technical experts come
regulatory agencies); from environmental, up with a variety of feasible alternatives for
business, and community groups; and from achieving the objectives. The more creative
individual citizens. If it is unclear what stake- and freewheeling this phase of the process
holders expect a facilities plan to achieve, is, the more defensible the final plan will be.
the chances of successful implementation
are low. The identification of diverse and Evaluating and selecting
representative stakeholder groups within among alternatives
the community should be accomplished
During the evaluation and selection phase, the
in a structured and transparent way that
“what” and the “how” converge in the effort
ensures broad representation of views and
to select the preferred or recommended
interests.
plan. Here again, strong stakeholder involve-
Every facilities plan is designed to accom- ment enhances the chance of public support
plish certain minimum objectives: to meet and successful implementation.
established level-of-service commitments,
Initially, the evaluation process usually
to provide overall cost-effectiveness, and to
involves some form of ranking or scoring.
comply with all applicable laws and regula-
Often, several alternatives can be quickly
tions. But many communities are attempting
eliminated, narrowing the field to a few that
to achieve much more: they are looking for
have real merit. For the remaining alterna-
sustainable plans that
tives, scores alone can rarely be used to
• Protect and enhance the environment make the final determination. Successful
• Can be easily adapted if circumstances infrastructure planning generally involves
change taking the best attributes of several alterna-
tives and using them to create a “hybrid”
• Promote economic growth
plan—one that does the best job of satisfying
• Incorporate educational opportunities the diverse interests and expectations of
like learning centers and visitor access stakeholders.
• Incorporate recreational benefits
• Preserve cultural assets Translating facilities plans into permitted
and funded projects
• Demonstrate sensitivity to issues of
The remaining steps of the planning process
environmental justice.
depend on the specific regulatory, admin-
Very few, if any, single-purpose facilities istrative, and procedural requirements that
are being developed these days. High-cost accompany the permitting, financing, design,
infrastructure investments are expected to construction, and commissioning of new facili-
deliver multiple benefits to the community. ties within a jurisdiction. As overall facilities
plans are refined into a list of specific capital
It is impossible to know the nature and
projects, detailed engineering designs, cost
extent of stakeholders’ concerns without
estimates, and schedules must be prepared. It
directly involving them in the planning
is also necessary to prepare the environmen-
process, and it is during the establishment
tal documentation needed for permitting.
of objectives and evaluation criteria that
stakeholder involvement is most crucial.
The community helps planners to define The effectiveness of
what needs to be achieved, leaving engi- facilities planning
neers and technical experts to determine While facilities planning generally involves
how to achieve the established objectives. the same basic steps, the participants in the
(Although stakeholders often come to the decision-making process and their authority
table with specific technical proposals, a to commit funds can vary considerably. In
good facilities planning process means almost every case, the high cost of infra-
working with diverse community members structure investments requires the approval
to discover, first, what planning problems of a governing authority; thus, infrastructure
need to be addressed.) plans need to be accurate, thorough, and
11255-07_CH07.indd 357 12/22/08 2:46:56 PM

persuasive. They must effectively communi- that does get built. In many communities, for
cate the case for spending funds and raising example, treated wastewater has become a
rates, charges, or taxes to pay for improve- potential water source. Wastewater biosolids
ments. Regardless of how severe the need, and solid waste can be power sources. And
a poorly presented infrastructure plan will new roads can be designed to significantly
generally get sent back to the drawing board. reduce storm-water runoff. As communi-
A good infrastructure plan is responsive to ties take a more “closed-loop” approach to
community needs and interests, technically resource management, the single-purpose
sound, well articulated, graphically compel- delivery and disposal functions associated
ling, and broadly supported by citizens. with most water and sanitation utilities will
evolve in the direction of integrated planning,
In fact, most local governments are not
engineering, and operations.
addressing the deterioration of aging
infrastructure or keeping up with increased How do these programs come about? They
demands. The American Society of Civil Engi- require leadership that drives independent
neers, in its 2005 Report Card for America’s utilities to collaborate in planning and
Infrastructure, awarded the nation’s infra- infrastructure development. They also tend
structure an overall grade of D, identifying to rely heavily on community-based stake-
total investment needs of $1.6 trillion over a holder groups, which can be instrumental
five-year period.1 While there are many pos- in obtaining public support for new capital
sible explanations for this shortfall, the plan- investments, and in reinforcing the need for
ning process itself must be blamed if it fails behavioral changes that will reduce demand.
to mobilize communities and their leaders to
In most cases, communities are looking for
take action in advance of breakdowns—which
opportunities to reduce consumption, mini-
range from nuisances (an intersection that
mize waste, reuse resources, and generally
floods during a rainstorm) to tragedies (a
reduce dependence on external resources and
bridge collapse). What measures should a
disposal sites. This relative independence is a
community take to ensure that it is not the
solid measure of a community’s sustainability.
victim of poor infrastructure planning?
Increasing uncertainty
Sustainability and integrated
infrastructure planning Because of the long lead times associated
with large-scale capital projects, uncertainty
One of the keys to good infrastructure about where and when future demands will
planning is sustainability: The challenge of occur, as well as about the impact of climate
achieving sustainability in the provision of change on sea levels, river and stream flows,
urban infrastructure has altered the planning and water supplies, makes the planning
process in many local governments. Rather process extremely challenging. Some com-
than thinking of utilities as functionally munities address uncertainty by phasing
distinct, many communities are exploring two capital improvements and linking implemen-
integrated approaches: the first looks inten- tation to predetermined demand “triggers”
sively at small-scale, nonstructural changes that will initiate the design and construction
that can reduce or eliminate the growing process when population reaches a specific
demands on existing infrastructure and target rather than on a prescriptive sched-
extend the usefulness of available capacity. In ule. Scenario analyses of facilities plans can
the near term, for example, water conserva- indicate how well systems might function
tion, reductions in storm-water runoff, and under extreme conditions that might depart
energy conservation programs have proven from historical norms. For example, climate
to be cost-effective means of reducing the change may cause variations in water sup-
need for additional infrastructure. Many comply that could, in turn, affect the amount of
munities are unwilling to spend public funds storage needed to meet projected demands
on large-scale infrastructure expansions and the amount of flood protection required
until they are convinced that conservation in low-lying areas.
and improved efficiency have been given
While individual utilities are usually equipped
adequate emphasis.
with the tools to evaluate improvements,
In the second approach, communities are models that demonstrate the interaction
looking more holistically at the infrastructure among several utilities and the consequences
11255-07_CH07.indd 358 12/22/08 2:46:56 PM

of risks have only recently come into wide To gauge the scale of this issue in our field,
use. Some cities, for example, including Los consider a few kinds of planning problems
Angeles, have developed simulation tools that turn on accessibility. Access to health
that assess the impact of decisions about care, open space, or safe neighborhoods
wastewater facilities on the performance of is often studied and measured as a way to
their storm-water management program. reduce health inequities.2 Access is also
studied with reference to the availability of
The future labor and housing market opportunities,
especially in light of public policy concerns
Sustainable urban infrastructure plans
about poverty and economic inequality.
prevent threats to public health and safety,
Studies of spatial mismatch, welfare-to-work
protect against deterioration in service
programs, and the jobs-housing balance
levels, and prepare for future needs. To date,
focus on obstacles and prospects regarding
the national track record in accomplishing
employment and shelter access.3 These very
all three tasks has been poor. Improving the
different planning problems lead to dis-
processes, tools, and level of stakeholder
agreements about how accessibility should
participation associated with urban infra-
be measured and applied. Transportation
structure planning is essential to achieving
planning strategies, meanwhile, increasingly
a sustainable future.
refer to accessibility standards as either
a supplement for, or alternative to, more
Note
conventional performance metrics.4
1 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Report
Card for America’s Infrastructure (Reston, Va.: What is unexpectedly clear from these
ASCE, 2005), 3, asce.org/files/pdf/reportcard/
2005reportcardpdf.pdf (accessed June 18, 2008).
examples is that accessibility is multifaceted,
and its calculation can be complex. Because
planning practice would benefit from a bet-
FOCUS ON ter understanding of accessibility from this
perspective, this article briefly summarizes
Planning for various definitions and measures of acces-

sibility, provides a sample of associated
issues, and discusses what the implications
accessibility are for the planning profession.
Randall Crane and Lois M. Takahashi The meanings of accessibility

Concepts of accessibility vary from the
City planning is largely about building and simple to the sublime. Perhaps the most
using spaces. Accessibility is a key element of uncomplicated notions are based on mini-
such planning; the leading site planning text mum thresholds: for example, under the
points out that “access is the prerequisite to Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990,
using any space.”1 Yet defining accessibility buildings must meet or exceed specific,
in a clear way and determining how it can be detailed use or design standards. In this
improved are rarely simple tasks for at least instance, access is a yes/no threshold that
two reasons: (1) accessibility is a big, sprawling either has or has not been met. A related
idea composed of several parts, mixed to indi- kind of measure calculates exposure to or
vidual taste, which can lead to some confusion coverage of the opportunities and services
over what the resulting product means in any of interest—for example, what proportion of
particular context; and (2) since some of these a given population has clean water or cable
parts depend on the resources, preferences, TV service; or what percentage of residents
and capabilities of users—rather than on the live within a half-mile of an employment
features of the built environment alone— center, a landfill, a park, a school, or a bus
measures of accessibility are always evolving. stop? This kind of measure is both intuitive
and operationally convenient, as the data
The first author is grateful to Amrita Daniere, Lisa are often at hand and the underlying metric
Schweitzer, and Brian Taylor for many discussions is easy to understand, explain, and present.
on this topic. In addition to those already named, the It also suggests straightforward planning
second author also thanks Rigoberto Rodriguez, Michelle
Magalong, and Gayla Smutny for their collaborative work strategies: improving access requires only
on access to social services. that planners reduce the distance to, or
11255-07_CH07.indd 359 12/22/08 2:46:56 PM

increase the amount or the quantity of, the nuts and bolts of measurement. A particular
places or services in question. difficulty is when efforts to achieve access
Increasingly, however, accessibility is also combine several distinct and possibly con-
defined broadly to refer not only to yes/no flicting elements—such as cost, use, quality,
outcomes, or to distance or coverage, but value, and equity—without clarifying which is
also to quality, value, and fairness.5 This defi- which, why they are combined in that precise
nition, while reflecting reasonable changes manner, or what implicit trade-offs are found
in planning concerns and boundaries, can among them. In these cases, greater access
nonetheless considerably complicate the is no longer a simple matter of merely more,
Access and transportation planning
The principal goal of urban transportation planning is to improve mobility—the flow of peo-
ple and goods across the transportation network. This focus on mobility led, in the 1950s
and 1960s, to a rapid expansion of the highway system between—and later within—cities, to
the separation and decentralization of land uses, and to a policy focus on traffic congestion
relief.
Many analysts now propose, however, that measures of mobility be replaced by

measures of accessibility, a more complex concept that gives weight to the purposes
of travel in addition to the ease of any given trip.1 In this view, getting travelers where
they want to go is more important than the speed and volume of flows along the
network. Indeed, favoring mobility may compromise accessibility, such as when the
proliferation of highways and the outward expansion of developed areas appear to
worsen rather than relieve congestion. On the other hand, accessibility has proven
more difficult to measure and operationalize than mobility, partly because researchers
and practitioners have yet to agree on a standard definition.
The fact that myriad disciplines—including engineering, economics, planning, archi-

tecture, and geography—use the word access in different ways has contributed to its
ambiguity. Nevertheless, as researchers from these various disciplines have compared
notes, new approaches to increasing accessibility—including smart growth and the
new urbanism—have been proposed. The next step is to assess these approaches to
determine what kinds of accessibility are being affected, and for whom. For example,
a number of prominent urban designers and environmental advocacy groups are
aggressively promoting the idea that improved access will change individual travel
behavior—specifically, by reducing automobile travel.2
The interest in using urban design to manage traffic is easy to understand: widespread
concern about automobile congestion and air quality has made planners eager to
reduce car use, despite the limited options for doing so. The cost of mass transit is
ballooning, and conventional transportation-planning strategies have not changed the
enduring utility and appeal of private vehicles. The best pricing options for reducing
car use (such as congestion tolls) appear to be politically infeasible in most situations,
as do many of the second-best pricing mechanisms (such as increasing gas taxes or
parking charges).3 For planners, changing the built environment seems like a handy
way to make travel by foot, bike, and transit potentially more attractive than travel
by car. This idea has found its way into an increasing number of public planning and
policy documents that are focused on improving air quality by shaping the connec-
tions between transportation and land use.4
Perhaps the most visible and lauded example of linking transportation and land use
planning is the “connected” street layout, which contrasts with the pattern of looped
cul-de-sacs found in many suburbs (see the accompanying figure). The intent of
increasing shorter, more direct connections between destinations is to increase acces-
sibility by shortening trip lengths for pedestrians and bicyclists. The conclusion that
11255-07_CH07.indd 360 12/22/08 2:46:56 PM

closer, or cheaper, or how much; it might also kind of measure—simple distance, whether
require a comparison of costs with benefits, measured in spatial or cost terms—captures
and a political evaluation of winners versus the difficulty of accessing a service or a facil-
losers. ity. Simple measures of distance tell us how
connected potential users are to a service or
Measures of accessibility destination. When the focus of a measure is
There are three general approaches to mea- simple distance or its cost, access improves if
suring individual accessibility: simple distance a trip becomes shorter or more direct, takes
(or its cost), supply, and demand. The first less time, or otherwise gets easier.
auto travel will decrease in this setting is so appealing that it has been reported in
many prominent discussions of compact development.5
Connected (“preferred”) versus standard (“discouraged”) development design from “Transit Oriented
Development Guidelines.”
Source: Calthorpe Associates
Attributing travel behavior to land use in this simple manner, however, confounds sup-
ply with demand. It turns out, for example, that the effects of connected layouts on
traffic are indeterminate in principle and unclear in practice. Shortening trips normally
lowers the costs not only of walking and biking trips, but also of car trips, which may
well lead to more rather than fewer trips;6 thus, the effect of connected layouts on
each mode of travel is generally ambiguous. Indeed, if trips are made shorter, overall
vehicle miles traveled could well increase if the number of trips increases enough.
How travel behavior will be affected as circulation patterns improve access is an
empirical question, but both analytical methods and available data have been slow to
catch up to the complexity of the underlying relationships. The clearest results are
from those studies with the weakest (and hence most unreliable) data and statistical
models. In other studies, the effects of changes in the circulation pattern appear to
vary from place to place, depending on local circumstances.7
1 David M. Levinson and Kevin Krizek, eds., Access to Destinations (London: Elsevier Ltd., 2005).
2 Andrès Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Towns and Town-Making Principles (New York: Rizzoli, 1991); and
Peter Katz, The New Urbanism: Toward an Architecture of Community (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994).
3 Anthony Downs, Still Stuck in Traffic: Coping with Peak-Hour Traffic Congestion (Washington, D.C.: The Brookings
Institution, 2004); and Donald Shoup, The High Cost of Free Parking (Chicago: American Planning Association, 2005).
4 City of San Diego, Transit-Oriented Development Design Guidelines, prepared by Calthorpe Associates,
October 1992; City of Los Angeles Planning Department, Proposed Land Use/Transportation Policy (July 1993).
5 See, for example, Peter Calthorpe, The Next American Metropolis: Ecology, Community, and the American Dream
(New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1993); and Duany and Plater-Zyberk, Towns and Town-Making Principles.
6 Randall Crane, “Cars and Drivers in the New Suburbs: Linking Access to Travel in Neotraditional Planning,”
Journal of the American Planning Association 62, no. 1 (1996): 51–65; Randall Crane, Dru van Hengel, and
Lisa Schweitzer, “A Note on Supply versus Demand in Travel Access” (working paper, UCLA, 2008).
7 Marlon G. Boarnet and Randall Crane, Travel by Design: The Influence of Urban Form on Travel (New York:
Oxford University Press, 2001); and Reid Ewing and Robert Cervero, “Travel and the Built Environment: A
Synthesis,” Transportation Research Record 1780 (2001): 87–114.
11255-07_CH07.indd 361 12/22/08 2:46:56 PM

But what if, no matter how brief and inexpen- Aggregation

sive the trip to a particular destination is, Aggregation is a pivotal distinction in the
there is little reason to make it? Two other meaning and use of access measures. By
measures of access look at the ways in which contrast with the individual-level measures
destinations matter. The first considers that capture supply factors faced by a
opportunity, and the second considers desir- household (such as distance, quality, and
ability; together, these two measures attempt price), or that may reflect demand fac-
to capture accessibility as a function of supply tors (such as a service user’s resources,
and demand. demographic characteristics, or individual
willingness to pay), network-level (or
On the supply side, the accessibility of a
areawide) access variables reflect system
particular destination can be enhanced by
capacity and thus constraints on supply.
reducing the distance or the cost of the
For example, how accessible are parks to
trip (e.g., by providing cheaper and more
an entire community? Network-level access
frequent bus service), or by improving
variables can also represent demand
the potential returns of a trip to that
queues and the aggregate resources that
destination—by, say, enlarging the selection
users devote to obtaining a given service;
of products at a neighborhood shopping
for example, how many people who want
plaza. But the fact that a location offers to sign up for a community garden must be
more opportunities doesn’t necessar- turned away?
ily make it a more desirable destination:
the supply-side measure of opportunity
Accessibility: Disparities
says nothing about travelers’ preferences.
and obstacles
Although measures of supply—that is, of
potential destinations—assume that some Why are there disparities in destination and
aspects of the built environment matter service access, and how can these dispari-
more than others, they exclude information ties be reduced?
about how desirable the alternative destina- Accessibility planning often entails an
tions appear to potential users. assessment of public service use, or of the
propensity of an identified group (usually
Demand measures are the most complex
defined through sociodemographic char-
way of looking at accessibility, yet they
acteristics) to use an existing or planned
are often the most useful for planning
service. Researchers have long tried to
purposes. Instead of considering only
understand why some groups use services
what is available—or what might be avail-
more often (i.e., have greater access to
able in the future—and its location or cost,
services) than others do, and why some
demand measures additionally consider
groups—in particular, immigrants, members
the value of what is available to potential
of low-income households, and members
users. An individual’s decision about which
of racial or ethnic minorities—use certain
services are worth using or which trips are
services much less often than the popula-
worth taking depends on multiple factors: tion as a whole. Relatedly, the spatial mis-
distance, cost, and supply, to be sure, but match literature studies whether housing
also individual preferences and resources. discrimination—especially in the suburbs—
While more involved than simple maps and has forced racial minorities into longer com-
distance metrics, such information can be mutes than they would prefer. This is also a
collected from consumer surveys and other question of whether a particular group has
sources that reveal how observed behavior disparities in access—in this case, to labor
varies with socioeconomic, demographic, and housing markets.
and other individual characteristics and
circumstances. Since the 1990s, the explanation for dispari-
ties in service use has evolved to include the
To measure access as demand, then, we following factors: inherent challenges in the
need to understand not only how easy it systems through which public services are
is for people to use a service or travel to a delivered; the level of services made avail-
destination, but how much and why they able to individuals and households by public
want to do so. and nonprofit organizations; obstacles and
11255-07_CH07.indd 362 12/22/08 2:46:57 PM

Figure 7–4 A behavioral model of service use can help researchers understand the factors that lead to
disparities in use.
Environment Population characteristics Behavior Outcomes
Perception
Public of quality
service of life
Sociodemographic Individual
system characteristics behavior
Actual
Need
quality
Enabling Service of life
Environmental
resources use
conditions
external to
Satisfaction
service system
with services
Source: Adapted from Ronald M. Andersen, “Revisiting the Behavioral Model and Access to Medical Care: Does It
Matter?” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 36, no. 1 (1995): 1–10.
opportunities created by the built environ- • Lack of information about or awareness

ment and social networks; and individual of the service system
motivations, knowledge, and satisfaction • Lack of services that meet the needs and
with available services. Factors leading to demands of particular groups
disparities in service use are captured in
• Inadequate transportation
Figure 7–4.
• Relative ease of using the service, which
Planners interested in housing, community may be affected by a number of factors,
development, public transit, and sustain- including times of operation, means by
ability often address disparities in the use of
which the service is provided or obtained,
public services. Since the 1960s, advocacy
and geographic proximity to users.
planners have argued that relative lack of
access (measured in terms of distance, time,
and other “supply” factors) to financial Understanding access
resources, employment, housing, and trans- Our key point is that access is increasingly a
portation impedes the ability of members multipart planning concept, with a number
of impoverished households and racial and of distinct elements. Planning for acces-
ethnic minorities to participate equally in sibility in a transparent, effective manner
society.6 requires a better understanding of the role
The most common approach to address- of user costs, user preferences, and inequi-
ing disparities is to identify and measure ties than has previously been brought to
obstacles to service use, and then to bear on the issue. A better understanding of
develop policies, programs, and strategies these factors also allows analysts and plan-
that reduce those obstacles. The obstacles ners to more clearly differentiate between
differ depending on the service, facility, policy variables they can control—such as
and group in question, but there are some pricing and service operations—and the ways
common factors that should be consid- in which individual service users weigh and
ered when the objective is to increase select among options.
accessibility:
Planners have limited influence over the
• A mismatch in language or culture vagaries of individual choices, but there
between the service and the potential may be ways to better understand the
user decisions that users are making about ser-
• Actual or perceived inability to pay vices. At a minimum, starting with a good
11255-07_CH07.indd 363 12/22/08 2:46:57 PM

understanding of whether the access mea- FOCUS ON

sures employed refer to service and destina-
tion supply or, rather, to their demand, or to
both, permits a more straightforward and
Twelve ideas for
meaningful comparison of access in differ-
ent communities or in a given community improving mobility
over time. A more inclusive definition of
what to measure is thus valuable even if, Susan Handy
in practice, the difficulties associated with The fundamental goal of transportation
how to measure access are harder than planning is to ensure that residents can get
we like. where they need and want to go. For decades,
transportation planners tried to make it
easier to get around by expanding and
Notes
improving the roadway system. But despite
1 Kevin Lynch and Gary Hack, Site Planning, 3rd ed.
(Cambridge: MIT Press, 1984), 193. Note that the billions of dollars in investment, getting
terms access and accessibility are used interchange- around in metropolitan areas is harder every
ably throughout this chapter.
year. The investments themselves may be
2 Ronald M. Andersen, “Revisiting the Behavioral
Model and Access to Medical Care: Does It Matter?” responsible for the problem: when it is easier
Journal of Health and Social Behavior 36, no. 1 to drive, people naturally drive more—adding
(1995): 1–10; Alun E. Joseph and David R. Phillips,
to congestion and making it harder to drive
Accessibility and Utilization: Geographical Perspec-
tives on Health Care Delivery (New York: Harper and again. An automobile-oriented transporta-
Row, 1984); Lois M. Takahashi and Gayla Smutny tion system not only leaves people captive to
(2001) “Explaining Access to Human Services: The
congested roadways but also overlooks those
Influence of Descriptive and Behavioral Variables,”
Professional Geographer 53, no. 1 (2001): 12–31; who have no access to a car, whether for
Office of Minority Health, A Strategic Framework for reasons of income, age, or ability.
Improving Racial/Ethnic Minority Health and Elimi-
nating Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities (Rockville, Transportation planning is slowly shift-
Md.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ing gears. Instead of focusing on making it
January 2008).
3 John F. Kain, “The Spatial Mismatch Hypothesis: easier to drive, plans now focus on making it
Three Decades Later,” Housing Policy Debate 6, no. 1 easier to get places. The goal is no longer to
(1992): 271–297, mi.vt.edu/data/files/hpd%203(2)/ reduce traffic congestion but to reduce the
hpd%203(2)%20kain%20part%201.pdf (accessed
September 2, 2008); Brian D. Taylor and Paul M. need to sit in traffic.
Ong, “Spatial Mismatch or Automobile Mismatch?
An Examination of Race, Residence, and Commuting The following are twelve strategies that
in U.S. Metropolitan Areas,” Urban Studies 32, no. 9 communities are using to improve mobility
(1995): 1453–1473; Michael A. Stoll, “Job Sprawl, without promoting driving:
Spatial Mismatch and Black Employment Disadvan-
tage,” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 1. Transit service. Although all transit users
25, no. 4 (2006): 827–854; Paul M. Ong and Evelyn
want service that is convenient, reliable,
Blumenberg, “Job Access, Commute, and Travel
Burden among Welfare Recipients,” Urban Studies comfortable, and safe, each community
35, no. 1 (1998): 77–93; Robert Cervero, “Job Isolation must find the approach that best meets
in the U.S.: Narrowing the Gap through Job Access its needs. Providing better information,
and Reverse-Commute Programs,” in Running on
Empty: Transport, Social Exclusion and Environmental including real-time information on arrival
Justice, ed. Karen Lucas (Bristol, U.K.: Policy Press, times, is a good starting point. As a cost-
2004), 181–196. effective approach to providing high-
4 Susan L. Handy, “Accessibility- vs. Mobility-enhancing
Strategies for Addressing Automobile Dependence in quality service, bus rapid transit is gaining
the U.S.,” UCD-ITS-RR-02-15 (working paper, Institute popularity over rail. Land use policies
of Transportation Studies, University of California must be coordinated with transit plans
at Davis, 2002), des.ucdavis.edu/faculty/handy/
ECMT_report.pdf (accessed September 4, 2008). to ensure an effective match between
5 See, for example, Randall Crane and Amrita Daniere development patterns and the transit
(1996) “Measuring Access to Basic Services in Global system. Such efforts seem to be paying
Cities: Descriptive and Behavioral Approaches,”
Journal of the American Planning Association 62,
off: transit ridership has been going up in
no. 2 (1996), 203–221. cities throughout the United States.
6 See, for example, Paul Davidoff, “Advocacy and
Pluralism in Planning,” Journal of the American 2. Targeted transit. When residents of a
Institute of Planners 31, no. 5 (1965): 331–337. particular area share a need to travel
11255-07_CH07.indd 364 12/22/08 2:46:57 PM

to the same destinations, the solution less congested times of day. Flex-work
may be targeted transit services run by programs are often adopted in response
transit agencies, other public agencies, to local trip-reduction ordinances that
private businesses, or community-based require employers to reduce the number
organizations. Examples include shuttle of peak-hour trips made by employees.
services to link elderly residents to In Southern California, trip reduction
medical services or to link low-income requirements are tied to air-quality
households to discount stores; hospi- regulations.
tal or university shuttles connecting 7. Individualized marketing. Providing
employees to remote transit stations; transportation alternatives is one thing;
and express bus service from suburban getting people to use them is another.
to downtown areas. Public and private Individualized marketing programs work
examples can be found throughout the one-on-one with households to analyze
United States. their travel choices, identify alternatives
3. Walkability. A good walking environment that would reduce driving, and provide
is one where destinations are within information and training to help house-
walking distance of home and work, and holds follow through. Such programs
where links between places are direct, have proved effective in a growing
safe, comfortable, and attractive. In such number of communities, including Perth,
environments, walking can be a healthy Australia, and Portland, Oregon.
replacement for driving. Public health 8. Congestion pricing. The more fully and
officials have partnered with planners to directly that drivers pay for the cost
improve pedestrian infrastructure and of driving, the less they will choose to
promote “active living” in communities drive. Instead, they will cut back on
stretching from Seattle to Orlando. trips, choose closer destinations, pick
4. Cyclability. In many parts of the Western shorter routes, or use alternative travel
world, biking accounts for a substantial modes. Congestion pricing strategies
share of all trips. Biking works well for include tolls that are pegged to conges-
distances that are too great for walking, tion levels, and cordon pricing, in which
and it can fill gaps where transit service drivers pay a fee for entering the central
is lacking. Promoting biking requires a business district during certain times of
multifaceted approach that addresses day. Congestion pricing helps to elimi-
the “five E’s”: engineering, education, nate less important trips and preserves
encouragement, enforcement, and road capacity for more important ones.
environment. Portland, Oregon, has seen The success of London’s congestion
a measurable increase in bicycling as a pricing program has inspired New York,
result of such efforts. San Francisco, and other U.S. cities to
5. Car sharing. Whether for-profit or non- consider this strategy.
profit enterprises, car-sharing programs 9. Parking policies. Most cities set minimum
make it easier for households to live with parking requirements for businesses—an
fewer cars or give them up altogether. approach that often leads to underused
These programs recognize that access parking lots. At the same time, when
to a car is sometimes essential, but they parking is free in busy business districts,
enable households to avoid the high fixed demand often exceeds supply, leading to
costs of car ownership. Research shows wasted time and other harmful impacts
that programs like Philly Car Share in as drivers circulate looking for spaces.
Philadelphia have reduced the number Abolishing parking minimums and
of cars owned and miles driven by its implementing parking pricing programs
members. can improve conditions for drivers and
6. Flex-work. Telecommuting, flexible work nondrivers alike. Pasadena, California,
hours, and alternative work schedules is one of the first U.S. cities to have
give workers the opportunity to com- benefited from a revamping of its
mute less often or to shift travel to parking policies.
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10. Connectivity. More direct connections FOCUS ON

to destinations shorten driving distances
and increase the viability of alternatives
to driving. In urbanizing areas, sub-
Pedestrian and
division requirements need to ensure
adequate connectivity through gridded bicycle planning
street networks or other configurations.
Cities that have adopted connectiv- Bruce S. Appleyard
ity ordinances include Fort Collins,
Colorado; Eugene, Oregon; Cary, North For well over half a century, transportation
Carolina; and San Antonio, Texas. In and land use planning in the United States
areas that are already built up, connec- has been driven by automobile needs.1
tivity can be enhanced through strategic Therefore, creating walkable and bikeable
communities requires a coordinated, consis-
investments in facilities—such as bridges
tent, and comprehensive approach. The “five
or tunnels—that will allow bicyclists
Es” needed to effectively promote walking
and pedestrians to “cross” freeways.
and bicycling are engineering (of planning
Examples of such facilities can be found
and building facilities), enforcement (of laws
along Interstate 80 in Berkeley and
related to safe driving and pedestrian and
Davis, California.
bicycle travel), education (of all roadway
11. Street design. Traditional level-of- users, including motorists, pedestrians, and
service measures for local roads put bicyclists), encouragement, and environment.
the needs of vehicles above the needs To these should be added evaluation, or the
of other users and other functions. measurement of conditions for pedestrian
Innovative approaches to street design and bicycle travel. Thoughtful urban design
address the needs of all travel modes, and land use planning—including zoning, sub-
help to build sense of community, division ordinances, design guidelines, and
create attractive public spaces, and project review—are also essential to creating
minimize environmental harm. Examples walkable, bikeable, and ultimately more liv-
include the Embarcadero in San Fran- able communities.2
cisco, the redesigned Riverfront Parkway
in Chattanooga, and Denver’s downtown Street safety and livability
transit mall. Accommodating and encouraging walking
and cycling improves the overall safety and
12. Coordinated planning. The key to making
livability of our streets. Starting in the late
all these strategies work is to coordinate
1960s, Donald Appleyard championed the
land use planning with transportation
idea of street livability, finding that decreas-
planning. This means focusing develop-
ing the volume and speed of traffic enhances
ment in areas served by transit, encour-
residents’ sense of comfort and actually
aging mixed-use development that puts
encourages them to spend time in front of
destinations within walking distance,
their homes, socializing and building stron-
and instituting design guidelines that
ger community ties.3 Research confirms that
enhance the quality of the urban environ-
slower traffic typically makes streets safer: a
ment. Success also depends on coordi-
pedestrian who is struck by a vehicle going
nation at the regional scale. Regional 30 miles per hour is eight times more likely
visioning programs, like those in the to be killed than a one who is hit by a car
Salt Lake City and Sacramento regions, traveling at 20 miles per hour, and the latter
provide the foundation for coordinated actually has a 95 percent chance of surviv-
planning. ing!4 Moreover, as speeds decrease, drivers
In sum, instead of making it easier to drive,
With special thanks to Peter Bosselmann, Dan Burden,
transportation planning should focus on Robert Cervero, Elizabeth Deakin, Richard Dowling, Reid
(1) making it easier to drive less; (2) increas- Ewing, Amy Fauria, Christopher Ferrell, Lawrence Frank,
ing awareness and use of alternatives to Susan Handy, John LaPlante, Ian Moore, Michael Moule,
Kamala Parks, Robert Schneider, Michael Southworth,
driving; and (3) making it harder to drive in and Paul Zykofsky, and also to Melissa, Shea, and Jason
some situations. Donald “J.D.” Appleyard.
11255-07_CH07.indd 366 12/22/08 2:46:58 PM

not only are better able to see pedestrians five to ten minutes, or about two to three
and cyclists who are immediately in front miles per hour (although children, seniors,
of them, but also are more readily able to and people with mobility limitations tend
stop in time, and within a shorter distance, to move more slowly).8 Moreover, studies
to avoid a collision. And safer streets make have shown that a pedestrian’s perception
it easier and more attractive for people to of time—and thereby his or her perception of
engage in activities that will also increase distance—can be influenced by the aesthetic
their physical and creative health. quality of the experience: a street alive with
activity, human-scaled buildings with inter-
The kinds of streetscapes that encourage
esting façades, and a sense of enclosure
walking also appear to contribute to traffic
tends to shorten a person’s perception of
safety: Eric Dumbaugh found that beau-
time, which is likely to extend the distance
tifying streets with “livable streetscape”
he or she is willing to walk.9
elements, such as buildings with visually
complex façades (often historic buildings)
Choosing to bicycle: Ensuring
built close to the street and trees planted
safety and comfort
along the street (which, to many traffic
engineers, decreases automobile safety), While bicyclists and pedestrians have many
actually cause drivers to drive more care- similar needs, the greater levels of speed,
fully, thereby increasing the street’s safety momentum, and inertia characteristic of
for nondrivers.5 And through his research, bicycle travel make it more critical for
Peter Jacobsen concludes that there is bicycle plans to recognize that cyclists have
“safety in numbers”: collision rates decline a broader range of comfort and skill levels
as the number of pedestrians and cyclists than pedestrians. A 2008 survey by the city
present increases.6 Drivers apparently travel of Portland, Oregon, found a potentially
with more care when they expect people to large demand for bicycle commuting, pro-
be on and around the street, so streets with vided that the right encouragement is given
a lot of street life and activity are safer than through both infrastructure improvements
those devoid of it. and relevant programs (e.g., safety educa-
tion, active living, energy conservation).
The study identified almost two-thirds of all
Choosing to walk or bike
commuters as “interested, but concerned”
To successfully support walking and bicycling, regarding bicycle commuting; these are
a community needs to provide both physical commuters who would likely “ride if they
space and connectivity. Adequate walkways, felt safer on the roadways—if cars were
dedicated bicycle and pedestrian trails, and slower and less frequent.”10 This finding is
bike lanes can help encourage these alter- consistent with other research currently
natives to driving. being conducted by Dr. Jennifer Dill, who
has found that perhaps the best way to
Choosing to walk: Overcoming distance get noncyclists to start cycling is to create
and time bicycle boulevards (Figure 7–5)—local streets
While many factors other than recreation that have been modified with traffic calming
enter into a person’s decision to walk (e.g., car devices and other controls to function as
availability and parking convenience; retail, through streets for bicycles while maintain-
housing, and residential land use mix; urban ing local access for automobiles.
design), the ultimate decision is determined
More research is needed to fully determine
by the traveler’s perception of distance, time,
how far bicyclists are willing to travel. Up
safety, and comfort (“livability”), along with
until now, studies have been hampered by
the inconvenience and cost of other modes of
small sample sizes, wide variances in trip
travel (automobile, transit service, etc.).
lengths, and a failure to take into account
According to a 2008 study, people are will- both individual attitudes and the distinct
ing to walk farther than previously believed— community characteristics of the built
about a half mile—to reach a transit station.7 environment, although the 2001 National
The average adult walks three to four feet Household Travel Survey did find that the
per second, which translates to between average bicycle commute-to-work distance
one-sixth and one-third of a mile within is about three miles.11 But with the provision
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Figure 7–5 A refinement of the shared roadway cyclists, and for creating a safe, inviting, and
concept, bicycle boulevards use median strips, traffic livable walking and bicycling experience, are
circles, and stop signs to make streets safer for cyclists. as follows:14
• A network of safe, direct, and comfortable
routes and facilities. A 2004 Planning
Advisory Service report recommends that
pedestrian (and bicycle) path connections
should be every 300 to 500 feet; for
motor vehicles, the authors recommend
500 to 1,000 feet.15 For new development,
these standards can be implemented
through subdivision ordinances.16
• Traffic buffers. Sidewalks should be
buffered from traffic annoyances (threats
to personal safety, noise, etc.). Buffers
can be provided by on-street parking,
bike lanes, and a “furniture zone” that
might include lights, signs, benches,
transit shelters, planters, and/or trees.
• Width. Since walking should be viewed as a
social activity, paths should be at least five
to six feet wide (seven feet, if the walkway
has a wall on one side) to provide enough
room for two people to walk side by side
and a third person to pass comfortably.
Sidewalks along commercial streets should
accommodate the interaction between
a building’s activity and street life by
allowing space for seating, displays, etc., as
well as walkway space and traffic buffers/
furniture zones, as described above.
Twelve to fifteen feet appears to be an
ideal width; sidewalks may be even wider
in areas with high levels of pedestrian
activity (see Figure 7–7).
A cyclist in motion requires width to
maintain balance and to weave to the
extent necessary to move forward while
keeping the bicycle upright; “shy distance”
Source: Oregon Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan: An Element
of the Oregon Transportation Plan, 2nd ed. (Salem: is also necessary to separate the bicyclist
Oregon Department of Transportation, 1995), 77, oregon from curbs, posts, and other potential
.gov/ODOT/HWY/BIKEPED/docs/or_bicycle_ped_plan.pdf. hazards. Combining these allowances with
the width of an average bicycle means
of more bicycle lanes, boulevards, and better that a bicyclist will need about a five-
end-of-the-trip facilities (e.g., lockers, show- foot-wide space to ride comfortably.17
ers, and secure bicycle-locking facilities),12 in In cases where the road is narrow, wide
addition to the wider availability of transit- enough perhaps for only one bike lane,
carrying capacity for bicycles, the distances a “climbing lane” could be added on the
that cyclists may be able and willing to travel uphill side and an in-pavement “sharrow”
for work, school, and other purposes may painted in the downhill lane to remind
well increase.13 drivers to share the lane with cyclists.18
A “Share the Road” sign could be posted
Improving the travel experience for both directions as well.
Some of the main components needed for • Street crossings and intersections. Safety
overcoming distance for both walkers and at crossings can be cost-effectively
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Figure 7–6 Equipping

buses with bike racks
and allowing bicycles on
railcars are effective
ways to make cycling
competitive, in terms of
time, with regional auto
trips, even if the trip
begins and ends in a low-
density suburban area
with poor transit service.
Source: Bruce Appleyard
improved through the use of signs, in- recent innovation is the bicycle box, a
pavement markings, and clearly visible waiting area that is clearly marked for
crosswalks so that drivers will proceed cyclists at signalized intersections in front
cautiously.19 Planners might consider ways of waiting cars (Figure 7–8 on page 370).20
to minimize pedestrians’ and cyclists’
crossing distances and exposure to traffic,
Planning and implementation
and to make it easier for these travelers Communities develop pedestrian and bicycle
to see and be seen by motorists. Such transportation plans for several reasons.
improvements can be accomplished by They may, for example, wish to
“breaking up the task” of crossing a street • Engage in an official process that
with medians and islands, while “shortening recognizes walking and cycling as important
the task” with curb extensions (bulb-outs) modes of travel that should be supported
and tighter corner radii. For cyclists, a through all actions of a jurisdiction
Figure 7–7 To permit

social activity, sidewalks
need to be wide enough
for two people to walk
side by side and a third
to pass comfortably. In
addition, sidewalks along
commercial streets
should allow space for
seating, displays, and
traffic buffers/furniture
zones.
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Figure 7–8 By allowing

cyclists to move in front
of vehicles and by
coloring the bike lane
through the intersection,
bike boxes create safer
conditions for cyclists,
particularly when drivers
are planning to make
right turns.
• Identify the opportunities for, as well identify, map, and analyze problems, and artic-
as obstacles and solutions to, providing ulate solutions; prioritize and phase projects;
physical infrastructure and/or programs and develop implementation strategies before
to encourage the safe, comfortable, and adopting and implementing the plan.
inviting use of these modes of travel
• Recommend and guide the prioritization Engage and involve stakeholders
and sequence of specific projects and/or Any plan to encourage walking and biking
programs should begin with efforts to engage and
• Gather data and create a framework for involve the many stakeholders who will be
measuring progress toward the stated essential throughout planning and imple-
goals, objectives, and desired outcomes mentation. Stakeholders include
of the planning process. • Individuals (cyclists, walkers, and
residents who are interested in improving
While pedestrian and bicycle plans are pre-
neighborhood safety)
pared for different purposes, follow different
processes, and are implemented by different • Citizen-based organizations (bicycle-
levels of government, many of the best plans and pedestrian-advocacy organizations,
neighborhood associations)
• Are tailored to the needs of the
community and have a high level • Public agencies (public works, streets and
of community involvement transportation, and other departments)
• Establish clear goals and identify desired • Elected and appointed officials (the local
outcomes government manager, members of the
governing body)
• Provide good data on existing conditions
• The private sector (developers, business
• Make specific recommendations to be
owners, and business organizations)
implemented by a specific agency within
a specified timeframe • All forms of the media to pass on
information, gather important feedback
• Take advantage of the strengths of multiple
from the public, generate information,
departments and agencies by coordinating
support for the process, and so on.
effectively within the local government
• Provide flexibility to take advantage of Collect and analyze data
opportunities that may arise as the plan
Traditionally, transportation safety projects
is implemented.21
have been assigned priority on the basis of
To fulfill these functions, many pedestrian and data on collisions, personal injuries and/or
bicycle planning processes engage and involve property damage, and traffic volumes. How-
stakeholders; collect and analyze data on exist- ever, because pedestrians and cyclists have a
ing conditions; undertake field assessments; higher aversion to risk than drivers do, they
11255-07_CH07.indd 370 12/22/08 2:47:00 PM

often avoid hazardous locations, thereby assessments, planners can produce maps
hampering the effective identification of such and satellite images of the locations they
locations. Moreover, vehicle and pedestrian/ have surveyed. These maps and images can
bicycle collisions do not always get reported. then be analyzed (e.g., using GIS) to identify
and communicate such things as existing
Thus, to effectively identify pedestrian and
conditions, opportunities and constraints,
bicycle safety concerns, planners need to
and the critical improvements needed to
go beyond data on accidents and traffic
encourage walking and bicycling.
volumes to obtain information on land use,
and especially on important pedestrian- and
Prioritize and phase projects
bicycle-trip generators. Such information
gathering may entail community surveys, Once the necessary improvements have
whether online, by phone, or in person; been articulated and located, the next step
focus groups; and “walkabouts.”22 is to develop a prioritization process and
criteria (see Figure 7–10 on page 372). It is
An even more proactive approach to evaluat- important to maintain flexibility, however:
ing street safety and livability would be to such a scoring process should be used to
identify and prioritize key destinations and inform rather than to drive project prior-
then create an effective transport network ity decisions, so the numbers should not
supporting pedestrians and bicycle access. be allowed to overtake professional and
Such an approach requires a dual perspective community judgment in deciding where and
that looks at local and regional origins, des- when certain solutions should be enacted.26
tinations, and paths: first, important regional
activity centers—such as schools, employ- Developing implementation strategies/
ment centers, and parks—must be charted; action plan
second, staff and key members of the public
During this phase, planners should look
and stakeholders must identify and prioritize
to the future as to who, and with what
key project needs along the way as well as
resources (labor and capital), will most
identify the best routes to reach them.
effectively implement and realize the plans,
goals, and outcomes. Some key steps in this
Undertake comprehensive
process to support implementation include
field assessments
the following:
Conducting pedestrian and/or bike audits
• Identify individuals and/or groups
with appropriate key stakeholders at the
responsible for plan implementation.
appropriate times can be very useful for
identifying locations where improvements • If not yet formed, create either separate
are needed. For example, to create safe pedestrian and bicycle advisory
routes to and from a school, planners should committees or a combined committee.
undertake field assessments during arrival Members should be drawn from the initial
and dismissal times.23 Through a walkabout, stakeholder groups, a multidisciplinary
planners and stakeholders might note where group of local agency staff (public works,
conditions might be unsafe for pedestrians engineering, planning, police/fire, etc.),
and cyclists.24 Stakeholder observations and at least one planning commissioner
could be captured using video cameras, and one elected official.27
recorders, maps and aerial photos, note • Review zoning and subdivision
cards, etc. An emerging technology useful ordinances for possible revisions. Seek
during this phase is a geographic informa- to require that new construction include
tion system (GIS)/global positioning system bike lanes, sidewalks, and other forms of
(GPS)/camera-equipped personal digital circulation and access for pedestrians
assistant (PDA), which can dynamically and cyclists. Incentives should also be
capture and immediately cross-reference provided for developers to provide “end
spatial, visual, and statistical data.25 of the trip” bicycle facilities, such as
showers and safe bicycle parking.
Identify, map, and analyze problems, • Create a dedicated team (often from public
and articulate solutions works) to oversee the construction of
After working with stakeholders, compiling sidewalk sections and bicycle lanes. This
and analyzing data, and conducting field group can also serve as a rapid-response
11255-07_CH07.indd 371 12/22/08 2:47:02 PM

Figure 7–9 A sidewalk

master plan can include
maps of important
community destinations
and priority routes to
arrive at them.
Source: Dowling
Associates
Figure 7–10 A ranking system can be used to establish priorities for pedestrian projects.
ADTs Weight Obstruction Weight

Ease of
Vehicle volumes 20 >= 10,000 20 15 Low cost 15
implementation
5,000 to 9,999 16 Medium cost 10
2,500 to 4,999 12 High cost 5
1,000 to 2,499 8
Space for formal
< 1,000 4 walkway Weight
# Destinations Weight 5 Off-street 5
Destinations and Roadway shoulder 3
20 >= 4 18
priority routes
3 14 On-street 2
2 10 Parking lane 1
1 6 None 0
2 extra points if near
school, park, downtown, Cost
or Caltrain station
Cost/benefit Benefit High Medium Low
15
Priority route Weight analysis High 11 13 15
5 Yes 5 Medium 5 7 9
No 0 Low 0 1 3
POA % Weight
Pedestrian
opportunity 20 0% 20
areas 25% 16
50% 12
75% 8
100% 4
100% sidewalk –10
on opposite
side of street
Source: Dowling Associates
11255-07_CH07.indd 372 12/22/08 2:47:02 PM

team to address any problems that 8 Richard L. Knoblauch, Martin T. Pietrucha, Marsha
Nitzburg, “Field Studies of Pedestrian Walking Speed
involve compliance with the Americans and Start-Up Time,” Transportation Research Record
with Disabilities Act. 1538 (1996): 27–38, enhancements.org/download/
trb/1538-004.PDF (accessed September 11. 2008);
John LaPlante and Thomas P. Kaeser, “A History of
Adopt and implement the plan
Pedestrian Signal Walking Speed Assumptions,” in
The final step in the process is for appointed 3rd Urban Street Symposium: Uptown, Downtown,
or Small Town: Designing Urban Streets That Work,
and elected officials to adopt the project
Seattle, Washington, June 24–27, 2007.
map, priority list, and implementation plan. 9 For more on the relationship between time and dis-
The pedestrian and/or bicycle master plan tance traveled on foot, see Peter Bosselmann, Urban
Transformation: Understanding City Design and Form
should become part of a local government’s
(Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2008); Peter Bossel-
capital improvement plan; it should also be mann, Representation of Places: Reality and Realism
part of the metropolitan planning organiza- in City Design (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University
of California Press, 1998), 61; and Raymond Isaacs,
tion’s regional transportation plan to ensure “The Subjective Duration of Time in the Experience
that recommended projects are eligible for of Urban Places,” Journal of Urban Design 6, no. 2
inclusion in the organization’s transporta- (2001): 109–127.
10 City of Portland, Office of Transportation, “Four Types
tion improvements program. of Transportation Cyclists,” portlandonline.com/
TRANSPORTATION/index.cfm?a=158497&c=44597
Once the plan is adopted, the task of getting (accessed August 5, 2008).
the projects built and the education and 11 According to the National Household Travel Survey
encouragement programs implemented has 2001, the average bicycle commute-to-work distance
was about three miles (based on a sample of only
just begun. Because the demand for pedes- seventy one bicycle work commute trips reported
trian and bicycle facilities often outstrips by respondents). Of those surveyed, the average
the available funds, implementation requires distance for all bicycle trips was about two miles
(sample of 1,851 total trips). See Federal Highway
vigilance, flexibility, and creativity. Public Administration, National Household Travel Survey
agency staff, working with pedestrian and 2001 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Transpor-
bicycle advisory committee(s), should con- tation, 2001), nhts.ornl.gov/download.shtml.
12 Awarding zoning bonuses to developers who install
stantly be on the lookout for opportunities such amenities in their buildings is one way to
by regularly reviewing road building, repav- encourage bicycle use.
ing, and other maintenance activities. 13 For more information, see TCRP Synthesis 62: Inte-
gration of Bicycles and Transit, onlinepubs.trb.org/
Onlinepubs/tcrp/tcrp_syn_62.pdf (accessed
Notes September 11, 2008).
1 Some of the most vocal initial advocates for improv- 14 For more information, see American Association of
ing U.S. roads were bicycling organizations, active State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO),
around the 1890s. A good reference for how city AASHTO Guide for the Design of Pedestrian Facilities
streets in the United States were transformed from (Washington, D.C.: AASHTO, 2004); AASHTO Guide
being truly multimodal to being dominated by auto- for the Development of Bicycle Facilities (Washington,
mobiles, or “motordom,” is Peter Norton, Fighting D.C.: AASHTO, 1999; updated 2009); Institute of Traffic
Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American Engineers (ITE), ite.org/traffic/; and Context-Sensitive
City (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2008). Solutions in Designing Major Urban Thoroughfares
2 During a 2006 expert panel discussion on what for Walkable Communities (Washington, D.C.: ITE,
makes a community “great,” there was unanimous 2006), ite.org/bookstore/RP036.pdf (accessed
agreement with University of Michigan professor September 3, 2008).
Douglas Kelbaugh’s suggestion that it be safe and 15 Susan Handy, Robert G. Paterson, and Kent Butler,
comfortable for all nondrivers. Planning for Street Connectivity: Getting from Here
3 See Donald Appleyard, Livable Streets (Berkeley: Uni- to There, PAS Report #515 (Chicago: APA Planners
versity of California Press, 1981); Donald Appleyard Press, 2004).
and Daniel T. Smith, Improving the Residential Street 16 The regional government of Portland (Oregon) Metro
Environment (Washington, D.C.: Federal Highway requires street connectivity in its regional transpor-
Administration, 1981); Bruce Appleyard, “Home in the tation plan and in the development codes and design
Zone: Creating Livable Streets in the US,” Planning standards of its constituent local governments as
(October 2006): 30–35. follows: local and arterial streets must be spaced
4 Department of the Environment, Transport and the no more than 530 feet apart (except where barriers
Regions (DETR), Road Safety Strategy: Current Prob- exist); bicycle and pedestrian connections must be
lems and Future Solutions (London: DETR, 1997). made (via pathways or on road right-of-ways) every
5 Eric Dumbaugh, “Safe Streets, Livable Streets,” 330 feet; and cul de sacs (or dead-end streets), which
Journal of the American Planning Association 71, no.3 are discouraged, can be no longer than 200 feet and
(2005): 283–300. have no more than twenty-five dwelling units.
6 Peter Lyndon Jacobsen, “Safety in Numbers: More 17 The space occupied by a bicycle and its rider is
Walkers and Bicyclists, Safer Walking and Bicycling,” relatively modest. Generally, bicycles are between 24
Journal of Injury Prevention 9 (2003): 205–209, tsc and 30 inches wide from one end of the handlebars
.berkeley.edu/newsletter/Spring04/JacobsenPaper.pdf to the other. An adult tricycle or a bicycle trailer, on
(accessed September 11, 2008). the other hand, is approximately 32–40 inches wide.
7 Asha Weinstein, Marc Schlossberg, and Katja Irvin, 18 The incorporation of pedestrian and bicycle facilities
“How Far, by Which Route, and Why? A Spatial into design and construction, originally referred
Analysis of Pedestrian Preference,” Journal of Urban to as “routine accommodation,” is now commonly
Design 13, no. 1 (2008): 81–98. known as “completing the streets,” which includes
11255-07_CH07.indd 373 12/22/08 2:47:02 PM

a movement toward retrofitting existing streets; see Figure 7–11 While much of the development next to
completethestreets.org.
19 Crosswalks in commercial areas should be at least
Dallas Area Rapid Transit stations is “transit adjacent”
twelve feet wide to allow people to flow in both direc- rather than “transit oriented,” one notable exception
tions. On wide streets, crossing islands with a median is Mockingbird Station, an assemblage of offices,
nose provide added protection. The clear path for
pedestrians through the median island should be six shops, restaurants, and lofts linked directly to a light-
feet. Countdown signals that let pedestrians know rail station via a welcoming pedestrian bridge.
how much time they have left to cross reduce stress
and accidents. See Paul Zykofsky and Dan Burden,
“Walkability,” in Planning and Urban Design Standards
(Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2006), 478–480.
20 For more information, see City of Portland, Office of
Transportation, “What Is a Bike Box,” portlandonline
.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=185112 (accessed
September 11, 2008).
21 Several good examples of pedestrian and bicycle
plans can be accessed from the Pedestrian and
Bicycle Information Center; see, for example,
walkinginfo.org/develop/sample-plans.cfm and
bicyclinginfo.org/develop/sample-plans.cfm
(accessed September 9, 2008).
22 See, for example, Arizona Department of Transpor-
tation, Multimodal Planning Division, “Statewide
Bicycle & Pedestrian Plan” (2005), azbikeped.org/
statewide-bicycle-pedestrian-intro.html (accessed Source: Dallas Area Rapid Transit
September 11, 2008).
23 Center for Health Training, Safe Routes to School: Prac-
tice and Promise (Washington, D.C.: National Highway four miles north of downtown Dallas, and
Traffic Safety Administration, 2004), nhtsa.dot.gov/ Fruitvale Transit Village (Figure 7–12), located
people/injury/pedbimot/bike/Safe-Routes-2004/
index.html (accessed September 11, 2008). in downtown Oakland, would have been
24 Undertaking pedestrian and bicycle survey counts can unimaginable in the 1980s.
also be helpful, but such counts provide a snapshot
of people who currently bike or walk, not necessarily TOD is very much an antidote to sprawl. By
information about the routes they want to take (they attracting a mix of residences, businesses,
may be avoiding a hazardous route or intersection)
shops, and civic activities within a quarter of
or about the actual number of people who might be
walking or cycling if facilities were improved. a mile—that is, within walking distance—of an
25 Marc Schlossberg, Asha Weinstein, and Katja Irvin, urban railway station, TOD can draw people
“An Assessment of GIS-Enabled Walkability Audits,”
to transit and thereby relieve traffic conges-
URISA Journal 19, no. 2 (2007): 5–11.
26 For more information, see the Sidewalk Master Plan tion and improve air quality. The station and
for the City of Menlo Park at dowlinginc.com/ its immediate surroundings also serve as the
publications.
hub of a community: a focal point for regen-
27 This section of the plan can also guide the operation
of such a group, although it is a good idea to allow
the group some flexibility to make certain decisions—
Figure 7–12 Despite the many hurdles that stood
for example, how often it should meet, how decisions
should be made, how many members will constitute between concept and reality, Oakland’s Fruitvale
a quorum—on its own, to be reviewed perhaps on an Transit Village has taken shape as an inner-city,
annual basis.
transit-oriented redevelopment project boasting a
retail area with an international theme, a large
pedestrian plaza, and community services that include
FOCUS ON
a state-of-the-art health care facility and a child care
center.
Transit-oriented
development
Robert Cervero
When it comes to transit and urbanism,
America is in the midst of a sea change. In
once car-dominant settings, yesterday’s
design templates are being discarded in
favor of transit-oriented development (TOD).
Mixed-use TODs in such diverse settings as
Mockingbird Station (Figure 7–11), located Source: Unity Council, Oakland, California
11255-07_CH07.indd 374 12/22/08 2:47:03 PM

eration in stagnant neighborhoods and for walkable community with urban amenities.
design and new construction in greenfields. According to the Urban Land Institute and
The growing popularity of TOD in the United PriceWaterhouseCoopers, up to one-third of
States stems from three key factors. First, newly formed households in rail-served U.S.
TOD is the most cogent form of smart metropolitan areas are receptive to transit-
growth: everyone “gets it.” Citizens, politi- oriented living.1 Third, TOD reflects the kind
cians, and planners alike understand that if of urban-form outcomes that would occur if
there is a logical place to concentrate urban automobile travel were priced to reflect con-
growth, it is in and around transit stations. gestion and environmental impacts. Urban
Second, demographic and lifestyle trends economists have long prescribed congestion
are working in favor of TOD. For a growing pricing as a cure for “arterialsclerosis.” If
number of Americans, including childless U.S. cities introduced the kind of conges-
couples, members of Generation X, and tion charges currently found in Singapore,
empty nesters, living around transit is a Stockholm, and London, they too would
quality-of-life issue: it offers convenience, have more compact, mixed-use development
access, and the opportunity to live in a around major transit nodes.
Arlington County, Virginia: A transit-oriented success story

In the years between 1978 and 2008, Arlington County, Virginia, experienced more
mixed use, mid- to high-rise development along a rail corridor than any other place in
the United States. Since the opening of Washington’s Metrorail in 1978, this twenty-
six-square-mile county just south of the nation’s capital has witnessed a tremendous
increase in building activity, adding more than 25 million square feet of office space,
over 4 million square feet of retail space, some 25,000 mixed-income dwelling units,
and over 6,500 hotel rooms.1 Of the nearly 190,000 people living in Arlington County,
26 percent reside within a Metrorail corridor (shown as the shaded areas in the
accompanying figure), even though these corridors make up only 8 percent of the
land area in the county.2 If the development along these two corridors had been built
at suburban densities, such as those in neighboring Fairfax County, seven times as
much land area would have been required.
Source: Robert
Cervero et al.,
Transit Oriented
Development in
America: Experiences,
Challenges, and
Prospects, Report 102
(Washington, D.C.:
Transit Cooperative
Research Program,
2004), 153.
The addition of more than 35 million square feet of new development along two rail-
served radial corridors—Rosslyn to Ballston and Jefferson Davis—was hardly the result
of good fortune or happenstance. The transformation of once-rural Arlington County
into a showcase for TOD is the product of ambitious, tightly focused station-area
planning and investment.
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Before the arrival of Metrorail, Arlington County planners understood that high-
performance transit would provide an unprecedented opportunity to shape future
growth. The first step was to prepare countywide and station-area plans featuring
desired land use outcomes, density and setback configurations, and circulation sys-
tems. Zoning classifications were then changed so that developments that complied
with the new classifications could proceed unencumbered; other strategies included
targeted infrastructure improvements and developer incentives.
Enabling developers to create TODs as of right was particularly important because

it allowed them to line up capital, secure loans, incur upfront costs, and phase in
construction without fear that local government would change its mind. Another
key factor was the decision not to position the county’s rail corridor in the median of
Interstate 66, which would have suppressed development potential. Instead, county
officials persuaded the region’s transit authority to align the Metrorail corridor with
existing urban centers in order to help jump-start urban regeneration.
Arlington County’s transit ridership statistics reveal the value of concentrated growth
along rail corridors. With 39.3 percent of Metrorail corridor residents commuting to
work by public transit, the county boasts one of the highest percentages of transit
use in the Washington, D.C., region.3 Outside the Metrorail corridors, only about
20 percent of residents use public transit, suggesting that self-selection is at work: for
those who live along the corridors, the desire to commute by transit is a key factor in
choosing where to live. Further, evidence of self-selection can be found in the fact that
two-thirds of employed residents in several apartments and condominium projects
near the Rosslyn and Ballston stations take transit to work.4
Arlington County’s TODs have also significantly “de-generated” automobile traffic.

A 2007 survey found that for residents of the Quincy Park and Meridian apartment
complexes, which are near Arlington’s Metrorail stations, average number of daily
automobile trips per dwelling unit were 70 to 90 percent lower than those that
had been predicted by the Institute of Transportation Engineer’s Trip Generation
manual.5
Balanced two-way travel flows—which stem from balanced job and housing growth—
have been an important outcome of mixed-use development along Arlington County’s
rail corridors. Counts of station entries and exits in Arlington County were nearly
equal during both peak and off-peak hours.6 During the morning rush hours, many of
the county’s Metrorail stations are both trip origins and destinations, meaning that
trains and buses are full in both directions. The presence of so much activity—retail,
entertainment, and hotels—along the county’s Metrorail corridors also fills trains and
buses during midday and on weekends. With the exception of downtown Washington,
D.C., Arlington County averages higher shares of transit boardings and alightings at
its stations during off-peak hours than any other jurisdiction in the region. Balanced,
mixed-use development has translated into a ridership profile that is as close to a
24/7 profile as any U.S. setting outside of a central business district.
1 Robert Cervero et al., Transit Oriented Development in America: Experiences, Challenges, and Prospects,
TCRP Report 102 (Washington, D.C.: Transit Cooperative Research Program, 2004), 152, gulliver.trb.org/
publications/tcrp/tcrp_rpt_102.pdf (accessed September 4, 2008).
2 Ibid., 235.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid., 245; Robert Cervero, “Transit Oriented Development’s Ridership Bonus: A Product of Self Selection and
Public Policies,” Environment and Planning A 39 (2007): 2068–2085.
5 Robert Cervero, Effects of TOD on Housing, Parking and Travel, TCRP Report 128 (Washington, D.C.: Transit
Cooperative Research Program, August 2008), 62, reconnectingamerica.org/public/download/tcrp128
6 Cervero et al., Transit Oriented Development in America, 246.
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Challenges of transit-oriented sive TOD zoning districts, such as those in

development Denver, Portland (Oregon), San Diego, and
Seattle, include lower requirements for car
As of 2008, there were more than a
parking and sometimes even mandate the
hundred TODs in the United States, cen-
provision of bicycle parking. San Diego, for
tered on commuter-rail, light-rail, and bus
instance, recommends parking reductions
rapid-transit systems.2 Like most forms of
as high as 15 percent for urban TODs.
compact, mixed-use development, however,
TOD raises a number of issues. One is the Other commonly used tools include fund-
“congestion conundrum”—the fact that ing for station-area planning and capital
nodal development around a transit station improvements; density bonuses, which are
increases congestion in the immediate area, sometimes used to encourage affordable
prompting not-in-my-backyard responses housing; and relaxation of parking stan-
and leading, in some cases, to downzoning dards. Next in terms of frequency of use are
around stations. land-based tools, including land purchases
on the open market (for land banking and
Another challenge is the conflict between
potential deal making) and assistance with
“places” and “nodes”—that is, the difficulty
land assemblage. For the most part, these
of undertaking place making while ensuring
land-based tools have been used by rede-
access to multiple modes of transportation.
velopment agencies, which means that
Often, the “node” wins out, resulting in sta-
their application has been limited mainly to
tion roads and parking layouts that detract
blighted or economically depressed settings.
from the walking experience.
Because of the higher risk involved in such
Finally, TODs suffer from the imposition of projects, funding from multiple sources—
parking requirements that are not appro- sometimes a dozen or more participants—is
priate to their needs. By their very nature, often required.
transit stations offer “location efficiency,”
enabling residents to get by with fewer cars Notes
than they might otherwise own. At the Alma 1 Urban Land Institute and PriceWaterhouseCoopers
Place housing project in Palo Alto, Califor- LLP, Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2006 (Washing-
ton, D.C.: Urban Land Institute, 2006).
nia, for example, which is just two blocks
2 Robert Cervero et al., Transit Oriented Development
from a Caltrain commuter-rail station, peak- in America: Experiences, Challenges, and Prospects,
hour parking demand is just four-tenths of a TCRP Report 102 (Washington, D.C.: Transit Coopera-
tive Research Program, 2004), gulliver.trb.org/
parking space per unit, even though parking
publications/tcrp/tcrp_rpt_102.pdf (accessed
is free. Yet lenders and planners often insist September 4, 2008).
that parking in station areas meet standard 3 Ibid.
codes, which unnecessarily drives up the
cost of station-area housing.
FOCUS ON
Implementing transit-oriented
development
A survey of planners in U.S. cities that have
Promoting housing
TODs casts light on the kinds of implemen-
tation tools being used to encourage TOD.3
affordability
According to its findings, zoning, usually in
the form of overlays, is the most commonly
Rachel G. Bratt
used implementation tool. Most overlay
Housing typically represents the great
zones are introduced on an interim basis
majority of built structures in any locality.
to head off auto-oriented uses that might
The location and types of housing depend
compromise a future TOD and to ensure
on a combination of public and private
that desired land uses, such as housing
decisions.
and convenience shops, are permitted as of
right. For urban TODs, densities of twenty Despite the national housing goal first
to thirty dwelling units per residential acre declared by Congress in 1949, we still have not
and floor-area ratios of 1.0 and above are provided “a decent home and a suitable living
not uncommon. Some of the more progres- environment for every American family.”1
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Nonetheless, many innovative strategies have arrangements. During the 1980s, however,
been developed to create and preserve decent the federal role changed. With “devolution,”
housing that is within the reach of lower- the federal government’s responsibilities
income households.2 were shifted to lower levels of government,
which were expected to fill in the gaps in both
For much of the twentieth century, the prin-
funding and program development. Prior to
cipal housing problems were overcrowding
1980 there were only forty-four state-funded
and inadequate physical structures. By the
housing programs, and the bulk of these
1980s, however, discussions of housing were
were operating in three states: California,
dominated by concerns about affordabil-
Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Thanks to
ity, particularly for households with lower
significant increases in state spending, state
incomes. Among such households, a number
housing programs proliferated—and, with this
of groups—including people of color, women-
growth in state-based housing activity, non-
headed households, large households,
profit developers came to play an important
renters, and people with disabilities—confront
role in delivering low- and moderate-income
disproportionately large housing problems.3
housing.6
Current federal housing programs are still
By the 1980s, however, discussions of implemented through state and local govern-
housing were dominated by concerns ments. For example, state housing finance
about affordability, particularly for agencies use the proceeds from federal
households with lower incomes. tax-exempt bonds to lend money to first-
time homeowners whose incomes are below
certain levels, and to developers of multifam-
The phrase affordable housing typically ily housing who set aside a certain percent-
refers to housing that (1) is targeted to age of units for affordable housing. The U.S.
lower-income households (i.e., low-income Department of Housing and Urban Develop-
households, which earn less than 80 per- ment (HUD) funds rental-housing voucher
cent; very low income households, which programs administered by local public
earn less than 50 percent; and extremely housing authorities and also provides mod-
low income households, which earn less ernization funds that allow such authorities
than 30 percent of area median income), to make improvements to their properties.
and (2) costs no more than 30 percent of HUD also provides funds for housing to local
household income.4 Some analysts, nota- jurisdictions through the HOME Investment
bly Michael E. Stone, have criticized the Partnership program, as well as through the
threshold of 30 percent, arguing that for Community Development Block Grant pro-
households with extremely low incomes, gram. The federal Low Income Housing Tax
paying even 30 percent of income for hous- Credit (LIHTC) program allocates tax credits
ing would severely compromise their ability through state housing finance agencies.
to meet other needs.5
State and local governments have shown
Housing is a key planning issue. Virtually any a great deal of creativity in devising and
community development or local planning supporting programs to meet their housing
initiative depends heavily on the quality of needs. These efforts fall into six major cat-
the area’s housing stock and on its potential egories: affordable-housing goals, state and
for improvement. In addition, particularly in local appropriations, new revenue sources,
areas that are gentrifying, preserving afford- innovative regulations, incentives, and inter-
able housing (e.g., through subsidies) is often ventions in land and housing markets.
critical for households that would otherwise
be priced out of the market. Affordable-housing goals
From the 1930s to the 1970s, the federal To mobilize all sectors that have a role to
government was the major funder and initia- play in ensuring housing affordability, many
tor of housing programs targeted to low- state and local governments have articulated
income families, and the great majority of strong housing goals, often in the form of
federally assisted housing was built by local target numbers of units to be created or pre-
housing authorities or by private for-profit served. In 2004, for example, to galvanize the
sponsors, in limited dividend partnership efforts of affordable-housing professionals,
11255-07_CH07.indd 378 12/22/08 2:47:05 PM

Arizona governor Janet Napolitano launched affordable housing through a variety of

an annual Housing Forum; she also created mechanisms noted earlier, to produce new
the Interagency and Community Council on units, federal funding typically needs to be
Homelessness, whose mandate is to develop supplemented by other public and private
a state plan to end homelessness.7 In 2006, funds.
New Jersey released a housing policy and
Many states have created programs that
status report that included governor John
mirror and reinforce the federal programs.
Corzine’s statewide housing goal: to produce,
A handful of states, including Connecti-
preserve, and finance 100,000 affordable
cut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and New York,
housing units in ten years.8
have state-based public housing programs;
At the municipal level, mayors have followed Massachusetts and New York, among other
suit, sometimes in concert with wider devel- states, also have a history of developing
opment initiatives. In 2003, New York City affordable housing by providing subsidies
mayor Michael Bloomberg launched the New through various types of public-private
Housing Marketplace Plan, which called for partnership programs. Fourteen states
some 65,000 affordable housing units to be have their own LIHTC programs, often used
funded within five years; by early 2006, the in conjunction with the federal tax credit
target had been revised upward to 165,000 program;11 several also have state-based
units within ten years.9 rental-voucher programs.
In some states, affordable-housing goals A number of state and local governments

have been explicitly connected to land use have created housing programs targeted
planning initiatives. For example, Oregon’s to particular subgroups, such as elderly
Statewide Planning Goal 10 directs munici- or homeless people, or for specific types
of housing producers, such as nonprofits
pal or county governments to develop
organizations. During the 1970s and 1980s,
new zoning plans that allow housing to be
for example, Massachusetts developed a
constructed at greater densities.10 California
sophisticated and fairly comprehensive set
requires local assessments of housing needs
of initiatives, many of which still exist, to
and goals, along with detailed analyses of
support housing development through com-
population, employment, and other trends.
munity development corporations.12 Some
local and state governments have developed
State and local appropriations emergency rental-assistance programs that
Developing a funding formula is critical provide various forms of assistance, such
to the effectiveness of any state or local as security deposits for homeless individu-
affordable-housing initiative. While the als and families, transitional support, and
federal government currently subsidizes energy subsidies.13
Figure 7–13 Amory

Street Residences in
Roxbury, Massachusetts,
comprise 64 new
construction affordable
rental units in three
buildings. This photo
shows a four-story,
8-unit townhouse building
in the foreground, and a
six-story, 47-unit building
in the rear.
Source: Urban Edge
11255-07_CH07.indd 379 12/22/08 2:47:05 PM

New revenue sources that meet certain targets for lending to speci-
State and local governments have been fied groups are given preferential treatment
creative in their efforts to raise funding for by governments seeking to invest public
affordable housing to supplement direct funds. Chicago has been even more pro-
appropriations. Housing trust funds—that active, with legislation that specifically bars
is, income streams that are dedicated to the city from doing business with predatory
housing—can be funded in a number of lenders or affiliated banks.17
ways: from the interest on escrow accounts, Finally, tax increment financing (TIF) has
from sales of abandoned or publicly owned been used to support affordable housing.
property, or from land transfer taxes. Some Under TIF arrangements, increased tax rev-
localities, particularly those with extremely enues expected from new development are
active housing markets, have created an pledged to cover the costs of public improve-
across-the-board transfer tax on all property ments such as roads and schools; a percent-
being sold. Florida has had a real estate age of the anticipated new revenues can also
transfer tax dedicated to affordable housing be earmarked for affordable housing.18
since 1992; in 2004, this tax yielded nearly
$2 billion in revenues. Similar measures Innovative regulations
exist in thirty-four other states, plus the
Some state and local regulations that pro-
District of Columbia, but Florida’s revenues
mote affordable-housing development, such
are by far the largest.14
as state-based fair-housing laws, mirror
In Massachusetts, the Community Preserva- federal statutes. Others are uniquely local.
tion Act gives local governments the option
of adopting a new tax (up to a 3 percent sur- Inclusionary zoning and linkage programs
charge on the property tax), the proceeds of are two popular means of harnessing
which are matched, dollar for dollar, by state growth to support affordable housing.
funds. The act is designed to enable locali- Under inclusionary zoning, developers are
ties to develop their own affordable-housing required to set aside a fixed percentage
programs and to support historic preserva- of units for rent or sale to lower-income
tion and the acquisition or improvement households. The first inclusionary zoning
of open space. As of mid-2008, 133 Mas- program was created in 1974 in Montgomery
sachusetts municipalities (out of 351) had County, Maryland. In the late 1990s, a num-
approved a surcharge under this legislation. ber of large cities, including Boston, Denver,
Sacramento, San Diego, and San Francisco,
Although not widely used, regional revenue adopted inclusionary zoning laws. According
sharing is another potentially effective to a 2003 overview of the eighteen major
strategy for affordable-housing develop- inclusionary zoning programs, more than
ment. Under model programs in effect in 23,000 units have been produced, half of
Dayton, Ohio, and Minneapolis–St. Paul, which are located in Montgomery County.19
each municipality in the region contributes
to a pool (contributions are based on the Under linkage programs, developers of com-
growth in the jurisdiction’s tax base).15 The mercial properties must either contribute
revenues may then be redistributed either to a designated housing fund, or construct
to low-growth areas, or to high-growth areas or rehabilitate affordable-housing units
that are particularly resistant to developing at another location. The justification for
affordable housing. linkage programs is that they offset the
increases in housing prices created by new
A number of municipalities and states have
development. Linkage payments can be a
leveraged their own funds to encourage
source of funds for a housing trust fund.
banks to meet the credit needs of low-income
households and communities. While the Linkage requirements can be thought of as
federal government has created an important “sticks,” but local governments also offer
tool through the Community Reinvestment various “carrots.” In some localities, for
Act of 1977 (which has been supplemented by example, developers may be eligible for a
similar legislation in at least three states— variety of tax abatements. Or they may be
Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York),16 permitted to make payments in lieu of taxes
localities have also created “linked deposit” with the proceeds going toward develop-
programs, under which financial institutions ments that include affordable housing. For
11255-07_CH07.indd 380 12/22/08 2:47:06 PM

example, the development of Battery Park conversion and tightly regulates the rents
City in New York generated a funding pool that may be charged during the transition
that helped create thousands of affordable period, Washington, D.C., goes further: ten-
units elsewhere in the city. ants have the right to purchase the building,
and are also eligible for technical assistance
Rent control, which has been adopted at
in making the purchase and for financial
various times in a number of locales, puts a
help from the city government.
cap on rents or rent increases. Not surpris-
ingly, rent control is always highly contro- Many local governments have changed
versial and is typically opposed by the real their zoning regulations to allow acces-
estate industry. sory apartments, which can be a useful
A number of state and local governments way to encourage the creation of rental
promote housing stability by protecting units within existing homes. Still another
residents from evictions. While federal law approach is to place governmental restric-
requires “just cause” for evictions from tions on the ability of private developers
federally subsidized developments, Califor- to convert rental housing to nonresiden-
nia, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and New tial uses. For example, property owners
York are among the states with their own who undertake such conversions may be
“just cause” statutes, which protect tenants required to replace each unit that is lost, or
who live in privately owned, nonsubsidized to deposit a commensurate amount into a
rental housing. Several municipalities have housing trust fund.
instituted similar provisions.20 These laws
Local governments may also restrict sales in
protect tenants who do not have a lease
the private market. Such initiatives are gen-
from being evicted without reasonable
erally designed to prevent blockbusting (in
grounds (e.g., failure to pay rent, illegal or
which real estate agents induce panic selling
destructive use of the property).
in a neighborhood by claiming that the racial
composition is changing). Where significant
increases in property values have driven up
Many local governments have changed
property taxes, some local governments have
their zoning regulations to allow
instituted “circuitbreakers,” a form of prop-
accessory apartments, which can be a
erty tax relief that limits property taxes for
useful way to encourage the creation of
members of certain groups, such as elderly,
rental units within existing homes.
disabled, or very low income residents.
A number of state and local governments
Condominium conversion ordinances are have linked funding subsidies to long-term
another strategy for protecting tenants. restrictions on use, guaranteeing the afford-
While most such legislation requires land- ability of housing in such projects for several
lords to notify tenants well in advance of the decades, for the “useful life” of the property,
Figure 7–14 Northgate

Apartments in Burlington,
Vermont, contain 336
units of mixed-income
family housing. The
development is owned by
Northgate Housing, Inc.,
a local nonprofit
consisting of residents of
Northgate and commu-
nity representatives, in
partnership with Housing
Vermont, a statewide
nonprofit developer.
Source: Acadia Davis
11255-07_CH07.indd 381 12/22/08 2:47:06 PM

or in perpetuity. Vermont has been a pio- to build, as long as the number of affordable
neer in developing mechanisms to preserve units meets the required target.
access for low-income households to feder-
Even before the New Jersey cases, Massa-
ally subsidized developments where use
chusetts had pioneered a statute that had
restrictions were expiring. In the Northgate
many of the same components as the fair-
Apartments in Burlington (Figure 7–14), for share requirement. Since 1969, Massachu-
example, absentee investors were bought setts’s Chapter 40B has required all cities
out through a partnership arrangement in and towns to ensure that, at any given time,
which the residents assumed a controlling at least 10 percent of their housing stock is
interest.21 affordable to low-income households. Under
the statute, if 25 percent of the units in a
Incentives
given project are set aside for low-income
One of the best-known state housing goals households, the developer may be eligible
was articulated by the New Jersey Supreme to bypass zoning requirements for minimum
Court in two landmark cases, known as lot size, density, and provisions that are not
Mt. Laurel I and Mt. Laurel II.22 In 1975, in related to health or environmental protec-
Mt. Laurel I, the court directed all communi- tion. Since the 1970s, Chapter 40B has
ties in New Jersey to create zoning regula- resulted in the production of nearly 50,000
tions designed to accommodate housing for units, slightly more than one-half of which
low- and moderate-income households. Eight are occupied by households earning 80 per-
years later, frustrated by the failure of local cent or less of the area median income.
governments to abide by the ruling, the court
reaffirmed in Mt. Laurel II that local govern- Under another Massachusetts program,
ments have an obligation to provide a “realistic Chapter 40R, enacted in 2004, municipali-
opportunity for low- and moderate-income ties may create special overlay districts in
housing.”23 Builders are required to set aside which single-family homes, townhouses,
20 percent of the units as affordable for low- and condominium apartments may exceed
and moderate-income households within their normal density limits as long as the zoning
predominantly market-rate developments. Any requires that (1) there is a mixture of uses
community that has not met its “fair share” of and (2) at least 20 percent of the units are
affordable housing, as specified by the state’s affordable. As an incentive for creating such
Council on Affordable Housing, which was overlay districts and establishing a stream-
created by New Jersey’s 1985 Fair Housing lined development process for these areas,
Act, is vulnerable to a court-ordered directive local governments may receive between
that trumps any objections on the part of the $10,000 and $600,000 in state funding, as
town and that guarantees a builder the right well as $3,000 for each new home created.
Figure 7–15 Urban Edge,

a nonprofit community
development corporation
in Boston, partnered with
the Pine Street Inn, which
operates a homeless
shelter in Boston, to
develop Egleston
Crossing—three buildings
of affordable rental units
situated over retail
establishments. Of the 64
units, 31 are occupied by
formerly homeless
households; the rest, by
lower-income households.
One of the three buildings
is shown here.
Source: Urban Edge
11255-07_CH07.indd 382 12/22/08 2:47:08 PM

Many localities nonetheless resist accept- approach, land banking, land is purchased or
ing their fair share of affordable housing. otherwise set aside for future use, protec-
Among the reasons frequently cited are tion, or development. Creating an inventory
increased traffic, negative environmental of land that is available for development
impacts, and added school costs. To address is an important first step in an affordable-
the concern about school costs, Massa- housing program—and, in view of the rising
chusetts created Chapter 40S, which will cost of land in many parts of the country,
provide state subsidies to cover the net acquiring and setting aside land for afford-
increase in education costs that will result able housing should be a high priority.
from affordable housing built under the Many state and local governments have
Chapter 40R program. created public-private partnerships in which
A number of state and local governments publicly owned land is made available on a
have also created incentives for developers preferential basis (at very low or no cost) to
who build housing designed for people with for-profit or nonprofit developers who com-
special needs, such as those with physical mit to developing housing. Such develop-
handicaps (as in California) and the elderly ments are typically targeted to households
(as in Connecticut). In another type of local with a mix of incomes, with a set percentage
incentive program, impact fees are based on of the units designated as affordable. They
the size of the home and are therefore lower usually rely on a number of federal financ-
for affordable homes.24 ing sources and subsidy mechanisms (such
as tax-exempt financing and LIHTCs), and
Finally, large private firms, such as on a combination of several of the state and
McCormack Baron, have used LIHTCs local approaches discussed in this article.
(as well as other forms of state and local
Another option is a community land trust
government support) to construct mixed-
(CLT). CLTs are relatively new to the United
income developments. Such tax credit
States: the first were created in the 1970s,
projects depend on private investors buying
and about 80 percent of the 200 currently
federal (or, in some locales, state) tax cred-
in existence were established since 1990.
its, which reduce their income tax liability.
Under the CLT model, land and buildings are
The proceeds from the sale of the tax cred-
legally separate; land is owned by a non-
its are used to develop the housing.
profit corporation, and occupants own their
homes (and any improvements)—with resale
Interventions in land restrictions—on a ninety-nine-year ground
and housing markets lease. Since most land trusts are new and
A number of state and local affordable- small, production of affordable housing has
housing programs involve intervening in the been modest so far: fewer than 10,000 hous-
private land and housing markets. In one ing units are under CLT stewardship.25
Figure 7–16 Thirteen

of the twenty-eight
homeownership units
in Franklin Station
Townhomes in South
Minneapolis, Minnesota,
are market rate; the
remaining fifteen are
affordable units made
available by the City of
Lakes Community Land
Trust.
Source: Powderhorn
Residents Group
11255-07_CH07.indd 383 12/22/08 2:47:09 PM

Increasingly, state and local governments locality needs to thoroughly assess its own
that have used subsidies or measures such needs, resources, and objectives, and then
as inclusionary zoning to promote afford- craft a program that addresses its particular
able homeownership must grapple with the affordability issues.
fact that affordable homes may cease to
be affordable when they are resold. CLTs Notes
and other forms of shared-equity home- 1 Housing Act of 1949, Public Law 171, 63 Stat. 413; 42
ownership have received growing govern- U.S.C. 1441 § 2.
2 In addition to housing needs of lower-income
mental support because they can ensure
households, there is also increasing interest in what
that publicly subsidized, privately owned has become known as “workforce housing”—housing
homes will remain affordable through that is affordable to those who are in the workforce,
often working full time, but who still cannot afford
multiple resales, perhaps forever.26 While
market rentals and homes. Such workers may include
this serves the important public purpose fire and police personnel and schoolteachers. The
of enabling future households to obtain particular issues confronting these groups is beyond
affordable housing, other homeownership the scope of this article, but see, for example, Richard
Haughey, Developing Housing for the Workforce:
programs aimed at lower-income house- A Tool Kit (Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute,
holds attempt to balance the need of those 2007).
households to build assets through home- 3 Good sources of data on housing problems in general
and affordability problems in particular include the
ownership (a vehicle that has strongly U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development;
contributed to asset growth among the Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard Univer-
higher-income groups), while also enabling sity, jchs.harvard.edu/; and the National Low Income
Housing Coalition (NLIHC), nlihc.org/template/
future households to enjoy the benefits of index.cfm (sites accessed September 5, 2008).
affordable homeownership. Various types 4 NLIHC, 2008 Advocates’ Guide to Housing and
of mechanisms are being used that allow Community Development Policy, nlihc.org/doc/
AdvocacyGuide2008-web.pdf (accessed
different levels of capital accumulation
September 5, 2008).
after the homes are occupied for a given 5 Michael E. Stone, Shelter Poverty: New Ideas on
number of years.27 Housing Affordability (Philadelphia: Temple
University Press, 1993).
A number of state governments have 6 Edward Goetz, Shelter Burden: Local and Progres-
sive Housing Policy (Philadelphia: Temple University
intervened in the operation of local land
Press, 1993).
markets by enacting various mechanisms 7 Arizona Department of Housing, Interagency & Com-
to override or otherwise negate local munity Council on Homelessness, housingaz.com/
zoning. For example, in California, which PrintPage153.aspx (accessed September 5, 2008).
8 Department of Community Affairs, The State of New
requires each locality to adopt zoning Jersey Housing Policy and Status Report (August 10,
that is consistent with the housing ele- 2006), nj.gov/dca/housingpolicy06.doc (accessed
ment portion of its comprehensive plan, September 5, 2008).
9 Department of Housing Preservation and Develop-
the state has the ability to nullify that ment, The New Housing Marketplace 2004–2013:
jurisdiction’s zoning if the plan does not Creating Housing for the Next Generation (City of
provide appropriate zoning to meet the New York, 2006), nyc.gov/html/hpd/downloads/pdf/
10yearHMplan.pdf (accessed September 5, 2008).
specified housing needs. Also, as noted 10 See “Oregon’s Statewide Planning Goals & Guidelines,
previously, in Massachusetts (as well as in Goal 10: Housing,” oregon.gov/LCD/docs/goals/
Connecticut, Illinois, and Rhode Island), goal10.pdf (accessed September 5, 2008).
11 ZFacts.com, “LIHTC: Low-Income Housing Tax Credit,”
the state can override local zoning that is
zfacts.com/p/610.html (accessed September 5, 2008).
exclusionary in nature and does not allow 12 Rachel G. Bratt, Rebuilding a Low-Income Housing
the construction of housing that can meet Policy (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1986).
13 Jennifer G. Twombly et al., A Report on State-Funded
the needs of lower-income households,
Rental Assistance Programs: A Patchwork of Small
such as multifamily housing or single- Measures (Washington, D.C.: NLIHC, March 2001),
family housing on small lots. nlihc.org/doc/patchwork.pdf (accessed September 5,
2008).
14 FTA Bulletin, “State Real Estate Transfer Taxes”
Conclusion (Washington, D.C.: Federation of Tax Administrators,
February 16, 2006), taxadmin.org/FTA/rate/B-0306
The six areas of innovation discussed in
.pdf (accessed September 5, 2008).
this article are, of course, not an exhaustive 15 John Emmeus Davis, “Between Devolution and the
catalogue of the dozens of state and local Deep Blue Sea: What’s a City or State to Do?” in
A Right to Housing: Foundation for a New Social
initiatives that promote the development
Agenda, eds. Rachel G. Bratt, Michael E. Stone, and
and preservation of housing that is afford- Chester Hartman (Philadelphia: Temple University
able to lower-income households. Each Press, 2006), 368.
11255-07_CH07.indd 384 12/22/08 2:47:10 PM

16 Federal and state community reinvestment acts current form through a series of pathbreak-
direct banks to meet the credit needs of low- and
moderate-income communities. For a brief descrip-
ing plans, each of which built on the plans
tion, see NLIHC, 2008 Advocates’ Guide to Housing that had preceded it.
and Community Development Policy.
17 Ibid., 369. The first was the so-called Agache Plan
18 Jeffrey Lubell, Increasing the Affordability of Afford- of 1943, also known as the Avenues Plan
able Homes: An Analysis of High-Impact State and
Local Solutions (Washington, D.C: Center for Housing
because it established the circulation
Policy, 2006), 47–51, nhc.org/pdf/chp_hwf_analysis.pdf framework, which consisted of concentric
(accessed September 5, 2008). circles and radial streets. The Master Plan
19 Nicholas Brunick, The Impact of Inclusionary Zoning
on Development (Chicago: Business and Professional
of 1966 built on the Agache Plan, extending
People for the Public Interest, n.d.), 17–18, bpichicago development outward along linear corridors
.org/documents/impact_iz_development.pdf that were based on the routes of a proposed
20 Davis, “Between Devolution and the Deep Blue Sea,”
rapid-transit bus system.
378–379.
21 Brenda Torpey, “Saving Northgate: A Model for Coop- When Jaime Lerner, an innovative young
eration,” Shelterforce 11 (October–November 1988): architect, became mayor in the 1970s, the
13–14. 1966 plan, whose formulation he had led
22 See Southern Burlington County NAACP v. Mount
Laurel Township, 67 N.J. 151 (1975) [Mt. Laurel I]; as a professional and which was adopted
Southern Burlington County NAACP v. Mount Laurel in 1968, had yet to be fully implemented;
Township, 92 N.J. 158 (1983) [Mt. Laurel II]. nevertheless, Lerner capitalized on the
23 Mt. Laurel II.
24 Lubell, Increasing the Affordability of Affordable Homes. concept of transit corridors as the major
25 John Emmeus Davis, private e-mail communication, axes for growth, intensifying development
July 16, 2007. According to a recent survey, 65 percent and allowing a wide mix of uses along the
of the groups responding had developed only about
6,500 units of housing; see Yesim Sungu-Eryilmaz corridors. Under this very early approach to
and Rosalind Greenstein, A National Survey of transit-oriented development, the highest
Community Land Trusts (Cambridge, Mass.: Lincoln
densities were on the transit streets; as one
Institute of Land Policy, 2007).
26 John Emmeus Davis, Shared Equity Homeowner- moved away from these streets, density
ship: The Changing Landscape of Resale-Restricted, declined gradually until it reached the level
Owner-Occupied Housing (Montclair, N.J.: National
of detached, single-family homes a quar-
Housing Institute, 2006).
27 For a discussion of this as well as of other aspects of ter of a mile away from the transit street.
low-income homeownership programs, see Rachel G. This pattern accommodated the greatest
Bratt, “Housing for Low-Income Households: A Com-
possible number of people within walking
parison of the Section 235, Nehemiah and Habitat
for Humanity Programs,” in Chasing the American distance of transit, fostered a gradual transi-
Dream: New Perspectives on Affordable Homeowner- tion between different levels of density, and
ship,” ed. William M. Rohe and Harry L. Watson
optimized views from buildings.
(Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2007), 41–65.
With 1.8 million residents and a

FOCUS ON
metropolitan population of 3.2 million,
Curitiba, Brazil: Curitiba is considered one of the best-

planned cities in the Western hemisphere.
Systems planning A politically astute leader, Lerner rallied
pioneer broad support to implement the 1968 plan.

He also launched the preparation of com-
prehensive plan elements for open space,
Evandro Cardoso dos Santos historic preservation, and urban design, as
well as a series of neighborhood plans.
Curitiba, the capital city of the state of
Paraná, in southeastern Brazil, has become Lerner’s major priority was the transporta-
a global model for urban conservation, pres- tion system. The city assumed responsibility
ervation, development, and transit. With for building the transit infrastructure, but it
1.8 million residents and a metropolitan entered into an early public-private partner-
population of 3.2 million, Curitiba is consid- ship by ceding ownership and maintenance
ered one of the best-planned cities in the of the bus fleet to the private sector, with
Western hemisphere. The city achieved its an appropriate sharing of revenues. There
11255-07_CH07.indd 385 12/22/08 2:47:10 PM

are currently no fewer than eighteen private mental conservation areas, including the
bus companies in the metropolis, each watersheds of three rivers. As a result of the
earning enough to replace its rolling stock plans, the city of Curitiba has 160 square feet
every three years, on average. This has led of urban green space per capita, one of the
to notable efficiencies in transit service and highest averages in the world.
has maintained the popularity of the system.
When the bus line was inaugurated in 1974,
Many of Curitiba’s improvements are
it carried 25,000 passengers per day; by
based on a do-it-yourself approach that
2001, the system carried 1.8 million riders per
encourages individual enterprise.
day—more than five times the number travel-
ing on the Rio de Janeiro subway system,
and at 1 percent of the cost. By 2006, the
Curitiba’s demographic makeup is nota-
system carried 2.3 million riders per day. The
bly diverse. Some of the earliest settlers
economies associated with the bus system
included immigrants from Italy, Poland,
derive, in part, from the size (82 feet) of the
Germany, and the Ukraine. Many of the
bi-articulated buses; the spacing of stations;
incoming groups established ethnic enclaves
the width of the bus doors; and the embarka-
tion and debarkation systems, which consist that serve important social functions—and,
of glass tubes that funnel passengers quickly incidentally, have become tourist attrac-
and comfortably into and out of the buses tions. The city government has put substan-
(Figure 7–17). The tubes provide shelter and tial effort into preserving and enhancing
also impart a futuristic feel to the urban land- these areas. Curitiba has a strong commit-
scape. These features greatly increase the ment generally to historic preservation. The
number of passengers that can be carried, destruction of historically or architectur-
requiring fewer transit workers and a greatly ally significant buildings is prohibited, and
limited infrastructure. the city provides public funds to maintain
the structures—and even provides paint
Lerner and his staff were also determined to for residents, thereby creating a colorful
make the city more livable and “human,” and and dramatic enhancement of the urban
to support sustainability. Toward these ends, landscape. Many of Curitiba’s improvements
two further plans were prepared in 2000 and are based on a do-it-yourself approach that
2004. Designed to promote greater interac- encourages individual enterprise.
tion among Curitiba’s diverse residents and to
create attractive and interesting spaces, the The city and region embarked on major
plans connected the city’s central core to the sustainability programs long before such pro-
larger metropolitan area through a network grams became popular elsewhere in the world.
of parks, a greenbelt, and several environ- It was a pioneer in recycling: as a result of the
Figure 7–17 Well-lit tubes act as station facilities,

ensuring efficient loading, fare collection, and public
safety.
Source: Evandro Cardozo dos Santos
11255-07_CH07.indd 386 12/22/08 2:47:11 PM

Figure 7–18 Linear transit-oriented development along major boulevards provides access to transportation,
protected views from buildings, and transitional density gradients.
Source: Paul H. Sedway
city’s “Garbage That Is Not Garbage” program, by such shifts. The city has been slow to
60 percent of its waste is recycled. Moreover, respond and has not added adequate dedi-
the program created social and economic cated bus lanes downtown or new rolling
benefits for the poor: to encourage recycling, stock. A 17 percent decline in bus patronage
the city traded milk for recyclable waste. between 2001 and 2008 has led to calls for
a complementary light-rail system.
Since 2000, Curitiba has been subject to
potent external forces—intensified by the The search for solutions to the city’s prob-
city’s own success and by Brazil’s booming lems has led to an emphasis on continuous
economy—that have strained its systems and public input and to the introduction of the
led to a decline in its superlative quality of Brazilian equivalent of the environmental
life. Although Curitiba has attracted many impact report, further slowing decisive pub-
affluent, middle-class in-migrants, massive lic action. Yet Curitiba continues to be one
migration from the countryside has created of the most interesting cities in the planning
high-density, low-income settlements in the world. A federal highway that traversed
greenbelt, threatening that key constraining the urban area has been replaced by a ring
program. Limits on business identification road. The city has used the opportunity to
signs are becoming harder to enforce, the make the old highway the focus of a major
streets seem more cluttered and dangerous, new transit-oriented development program
and graffiti is more prevalent. launched by Curitiba’s Institute of Planning.
The effort will include transfers of develop-
Phenomenal population growth—13 percent
ment rights, density incentives, defensible-
between 2000 and 2008—has been accom-
space standards that will prohibit high
panied by a car ownership rate of 2.3 people
security walls (which are regarded as secu-
per car, one of the highest in Brazil. Even
rity risks in themselves), and an innovative
with gas at $5.35 a gallon, cars are clogging
and transparent “zoning for sale” system to
the downtown streets, leading to previously
help finance needed infrastructure.
unknown levels of traffic and slowing the
famed bus system. The changes in traffic Curitiba remains a city that has the courage
patterns have also revealed the vulner- to fight ineluctable and potent forces with
ability of the bus system; subsurface transit new responses. It has done so in the past
in other large cities remains unaffected and prevailed.
11255-07_CH07.indd 387 12/22/08 2:47:12 PM

FOCUS ON river basin planning. The TVA’s system of

dams on the Tennessee River and its tribu-
The urban watershed taries was designed to enhance navigation,

generate hydropower, alleviate floods, and
create new water recreation opportunities.
Rutherford H. Platt This program became a model for multipur-
pose river development around the world.
A watershed—also known as a drainage basin,
catchment area, or river basin—is a land area In 1938, at the urging of New Deal water
from which surface runoff from storms, melt- policy experts, Congress mandated that
ing snow, groundwater seepage, or sewage federal water projects be economically
discharges flows by gravity to a particular justified through cost-benefit analysis,
watercourse, lake, or tidewater. Watersheds an approach that helped to improve the
are separated by divides, which are hydro- economic efficiency of water investments
logic boundaries delineated by the direction but largely ignored the less easily quantified
of surface flow. Divides typically follow the environmental and social impacts of river
ridgelines of higher topographic elevations. basin development.
Internally, a watershed is a hierarchical drain-
The Federal Water Resources Planning Act
age system that resembles a tree: the prin-
of 1964 marked the beginning of a transition
cipal watercourse is the trunk, and tributary
from river basin development, which relied
and subtributary streams are the branches
on the structural modification of natural
and twigs. Thus, a watershed is the geo-
waterways, toward water resource manage-
graphic sum of its tributary subwatersheds.
ment, which involved a broader range of
Under the standard Strahler taxonomy, the goals, means, and stakeholders at the water-
various levels of streams and watersheds are shed scale. The National Environmental
commonly categorized by “order.” The very Protection Act of 1969 and the Clean Water
smallest identifiable watercourses are “first legislation of the 1970s helped to provide
order”; where two first-order streams meet, a legal basis for challenging proposed new
a “second order” stream is formed, and so on federal water projects on the grounds of
up to the Mississippi River, which is a “10,” the their potential environmental impacts. Since
highest in the continental United States. The this legislation was passed, few new dams
U.S. Geological Survey uses four classifica- or other projects have been constructed on
tion levels for the nation’s drainage systems: major rivers of the United States because of
water resource regions (21 in number); environmental as well as fiscal constraints.
subregions (222); hydrologic accounting units
(352); and cataloging units, sometimes called Urban watershed management
watersheds (2,150).1 During the 1990s, the focus of public inter-
est in watershed management began to shift
From river basin development to from the largest river basins to the small
water resource management watersheds of local streams, creeks, brooks,
Watersheds have long been recognized as bayous, and kills—particularly those that
appropriate geographic units for the formula- traverse urban or metropolitan areas. Dense
tion of policies and programs that address networks of local streams make up the
water supply, water quality, flooding, ecologi- largest percentage of stream miles affected
cal habitat, recreation, and scenic amenities. by urbanization. Their watersheds range in
Since antiquity, humans have sought to adapt size from a few hundred square miles (e.g.,
natural waterways for purposes such as the Anacostia River in metropolitan Wash-
navigation, irrigation, water supply, and flood ington, D.C. [Figure 7–19]; the Charles River
mitigation. During the nineteenth and early in Boston; the Milwaukee River) to a few
twentieth centuries, dams, levees, canals, and square miles (the 6.5-square-mile micro-
other structural modifications were under- basin drained by Pittsburgh’s Nine Mile Run
taken across the United States. Typically, [Figure 7–20]). Depending on their size and
such projects ignored environmental and the regional climate, the average flows of
downstream impacts. In the 1930s, however, such streams range from a few thousand
the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) intro- cubic feet per second to virtually zero in
duced a broader perspective: comprehensive arid regions. Urban watersheds overlay com-
11255-07_CH07.indd 388 12/22/08 2:47:14 PM

plex political geographies—major and minor Most urban streams are rife with manage-
governments, special districts, institutions, ment issues (see the sidebar on page 390).
and private ownerships—all of which have Many of these streams have been altered by
a voice in the management of their shared structures and activities such as channeliza-
streams and watersheds. tion, dams, diversions, the dredging and filling
of wetlands, waste discharges, and stream-
bank stabilization. Typically, both surface- and
Figure 7–19 The Anacostia River Watershed, which
groundwater quality have been impaired by
drains 176 square miles, has its headwaters in suburban
many sources of pollution, including combined
Montgomery and Prince Georges counties in Maryland;
sewer overflows in cities and failing septic sys-
its lower portion is straddled by Washington, D.C.
tems in outlying areas. Leachate from landfills
and excess nutrients from landscape fertilizers
promote eutrophication. The replacement of
natural soils and vegetation with impervious
land cover (rooftops and pavement) yields
more frequent and destructive flood flows—
which, in turn, worsen stream-bank erosion
and aggravate sedimentation in downstream
ponds and lakes.2 Withdrawals for landscape
irrigation may reduce average stream flows
during dry seasons, as in the Charles and
Mystic River watersheds in eastern Massachu-
setts.3 Reduced stream flows and water qual-
ity, in turn, threaten fish habitat and spawning.
Dams and other obstructions block anadro-
mous fish (those that ascend rivers from the
sea to breed, such as the Atlantic salmon)
from migrating between headwater spawning
sites and the ocean.
Like larger river basins, urban watersheds
must be viewed as integrated physical
systems whose proper functioning depends
Eugénie Birch and Susan M. Wachter, ed., Growing on the interplay of hydrologic, chemical,
Greener Cities: Addressing Urban Environmental Issues
and ecological elements.4 Negative impacts
in the Twenty-first Century (Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press, 2008). Reprinted by permission of from urbanization accumulate within water-
the University of Pennsylvania. sheds as headwater streams contribute
Figure 7–20 In
Pittsburgh and adjoining
communities, efforts are
under way to restore the
Nine Mile Run Watershed
to be a more natural
stream system and
environmental amenity.
Eugénie Birch and Susan

M. Wachter, ed., Growing
Greener Cities: Addressing
Urban Environmental
Issues in the Twenty-first
Century (Philadelphia:
Press, 2008). Reprinted
by permission of
the University of
Pennsylvania.
11255-07_CH07.indd 389 12/22/08 2:47:14 PM

Major issues in watershed management

Water quality Flood-hazard reduction
Point sources of pollution Riverine
Nonpoint sources of pollution Estuarine
Storm water (combined sewer overflows) Storm water
Water supply Economic and social issues

Surface water Ports and navigation
Groundwater Tourism
Source-water protection Reuse of brownfields and vacant lots
Recreation and aesthetics Biodiversity

Health and fitness Aquatic
Social interaction Riparian
Waterfront access Terrestrial
Boating and fishing Environmental education
their higher peak flows, lower base flows, significant to people because of the particular
and heavier pollutant and sediment loads to human activities that take place within them.
higher-order waterways downstream. and people form emotional attachments to
places, landscapes, and regions.6 Even long-
The socioeconomic character of adjacent
neglected urban waterways like the Chicago
communities may also vary greatly along
River may evolve from eyesores into local
metropolitan-area streams. Rivers like the
amenities with improved water quality, public
Anacostia or the Milwaukee typically begin in
access, and resulting higher property values.7
rural farm or forest areas, then flow through
affluent exurbs and progressively older
suburbs, past poor inner-city neighborhoods,
Unlike the engineering-based approaches
and finally through (or under) the downtown
of years gone by, contemporary watershed
business district to their destination at a
management must reflect diverse social
larger river, lake, or tidewater. Urban water-
values—with all the uncertainties, delays,
sheds are thus geographic areas with great
and transaction costs thereby entailed.
social and economic diversity. Efforts to
achieve watershed management goals must
therefore entail collaboration between the
However, disputes over the particular goals
public and private sectors, between political
and strategies of stream restoration are
jurisdictions, and between various socioeco-
likely. In the past, technical fixes masked
nomic communities and interests that share
environmental and social costs that must
a stream and its drainage area.
now be accounted for. Unlike the engineering-
Increasingly, environmental policy special- based approaches of years gone by, contem-
ists view urban watershed management as a porary watershed management must reflect
potential laboratory for testing new forms of diverse social values—with all the uncertain-
public-private collaboration. Watershed part- ties, delays, and transaction costs thereby
nerships encourage cooperation between entailed.
stakeholders with conflicting interests, and
Urban watershed management is essentially
different geographic areas and administra-
a “bottom-up” process in which local percep-
tive jurisdictions. Watershed partnerships
tions and innovation are critical: as William
provide a new institutional setting in which
Goldfarb has noted, “watershed management
diverse stakeholders can negotiate mutually
should stress negotiation and consent rather
beneficial agreements.5
than command and control regulation.”8
Promoting public awareness of, and involve- Federal and state mandates on water quality,
ment in, the rehabilitation of urban streams floodplain management, and endangered-
and watersheds may foster a sense of place species protection provide essential goals for
and community. Particular watersheds are local action. And federal and state funding
11255-07_CH07.indd 390 12/22/08 2:47:14 PM

for land acquisition, brownfield reuse, and creek-side bike path through Boulder, Colo-
other purposes is critical to implementing rado, is inspiring similar projects across the
watershed-scale plans. But effective water- country. And the use of attractive signage to
shed programs—such as those under way identify urban streams, as in the Los Angeles
at the Charles River in Boston; at Nine Mile River Watershed, is becoming widespread.
Run in Pittsburgh; and at Johnson Creek
Strategies to achieve watershed manage-
in Portland, Oregon—must be designed like
ment goals fall into two general categories:
ecological organisms that are adapted to
site specific and non–site specific. The former
their physical, environmental, political, and
focus on discrete sites or stream segments
socioeconomic contexts.
with the goal of producing visible results in
From such local clusters of stream-based situations characterized by organizational
activity across the United States and Canada, complexity and limited funds. The latter
there is a growing body of general experience apply generally throughout a watershed and
with what may be called urban watershed sometimes beyond it. Table 7–2 summarizes
management science and policy. The San the principal goals and strategies of urban
Antonio Riverwalk, a local innovation dating watershed management according to their
from the 1970s, has been emulated in many geographic incidence.
other cities, including Milwaukee and the
District of Columbia (although the Anacostia Summary
riverfront is still a work in progress). The Urban watersheds are complex mosaics
“daylighting” of a buried downtown stretch of of physical, ecological, political, and socio-
the Providence River is now being considered economic diversity. Urbanization alters,
as a model for Hartford, Connecticut. A busy sometimes drastically, natural flow patterns,
Table 7–2 Urban watershed management goals and strategies
Strategies
Goals Non–site specific Site specific
Water-quality Implement nonpoint source controls: Implement point source controls: National Pol-
improvement septic system upgrades; sanitary lution Discharge Elimination System discharge
sewer overflow control; sewer repair; permits; combined sewer overflow reduc-
minimum flow maintenance; low-impact tion; green storm-water best-management
development; litter cleanup; monitoring practices; riparian bioengineering; brownfield
remediation; reforestation; aquifer recharge
Flood-hazard Undertake flood modeling and map- Remove channel obstacles; restore natural
reduction ping; establish floodplain regulations; flow; buy out flood-prone properties; restore
develop warning and evacuation plans; wetlands; implement best-management
encourage floodproofing; conduct auto- practices for storm-water control (e.g., rain
mated monitoring of rainfall and stream gardens, green roofs, porous paving)
flows; provide public information
Restoration of Maintain minimum flows; increase Remove dams; daylight streams; remove
aquatic habitat and dissolved oxygen; reduce levels of shoreline armoring; restore stream flow
fisheries toxics, organics, metals, etc.; reduce regime (e.g., pools, riffles, meanders);
sedimentation and erosion of banks; restore riparian buffers (through bioengi-
clean up litter; control invasive species neering and reforestation); remove invasive
(e.g., zebra mussels); restock fish plants and plant native species; restore
wetlands; dam fish passageways
Public use and Create watershed-related public events; Renew urban waterfronts; construct
awareness reduce health hazards; improve visibility greenways and bikeways; develop public rec-
of streams; provide public information reation sites; construct boat launch ramps;
(e.g., signage, Web sites, newsletters) develop environmental education sites
Source: Rutherford H. Platt, “Urban Watershed Management: Sustainability, One Stream at a Time,” Environment 48,
no. 4 (2006): 31. Reprinted with permission of the Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation. Published by Heldref
Publications, 1319 Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20036-1802. Copyright © 2006.
11255-07_CH07.indd 391 12/22/08 2:47:14 PM

water quality, and biological health, with a of water shapes urban form and activities.
consequent loss of ecological services. In Urban dwellers often take water for granted
place of narrow technical responses to spe- as long as it appears when they turn on the
cific problems like flooding or water pollu- tap. Likewise, with a flush of the toilet or a
tion, holistic watershed management seeks switch of the garbage disposal, wastewater
to integrate a broad range of goals, means, goes out of sight and out of mind. Low bills
and stakeholders through ad hoc watershed for water and sewer service reinforce the
partnerships. The outcomes of such partner- sense that water is plentiful and wastewater
ships include innovative forms of stream easily removed.
restoration such as daylighting streams
Growing urban populations, however, espe-
buried in tunnels, cleaning up litter, remov-
cially in the Sun Belt, are placing greater
ing invasive species, and replanting with
stress on water supplies. Between 2005
native vegetation. Such efforts will enhance
and 2050, more than half of America’s
both the physical and the biological health
population growth is expected to occur in
of urban waterways and the attachment of
California, Florida, and Texas, states that
watershed residents to their local streams,
are already experiencing some water supply
to the natural world, and to each other.
shortages.2 More development means more
impervious surfaces—roads, buildings, and
Notes
parking lots—and increasing storm-water
1 U.S. Geological Survey, “Hydrologic Unit Maps: What
Are Hydrologic Units?” water.usgs.gov/GIS/huc.hmtl runoff, which not only exacerbates flooding
(accessed March 7, 2008). in terms of volume and velocity, but also
2 Ann L. Riley, Restoring Streams in Cities: A Guide for carries oil, soil, chemicals, and debris into
Planners, Policymakers, and Citizens (Washington,
D.C.: Island Press, 1998). waterways, creating one of America’s lead-
3 Robert Glennon, Water Follies: Groundwater Pumping ing causes of water pollution.3
and the Fate of America’s Fresh Waters (Washington,
D.C.: Island Press, 2002). Cities initially grew up along waterways to
4 William Graf, “Damage Control: Restoring the
exploit water supplies and dispose of sew-
Physical Integrity of America’s Rivers,” Annals of
the Association of American Geographers 91, no. 1 age and storm drainage. It is important to
(2001): 1–27. think of water as flowing into and through a
5 Mark Lubell et al., “Watershed Partnerships and
jurisdiction. Drinking water must be col-
the Emergence of Collective Action Institutions,”
American Journal of Political Science 46, no. 1 lected, stored, disinfected, and distributed.
(2002): 148, 151, watergovernance.net/documents/ Wastewater must be collected, treated, and
Lubell.etal.WatershedPartnerships.pdf (accessed
released or recycled. A common problem is
March 7, 2008).
6 Michael V. McGinnis, “Making the Watershed Connec- that cities do not plan holistically for water,
tion,” Policy Studies Journal 27, no. 3 (1999): 497. addressing flooding and storm drainage,
7 David M. Solzman, “Re-Imagining the Chicago River,”
Journal of Geography 100, no. 3 (2001): 118–123.
water pollution, water consumption, water
8 William Goldfarb, “Watershed Management: Slogan or supplies, and seasonal variation in flows all
Solution,” Boston College Environmental Affairs Law in a single plan.
Review 21, no. 3 (1994): 487.
Planning for adequate long-term supplies
of potable water and minimizing pollution
FOCUS ON
from wastewater and storm-water runoff are
critical for the urban environment, the urban
Water in the urban economy, and the health of urban dwellers.

Through careful water supply planning, cities
can anticipate future growth, droughts, and
environment emergencies; build reserve supplies; estab-
lish water reuse and conservation programs;
Thomas L. Daniels protect existing surface and groundwater
sources;4 and minimize the cost of developing
Adequate supplies of clean fresh water new water supplies and treatment facilities.
and the safe treatment of wastewater are In the East and Midwest, many urban water
essential to the sustainable functioning and sewer systems are more than fifty years
of a modern city: potable water is a city’s old and need major upgrades to fix leaking
most precious resource.1 Most cities import water pipes, filter water, reduce nitrogen
huge amounts of water, and the availability loads, and separate storm and sanitary sewer
11255-07_CH07.indd 392 12/22/08 2:47:15 PM

systems.5 The cost of upgrading or replacing tains, over 100 miles away; Boston from the
these systems will be enormous, running into Quabbin Reservoir, 65 miles to the west;
the tens of billions of dollars.6 and San Francisco from the Hetch Hetchy
Reservoir in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Water supply planning Phoenix takes a share of the Colorado River
Water supply planning has a dual purpose: through the Central Arizona Project, an
to ensure a reliable long-term water supply open drainage channel more than 200 miles
and to manage demand. Traditionally, cities long. Los Angeles pumps in water from the
have allowed water suppliers—municipal Colorado River, from the Owens Valley in
water utilities, private water companies, or eastern California, and from northern Cali-
quasi-public water authorities—to oversee fornia through the Central Valley Project.7
water supply planning. Often, however, these But obtaining water from distant sources is
suppliers do not coordinate their water sup- likely to become more difficult. Already, Los
ply planning with local or regional land use Angeles has seen a decline in the availability
planning. Moreover, because the watershed of water from the Colorado River.
has rarely been used as the planning unit,
either by water supply planners or by gov- Water sources and water needs
ernment land use planners, there is often Once it has identified the watershed, the
confusion among those entities about the local government should compile an inven-
impact of development plans on water sup- tory of the number and location of water
plies as well as competing claims for them. sources used, and the volume and quality
of water supplies. Most jurisdictions draw
Beginning with the passage of the 1974 Safe
their water from surface-water sources—
Drinking Water Act, the federal government
rivers, lakes, or reservoirs—and some supple-
has increasingly required state and local
ment this with wells, but usually for only a
governments to protect their drinking water
fraction of their overall needs. By contrast,
supplies through a watershed-management
Miami and San Antonio are among the
approach (see the accompanying sidebar on several cities that rely almost exclusively on
page 394). For instance, the 1996 amend- groundwater.
ments to the act require states to perform
a source-water assessment for each public Next, the local government should identify
water system, which must include separate the rate of withdrawal of water from its
assessments for groundwater and surface- sources and compare that with the rate of
water supplies. Each assessment must rainfall and recharge of the supplies, keep-
delineate source-water protection areas, list ing in mind that overdrafts and droughts can
significant sources of contamination, and seriously deplete available supplies. It is also
evaluate the susceptibility of the water sup- essential to identify major water users. For
ply to contamination. Once the assessment instance, manufacturing and electricity-
is complete, the findings must be reported generating plants account for more than
to the public. State source-water assess- half of America’s water consumption.8
ments provide a framework for local govern- Water supply and consumption figures
ments to undertake water supply planning. provide a basis for projecting future water
needs, although such projections must also
Watersheds take account of population increases and
To begin water supply planning, a local new commercial and industrial users. A com-
government must first identify the parison of unused water capacity and future
watershed(s) in which its water supply is needs will make obvious the need for both
located. The jurisdiction’s watershed is the demand-management strategies and new
geographic area that drains into the water water sources. To devise source-protection
bodies from which the local government strategies in keeping with the state Source
draws its water. It is important to note that Water Assessment Program, the local gov-
watershed boundaries rarely reflect political ernment will need to delineate ground- and
boundaries: many large cities, for example, surface-water sources, create protections
draw their water from sources many miles around those supplies, and identify potential
away—New York from the Catskill Moun- sources of pollution.
11255-07_CH07.indd 393 12/22/08 2:47:15 PM

The Safe Drinking Water Act

The Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 (SDWA) gave the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) the authority to
• Set national standards for drinking-water quality.
• Require water utilities to monitor water quality, undertake water treatment, and
report to the public about contaminants in drinking-water systems. (EPA has set
maximum levels for about ninety contaminants.)
• Fund source-water protection programs to protect watersheds and groundwater
from contamination.
• Regulate all public water systems that provide drinking water to the nation’s cities.
• Require public water systems to show adequate financial, technical, and manage-
ment capacity.1
The act has profoundly affected local water planning.
Surface water
In 1989, EPA adopted the first of two rules under the SDWA that protect surface-water
supplies, the main source of urban drinking water: the Surface Water Treatment Rule
requires all public water systems that use surface water to filter the water—in addition
to chlorinating it—before distributing it to consumers. Then, in 1996, EPA adopted the
Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule, which requires nearly all communities that rely
on surface water or surface-influenced groundwater to filter and disinfect their water to kill
microbes and viruses before it is distributed. This new regulation was sparked, in part, by a
1993 outbreak of cryptosporidium, a disease-causing microbe that contaminated Milwau-
kee’s drinking water, killing more than fifty people and making 400,000 people sick.
EPA may grant a waiver from the Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule if a public
water system has good water quality, and if the jurisdiction has an active water-source
protection program and can control potential contamination. New York City, for
example, has avoided building a $6 billion filtration plant by protecting water supplies
in the Catskill and Delaware watersheds west of the Hudson River; however, in the Cro-
ton watershed, on the east side of the Hudson, where urban runoff has reduced water
quality, the city will have to spend $1.5 billion on a filtration plant.
Sole-source aquifers
If groundwater is the primary or only source of drinking water for a jurisdiction, EPA
may designate a groundwater supply as a sole-source aquifer. If a federally funded
project has the potential to pollute a sole-source aquifer, the project must undergo
a thorough review, largely because once groundwater has been polluted, it has no
natural cleansing process.
Public information
The SDWA amendments require urban water suppliers to issue an annual consumer
confidence report to inform their customers about where their water comes from,
what contaminants are in it, how their water measures up against state health depart-
ment standards (which are based on EPA standards), and any violations that occurred
in the previous year. Under the amendments, public water systems are also required
to demonstrate to EPA adequate financial, technical, and management capacity.
Funding
The 1996 reauthorization of the SDWA included $9.6 billion for EPA to make grants to state
and local governments and public water systems. States have used the Drinking Water
State Revolving Fund to make loans to urban water suppliers for protecting water sources
and for constructing and upgrading water treatment plants and transmission systems.
1 Adapted from Tom Daniels and Katherine Daniels, The Environmental Planning Handbook for Sustainable
Communities and Regions (Chicago: American Planning Association, 2003), 78–81.
11255-07_CH07.indd 394 12/22/08 2:47:15 PM

Water treatment and distribution • Allow or require the reuse of graywater

The next step is to assess the location, from homes and commercial facilities.
capacity, current use, and age of water • Create financial incentives to encourage
treatment plants; of the pumping, transmis- the adoption of water-efficient
sion, and distribution systems; and of the technologies, such as low-flow shower
available organizational resources. The local heads.9
government will also need to devise con- • Implement public education campaigns
tingency measures, including backup water to promote water conservation; such
systems, to be used in the event of drought, campaigns might include programs
contamination, a system breakdown, or for homes and businesses that involve
other emergency. recording water use, checking for leaks
in plumbing, and installing water-saving
Demand management devices.
The most effective way to ensure an ade- • Set an example by reducing demand and
quate water supply is to carefully manage conducting water audits to help develop
demand. The mantra for managing urban strategies for reducing water use in parks
water demand is recycle (treat the water and landscaping.
and use again), reuse (e.g., use graywater
from dishwashers and toilets for watering It should be noted that although water
lawns), and conserve. reuse is a valuable strategy, one obstacle is
the need to construct a second set of pipes
To better manage demand, local govern- leading from treatment plants to major
ment can water users, such as power plants, large
• Create a water budget that gauges farms, and residential complexes. St. Peters-
existing and future capacity to meet burg, Florida, has built a 260-mile network
anticipated water needs and that lists of pipes to deliver reclaimed water. But only
ways to limit water use. During the a small fraction of America’s urban water
development review process, the local supply comes from reused water.10
government can then ensure that
projects’ anticipated water demands are Water protection
evaluated in relation to this budget. Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, the
• Set a goal of no net increase in water protection of water supplies and treatment
consumption and use water offsets plants from sabotage by terrorists has
to meet this demand. For example, become an urban security issue. Under the
permission to construct a large Bioterrorism Act of 2002, drinking water
new development would have to be suppliers must
accompanied by strategies to reduce • Conduct a vulnerability assessment of
water use by existing customers. their drinking water and wastewater
• Raise the price that consumers pay systems
for water to more accurately reflect • Certify and submit a copy of the
the true cost, including water-source assessment to the U.S. Environmental
development, pumping, treatment, Protection Agency (EPA)
storage, distribution, and environmental
• Draft an emergency response plan
impacts on wildlife. (Traditionally,
water providers have used an “inverted • Certify to EPA that the emergency
block-rate” pricing structure, in which response plan is complete.
consumers who use more water pay
a lower price per gallon. Some water Coordinating land use planning
suppliers, however, are shifting to rising and water supply planning
block-rate pricing, which charges higher Land uses directly affect the availability of
rates as water use goes up.) water supplies to meet future needs. Imper-
• Restrict water use (e.g., prohibit watering vious surfaces—buildings, streets, parking
of lawns between 8 AM and 6 PM, when lots, and driveways—greatly reduce the
evaporation is highest). infiltration of precipitation into groundwater
11255-07_CH07.indd 395 12/22/08 2:47:15 PM

and raise pollution levels in both surface and coordinated with the public infrastructure
groundwater supplies. Impervious surfaces investment in the CIP. Land acquisition is
also increase the volume and speed of one way that a local government, through
storm-water runoff—which, in turn, increases its CIP, can maintain pervious surfaces to
sedimentation and erosion, and washes oil enable water recharge or can purchase
and other chemicals from roadways and greenways along rivers and streams to filter
parking lots into surface streams and lakes. storm-water runoff and thus protect water
As a general rule, when impervious surfaces resources. Building codes can, for example,
cover more than 10 percent of a watershed, allow green roofs, which absorb storm water.
chronic water-quality problems will result.11
Zoning and subdivision regulations
Over the long term, the best way to keep out
incompatible development is for the local The effect of zoning on water quality and
government or other water supplier to own supply most often occurs through the loca-
the land around reservoirs, along lakes or tion and density of permitted land uses.
rivers, and around wellheads. Nationwide, Keeping intense development out of wet-
however, water utilities own only 2 percent lands and floodplains, and away from steep
of the watersheds in which their supplies are slopes, promotes groundwater recharge and
located.12 limits storm-water runoff. Subdivision regu-
lations can help protect water quality by
Local governments need to synchronize
• Requiring developers to use best
development and water resource planning;
management practices for storm-water
one way is to incorporate water supply
management and flood control
planning and demand management into the
comprehensive plan. The comprehensive • Requiring that vegetative cover be
plan should contain an inventory of water maintained, especially along streams and
supplies and major uses, population projec- on steep slopes
tions and estimates of economic growth • Restricting the amount of impervious
for at least the next twenty years, and a surface allowed in redevelopment and
projection of future water supply needs and new development
demand-management options. The plan’s • Requiring detention and retention basins
goals and objectives should also link land to slow the release of storm water
use development and redevelopment to the
• Requiring greenway buffers to absorb
maintenance of a sustainable water supply.
storm water, intercept pollutants, and
enable the penetration of rainwater into
Implementing a water supply
aquifers.13
and land use plan
A local government can implement a water The guiding standard for storm-water man-
supply plan, or the water supply element of agement should be post-storm runoff that is
its comprehensive plan, through zoning and equal to or less than pre-storm runoff for a
subdivision regulations, the capital improve- twenty-five-year storm (the heaviest storm
ment plan (CIP), and building codes. Zoning event expected over a twenty-five-year
regulates the use and density of develop- period). To further minimize runoff, a num-
ment as well as lot coverage in impervious ber of jurisdictions have adopted erosion
surfaces. Subdivision regulations determine and sedimentation ordinances that exceed
the necessary infrastructure (sewers, water, federal standards. Under a 1998 ordinance
sidewalks, streets, storm-water retention passed in Boise, Idaho, for example, develop-
basins) that a developer must provide to ers must obtain an erosion-control permit
create new lots or develop existing lots. The and must submit a sediment-, erosion-, and
CIP is a projection of the public infrastruc- dust-control plan. In addition, a person certi-
ture that a local government will provide or fied by the city to implement the controls
repair over time, and an accounting of how must be available at each construction site.14
the infrastructure will be paid for. Thus, the The goal of the ordinance is to minimize
intensity of development allowed under the erosion, retain sediment on site, and prevent
zoning, and the infrastructure required of waste materials and chemicals from being
developers to develop property, should be transported off site.
11255-07_CH07.indd 396 12/22/08 2:47:15 PM

Figure 7–21 The figure

depicts the components
of a comprehensive urban
storm-water runoff
management program as
a cycle.
Source: U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA),
National Management
Measures Guidance to
Control Nonpoint Source
Pollution from Urban Areas
(Washington, D.C.: Office of
Water, EPA, 2005), 2
The capital improvement plan of Commerce, also awards grants to assist

Water projects are capital intensive, and the with water and sewer projects in economically
local government’s CIP is the instrument for distressed cities. Community Development
identifying potential funding sources for the Block Grant funds from the U.S. Department
improvement or expansion of the water sys- of Housing and Urban Development can also
tem and the protection of source water. EPA be used for water and wastewater projects.
makes grants to help support the construc- But while each of these sources is important,
tion and upgrade of water and wastewater most projects will still need to depend heavily
systems. The Economic Development Admin- on development impact fees and user charges
istration, which is within the U.S. Department to cover long-term debt for facilities.
Best management practices for construction sites
Nonstructural practices
• Minimize disturbance (clearing, grading, excavating)
• Preserve natural vegetation and drainage patterns
• Clean up and dispose of debris
Structural practices
Erosion controls
• Mulch
• Grass
• Stockpile covers.
Sediment controls
• Silt fences (prevent soil from running off a property)
• Inlet protection
• Check dams (reduce water flow speed and promote the settling of sediment)
• Stabilized construction entrances
• Sediment traps.
Source: Tom Daniels and Katherine Daniels, The Environmental Planning Handbook for Sustainable
Communities and Regions (Chicago: American Planning Association, 2003), 112.
11255-07_CH07.indd 397 12/22/08 2:47:16 PM

Land acquisition mass transit instead of automobiles can help

As noted earlier, acquiring land or conserva- reduce air pollution and thereby decrease
tion easements on land near water supplies the amount of nitrogen that is deposited in
is an important strategy for maintaining waterways. Thus, getting a city and its metro
water quality. Austin, Texas, has spent more region in compliance with the Clean Air
than $150 million to restrict development Act is important for local water quality. So
on land around and above Barton Springs, far, however, only Denver has managed to
which is both a popular recreation area and achieve compliance.
the source of drinking water for thousands
of residents. New York City has spent tens The Clean Water Act in urban areas
of millions of dollars to purchase land and The Clean Water Act of 1972 was triggered by
conservation easements to farmland in the the severity of the pollution in the Cuyahoga
Catskill watershed. Beginning in the 1970s, River, which caught fire in Cleveland in
Denver created the South Platte Greenway, 1970. At that time, about 60 percent of the
a ten-mile linear park to control flooding, nation’s waterways were not fit for drink-
intercept runoff, and provide recreational ing or swimming. In the early 1970s, point
space.15 sources of water pollution were considered
the major threat, and the Clean Water Act
Water quality and pollution control provided billions of dollars in grants to local
Polluted water is a public health hazard. governments for the construction of sewage-
Water pollution occurs when a chemical, treatment plants.
physical, or biological substance exceeds Section 402 of the Clean Water Act pro-
the capacity of a water body to assimilate or hibits the discharge of any pollutants into
break down that substance, causing harm to navigable waters from a point source—such
the aquatic ecosystem or contamination of as a factory, a power plant, or a sewage-
the water supply. Many of America’s water- treatment plant—unless the discharge has
ways are classified as “impaired waters”—not been authorized in a National Pollutant
fit for drinking or swimming. Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
There are two main sources of water pol- permit. An individual, company, or local
lution. Point sources are stationary and government can obtain a permit from the
easily identifiable sites. Factories, sewage state environmental agency or EPA. (EPA
treatment plants, and power plants are the has turned over most of the NPDES permit-
main point sources of urban water pollution. ting, monitoring, and enforcement to the
Nonpoint sources are dispersed or less read- states.) State discharge permits are known
ily identifiable; they can be hard to detect, as SPDES permits, or “Speedies.” These per-
they may be mobile or temporary, and the mits, which are typically good for five years,
amount of pollution they generate may vary are negotiated between the discharger and
greatly over time. The main nonpoint pol- either EPA or the state agency. The permit
lution sources in urban areas are impervi- process has been criticized, however, as
ous surfaces, construction sites, and motor not being strict enough. For example, even
vehicles. Most of America’s water pollution if a discharger is meeting the terms of the
comes from nonpoint sources.16 permit, this does not mean that pollution is
eliminated or even sufficiently reduced to
Impervious surfaces act like funnels, chan- render water drinkable or swimmable.18
neling rain and melting snow—which carry
oil, gasoline, antifreeze, and salt—into water The NPDES/SPDES permits also apply to
bodies and groundwater. Storm-water runoff managing urban storm-water runoff. EPA
also carries phosphorus nutrients, which requires an NPDES/SPDES storm-water
contribute to algae blooms in waterways. permit on construction sites that involve
Urban runoff is especially difficult to control clearing, grading, and excavating an acre or
once development has occurred; hence, as more of land. Some construction sites of an
noted earlier, it is essential to implement acre or less may also require a storm-water
development controls designed to limit permit if the state environmental agency or
impervious surfaces.17 Urban transportation regional EPA office determines that there is
systems that encourage travelers to use potential for significant water pollution.
11255-07_CH07.indd 398 12/22/08 2:47:16 PM

Clean Water Act programs that influence urban water
Section 201: Provides grants for the construction of public sewage-treatment plants.
Section 303(d): State department of environmental protection identifies impaired

waterways and drafts total maximum daily load plans, subject to U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) approval, to clean up these waterways to drinkable or swim-
mable standards.
Section 319: State department of environmental protection develops plans and pro-
grams, and EPA provides federal loans and grants, for the control of nonpoint source
pollution.
Section 402: EPA administers the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
issuing permits for point and nonpoint sources of water pollution, including storm-
water management permits and the monitoring of urban storm-water discharges into
regulated streams.
Section 403: EPA requires the pretreatment of industrial sewage before discharge
into municipal sewage treatment plants.
Since 2000, under the Clean Water Act EPA than 700 U.S. cities have combined storm
has required local governments to obtain and sanitary sewers, which often cause
an NPDES permit to control storm water municipal sewage-treatment plants to over-
that flows through separate storm sewers. flow during heavy rainstorms or snowmelts;
To obtain permits, local governments must dangerous levels of bacteria-laden sewage
commit themselves to an extensive program are then released into rivers, lakes, and
of public education and outreach, detec- estuaries, posing threats to drinking-water
tion, and prevention of illicit discharges, supplies and often leading to beach clos-
and construction runoff controls to prevent ings. EPA has estimated that it could cost
pollution. The purpose is to promote best tens of billions of dollars to fix the prob-
management practices and reduce pol- lems that stem from combined storm and
luted storm water to the maximum extent sanitary sewers. EPA requires communities
practicable. with combined storm and sewer systems to
obtain an NPDES permit that describes the
Municipal sewage collection and treatment
pollution discharges, demonstrates the use
systems are allowed to discharge treated
of technologies to control the discharges,
wastewater into waterways. However, more
and develops long-term plans to control
overflow. All cities in metropolitan areas are
required to adopt storm-water management
Figure 7–22 Educating citizens about watersheds is
ordinances to control runoff from development
an important element of pollution prevention.
and redevelopment projects. An ordinance
in Fort Worth, Texas, that prohibits illegal
discharges into storm sewers has been used
as a model by other cities.
Conclusion
The wise use of water resources is essential
for sustainable development. Throughout
history, cities have struggled to secure ade-
quate water supplies, dispose of sewage, and
handle storm water. Water supply planning
and demand management are especially
Source: Tom Daniels important in areas that are experiencing
11255-07_CH07.indd 399 12/22/08 2:47:16 PM

rapid development and population growth, FOCUS ON

and where water must be brought in from
a distance. Protecting water sources and
managing water demand are key ingredients
Greenways and
of a water supply plan.
In many parts of America, reliable, long-

green infrastructure
term supplies of clean water are the most
Karen Hundt
important limits on population and eco-
nomic growth. Cities are recognizing the
Greenways, one of the best infrastruc-
fundamental link between land use planning,
ture investments a local government can
securing safe water for growth and expan-
make, come in many different forms, from
sion, disposing of or reusing wastewater,
regional bikeways and rural coastline trails
and protecting urban areas from natural
to abandoned urban rail corridors and utility
hazards. Water resources planning cannot
easements.
be isolated from other local government
planning.
Benefits of greenways
Whatever form they take, greenways have
Notes
many benefits:
1 Anne Whiston Spirn, The Granite Garden: Urban
Nature and Human Design (New York: Basic Books, • When greenways are planned as an
1984). interconnected system of trails linking
2 U.S. Bureau of the Census, “Florida, California, and
Texas to Dominate Future Population Growth,” press neighborhoods, schools, and commercial
release, Washington, D.C., April 21, 2005. centers, they give commuters a viable
3 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), alternative to the single-occupant
National Management Measures Guidance to Control
Nonpoint Source Pollution from Urban Areas, EPA automobile.
841-B-05-004 (Washington, D.C.: Office of Water, • Statewide and regional trail systems
EPA, 2005), epa.gov/owow/nps/urbanmm/pdf/
urban_guidance.pdf (accessed March 10, 2008). provide opportunities for both recreation
4 Surface water includes rivers, streams, ponds, reser- and cultural tourism. National trail
voirs, and lakes. Groundwater comes from aquifers designations mark important routes in our
underneath the ground.
5 The purpose of decoupling storm sewers and sanitary
nation’s history, such as the Trail of Tears
sewers is to avoid storm-related overflows at sewage from Georgia to Oklahoma, and the path
treatment plants and the subsequent release of raw followed by the Lewis and Clark expedition.
sewage.
6 Tom Daniels and Katherine Daniels, The Environmental • Greenways sensitively placed along
Planning Handbook for Sustainable Communities and floodplains, wetlands, forests, prairies,
Regions (Chicago: American Planning Association,
2003), 103.
and other important natural areas can
7 Ibid., 74. serve as a focus for environmental
8 Ibid., 67. stewardship and education.
9 The Energy Policy Act of 1992 requires that all new
in-home toilets use no more than 1.6 gallons per • Because greenways support walking,
flush, compared with 3.5 gallons in older toilets. jogging, and cycling, they can help combat
10 Daniels and Daniels, Environmental Planning Hand-
obesity and the associated health risks.
book, 85.
11 Dana Beach, Coastal Sprawl: The Effects of Urban • Greenways can serve as catalysts for
Design on Aquatic Ecosystems in the United States
economic development.
(Arlington, Va.: Pew Oceans Commission, 2002), 13,
pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/
Despite their advantages, however, green-
Reports/Protecting_ocean_life/env_pew_oceans_
sprawl.pdf (accessed March 10, 2008). ways, like other public projects, are subject
12 Daniels and Daniels, Environmental Planning to evaluations based on the bottom line.
Handbook, 84. Planners and grassroots organizations
13 Ibid., 122.
14 Ibid. that want to promote greenways must be
15 Spirn, The Granite Garden. prepared to present economic justifications
16 EPA, Liquid Assets 2000: America’s Water Resources for green infrastructure. Among the demon-
at a Turning Point (Washington, D.C.: Office of Water,
EPA, May 2000), 9, epa.gov/water/liquidassets/ strable economic benefits of greenways are
assets.pdf (accessed March 10, 2008). the following:
17 Spirn, The Granite Garden.
18 Daniels and Daniels, Environmental Planning
• Minimizing development in floodplains
Handbook, 109. reduces flooding and the associated costs.
11255-07_CH07.indd 400 12/22/08 2:47:17 PM

• Maintaining natural buffers along riparian Since the mid-1980s, the original vision has
corridors and adding canopy cover expanded to include connecting paths along
decreases air and water pollution. creeks, rail corridors, and ridges.
• Properties that are adjacent to parks and The necklace of parks and trails includes
greenways often have higher values than history exhibits, picnic facilities, shelters,
comparable lots that are not adjacent to playgrounds, fishing piers, wildlife-viewing
open space. platforms, an amphitheater, public park-
• Like farmland, greenways and open space ing, restrooms, boat-launching ramps,
typically require very few municipal and canoe launches. A ten-foot concrete
services, and ongoing maintenance costs walkway within a landscaped corridor forms
are much lower than those needed for the central spine of the project, which runs
parks with active recreation. alongside the Tennessee River. As the green-
way system branches out from the river, less
Granted, some of these benefits may be
formal asphalt paths or unsurfaced nature
difficult to quantify, but documentation is
trails follow riparian corridors and border
available from numerous organizations and
old-growth forests. Raised boardwalks and
publications.1
pedestrian bridges provide environmentally
sensitive crossings for wetlands and creeks.
Chattanooga Greenways and the
Tennessee Riverpark The greenway system includes a number of
unique elements:
In Chattanooga, Tennessee, 28 miles of a
proposed 150-mile greenway system are • A series of 180-degree switchbacks
already in place. The initial vision, for a provide handicapped access to a 100-foot
20-mile system of walking trails and parks, vertical climb along limestone bluffs.
was developed through an inclusive commu- • The Walnut Street Bridge, the oldest
nity planning process that had two key goals: and largest surviving truss bridge in
to maintain public access to the Tennessee the South,2 was closed to automobile
River and to support economic development. traffic in 1978 but then reopened as
Figure 7–23 Chattanooga’s greenway system

includes a variety of elements to ensure maximum
accessibility throughout the city.
Source: Planning and Design Studio, and Robert Boyer
11255-07_CH07.indd 401 12/22/08 2:47:17 PM

a pedestrian bridge in 1993 after a Chattanooga’s experience offers some key

$4.5 million restoration added another lessons:
half-mile to the greenway system. • Always start with a meaningful public
• One section of the greenway sits atop the engagement process. Thousands
Brainerd Levee (built for flood control of citizens, participating in public
along South Chickamauga Creek) and charrettes, formulated Chattanooga’s
connects suburban neighborhoods and collective vision.
shopping centers to each other. • Insist on high-quality design and
• The Tennessee River Blueway—an aquatic materials. This approach saves money
segment of the greenway that opened over time. As Chattanooga’s greenway
in 2002—provides outdoor enthusiasts system has grown, it has traversed many
with flat-water paddling and camping different environments. Multidisciplinary
opportunities along its fifty-mile course teams that included landscape architects,
through the Tennessee River Gorge. architects, planners, engineers, and
Since the first Riverpark segment opened in biologists have been employed to
1989, new housing, museums, a rowing cen- produce comprehensive designs that
ter, hotels, shopping, restaurants, a carou- respond to and respect the unique local
sel, and an elementary school have sprung conditions.
up along the pedestrian paths. Exhibit • When it comes to property acquisition,
signage and public art along these paths follow the path of least resistance.
interpret the historic neighborhoods, work- Chattanooga and Hamilton County, which
ing industry, and natural environment of partnered to build and maintain the
Chattanooga. Future segments will include greenways, started with public property
a connection to Moccasin Bend National and parcels that were in friendly hands
Archaeological District, which offers and allowed gaps to remain in the
600 acres of Native American and Civil network for a while. (Planners should
War history. remember that completing the two
ends of a trail may make it easier to
acquire property for the middle section
Figure 7–24 Smooth, wide walkways benefit
later on.) Property purchases do not
pedestrians with physical disabilities.
have to be fee simple: Chattanooga’s
greenway development has relied almost
exclusively on conservation easements.
• Seek public-private partnerships for
both funding and maintenance. In
Chattanooga, private contributions have
come in the form of land donations,
conservation easements, capital
funding, and corporate sponsorships.
On the public side, the city has made
use of revenues from hotel/motel
taxes, state conservation grants, and
federal transportation funds. Ongoing
maintenance costs are significant over
time, so the city and county share the
maintenance costs for the greenway
system.
• Put someone in charge of implementation.
In Chattanooga, the Trust for Public Land
and the RiverCity Company (a private, not-
for-profit development company) assist
the city with land acquisition, planning,
funding, design, and construction for
Source: Robert Boyer greenways.
11255-07_CH07.indd 402 12/22/08 2:47:19 PM

Notes Although movement toward user benefits,

1 See, for example, the following publications from the community benefits, and repositioning is
Trust for Public Land: Paul M. Sherer, The Benefits of occurring slowly, the progress is encourag-
Parks: Why America Needs More City Parks and Open
Space (2006); Parks for People (2003); The Economic
ing in a profession that has been building
Benefits of Parks and Open Space (1999); and Con- an empirical body of knowledge on which to
stance T. F. de Brun, ed., The Economic Benefits of base its practice for less than fifty years.1
Land Conservation (2007).
2 Truss bridges, first designed in the mid-1800s, have
their spans supported at the ends, with members Early paradigms
pinned together so that they can rotate at the joints.
Truss bridges have a fairly simple design and are The tax revolt of the mid-1970s provoked a
relatively cheap to construct owing to their efficient crisis in the parks and recreation field: the
use of materials. issue was no longer how to expand services
and facilities, but how to either reduce the
offerings or find alternative funding sources
FOCUS ON to support them. Parks and recreation
agencies were suddenly required to justify
Parks and recreation the value of their services (which they tried
to do by increasing the number of partici-
pants), to generate more revenue, and to
John L. Crompton
become more self-sustaining. To meet these
new mandates, most agencies moved from
The parks and recreation field has evolved,
an emphasis on activities and a custodial
broadly speaking, through a series of five
orientation to a focus on promoting and
stages: from an activity/custodial focus to
“selling” their services to potential client
a promotion/selling focus, a user benefits
groups.
orientation, a community benefits orienta-
tion, and, finally, repositioning. As indicated A few progressive and enlightened agen-
in Figure 7–25, most agencies continue cies, however, embraced a user benefit
to operate at the two lowest levels of the orientation, which focused on identifying
pyramid: an activity/custodial focus and a clients’ needs and creating programs that
promotion/selling focus. Some agencies addressed them. These agencies recognized
have embraced a user benefits focus, and that programs and facilities themselves do
a few agencies are pioneering a focus on not meet needs: programs and facilities
community benefits and on repositioning. are vehicles for meeting needs. Thus, when
Figure 7–25 Strategic planning in the parks and recreation field has evolved through five stages; however,
most agencies continue to focus on the first two.
Community Repositioning
movement
Repositioning
focus
movement
benefits
Community benefits focus
User benefits focus

Early stages
Promotion / Selling focus
Activity / Custodial focus
11255-07_CH07.indd 403 12/22/08 2:47:20 PM

these agencies asked themselves what busi- another activity during the time they spend
ness they were in, they phrased the reply in at the facility, and by expending personal
terms of what benefits they were providing energy and effort to use the service.
rather than how many programs or what
The flaw in this model is that the greatest
types of facilities they were offering.
part of the budget for a parks and recre-
During the 1970s and 1980s, the transition ation agency is likely to come from taxes—
to a user benefits orientation strengthened which are paid by users and nonusers alike.
the effectiveness and professionalism of the Moreover, nonusers are likely to outnumber
field; by the 1990s, however, it was clear users. Thus, tax monies contributed by
that the new orientation had done little to the population at large are used to deliver
change elected officials’ views of the rela- benefits to a relatively small subpopulation
tive importance of parks and recreation. In a of users. This incongruity has been accentu-
reflection of elected officials’ priorities, the ated in recent decades as alternative rec-
operating budgets of parks and recreation reational options have emerged, including
agencies had experienced limited growth. electronic games and video entertainment,
commercial enterprises such as health clubs
Limitations of the user and theme parks, and arts and sports activi-
benefits orientation ties offered through nonprofit organizations
and private clubs. The days of recreation
The user benefits model, which was adapted
centers, senior centers, and youth centers
from business, did not fit the parks and
being perceived as core amenities that all
recreation arena well. The model assumes
communities should offer are probably
a voluntary exchange in which something
over. Amid the plethora of options, the
of value is offered to users, who respond
public sector’s role in providing recreation,
by exchanging something else of value (see
although strategically important in specific
Figure 7–26). In this view, a parks and recre-
contexts, is relatively small—and increasingly
ation agency offers services whose benefits
marginal.
are of value to users. In return for access to
those benefits, users support the agency by Serving user groups will always be central to
paying taxes and program fees, by paying the mission of parks and recreation agen-
the costs of getting to the facility, by accept- cies, but in many jurisdictions user groups
ing the opportunity cost of not engaging in have proven to be too narrow a constituency
Figure 7–26 A user benefits paradigm assumes a voluntary exchange in which service users accept the costs
associated with the service in return for their own access to the service.
Offers services whose

benefits are of value
Park and recreation

To service users
agency
Who support the agency

through taxes, program fees,
travel costs, opportunity
costs, and personal energy
costs
11255-07_CH07.indd 404 12/22/08 2:47:20 PM

to sustain an agency or to allow it to secure grams that target at-risk youth), but in most
additional resources. Providing resources to contexts, parks and natural areas are likely to
a parks and recreation department so that provide benefits to the broadest segments of
a minority of residents can have enjoyable the community, while programs are likely to
experiences is likely to be a low priority primarily benefit users.
when measured against the critical eco-
The user benefits paradigm shown in Figure
nomic, health, safety, and welfare issues
7–26 has been ubiquitous, but if a parks and
that confront local governing bodies.
recreation agency is to remain viable, the
user benefits paradigm must be replaced by
Rationale for a broader constituency
the community benefits paradigm illustrated
The essential requirement for justifying in Figure 7–27. This model reflects the reali-
the allocation of tax funds to a parks and ties of where the funds that support parks
recreation agency is that the agency perform and recreation come from, and where they
a necessary service for the public at large—a go. The money in the general fund comes
mission that goes far beyond responding primarily from taxes, which are paid by users
to the demands of particular user groups. and nonusers alike. The governing body
Hence, it is not enough for the agency to distributes the money in the general fund
demonstrate that it delivers services well; it among various local government depart-
must also demonstrate that these services ments, including parks and recreation—which,
contribute to the general welfare of the com-
in turn, uses most of its funds to deliver
munity. Shifting the focus to benefits that are
services that provide community-wide ben-
important to a wide range of residents aligns
efits. However, it also allocates some funds to
the agency with the community’s vision and
deliver benefits to specific user groups, who,
goals. When the core mission is the delivery
in return, invest fees (which are collected by
of community-wide benefits, services that
the agency but passed through to the gen-
focus on particular user groups assume sec-
eral fund) as well as their travel, opportunity,
ondary importance. In practical terms, this is
and energy costs.
likely to mean that parks and natural areas
will receive first priority, followed by man- The community benefits paradigm recog-
made facilities, and then by programs. There nizes the central role of the governing body
will be exceptions (e.g., intervention pro- and the place of the parks and recreation
Figure 7–27 In the community benefits paradigm, the expenditure of tax funds for a service is justified because
the provision of the service benefits the entire community, even those who do not use the service themselves.
Governing body
General fund
s
ce
ur
so
Ta
es
Re
xe
Fe
Community-wide benefits
Nonusers
Parks and
User benefits
recreation agency
Fees, travel costs, opportunity
costs, personal energy costs Users
11255-07_CH07.indd 405 12/22/08 2:47:21 PM

agency within the larger redistribution sys- • The governing body’s value system—that is,
tem. Since an agency’s well-being depends on the principles that guide the distribution of
the governing body’s allocation decisions, the community benefits (e.g., should benefits
key question is what guides those decisions. be distributed equally to all segments of
There are three drivers: the jurisdiction, or should a larger share go
• Residents’ perceptions of the value of the to the economically disadvantaged or to
community benefits that the agency offers those who pay the most taxes?).2
• The relative importance of those benefits The accompanying sidebar lists community-
to the governing body’s efforts to address wide benefits that parks and recreation
issues of concern in the community agencies could potentially deliver to local
Potential community-wide benefits of parks and recreation services

Economic development
Park and recreation agencies can contribute to economic development in a number of ways:
• Attracting tourists. When tourists decide which communities to visit, the avail-
able attractions are the major consideration. In most areas, those attractions are
dominated by facilities and services operated by park and recreation agencies and
their nonprofit partners.
• Attracting businesses. Business viability depends on attracting and retaining skilled
employees. And when employees choose where to live, quality of life—including
recreational opportunities—is a deciding factor.
• Attracting retirees. The growing number of active, relatively affluent retirees is a
growth industry in America today. Retirees’ choice of location is primarily governed
by two factors: climate and recreational opportunities.
• Enhancing real estate values. People are often willing to pay more for a home located
close to a park or natural area than they are for a comparable home elsewhere. Because
they are more valuable, such properties yield higher property tax payments. When
bonds are used to acquire, develop, or renovate a park, aggregate taxes on nearby
properties are often sufficient to pay a substantial proportion of the debt charges.
• Reducing taxes. Although there is a prevailing myth that development is the highest
and best use of vacant land, once the cost of providing services and infrastructure to
development is taken into account, creating parks and natural areas is likely to be
less expensive for taxpayers than developing residential properties.
• Stimulating equipment sales. Recreational facilities create jobs and income for
residents and sales tax revenues for government by supporting manufacturers and
retailers of recreational equipment and others who sell related services (equipment
leasing and repairs, outfitters, etc.).
Environmental sustainability
Parks and natural areas allow nature to perform environmental services that would
otherwise require costly investments in infrastructure and technology. These services
include the following:
• Protecting drinking water. Keeping water clean by acquiring or preserving water-
sheds as natural areas is almost always less expensive than investing in the equip-
ment needed to clean water after it has been polluted.
• Controlling flooding. Creating parks and open space in watersheds and preserving
floodplains as greenways manages the flow of the runoff more effectively and less
expensively than concrete sewers and drainage ditches.
• Cleaning air. Trees and vegetation improve air quality by removing ozone and other
gaseous pollutants, toxic chemicals, particulate pollutants, and carbon dioxide from
the atmosphere. Urban areas have especially high concentrations of these pollutants,
and trees are a relatively inexpensive form of mitigation.
11255-07_CH07.indd 406 12/22/08 2:47:21 PM

residents. The benefits are classified into recreation agencies] are not identified with
three categories: economic development, the major problems which confront our total
environmental sustainability, and alleviation American Society,” which they characterized
of social problems. Of course, not all of these as a “deep concern and disappointment.”3
benefits will be relevant to all agencies. They recommended that the field “focus
park and recreation services on the great
Repositioning to create social problems of our time and develop
a viable future programs designed to contribute to the
In a seminal 1974 article, David Gray and amelioration of those problems.”4 To pursue
Seymour Greben lamented, “We [parks and the goals Gray and Greben set in the 1970s,
• Reducing traffic congestion. Walking and biking trails encourage people to walk or
bike rather than drive. In addition to alleviating air pollution and traffic congestion,
increasing trail use reduces the need for highways and supports healthy lifestyles.
• Reducing energy costs. In cities, the dark surfaces of rooftops, roadways, and parking
lots absorb the day’s heat and radiate it at night. As a result, cities cool less at night—
and remain hotter during the day—than surrounding rural areas. The shade and evapo-
transpiration provided by trees act as natural air conditioning, helping to keep both
streets and dwellings cooler and reducing the amount of energy needed for cooling.
• Preserving biological diversity. Natural areas and the conservation corridors that
connect them are of prime importance in preserving genetic diversity.
Alleviating social problems
Parks and recreation services have the potential to address a range of social problems:
• Reducing environmental stress. Both physiological and psychological studies
have demonstrated the therapeutic value of natural settings: parks have a restor-
ative effect that releases the tensions of modern life. The cost of environmental
stress—in terms of medical care and lost workdays—is likely to be substantially
greater than the cost of providing and maintaining parks, urban forestry programs,
and oases of flowers and shrubs.
• Supporting community regeneration. Regeneration—improving the physical, social,
and environmental quality of life in an area—is unlikely to be effective unless park
and recreation services are integral to such efforts.
• Supporting cultural and historical preservation. Cultural and historic preservation
reminds people of who they are, what they once were, and where they are. It feeds
their sense of history and is often critical to community identity and cohesion.
• Facilitating healthy lifestyles. Exercise is one of the keys to better health. Although
parks and recreation agencies have traditionally focused on programs, recent
evidence suggests that the extent to which the physical environment is “activity-
friendly” is a central factor in making it easier for people to choose to exercise.
• Protecting at-risk youth. There is strong evidence that recreation programs can
be effective in preventing at-risk youth from engaging in criminal behavior. The
return on investment for such programs is substantial when compared to the costs
of incarceration.
• Increasing educational achievement. Recreation has proven to be an effective
means of persuading students to participate in after-school programs designed
to increase educational achievement. Students are permitted to engage in the
recreational activities only after they have completed the educational enrichment
portion of the program.
• Alleviating unemployment. Conservation and park work is relatively labor-intensive,
offering many opportunities for unskilled people to enter the workforce and develop
vocational skills that expand their employment options.
11255-07_CH07.indd 407 12/22/08 2:47:21 PM

park and recreation agencies need to think 5 An illustration of how this can be done can be found
in Andrew T. Kaczynski and John L. Crompton, “An
in terms of alleviating politically important Operational Tool for Determining the Optimum Repo-
concerns. The key to justifying investment sitioning Strategy for Leisure Service Departments,”
in parks and recreation is to reposition them Managing Leisure 9, no. 3 (2004), 127–144.
so that they are perceived as addressing
the prevailing concerns of the policy makers
FOCUS ON
who allocate funding. Repositioning, shown
at the apex of Figure 17–25, represents the
ultimate stage in the evolution of strategic Intelligent cities,
planning in parks and recreation.
For several decades, most stakeholders have virtual cities
regarded parks and recreation services as
discretionary—as something that is “nice Michael Batty
to have” once the essential services have
been funded. Granted, some of the services Cities exist primarily for economic and
that parks and recreation agencies offer will social exchange, and the technology that
always be nonessential; recreation centers, underpins such interactions clearly reflects
ice rinks, and senior centers, for example, urban form and function. Cities in the devel-
have social merit and a tradition of being oped world still bear the mark of the way
offered in communities, but will continue to space was organized in the industrial era,
struggle for budget allocations because they when mechanical technologies first allowed
are likely to offer benefits to relatively small the construction of larger, taller buildings,
user groups rather than to the community and when movement technologies—first rail,
at large. Repositioning parks and recreation then the automobile—enabled urban popula-
means investing funds in solutions to a tions and activities to spread outward from
community’s most pressing problems. The the traditional marketplace. Trading “time”
term investing suggests a positive, forward- for “space,” people now travel much longer
looking strategy that anticipates a return. distances to work and shop, and the urban
landscape has become polycentric: activi-
Elected officials rarely have a mandate to ties that were once in the central business
fund programs; their mandate, and their district or inner industrial areas have moved
moral obligation, is to direct resources to to highly accessible localities in the sprawl-
address issues of concern to community ing metropolis. As cities and their functions
residents. The challenge for planners is to have diffused, urban agglomeration has
identify those community-wide benefits that become more complex.
residents most desire. These benefits can
be ascertained subjectively—for example, Although mechanical technologies still dom-
by a review of issues that are paramount in inate, it is electrical pulses that now force
election campaigns—or more scientifically, the pace of change: new ways of exchanging
through resident surveys. Surveys of random information are shaping the very nature of
trade, migration, and commuting. Neverthe-
samples of residents will reveal their pri-
less, little of what we see is solely, or even
mary concerns and indicate to what extent
primarily, determined by new information
residents believe that parks and recreation
technologies, which are still largely invisible
services or programs contribute (or could
within the physical form. Since the early
contribute) to addressing those concerns.5
1990s, computers and telecommunications
have converged, and these technologies
Notes
are now changing the basis of interaction
1 Roger L. Moore and B. L. Driver, Introduction to
Outdoor Recreation: Providing and Managing Natural
and exchange so radically that it is barely
Resource Based Opportunities (State College, Pa.: possible to make sense of what is happen-
Venture Publishing, 2005). ing. What is clear, however, is that these new
2 John L. Crompton and Stephanie T. West, “The Role
information technologies are adding a new
of Moral Philosophies, Operational Criteria and
Operational Strategies in Determining Equitable Allo- layer of complexity—an “infostructure,” or
cation of Resources for Leisure Services in the United “Infobahn” as William Mitchell calls it1—to
States,” Leisure Studies 27, no. 1 (2008): 35–58. contemporary life, changing the form and
3 David E. Gray and Seymour Greben, “Future Perspec-
tives,” Parks and Recreation (July 1974): 33. functioning of cities in ways that are difficult
4 Ibid., 52. to measure in traditional physical terms.
11255-07_CH07.indd 408 12/22/08 2:47:21 PM

Impacts on cities train and auto travel become more reliable,

Nicholas Negroponte has argued that we the need for auto servicing is decreasing.
are standing on the threshold of a world in So far, the changes have been facilitated by
which atoms are being replaced by “bits.”2 In physical networks consisting of fiber-optic
fact, bits have already begun to complement cables that are usually laid alongside exist-
atoms in traditional physical construction, ing communication lines. Recently, however,
although manufacturing as such is not dis- information exchange has begun to tap the
appearing. The physical impacts of information potential of wireless networks. And as the
technology (IT), which are still quite small in capacity of wireless networks increases,
scale, are in the development of smart build- the convenience of wireless is likely to
ings and intelligent highways, where embed- change the way people behave in cities.3
ded sensors allow greater energy efficiency This is clear in that cell phones and personal
and safety. Buildings that clean themselves, digital assistants linked to the Internet are
and in which poorly functioning parts can be changing the way people communicate and
automatically restored, exemplify this new interact with one another. However, despite
synthesis of atoms and bits. Meanwhile, what our obvious ability to travel longer distances,
is being produced in those buildings—from large cities, while spreading out through
financial services to traditional manufacturing sprawl, are increasingly polarizing industries
products such as automobiles—is now largely and services that require IT at their core. The
underpinned by information technologies. much touted “death of distance” is not actu-
ally occurring.4 Rather than replace existing
Increasingly, the city is being “sensed” 24/7
activities, many of the new activities that IT
by multiple unrelated public and private agen-
is spawning are just as likely to complement
cies. The potential to control the city and its
them—and, if they do change those exist-
population—in ways that might be both good
ing activities, are unlikely to destroy them.
and bad—already exists. For example, someone
The new technologies provide new ways of
who lives or works in central London will be interacting and new types of expression, inev-
captured, on average, more than 300 times a itably leading to greater differentiation, diver-
day on closed-circuit television, which is good sity, and specialization within communities.
for monitoring crime but bad for personal
privacy. Privacy issues are central to the use
of IT in public places within the city. The invisibility of new communications
More profound changes, however, stem technologies belies a massive
from the effects of IT on connectivity proliferation of networks, all of which
within the economy. For example, working are structured around the transmission
remotely, which has been made possible by of information.
new information technologies, is believed
by some to undermine the ties that bind
people together in cities. IT, combined The invisibility of new communications tech-
with increased flexibility about how work nologies belies a massive proliferation of net-
is structured, is also leading to longer and works, all of which are structured around the
more varied working hours; in a related transmission of information. Attempts to chart
shift, the twenty-four-hour city is becom- cyberspace and the cyber-infrastructure on
ing increasingly common in large Western which it relies reveal the difficulties of rep-
urban agglomerations. Many local land uses resenting such information on conventional
are being radically affected by IT, the classic maps.5 On traditional maps that show the
clustering of Internet hubs, for example,
example being the independent bookshops
the patterns simply bear out the fact that
that are being replaced by online retailers.
the provision of IT and related networks is
Institutions such as hospitals are adding
linked to city size, and that the biggest cities
new functions involving many health events
have the greatest concentrations.6
and changing their space requirements,
often disseminating these functions to When it comes to IT, there are still distinc-
remote locations connected by IT. Another tions between information-rich (those with
example is the slow decline in the number of the greatest access to IT) and information-
gas stations in urban areas: as gas mileage poor environments: large cities versus
and automation in vehicles increase, and as smaller ones, urban versus rural areas, and
11255-07_CH07.indd 409 12/22/08 2:47:21 PM

a wealthy first world versus an increasingly might promote such growth by providing the
impoverished third world. The prospect necessary land and infrastructure to attract
of computing power being available ubiq- cash-rich financial services. Indeed, among
uitously, like electricity, from the physical the world’s financial hubs—London, New York,
net, or “grid,” or even from the “ether,” is and Tokyo, with Chicago, Frankfurt, and
conjuring up prospects of universal access Shanghai in hot pursuit—the intense rivalry
to anything, anywhere, anytime. Anticipating translates into the provision of amenities
how this will change the role of space and designed to sustain such dominance. For
distance in cities is one of the great chal- example, London’s financial quarter (known
lenges for planning. as the City) is the only place in the United
Kingdom where the streets are routinely
Impacts on planning washed each summer night and where there
Modern IT consists of computing devices is no on-street parking—meticulous planning
that underpins London’s efforts to keep
linked together in wired or wireless configu-
its competitive advantage. One of the few
rations. It had little impact on city planning
cities that have managed to attract a major
until the mid-1980s, when telecommunica-
financial services cluster is Dublin, and it has
tion networks and computers began to be
done so by providing less expensive space
linked, and when computers had been minia-
for back offices.
turized to the point where it was possible to
exchange information effectively over wide
areas among large numbers of users. As it As it became clear that highly specialized
became clear that highly specialized IT hubs IT hubs could become growth poles, the
could become growth poles—places where attraction of high-tech industries became
there are significant locational economies of the basis of many plans.
scale—the attraction of high-tech industries
became the basis of many plans. Singapore,
for example, billed itself as “the Intelligent The most direct impact of new information
Island,”7 and it has continued to position technologies on planning, however, is not
itself as a high-tech center within the global on the geography of cities but on plan-
economy.8 The Kuala Lumpur capital region ning techniques. Beginning in the 1950s,
of Malaysia has also attempted to draw high- when computers left the lab and entered
tech industries, largely through the con- commerce and government, planners
struction of a multimedia super-corridor.9 have sought to use them to represent the
Indeed, long before computers began to be city—first to create symbolic models of how
extensively linked together, many economic cities function, and more recently to create
development initiatives were based on the two- and three-dimensional (2-D and 3-D)
notion of clustering science-based industries representations of urban form. These tech-
in technology parks. The most success- niques, which depend on large quantities of
ful high-tech clusters, however, appear to data, have been stitched together to yield
have grown organically, from the bottom semiautomated processes known as plan-
up rather than through top-down planning support systems.11 Such systems are
ning initiatives. The obvious examples are instrumental to technical planning processes
Silicon Valley in California; Route 128, west and are founded on mature technologies
of Boston; Research Triangle Park in North such as a geographic information system
Carolina; and the Cambridge Science Park in (GIS).12 Computer-based planning tech-
the United Kingdom.10 niques, which a generation ago were not at
all linked to the way computers were chang-
As the financial and services sectors of large
ing the physical form of the city, are begin-
cities have diversified and grown, the new
ning to fuse with the much more routine
economic geography of cities has become
operation of running the city on a day-to-
much more variegated and heterogeneous,
day basis, replacing or complementing many
as reflected in extensive clustering of eco-
urban functions that were hitherto operated
nomic activities. Although the density of
by manual, nonautomated means.
such services and the IT that is needed to
support them are highly correlated with city Three examples illustrate how planning, as
size, there are always factors involving the well as urban life, might be enriched by new
local community that suggest that any city information technologies. The first concerns
11255-07_CH07.indd 410 12/22/08 2:47:21 PM

Figure 7–28 Virtual

London has been
constructed from
remotely sensed digital
data and is available
through Google Earth to
a wide group of users.
online maps, which enable users to find spe- skyscrapers has been resisted for fifty years.13
cific locations and obtain directions to them. Getting data into such systems, however, is
Such maps have been available almost since where the revolution in digital connectivity
the World Wide Web began in the mid-1990s. really comes into its own. Currently, the pop-
Google, which is organizing many kinds of ulation census and many other spatial data
information and disseminating it across the sets—such as deprivation indices data on air
Web, now offers Google Maps and Google pollution, employment, and so on—are online,
Earth, both of which can provide the basis for and this makes it easy to use such software
sophisticated public participation in planning. to visualize a wide variety of problems and
These two products effectively put 2-D and policies that inform city planning.
3-D GIS and computer-aided design into the The second example involves taking census
public domain and enable Web users to add data in standard form, associating it with
information. In London, an effort to enrich a classification of any area in the United
public participation in planning employs Kingdom (e.g., “information-rich” and
a 3-D GIS model that shows how planning “information-poor”), and then using Google
proposals and decisions would affect the city Maps to put the results into the public
(see Figure 7–28). Built for the metropolitan domain. Thus, any user can take any map and
government, the model can be easily ported download a piece of freeware that converts
to Google Earth, and users can access and the map into a Web page, using Google Maps
explore the physical form of the city from as the base. Data layers can be switched on
anywhere at any time. The model is currently and off, effectively creating a GIS that is in the
being used to examine the impact of propos- public domain. There are now literally thou-
als for tall buildings on the financial district, sands of such map applications linking highly
where extreme pressure for New York–style diverse data sources. Figure 7–29 shows the
Figure7–29 Information-
rich and information-poor
populations in Greater
London are visualized in
Google Maps.
11255-07_CH07.indd 411 12/22/08 2:47:22 PM

Figure 7–30 Real-time

tracking of a child’s
movements is achieved
using color codes to
indicate energy use along
the track. Time and
distance are displayed
below the map.
results of classifying information-rich and for planners who are grappling with futures
information-poor areas in London. that are increasingly complex.
The last example is at a much finer scale. We
will soon enter an era when remote sen-
Notes
1 William J. Mitchell, City of Bits: Space, Place, and the
sors will be coordinated in such a way that
Infobahn (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1996).
each day, each hour, possibly each minute, 2 Nicholas Negroponte, Being Digital (New York: Vin-
up-to-date information will be available tage, 1995).
3 Michael Batty, “Unwired Cities,” Environment and
about travel patterns, building occupancy,
Planning B 30, no. 6 (2003): 797–798.
pollution levels, energy use, retail sales, the 4 Francis C. Cairncross, The Death of Distance: How
number of children in school, the number of the Communications Revolution Is Changing Our
patients hospitalized, and so on. If this infor- Lives, 2nd ed. (Cambridge: Harvard Business School
Press, 2001).
mation is coordinated—and some of it will 5 Martin Dodge and Rob Kitchin, Atlas of Cyberspace
be—it will be possible to analyze it through (Harlow, UK: Addison-Wesley, 2001).
the kinds of planning support systems 6 Matthew A. Zook, The Geography of the Internet
Industry: Venture Capital, Dot-coms, and Local Knowl-
that planners use. Figure 7–30 shows the edge (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Limited, 2005).
daily movements of schoolchildren, eight 7 Michael Batty, “Intelligent Cities: Using Information
to ten years old, in a suburban area north Networks to Gain Competitive Advantage,” Environ-
ment and Planning B 17, no. 2 (1990): 247–256.
of London. For twelve hours a day over a
8 Kenneth E. Corey, “Moving People, Goods and Infor-
period of four days, the children wore tiny mation in Singapore: Intelligent Corridors,” in Moving
global positioning system (GPS) and energy People, Goods and Information in the 21st Century,
monitors that tracked their energy levels ed. Richard Hanley (London: Routledge, 2004),
293–324.
and locations. This kind of personal data 9 Tim Bunnell, “Cyberjaya and Putrajaya: Malaysia’s
raises issues of confidentiality, of course, Intelligent Cities,” in The Cybercities Reader, ed. Ste-
but it is highly relevant to efforts to design phen Graham (London: Routledge, 2004), 348–353.
10 Manual Castells and Peter Hall, Technopoles of the
walkable environments, and to address World: The Making of Twenty-first-Century Industrial
obesity by encouraging physical activity. Complexes (London: Routledge, 1994).
When this kind of real-time data is piped 11 Britton Harris, “Beyond Geographic Information
Systems: Computers and the Planning Professional,”
into Google Maps, it offers the prospect of Journal of the American Planning Association 55, no.
developing a planning capability that is truly 4 (1989): 85–90.
responsive—and developing cities that are 12 See Richard K. Brail, “GIS and Beyond,” in Chapter 8
of this textbook for more information on planners’
truly intelligent. The ability to use such IT
use of technology.
positively and creatively to design better 13 Michael Batty and Andy Hudson-Smith, “Urban Simu-
cities will be one of the foremost advantages lacra,” Architectural Design 75, no. 6 (2005): 42–47.
11255-07_CH07.indd 412 12/22/08 2:47:23 PM

Managing Planning
C h apt e r
8
The Planning Manager
Who manages planning and how do they do it?
—Steven A. Preston
Focus on
Planners and Politics / Roger S. Waldon

Political skill is a crucial part of implementing plans.
Planning Ethics / W. Paul Farmer

Planners balance their responsibilities to the public, to their clients
and employers, and to their profession.
Planning Leadership / Paul Zucker

The successful planning leader draws authority from the vision and
mission of the organization.
The Role of the Planning Director / Fernando Costa

The planning director plays a variety of roles, many of them outside
the job description.
Diversity in the Planning Profession / Mitchell J. Silver

Many planners are not equipped to deal with planning challenges in
the communities for which they work.
GIS and Beyond / Richard K. Brail

Printed plans are giving way to a dynamic geoweb of spatial
information.
Planners as Communicators / Mitchell J. Silver and Barry Miller

Communication in a rapidly changing media environment can
determine success or failure.
413
11255-08_CH08.indd 413 1/16/09 11:05:21 AM

11255-08_CH08.indd 414 1/16/09 11:05:21 AM
415
The planning manager

Steven A. Preston
Planning managers work in different environments, at different levels, and are

focused on different goals. Nevertheless, they have one thing in common: they must
cope with the changing realities of today’s planning environment—and, to do so,
must rely on a combination of technical, managerial, and leadership skills.
Planning management: Public versus private

In the past, public sector management was based on the notion that politics and
administration were entirely separate. In this environment, public planners were
regarded as highly skilled professionals who provided technical expertise but
remained above the fray. However, because there was no “check” on bureaucratic
behavior from outside the bureaucracy, the isolation of public planners from decision
making fueled perceptions of elitism, inefficiency, and waste.
Today, public agencies, including local governments, are adopting performance-
based models that are closely related to those used in the business world. Neverthe-
less, public planning remains distinctly different from private planning in a variety
of ways. First, the client base for public planning is diverse and difficult to define,
and it may not be directly or evenly engaged in planning processes. While the same
could be said of private planners when they are consulting for local governments,
planners working in private firms (whether for-profit or nonprofit) are more likely
to work for individual clients who have clear expectations. Second, because public
planning is community based, planners do not have the luxury of moving between
clients, projects, or localities. Third, institutional memory—that is, deep knowledge
and understanding of the community—is more important for public planners than
for consultants. Fourth, public planning is governed by an increasingly complex
body of legislation, case law, administrative regulations, and professional standards
that impose a host of limitations and responsibilities on public agencies—covering,
among other matters, notice and hearing requirements, environmental review,
conflict of interest, and procedural due process. Finally, despite an increasing level
of political engagement between communities and the planners who serve them,
a “firewall” of regulatory protections shields planners from on-the-job harassment
by elected officials or citizens. Private consultants may not face the same legal and
administrative burdens as public planners, but they are also more easily dismissed.
Planning management skills

Planners are often described as change agents, but many spend as much energy
responding to change as initiating it. Planning at the Edge of the Millennium, a
report issued in 2000 by the California Planning Roundtable, identified many new
developments that are shaping planning management. Among other findings, the
report noted that
• Planning is both more collaborative and more adversarial than in the past.
As narrowly focused interest groups compete, each attempting to dominate
discussions of the future, the broader public interest often is not represented at
the table.
• The diversity and magnitude of demographic change affect every facet of
community life.
• There is a sense of uncertainty in the planning process and its supporting
institutions.
• The digital world has transformed planning.
11255-08_CH08.indd 415 1/16/09 11:05:21 AM

416 Managing Planning
Planning management skills
Organizational skills Financial skills Personnel skills

Organizing Planning Recruitment
Training Budgeting Testing and selection
Delegating Capital programming Supervision
Leadership development Contract management Evaluation
Facilitation Performance monitoring Monitoring
Validation Mentoring
Strategic planning Progressive discipline
Marketing Negotiation and collective
Communications bargaining
Political awareness
• Social and governmental institutions have yet to catch up with the effects of
globalization on society, the economy, and daily life.
• Government has not kept pace with citizens’ demands for greater performance,
accountability, equity, and quality.
• Citizens are increasingly conscious of the relationship between the environment,
the economy, and their communities, and of the importance of social,
environmental, and economic sustainability.
• Forward-looking empirical planning has been replaced by crisis-driven decision
making and task-oriented solutions.1
To successfully address the challenges of a changing society, planning managers
must not only be technically proficient, but also be skilled managers and leaders.2
Planners—who blend technical skills, interdisciplinary thinking, and a long-term
perspective—are ideally suited to exert leadership. But they must also have strong
interpersonal skills so that they can function well in both internal and external set-
tings; in particular, they must exhibit the confidence that will encourage others to
follow, to collaborate, and to reach consensus. The sidebar above summarizes the
skills needed to manage a modern planning organization.
Figure 8–1 In
Harvey County,
Kansas, Planning
and Zoning Director
Scott Davies works
with a variety of
partners to do his
job.
Source: Wayne Senville
11255-08_CH08.indd 416 1/16/09 11:05:22 AM

Managing Planning 417
Leadership traits of effective planning managers
• Commitment. Demonstrates a disciplined commitment to the organization and the

community.
• Competence. Bases actions on reason and principle, not on emotion.
• Courage. Assesses and takes reasonable risks; remains calm in the face of stress.
• Ethics. Displays sincerity, integrity, and candor at all times. Conforms to and
promotes the standards of personal and professional ethics articulated in the
American Planning Association’s Principles for Ethical Conduct and the American
Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) Code of Ethics.1
• Fairness. Treats all people equitably.
• Empathy. Is sensitive to the feelings, values, interests, and well-being of others.
• Flexibility. Is willing to adapt to new conditions and data; finds new and creative
solutions to emerging issues while continuing to pursue broad goals.
• Inclusiveness. In keeping with the AICP Code of Ethics, seeks diverse participation in
planning processes. Builds ownership by facilitating collaboration and negotiation.
• Inspiration. Inspires confidence and enthusiasm; encourages others to extend
themselves by demonstrating mental and physical stamina.
• Interdisciplinary perspective. Capable of synthesizing diverse types of data and
applying techniques from a range of disciplines.
• Critical thinking. Combines strong analytical abilities with an inquiring and open mind.
• Political savvy. Functions effectively in a political environment while avoiding
inappropriate engagement in political activities.
• Sound judgment. Relies on analytical abilities to provide effective, timely decisions.
• Trustworthiness. Interacts with staff, elected officials, and citizens in a way that
inspires trust.
• Vision. Sets a vision and goals that are owned throughout the organization.
Note: For an extensive summary of leadership traits, as well as several other lists, all compiled by different
people and organizations, see Donald Clark, “Leadership—Character and Traits,” nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/
leadchr.html (accessed June 13, 2008).
1 American Planning Association, “Ethical Principles in Planning,” adopted May 1992, planning.org/ethics/ethics
.html (accessed June 13, 2008); “American Institute of Certified Planners Code of Ethics and Professional
Conduct,” adopted March 19, 2005, effective June 1, 2005, planning.org/ethics/conduct.html (accessed June 13,
2008).
Where planning managers work

A variety of organizations—including local governments, state governments, the fed-
eral government, regional planning agencies, private firms, tribal governments, and
nonprofit organizations—look to planning managers for leadership.
Local governments
According to a 2006 survey conducted by the American Planning Association
(APA), 67 percent of the nation’s planners work in local government,3 including
city, town, township, and village governments; county governments; various forms
of metropolitan governments; special districts; economic development or rede-
velopment agencies; and port, harbor, airport, and other authorities. Within such
organizations, planning managers oversee a range of planning, environmental,
and development-related functions. Local government planners who work at the
11255-08_CH08.indd 417 1/16/09 11:05:22 AM

midmanagement level and have some management responsibility may have titles
such as planning manager, development administrator, and director of long-range
or current planning.
Increasingly, planners are moving into the executive branch of government
agencies, carrying the title of assistant or deputy city manager. In cities and coun-
ties where there are independent planning commissions, the manager responsible
for planning may be the executive director of the planning commission—or, in a few
instances such as New York, the chair of the planning commission.
State and federal governments

Some of the highest-paid planning managers in the nation work in state and national
government agencies.4 At the state level, planners may work in the state planning
agency or related policy agencies; in the offices that support the state legislature; and
in housing, community development, economic development, or historic preserva-
tion agencies. They may serve as directors of such organizations, or as second-tier
managers overseeing a specific function or providing a particular kind of expertise.
In the federal government, one agency that uses planners is the Office of Community
Planning and Development (CPD), which is housed in the U.S. Department of Hous-
ing and Urban Development. The CPD manages programs that address community
and economic development, affordable housing, homelessness, the environment,
and housing for people who have AIDS or are HIV-positive.5
Regional planning agencies

The growth of regional planning authorities—known either as metropolitan planning
organizations (MPOs) or as councils of governments (COGs)—has provided signifi-
cant employment opportunities for planning managers. MPOs and COGs play a lead
role in state and regional transportation planning. The Southern California Associa-
tion of Governments, the largest of the nation’s 700 councils of governments, serves
as the MPO for a six-county region encompassing more than 18 million people and
more than 38,000 square miles.6 Planning management positions in an agency of this
size may include an executive director, deputy executive director(s), and directors or
department heads who oversee particular functional areas. There are also a variety
of other regional commissions and agencies that offer opportunities for planning
managers. The best known is the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA); founded in
1933, the TVA continues to exercise significant influence on land use and economic
development across parts of seven states.7
Private firms
In 2008, one-quarter of the planners surveyed by APA worked for private firms; this
group included both those who serve private developers and those who provide con-
tractual services to local government. The percentage of planners who work in the
private sector is growing; moreover, planners who work in the development field are
experiencing some of the most significant increases in salary.8
In private planning firms, depending on the firm’s type, size, and incorporation
status, the planning manager typically carries the title of president, partner, chief
executive officer, director, or—most commonly—principal. In larger firms that offer a
wide range of services, such as architectural or landscape architecture firms, research
firms, and land economics consultants, the managing planner (who is in some cases
an equity partner in the firm) may carry the title of executive vice president.
Planners have also assumed important managerial roles in private development
companies, including home-building firms; development firms that specialize in
large-scale, master-planned communities; and firms that specialize in housing,
commercial and mixed-use development, and redevelopment.
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Tribal governments
In Native American communities, long-range planning for economic development,
housing, and social services is being increasingly placed in the hands of planners
working within tribal governments. The position titles and job descriptions of
these planning managers generally mirror those in the public sector; nonetheless,
tribal planning management must reflect the unique legal foundations of tribal
sovereignty and the cultural traditions of tribal communities. Because of these
two factors, land management, the stewardship of environmental resources, and
negotiation with other government bodies have distinctive characteristics in tribal
communities.
In California’s rapidly growing Coachella Valley, the Agua Caliente Band of
Cahuilla Indians, under the leadership of a chief planning and development officer,
undertakes extensive planning programs. The work of the planning and development
department includes local and regional planning, the administration and enforce-
ment of building and safety codes, water resources planning, property acquisition
and management, grants administration, preconstruction design review, the provi-
sion of geographic information services (GIS), habitat conservation, and the manage-
ment of tribal parklands. (A separate historic preservation office manages cultural
and archaeological resources.)9 Such extensive planning capability is not found in
all tribal governments, but it is increasingly common. Because it is both the owner/
developer and governmental protector of its tribal lands, Agua Caliente operates in a
way that other governments cannot.
Nonprofit organizations
Planning managers in the nonprofit sector may work for economic development
organizations, community development corporations, community design centers,
nonprofit housing corporations, nonprofit development agencies, and social service
providers. A significant number work in the development of affordable housing.
Managing the planning organization

The forms and missions of planning organizations are changing rapidly. While
private firms have historically been client centered, more and more public planning
agencies are embracing a customer-service orientation. In many jurisdictions, efforts
to improve service quality have led to consolidated community development entities,
in which managers must oversee disparate activities—from planning to environ-
mental management, code administration and enforcement, economic development,
redevelopment, housing promotion and development, block-grant administration,
neighborhood empowerment, historic preservation, transportation management,
engineering, and even public works. The management of public-private partnerships
and community collaboratives demands additional skills and innovative organizational
structures.
To successfully manage an internally diverse organization, the planning manager
needs to think carefully about a number of factors: organizational form, strategic
planning, budgeting and finance, human resources (HR), administrative operations,
the management of competing and conflicting demands, performance monitoring,
communications and marketing, and the creation of an ethical culture. The planning
manager also needs to be skilled at managing innovation and change, enhancing
leadership capacity, and promoting diversity.
Organizational form
The form of a planning organization is influenced by its history, size, and breadth
of purpose. It must also be tailored to the level of interdisciplinary activity required,
11255-08_CH08.indd 419 1/16/09 11:05:22 AM

and must ensure a reasonable span of control for its leadership. In defining the most
effective structure for an agency, the planning manager collaborates with decision
makers, executive managers, planning staff, and community stakeholders. Generally
speaking, there are three options: vertical, horizontal, and matrix organizations.
• In vertical organizations, which rely on traditional chains of command, the manager
of each division reports to the next most senior manager. Lines of communication
are clear, and the rules of interaction are precisely defined. This model is most often
used when clear reporting relationships and a high degree of control are desired, as
is often the case in large and functionally complex organizations.
• Horizontal organizations are characterized by less reliance on titles, fewer
job titles in the classification scheme, greater flexibility, and more sharing of
authority and responsibility. Small firms and nonprofit enterprises often choose
this model because it encourages initiative, collaboration, and entrepreneurial
behavior. In horizontal organizations, ad hoc teams—drawn from throughout
the organization on the basis of skills rather than authority—are created to
undertake specific projects.
• In matrix organizations, which combine characteristics of both vertical and
horizontal organizations, most staff members belong to a functional or disciplinary
team, and also have responsibility for specific projects or outcomes that cut
across departmental lines. While appealing in theory, matrix organizations are
difficult to manage, and may not be effective for larger departments, agencies,
or organizations.
Strategic planning
Every successful organization needs a strategy and a plan. Drawing on the stra-
tegic planning approaches used in the private sector, every planning organization
should develop a statement that describes its core mission and identifies the fun-
damental tenets that guide its work. The organization then needs to identify long-
term aspirations and short-term benchmarks, keeping in mind the preferences
of elected officials and the availability of staff and financial resources. Typically,
strategic planning for a planning organization will include the elements listed in
the sidebar below.
Components of a strategic planning process
• Conduct an environmental scan (also known as a needs assessment). Identify

the current status of the organization and the critical trends that may affect it.
• Identify core values. Articulate the core values of the organization as reflected in
its approach to business or in its business model.
• Create a mission statement. Agree on the core mission of the organization, and
capture that mission in a brief statement that describes how the organization
wishes to be seen by its clients, consumers, constituents, and employees.
• Identify fundamental tenets. Articulate the values that drive the organization to
fulfill its mission.
• Undertake a SWOT analysis. Identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities,
and threats that should be addressed during the strategic planning process.
• Assign strategic priorities and create a work plan. Develop a focused plan to
achieve the identified goals within the desired time horizon—typically within two to
five years.
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Budgeting and finance

Planning managers are responsible for preparing and managing budgets, tracking
and assessing financial performance, and overseeing capital improvement budgeting.
Planning budgets may follow one of the models described in the sidebar below; typi-
cally, the type of budget will be prescribed by the larger organization in which the
planning operation resides.
While the form of the budget will vary depending on the model used, all bud-
gets have common elements: a budget message accompanied by tabular or graphic
summaries; an operational budget that addresses salaries, benefits, and operations;
and a capital budget for furniture, equipment, and repairs. (The budget for the plan-
ning agency itself is distinct from the capital improvement budget that a planning
agency may be required to prepare for the community.)
Human resources
Planning entities are service organizations, which means that the quality of their
work depends entirely on the quality of staff. Training, professional development,
and team building are essential to maintaining an effective, customer-oriented
agency. An effective HR strategy includes recruitment, testing, and selection; a
classification plan; a compensation plan; performance assessments; and collective
bargaining.
• Recruitment of talented employees is the foundation of service quality. In some
parts of the country, competition for planners and engineers is so intense that
public sector agencies must compete with the private sector by offering signing
bonuses and other incentives. In the public sector, civil service procedures
require public agencies to define the criteria for all employment decisions,
including selection, promotion, and compensation. By helping to ensure
fairness, the civil service system supports the recruitment and retention of the
best candidates.
• Agencies need a classification scheme that provides upward mobility for entry-level
and junior staff members, opportunities for midlevel staff to move into management
Budgetary approaches used in public agencies
Line-item budgeting. In this, the earliest and most traditional form of budgeting,
costs are categorized by department or administrative unit. Line-item budgets are
easily managed, ideal for small agencies with modest resources, and readily under-
stood by the general public.
Program budgeting. Instead of being organized according to standard line items,

program budgets are organized around specific programs. Although this model is
easier for the staff working on specific programs to use, it is more difficult for citizens
to understand.
Performance budgeting. Performance budgeting takes program budgeting one step

further by tying the budget to specific performance objectives for each program.
Planning-programming-budgeting-systems (PPBS). An outgrowth of research

undertaken by the defense industry after World War II, PPBS combines a program-
budgeting model with short- and long-term planning targets, performance mea-
surement, and a tracking system that identifies the critical path needed to reach
organizational objectives.
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Compensation levels for planners
The American Planning Association (APA) tracks nationwide compensation data

for planners in a biennial, Web-based survey. According to the 2008 survey, plan-
ners’ median annual salaries increased from 2006 to 2008 at an annualized rate of
4.8 percent per year, a rate that compares favorably with the core rate of inflation,
which gained 3.2 percent per year during the same period. This pattern parallels the
wages of all U.S. workers.1 As indicated in the second figure below from the APA/AICP
2008 Planners Salary Survey, planners working for federal agencies, educational
institutions, law firms, and development firms generally make higher salaries than
their counterparts in local government and private consulting. Planners working for
nonprofit entities and joint city/county governments are typically at the lower end of
the pay spectrum.
Compensation levels for planners in the United States, 2008
$100,000 or more 19%
$80,000–$99,999 17%
$60,000–$79,999 30%
$40,000–$59,999 30%
<$40,000 4%
Note: Annual salary percentages are based on responses from 12,940 full-time planners.
roles, and a succession plan to ensure that as senior planners leave or retire, they
can be replaced by planners who are moving up through the ranks.
• A compensation plan that is backed by regular external comparisons of
competitive salaries is one of the keys to recruiting and retaining a stable and
effective workforce (see the sidebar above). Salary surveys should be based
on the local labor market; if such data are not readily available, however, data
from nationwide surveys may be used. Surveys may seek comparable data for
all positions within a department, or they may use selected, representative
positions and extrapolate from them.
• A regular, systematic means of providing feedback on employee performance is
crucial to high-quality service provision. The accompanying sidebar on appraisal
methods describes various approaches to performance assessment.
• Once the province of public safety and operations staff, collective bargaining
has increasingly moved into the professional ranks, including the planning
departments of several major cities. Negotiations with a recognized bargaining
unit are generally conducted by the city administration, but planning managers
may play an important role on the bargaining team.
11255-08_CH08.indd 422 1/16/09 11:05:22 AM

Compensation levels for planners
Salary levels by type of employment, 2008
$140,000 75th
$120,000
50th
$100,000
75th
$80,000
50th 25th
$60,000
25th
$40,000
All Private Non- Educational Law Development
planners consulting profit institution firm firm
firm
Employer
$140,000
$120,000
$100,000
75th
75th
50th
$80,000
50th
25th
$60,000
25th
$40,000
All City County Joint Metro/ State Federal Economic
planners city/ regional develop-
county ment
Employer
Note: Percentages are based on responses from 12,940 full-time planners.
1 American Planning Association, APA/AICP 2008 Planners Salary Survey, planning.org/salary/summary.htm.
Appraisal methods
In most organizations, annual performance evaluations are used to identify strengths,

compare achievements against personal and organizational objectives, and plan ways
to resolve weaknesses in performance and to pursue future growth and development.
In a traditional appraisal process, the employee and the supervisor usually fill out
a form (either a checklist or a narrative document), and then discuss their conclu-
sions. In more progressive agencies, however, other appraisal methods—including
reverse performance appraisals and 360-degree appraisals—are coming into use.
Reverse performance appraisals permit both the employee and the supervisor to
evaluate each other over the course of a year. The evaluations are usually timed so
that supervisors and subordinates are not evaluated simultaneously. As with any
other appraisal process, confidentiality must be ensured. In a 360-degree appraisal
process, all working units of an organization evaluate how well the organization is
achieving its objectives.
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Administrative operations
With the advent of both GIS and management information systems, administrative
operations in planning agencies have become increasingly sophisticated. Planning
managers use these tools to
• Manage conflicting demands on time and resources.
• Monitor contacts with staff members, senior management, members of the
governing body, community stakeholders, and the general public. Monitor
progress toward performance objectives, which may include assisting
decision makers (e.g., members of the local governing body, courts, planning
commissions, boards of adjustment, boards of directors, and clients) to assess
the current performance and future needs of the organization.
• Monitor the permit approval process.
Competing and conflicting demands

Even the best-managed organizations can succumb to stress and discord when the
volume of demands overwhelms capacity. Competing and conflicting demands may
pose particular challenges in the public sector, where planning managers have less
budgetary flexibility to add or deploy staff than do professionals in the private sector.
Skilled planning managers use a number of strategies to manage demands.
Tools such as management information systems can be used to monitor inputs
(e.g., service calls, applications received, number of visitors) and to provide other
data that will help manage work flow. A realistic assessment of capacity may lead to
adjustments in performance expectations.
The planning manager needs to serve as a coach, offering support and counseling
to help staff members deal with the workload, and reassigning work—or priorities—as
necessary. Moreover, in assessing workload, the planning manager should rely on staff
members’ capabilities rather than on their titles or functions. Where employees need
assistance with performance beyond what the manager can offer, the planning manager
should provide referrals to other resources, including counseling.
Effective planning managers establish basic guidelines to reduce stress, making
a point of reminding staff of their rights and responsibilities in maintaining a calm,
pleasant environment. The agency should provide easy access to fluids and healthy
snacks, as well as to quiet space where staff members can retreat to collect their
thoughts. Another way to reduce stress is to insulate line staff from the demands
of elected officials or other influential individuals; this is the planning manager’s
Figure 8–2 Assis-

tant planner Roger
Shores of Montrose,
Colorado, uses
computer graphics
to inform planning
commissioners.
Source: Wayne Senville
11255-08_CH08.indd 424 1/16/09 11:05:23 AM

responsibility. Breaking the rhythm of the workday with pauses for humor, camara-
derie, and reflection also helps to maintain morale, as do social events designed to
strengthen personal relationships.
Performance monitoring
Successful planning organizations set goals and objectives and monitor progress
toward targets. The targets may be derived from the comprehensive plan, from a
strategic plan, or from an organization’s development plan. Planning managers use
a number of different tools to monitor performance. For example, efficiency studies
may be used to identify opportunities to improve processes, and management audits
may be used to assess procedural efficiency and management performance. Data for
ongoing, systematic evaluation of an agency’s operations—in terms of timeliness,
effectiveness, productivity, or customer satisfaction—may be gathered through
random surveys, customer preference surveys, focus groups, or other tools.
Some jurisdictions use community performance indicators to measure citizen
satisfaction with government services and quality of life. Whether they are used to
track crime, emergency response, or access to social services, these indicators have
become part of the lexicon of planning management, providing elected officials and
citizens with a thumbnail sketch of their communities. Many cities now use interac-
tive online programs to solicit direct responses from residents.
The Internet has increased citizen demands for the “democratization of data”—
that is, for information that is unfiltered by government. Greater citizen access to perfor-
mance indicators and other information has yielded impressive results in communities.10
Communications and marketing

Contemporary planning practice depends on engagement with citizens—the ultimate
consumers of planning services. Planning managers today must create and imple-
ment overarching communications plans to support long-term organizational and
community objectives; they must also market specific plans and policies. Planning
managers are increasingly likely to use mass forms of communication, but they must
also organize community engagement processes, reaching out directly to residents
and other stakeholders.11
Building an ethical culture

As planning managers move into positions of increasing responsibility, they must
be effective advocates for ethical behavior.12 Building an ethical culture has practical
implications: if planning managers are to be effective, their staff must have credibility
with both elected officials and citizens, who may have perspectives that differ from
those of their political representatives. General ethical standards for the profession are
embodied in APA’s Ethical Principles in Planning; planners who have been certified by
the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) must also abide by the AICP Code
of Ethics and Professional Conduct (see “Planning Ethics” in this chapter).13
Building a culture of ethics means more than adhering to a code, however. It also
means building an ethical firewall, establishing clear guidelines, promoting ethical
values, training officials, discussing ethics in the open, and enforcing ethical standards.
• Building an ethical firewall. Where political circumstances create a hostile
climate for planning, the effective planning manager creates a safe and
productive workplace by building a firewall between elected officials and the
line staff who are charged with administering codes and regulations. Good
managers ensure that staff will not be punished for doing the job they are paid
to do—or rewarded for cutting corners.
• Establishing clear guidelines. Planning agencies need clear, concise policies that
establish ethical standards—prohibiting the acceptance of gifts and requiring the
disclosure of real or perceived conflicts of interest, for example. In many cases, such
standards are tied to principles articulated in the organization’s strategic plan.
11255-08_CH08.indd 425 1/16/09 11:05:23 AM

• Promoting ethical values. Within the planning agency, the planning manager
must be the chief ethics officer, responsible for communicating, promoting,
and enforcing ethical requirements. Some planning managers favor prospective
employees who are members of the AICP, because certification ensures that such
candidates are familiar with ethical standards. In New Jersey, the AICP exam is
used as the basis for the state’s licensing examination to ensure both ethics and
competence. The planning department of Santa Monica, California, posts ethical
guidelines—drawn from those of APA—on its Web site.14
• Training elected and appointed officials. Four states—Kentucky, Louisiana, South
Carolina, and Tennessee—now impose mandatory ethics training for planning
commissioners. California mandates such training for all elected and appointed
officials. In Kentucky, commissioners must undergo four hours of ethics training
within 120 days of appointment or in the year prior to appointment. Thereafter,
they must receive eight hours of training every two years. Under the laws
in these states, as well as in California, planners are required to receive an
equivalent amount of training.15
• Discussing ethics in the open. There is no substitute for frank and open discussion
of ethical issues.16 During the state’s annual planning conference, the California
Planning Roundtable conducts open discussions. At least one session each year
is devoted to the theme of planning leadership; often, the session focuses on the
needs of young planners who are still negotiating the delicate and dangerous
intersection of politics and planning.
• Enforcing ethical standards. Ethical standards will prevail where there is a
clear record of prompt investigation and enforcement, with careful attention to
confidentiality. Many cities now have codes of ethical conduct, and some states
have legislation on the books that prescribe how alleged violations are to be
investigated and dealt with. Members of the AICP are also subject to sanctions
within the profession if an investigation determines that a violation of the Code
of Ethics has occurred.
Managing innovation and change

Managers not only oversee the work of others, but also inspire colleagues and subor-
dinates to achieve things that may not have seemed within their grasp. Staff mem-
bers are sometimes reluctant to pursue new initiatives because of the fear of censure
if an idea fails. Successful planning managers provide authority and responsibility
in equal measure. Staff are given the means to assess and address reasonable risk,
coupled with a “safety net” if initiatives fail in unpredictable ways.
Creative planning managers also promote innovation by emphasizing flexible,
collaborative thinking across professional disciplines and organizational boundaries. In
San Gabriel, California, division managers from throughout the organization partici-
pate in an annual offsite retreat designed to build teamwork, reduce organizational
barriers, educate, and entertain. The managers also meet regularly for informal
lunches to discuss and address issues.
Enhancing leadership capacity

Improving staff capacity to lead effective planning efforts is one of the central
responsibilities of the planning manager. Capacity-building programs normally
include the following elements:
• Staff development programs to develop and refine the skills that are needed in
the workplace. Staff development strategies may include monthly “brown-bag
lunches” that might feature speakers, be focused on a given topic, or provide
an occasion for informal social contact to strengthen bonds; periodic field tours
to review and critique the results of the team’s efforts; informal discussions
with visiting professionals or academics; and training in new technologies,
techniques, and practices.
11255-08_CH08.indd 426 1/16/09 11:05:23 AM

• Educational opportunities to develop the more advanced skills in budgeting,

project management, and personnel management that are required to assume
increasing responsibility. Conferences sponsored by APA, the Association
of Environmental Professionals, Planners Network, and a host of university
extension programs provide reasonably priced opportunities, but they require
planning managers to push for and maintain funding for conference attendance.
• Fellowship programs to offer young planners an opportunity to develop
leadership skills outside the office.17
• Shared management arrangements, which provide employees with opportunities
to work collaboratively in managing operations, whether formally or informally.
• Training programs for decision makers focusing on effective leadership, ethical
standards, and appropriate distinctions between staff and elected or appointed
officials, and offering joint opportunities for learning and discussion with staff.
Drawing planners into public service

Creating the next generation of leaders will require intense effort. A 2007 ICMA
report notes that the majority of local government managers are baby boomers
who are fast approaching retirement, and that the task of drawing young and
midcareer professionals into the managerial ranks will be “complicated by today’s
political culture, which teaches young people that government service is bureau-
cratic, second-rate work.”18 Research conducted by ICMA suggests that the new
generation of planners is more diverse in terms of sex and ethnic background;
less likely to invest in a single, long-term employment; more eager to receive
immediate recognition; and less willing to consider careers in local government.19
Planning—especially local government planning—needs to be made a more excit-
ing option in order to attract new groups into the profession and into public ser-
vice. In Rancho Cucamonga, California, for example, planners have reached out to
local schools, using tours, creative games, and other activities to teach youngsters
about planning.
Many graduates of planning programs express a preference for private sector
employment because they believe that it offers greater opportunities for meaning-
ful work and rapid advancement. Effective planning agencies deal with competition
from the private sector by participating in job fairs and other planning-school events,
and by seizing opportunities to demonstrate that public planners engage in valuable
work with significant impact.
Leavening the image of the staid, bureaucratic government office is another
useful move. Ric Stephens, a planner in Portland, Oregon, has traveled the West
Figure 8–3 When

high school students at
a community forum
talked about the need
for healthier food, Gail
Goldberg, planning
director for the city of
Los Angeles, admitted
that this is an area that
planners don’t think
about enough, and
offered a meeting
between herself and
the teens to discuss
the food environment
in their neighborhood. Source: Amanda Shaffer, Urban and Environmental Policy Institute
11255-08_CH08.indd 427 1/16/09 11:05:23 AM

for years, appearing at conferences to introduce planners to the idea that humor in
the workplace is a good thing. In La Verne, California, the community development
department’s humor publication, Quotes of the Year, has been an annual tradition
since 1993.
Promoting and supporting diversity

Diversity remains a critical issue: according to a 2004 APA report, minorities make
up fewer than 10 percent of all APA members; in the ranks of management, the per-
centage is even smaller.20 However, given the diversity of today’s communities, plan-
ning managers have increasing need for staff members who come from a range of
cultural backgrounds—and, in many cases, for staff members who are multilingual.
To create an effective diversity program, planning managers must recruit in com-
munities of color, establish links with colleges and universities that serve diverse
populations, and create jobs that offer a clear track to management. As part of its
Diversity Initiative, APA maintains a roster of resources on its Web site (planning.org),
and many local chapters and sections now offer diversity programs in concert with the
national organization.
Women account for 37 percent of the planners who responded to the APA sur-
vey for salary purposes, marking their continued growth in the profession. Median
salaries for women planners who have been in the field for less than five years are
virtually identical to those for men who have comparable experience and have been
in the field for less than nine years. As the number of years of experience increases,
however, women planners lose ground; by the time they have twenty or more years
of experience, they earn approximately $14,000 less than their male counterparts.
Although APA does not survey planners’ roles, women also appear to represent a
small proportion of senior managers, despite the fact that there are more women in
management positions than ever before.21
Even assuming equal compensation and promotional opportunity, some women
may not advance because of the disproportionate burden they bear when it comes
to family responsibilities. Including benefits such as day care or voucher programs
in employment packages can provide greater flexibility for both male and female
employees. Progressive planning managers have devised alternative staffing options—
including job sharing, which allows two professionals, each working part time, to
share a title and a job. In some California communities, alternative work schedules
that provide Fridays or Mondays off have become a popular way to provide time
for family or medical needs. Telecommuting may be another viable option in some
organizations.
Organizations that have been dominated by men are often difficult environments
for women to develop or demonstrate their leadership abilities. Paying conscious
attention to the gender climate and offering mentoring are critical to providing a safe
environment in which women planners can advance their careers.
Summary
A planning manager must know how to
• Create an organizational structure that meets the needs of both internal and
external customers
• Engage staff and other stakeholders in the development of a strategic plan that is
responsive to current and emerging needs
• Manage the agency’s budget to ensure optimum use of resources
• Recruit, retain, and develop a talented team
• Ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of administrative operations
• Manage competing demands
• Monitor performance
11255-08_CH08.indd 428 1/16/09 11:05:23 AM

• Develop communications and marketing initiatives

• Build an ethical culture
• Create a work environment that is receptive to innovation
• Foster diversity.
Skilled planning managers build internal and external support for planning,
forge connections among stakeholders, and help the community find the resources
to meet its planning needs. They achieve these goals by a combination of technical
know-how, managerial ability, and leadership skills. More importantly, they inspire
and develop their staffs in a manner that builds confidence and organizational
capacity. By keeping their eyes on emerging trends—both in the field and in the
world outside—successful planning managers carry the key to unlocking some of the
fundamental planning challenges faced by America’s communities.
Notes
1 California Planning Roundtable, Planning at effective June 1, 2005, planning.org/ethics/
the Edge of the Millennium: Improving Land conduct.html (accessed June 13, 2008).
Use Decisions in California (San Gabriel, 14 City of Santa Monica, California, City Planning
Calif.: January 2000), 2, cproundtable.org/ Department, smgov.net/planning/planningcomm/
media/uploads/pub_files/paem.pdf (accessed cityplanning.html (accessed June 13, 2008).
June 13, 2008). 15 Sources include data available from APA’s Web
2 The relationship between management and site, planning.org (accessed June 13, 2008), and
leadership is covered more fully in other articles from the League of California Cities, cacities.org
in this chapter. (accessed June 13, 2008).
3 American Planning Association (APA), APA/ 16 A good source for training tools is Carol Barrett,
AICP 2008 Planners Salary Survey, planning.org/ Everyday Ethics for Practicing Planners
salary/summary.htm (accessed June 13, 2008). (Chicago: APA Planners Press, 2002), in which
4 Ibid. Ms. Barrett, planning manager in San Gabriel,
5 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban California, offers a compendium of ethical
Development, Office of Community Planning practices drawn from real-world scenarios.
and Development Web site, hud.gov/offices/ 17 The Durfee Foundation, for example, provides
cpd (accessed June 13, 2008). a sabbatical and a paid fellowship for nonprofit
6 Southern California Association of Govern- executive directors to pursue personal and
ments, “About Us: Who We Are,” scag.ca.gov/ professional development (durfee.org/). The
departments/exe.htm (accessed June 13, 2008). Coro Foundation helps civic leaders gain
7 Tennessee Valley Authority, Strategic Plan 2007, experience in the public and private sectors;
4–5, tva.gov/stratplan/tva_strategic_plan.pdf develop the skills and tools needed to engage
(accessed June 13, 2008). and empower communities; and participate in
8 APA, APA/AICP 2008 Planners Salary Survey. special community and political problem-solving
9 Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians Web site, processes (coro.org/site/c.geJNIUOzErH/
Planning and Development, aguacaliente.org/ b.2083541/). The Network for Korean American
PlanningDevelopment/tabid/59/Default.aspx Leadership, a function of the Center for Asian
(accessed June 13, 2008). Pacific Leadership at the University of Southern
10 APA, Using Indicators to Advance Collaborative California (sowkweb.usc.edu/global/asian-pacific
Planning in Neighborhoods (symposium .html), provides young Korean Americans with
proceedings, American Planning Association, an opportunity to network, develop leadership
Chicago, Illinois, October 29–30, 1998), potential, and travel.
planning.org/casey/pdf/proceed1.pdf (accessed 18 ICMA, “What Is the NextGen Initiative?” icma
June 13, 2008). .org/nextgen (accessed June 13, 2008).
11 APA’s Planners’ Communications Guide: 19 Ibid.
Strategies, Examples, and Tools for Everyday 20 American Planning Association Membership
Practice instructs planning managers on how to Survey, 2004; see also the report to the Board
develop and implement a communications plan, of Directors by the Diversity Subcommittee,
and contains the basics of mass communication, April 23, 2006, planning.org/diversity/pdf/
marketing, and media development (Chicago: 06DiversityReport.pdf (accessed June 13, 2008).
APA, 2006), planning.org/communicationsguide/ To address diversity within the profession, APA
index.htm (accessed June 13, 2008). now includes divisions representing African
12 For further discussion of ethics in planning, see American planners, tribal planners, and gay
“Planning Ethics” in this chapter. and lesbian planners, among others. Mitchell
13 APA, “Ethical Principles in Planning,” adopted Silver, who has chaired the APA’s Diversity Task
May 1992, planning.org/ethics/ethics.html Force of Membership, discusses these issues in
(accessed June 13, 2008); “American Institute of greater detail in “Diversity in the Planning
Certified Planners Code of Ethics and Profes- Profession” in this chapter.
sional Conduct,” adopted March 19, 2005, 21 APA, APA/AICP 2008 Planners Salary Survey.
11255-08_CH08.indd 429 1/16/09 11:05:23 AM

Focus on Elected leaders pay attention to the citizens

who put them in office and who will keep
Planners and them in office, and they act accordingly.

Moreover, because elected officials repre-
politics sent the will and opinions of their citizens,

their actions have a legitimacy that those of
professional planners do not have.
Roger S. Waldon
The foundation of the planning profession
Planning is all about getting things done. is the “rational method”—formulating goals,
Theory is important. Statistical analysis is identifying alternatives, evaluating the
important. Research, law, economics, science, alternatives in light of the goals, deciding on
methodologies, knowledge, and technical a course of action, implementing the deci-
skills are all important. But what planners sion, and evaluating the results. The rational
do—and what distinguishes us from the method continues to be a broadly accepted
members of many other professions—is to framework for planning. Nevertheless, in
take a body of information and ideas, com- today’s planning environment, this intellec-
bine it with public discourse and governance tually rigorous model is unlikely to succeed
systems, and get something accomplished without the injection of political consider-
on the ground. And in order to do that suc- ations. Our objective as planners is to take
cessfully, a planner has to pay attention to an idea from conception to groundbreaking.
politics. In order to best accomplish this, we need to
be willing to step away from the cleanliness
The interplay of politics and planning is of and comfort of technical rigor, and engage
key importance to every planner. The reality in the compromise and swirl of political
is that our ideas get implemented through
governance.1
political action, and if we’re not paying
attention to politics and encouraging politi- You can tell that a planning idea has devel-
cians to advance our ideas, we’re not likely oped political traction when you hear it
to achieve what we envision. discussed during campaign season. If you
hear a candidate on the stump advocating
It’s been said that some decisions are
for compact development patterns or better
too important to be left to professionals.
transit service, you know that a planner has
Planners have the ideas, facts, analyses,
made the case successfully and found a
and methods. But without political deci-
champion.
sions to allocate resources and set priori-
ties, nothing happens. One of the critical
Finding champions
ingredients contributing to the success of
a planning initiative is skillful, purposeful No idea is good enough to succeed on its
attention to politics. Very simply, incorporat- own power; ideas need champions. Cham-
ing political considerations into a planning pions are the people who will pick up the
process increases the odds of success. phone and talk about an initiative, who will
Broad participation and buy-in from multiple help get constituents out for a meeting, who
stakeholders and organizations pave the will get an idea onto the agenda for discus-
way for acceptance and implementation of sion and speak out in support of it.
ideas. Often, the difference between a good Planners need to be able to put the best
plan that is implemented and a good plan ideas on the table. They then need to find
that sits on a shelf is the extent to which the champions: to identify—and, if necessary,
planner has paid attention to politics. recruit—people who will see the value in a
particular initiative and be willing to put
Planning and governance time and effort into pushing it through the
Representative democracy is a fascinating, political process. Planners can do some of
frustrating, powerful governance system—a this, but the impact of a planner speaking to
decision-making process that puts ordi- an elected board on behalf of an initiative
nary citizens in charge of the big decisions pales in comparison to that of a series of
that affect our communities. And it works. community residents taking to the podium.
11255-08_CH08.indd 430 1/16/09 11:05:23 AM

Potential champions are out there for every you are willing to let someone else take the
initiative. There will always be citizens who credit.
want to be engaged, who feel strongly about
a particular issue, who want to be asked to Respecting the process
participate. The wise planner will take the Cultures, values, and governance systems
time to identify such citizens and nurture vary widely. In a big city, if the mayor
their enthusiasm. wants the planner to lead the charge on
an initiative or to become the advocate or
Planning initiatives as spokesperson for a project, that defines the
political capital planner’s role. In a small town where there
Planning can help politicians accomplish are few professional planning resources and
things that they consider to be important. where new ideas are not forthcoming from
Planners need to work hard to build sup- citizens, the planner needs to step forward
port for ideas, and one way to do that is to with proposals and visions. Or perhaps a
pay attention to what political leaders need, community is so clear and unified about its
and then provide it in the form of planning objectives that it simply wants the planner
initiatives. When elected leaders see political to make them happen. The key point is to
value in an initiative, the odds of the initia- understand and respect a community’s way
tive going forward go up dramatically. of making decisions.
Examples abound. A city council member Sometimes planners feel frustrated when
who gets elected on a platform of environ- their recommendations are not followed by
mental protection will look for projects to the planning board. But does the board’s
support and implement, projects that can decision to approve a development or
then be cited as accomplishments. A mayor rezone property, despite the planner’s
who has pledged to improve conditions in recommendations to the contrary, diminish
decaying neighborhoods will be eager to a planner’s value? No. Local governments
hire planners because planners make an
seek funding for housing rehabilitation.
enormous contribution to the public decision-
A city council that has set an objective of
making process. The value that they bring
encouraging economic activity will be willing
is substantial and real, and a big part of
to allocate resources to the preparation of
that value comes from managing a process
marketing strategies and design standards.
that is fair, open, and participatory. If the
The successful implementation of a planning
planner’s job was done well and citizens
initiative that aligns with political objec-
were involved, the decision was made legiti-
tives helps the politicians, thereby creating
mately and reflects community values and
more political support for those planning
goals. Whatever the outcome on an indi-
programs.
vidual issue, politicians and citizens alike will
There is a key premise here, which all plan- recognize, over the long term, the value of
ners would do well to embrace: there is no professional staff work and of the planner’s
limit to what you can accomplish, as long as efforts to inform and involve them.
Figure 8–4 A successful

planner, when confronted
by angry citizens, will
listen to the citizens as
they voice their concerns
and then help them to
understand how they can
most effectively
advocate for their
neighborhood.
Source: Robert Waldon
11255-08_CH08.indd 431 1/16/09 11:05:24 AM

Incorporating politics into carefully about recent interchanges between

the process citizens and political leaders related to the
initiative, picking up on past discussions
How can planners ensure that a planning
and themes. Planners must also identify
initiative takes politics into account? There
stakeholders who are likely to emerge as
are some clear do’s and don’ts. First and
champions for the plan so that these indi-
foremost, planners must provide informa-
viduals can be involved in the process from
tion and advice to all stakeholders, and in a
the beginning. Finally, planners must ensure
way that ensures that they are perceived as
that participation and engagement tech-
being fair and impartial. (The accompanying
niques take advantage of existing organiza-
sidebar illustrates the use of this approach.)
tions and existing, in-place networks and
Second, planners must remember that the
mechanisms for communication.
microphone is always on: for a public sector
planner, there is no such thing as a private Where the outcome involves building, a key
conversation. Timing is also critical: plan- initial step is to contact important stake-
ners must make information available well holders for advice about project design;
in advance of any public decision in order it is also important to build flexibility into
to minimize the prospect of a stakeholder the design to allow for citizen feedback.
claiming to be surprised. Planners should do everything possible to
publicize opportunities for public engage-
It is always useful to think proactively about
ment and to ensure that the decision-
politics at the outset of a new planning
making process is accessible and transpar-
initiative. Planners should begin by identify-
ent. And at the end, if the process has been
ing each of the political leaders who will be
fair and participatory, the planner’s task is
key to the process and potential champions
to fully embrace the final decisions.
of the initiative, and by thinking explicitly
about what will motivate their actions: in The point here is to have faith in the process—
other words, how might the initiative help a in the governance mechanisms and in the
given policy leader in his or her interactions politics of a community. As long as the
with the community? Planners should think process works fairly and openly, and all sides
“You want me to do what?”
In my first week as planning director of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, I was called into
the town manager’s office. High housing prices and a community-wide commitment
to addressing social problems had made homelessness a major focus of public atten-
tion. The city did not have a homeless shelter at the time, and the prevailing sentiment
was that we needed one. A coalition of churches was acting to fill the void; they had
selected a site but were running into opposition from the adjacent neighborhood.
The manager told me how he wanted me to proceed. My first task would be to call the
leader of the shelter initiative, and tell him everything I could think of that would help
him succeed in locating the shelter on the proposed site. He then wanted me to call
the head of the neighborhood association that opposed the project, and offer my best
advice on how to successfully block the shelter from locating in that neighborhood.
My jaw dropped. The manager explained his reasoning: both sides needed to have full
and equal access to the decision-making process—the same opportunities to press
for what they believed to be the best decision. His vision of the planning director’s
job was to be the keeper of that process. He wanted my professional opinion about
whether the proposed location was a good one for a shelter. More important, he
needed me to manage the community dialogue. His key point: have faith in the pro-
cess. As long as both sides had full information and an equal opportunity to influence
the debate and the outcome, the right decision would be made.
Source: Adapted from Roger S. Waldon, Planners and Politics (Chicago: APA Planners Press, 2006), xv–xvi.
11255-08_CH08.indd 432 1/16/09 11:05:24 AM

have the opportunity to present their ideas Maintaining personal integrity

and press their positions, and as long as deci- Above all, a planner needs to maintain
sion makers and the process itself represent
professional integrity while working within
community values, the decisions will be fair
political contexts that may be highly
and legitimate.
charged. Paying attention to politics is
not the same thing as acting politically: as
Engaging the citizen expert
planners, we should do the first and care-
Methods of public engagement are con- fully avoid the second. As an example, a
stantly evolving. Planners once needed to planner in a medium-sized midwestern city
knock on doors to explain to citizens why found a political champion for his ideas on
they should be interested in a new initiative; his city council. He began strategizing with
now the flood of inquiries from citizens is his new ally—which included providing her
so great that it strains public resources. The with exclusive information to help her make
planning profession has moved from trying her arguments. It was not long before other
to keep citizens informed, to trying to per- council members realized that they were
suade them to participate, to offering them not receiving full and equal information.
full engagement in decision making, to wres-
The result was a reprimand and setback for
tling with citizens for control of a project.
the planner. He had allowed his belief in the
The Internet—with its Web sites, distribu- value of the project to overpower his obliga-
tion lists, e-mail lists, blogs, and search tion to be impartial.
engines—has changed everything. Citizen-
Successful planners pay attention to the
experts can conduct their own research and
politics of the community, understand local
gather information on a planning topic with
values and culture, are purposeful about
a few clicks of the mouse. Planners need to
timing, and cultivate champions. But under
fully embrace this trend, to actively manage
no circumstances can a planner allow politi-
opportunities for citizen engagement, and to
cal considerations to compromise profes-
celebrate citizens’ participation and contri-
sional integrity or intellectual honesty.
butions. An example: a city council is about
to adjust the regulations for the historic
district. Toward the close of an extensive Note
process involving hearings and discussion, 1 Roger S. Waldon, Planners and Politics (Chicago: APA
Planners Press, 2006), 126–127.
a citizen comes to the podium to report on
a promising and innovative approach she
discovered being implemented by a city four
states away. What is the best response? Focus on
Paying attention to political considerations,
the planner’s best response is to thank the
citizen, slow down the process to allow for
Planning ethics
investigation of the alternative idea, and W. Paul Farmer
publicly celebrate the citizen’s contribution.
A local government planner who also
Figure 8–5 Media-savvy protestors fight a Coney serves as an elected official in another
Island redevelopment plan in 2007. county accepts an invitation from a devel-
oper to attend a golf outing. Another is
approached by a private consulting firm
about a new job possibility. A private sector
planner has a contract with a neighborhood
hospital and is considering responding to a
request for proposals for a neighborhood
plan update for the same neighborhood. A
city manager directs the planning director
to change his professional recommendation
on a rezoning application. A planning com-
missioner refuses to recuse herself when
Source: Robert Guskind, Gowanus Lounge considering a developer’s application, even
11255-08_CH08.indd 433 1/16/09 11:05:24 AM

though the applicant’s attorney is a partner Too often, unethical behavior is not
in her spouse’s firm. addressed until a citizen takes action,
although the wrongdoing should have been
These are likely scenarios in any community.
known to colleagues who are certified plan-
Of course, each case would have to be
ners. All members of the community have
examined in detail to determine the ethics—
a responsibility to take action when they
or the legality—of the choices. U.S. urban
become aware of wrongdoing; indeed, such
planners, like other professionals, have the
action is one of the requirements of the
benefit of an established code of ethics
AICP and APA directives.
to guide their behavior in such situations.
Planners who are members of the American I can personally testify to the importance
Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) practice of ethical codes in our profession. I grew up
in accordance with the “AICP Code of Ethics in Louisiana, as did several generations of
and Professional Conduct.” This code sets my family before me. With the memories
standards, embodies the values of the profes- of Huey Long still vivid, and with scandals
sion, and guides the behavior of those who continuing at both state and local levels, my
embrace it. Especially notable is the code’s father, like most Louisianans, did not hold
strong statement on the planner’s role in pro- government in particularly high regard.
moting the public interest, a concept whose When, in the eleventh grade, I discov-
definition has prompted considerable debate ered city planning and excitedly told my
among planners over the years. father about it, he listened carefully, then
remarked, “Now, if you do this city plan-
The code has three distinct sections: prin- ning thing, it sounds like you’ll have to work
ciples to which planners aspire, rules of with politicians.” I recall replying, “Why, of
conduct, and code procedures (the first two course.” My dad looked at me and sternly
are reproduced in the accompanying side- said, “Don’t do it!”
bar). The code also articulates three kinds of
responsibilities: to the public, to clients and I ignored my dad and have enjoyed my
employers, and to the planning profession career in planning. I’ve worked with many,
and colleagues. The rules of conduct consist many politicians, and the majority have
of twenty-five enforceable principles covering been conscientious, hardworking, and hon-
a broad range of issues. Are there penalties est. A few—not even the number of fingers
for stepping over the line? Absolutely. The on one hand—have been convicted of viola-
most significant penalty that can be imposed tions of the public trust, a trust that must
on an AICP member is loss of the credential, not be violated if our democratic way of life
either permanently or for a specified period. is to be preserved. I guess my dad could say
“I told you so” if he looked at only these few
Of course, ethical concerns are not limited to elected officials, but I think he would more
the world of certified planners; they also arise likely congratulate me, my planning col-
in the larger community of those involved in leagues, and the many elected officials who
planning. Planners who are not certified and have improved their communities, made
other individuals who are involved in planning people’s lives better, and often elevated the
are encouraged to abide by the AICP code. institution of government. That’s why plan-
However, the APA offers additional guidance ners have a code of ethics. It’s not merely
for those who do not have the AICP creden- to set a standard, although it does. It’s not
tial: “Ethical Principles in Planning,” which so that the few wrongdoers can be removed
was formulated in 1992 (see the sidebar on from the profession, although they are. It
page 438). The APA encourages planning is to elevate the profession and practice of
commissions, redevelopment authorities, zon- planning, and the civic institutions of which
ing boards, and other public bodies to adopt planners are a part. Ethical practice should
these principles as part of their bylaws or not have to wait for indictments through the
operating procedures. legal system.
11255-08_CH08.indd 434 1/16/09 11:05:24 AM

AICP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct
A. Principles to Which We Aspire

1. Our Overall Responsibility to the Public
Our primary obligation is to serve the public interest and we, therefore, owe our
allegiance to a conscientiously attained concept of the public interest that is for-
mulated through continuous and open debate. We shall achieve high standards of
professional integrity, proficiency, and knowledge. To comply with our obligation to
the public, we aspire to the following principles:
a) We shall always be conscious of the rights of others.
b) We shall have special concern for the long-range consequences of present actions.
c) We shall pay special attention to the interrelatedness of decisions.
d) We shall provide timely, adequate, clear, and accurate information on planning
issues to all affected persons and to governmental decision makers.
e) We shall give people the opportunity to have a meaningful impact on the develop-
ment of plans and programs that may affect them. Participation should be broad
enough to include those who lack formal organization or influence.
f) We shall seek social justice by working to expand choice and opportunity for
all persons, recognizing a special responsibility to plan for the needs of the dis-
advantaged and to promote racial and economic integration. We shall urge the
alteration of policies, institutions, and decisions that oppose such needs.
g) We shall promote excellence of design and endeavor to conserve and preserve
the integrity and heritage of the natural and built environment.
h) We shall deal fairly with all participants in the planning process. Those of us who
are public officials or employees shall also deal evenhandedly with all planning
process participants.
2. Our Responsibility to Our Clients and Employers
We owe diligent, creative, and competent performance of the work we do in pursuit
of our client or employer’s interest. Such performance, however, shall always be
consistent with our faithful service to the public interest.
a) We shall exercise independent professional judgment on behalf of our clients
and employers.
b) We shall accept the decisions of our client or employer concerning the objectives
and nature of the professional services we perform unless the course of action is
illegal or plainly inconsistent with our primary obligation to the public interest.
c) We shall avoid a conflict of interest or even the appearance of a conflict of inter-
est in accepting assignments from clients or employers.
3. Our Responsibility to Our Profession and Colleagues
We shall contribute to the development of, and respect for, our profession by
improving knowledge and techniques, making work relevant to solutions of com-
munity problems, and increasing public understanding of planning activities.
a) We shall protect and enhance the integrity of our profession.
b) We shall educate the public about planning issues and their relevance to our
everyday lives.
c) We shall describe and comment on the work and views of other professionals in
a fair and professional manner.
d) We shall share the results of experience and research that contribute to the
body of planning knowledge.
e) We shall examine the applicability of planning theories, methods, research and
practice and standards to the facts and analysis of each particular situation and
(continued)
11255-08_CH08.indd 435 1/16/09 11:05:24 AM

AICP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (continued)
shall not accept the applicability of a customary solution without first establishing
its appropriateness to the situation.
f) We shall contribute time and resources to the professional development of students,
interns, beginning professionals, and other colleagues.
g) We shall increase the opportunities for members of underrepresented groups to
become professional planners and help them advance in the profession.
h) We shall continue to enhance our professional education and training.
i) We shall systematically and critically analyze ethical issues in the practice of
planning.
j) We shall contribute time and effort to groups lacking in adequate planning
resources and to voluntary professional activities.
B. Our Rules of Conduct

We adhere to the following Rules of Conduct, and we understand that our Institute will
enforce compliance with them. If we fail to adhere to these Rules, we could receive
sanctions, the ultimate being the loss of our certification:
1. We shall not deliberately or with reckless indifference fail to provide adequate,
timely, clear and accurate information on planning issues.
2. We shall not accept an assignment from a client or employer when the services to be
performed involve conduct that we know to be illegal or in violation of these rules.
3. We shall not accept an assignment from a client or employer to publicly advocate
a position on a planning issue that is indistinguishably adverse to a position we
publicly advocated for a previous client or employer within the past three years
unless (1) we determine in good faith after consultation with other qualified
professionals that our change of position will not cause present detriment to our
previous client or employer, and (2) we make full written disclosure of the con-
flict to our current client or employer and receive written permission to proceed
with the assignment.
4. We shall not, as salaried employees, undertake other employment in planning or
a related profession, whether or not for pay, without having made full written dis-
closure to the employer who furnishes our salary and having received subsequent
written permission to undertake additional employment, unless our employer has
a written policy which expressly dispenses with a need to obtain such consent.
5. We shall not, as public officials or employees, accept from anyone other than our
public employer any compensation, commission, rebate, or other advantage that
may be perceived as related to our public office or employment.
6. We shall not perform work on a project for a client or employer if, in addition to
the agreed upon compensation from our client or employer, there is a possibility
for direct personal or financial gain to us, our family members, or persons living in
our household, unless our client or employer, after full written disclosure from us,
consents in writing to the arrangement.
7. We shall not use to our personal advantage, nor that of a subsequent client or
employer, information gained in a professional relationship that the client or
employer has requested be held inviolate or that we should recognize as confiden-
tial because its disclosure could result in embarrassment or other detriment to the
client or employer. Nor shall we disclose such confidential information except when
(1) required by process of law, or (2) required to prevent a clear violation of law, or
(3) required to prevent a substantial injury to the public. Disclosure pursuant
11255-08_CH08.indd 436 1/16/09 11:05:24 AM

AICP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct
to (2) and (3) shall not be made until after we have verified the facts and issues
involved and, when practicable, exhausted efforts to obtain reconsideration of
the matter and have sought separate opinions on the issue from other qualified
professionals employed by our client or employer.
8. We shall not, as public officials or employees, engage in private communications
with planning process participants if the discussions relate to a matter over which
we have authority to make a binding, final determination if such private communi-
cations are prohibited by law or by agency rules, procedures, or custom.
9. We shall not engage in private discussions with decision makers in the planning
process in any manner prohibited by law or by agency rules, procedures, or custom.
10. We shall neither deliberately, nor with reckless indifference, misrepresent the
qualifications, views and findings of other professionals.
11. We shall not solicit prospective clients or employment through use of false or
misleading claims, harassment, or duress.
12. We shall not misstate our education, experience, training, or any other facts which
are relevant to our professional qualifications.
13. We shall not sell, or offer to sell, services by stating or implying an ability to
influence decisions by improper means.
14. We shall not use the power of any office to seek or obtain a special advantage
that is not a matter of public knowledge or is not in the public interest.
15. We shall not accept work beyond our professional competence unless the client or
employer understands and agrees that such work will be performed by another pro-
fessional competent to perform the work and acceptable to the client or employer.
16. We shall not accept work for a fee, or pro bono, that we know cannot be per-
formed with the promptness required by the prospective client, or that is required
by the circumstances of the assignment.
17. We shall not use the product of others’ efforts to seek professional recognition or
acclaim intended for producers of original work.
18. We shall not direct or coerce other professionals to make analyses or reach
findings not supported by available evidence.
19. We shall not fail to disclose the interests of our client or employer when partici-
pating in the planning process. Nor shall we participate in an effort to conceal the
true interests of our client or employer.
20. We shall not unlawfully discriminate against another person.
21. We shall not withhold cooperation or information from the AICP Ethics Officer or the
AICP Ethics Committee if a charge of ethical misconduct has been filed against us.
22. We shall not retaliate or threaten retaliation against a person who has filed a
charge of ethical misconduct against us or another planner, or who is cooperating
in the Ethics Officer’s investigation of an ethics charge.
23. We shall not use the threat of filing an ethics charge in order to gain, or attempt
to gain, an advantage in dealings with another planner.
24. We shall not file a frivolous charge of ethical misconduct against another planner.
25. We shall neither deliberately, nor with reckless indifference, commit any wrongful
act, whether or not specified in the Rules of Conduct, that reflects adversely on
our professional fitness.
Source: American Planning Association, “American Institute of Certified Planners Code of Ethics and
Professional Conduct,” adopted March 19, 2005, effective June 1, 2005, planning.org/ethics/conduct.html
(accessed March 13, 2008).
11255-08_CH08.indd 437 1/16/09 11:05:24 AM

APA Ethical Principles in Planning (excerpt)
Planning Process Participants should:

1. Exercise fair, honest and independent judgment in their roles as decision makers
and advisors;
2. Make public disclosure of all “personal interests” they may have regarding any
decision to be made in the planning process in which they serve, or are requested
to serve, as advisor or decision maker.
3. Define “personal interest” broadly to include any actual or potential benefits or
advantages that they, a spouse, family member or person living in their household
might directly or indirectly obtain from a planning decision;
4. Abstain completely from direct or indirect participation as an advisor or deci-
sion maker in any matter in which they have a personal interest, and leave any
chamber in which such a matter is under deliberation, unless their personal
interest has been made a matter of public record; their employer, if any, has given
approval; and the public official, public agency or court with jurisdiction to rule on
ethics matters has expressly authorized their participation;
5. Seek no gifts or favors, nor offer any, under circumstances in which it might rea-
sonably be inferred that the gifts or favors were intended or expected to influence
a participant’s objectivity as an advisor or decision maker in the planning process;
6. Not participate as an advisor or decision maker on any plan or project in which
they have previously participated as an advocate;
7. Serve as advocates only when the client’s objectives are legal and consistent with
the public interest.
8. Not participate as an advocate on any aspect of a plan or program on which they
have previously served as advisor or decision maker unless their role as advocate
is authorized by applicable law, agency regulation, or ruling of an ethics officer
or agency; such participation as an advocate should be allowed only after prior
disclosure to, and approval by, their affected client or employer; under no cir-
cumstance should such participation commence earlier than one year following
termination of the role as advisor or decision maker;
9. Not use confidential information acquired in the course of their duties to further a
personal interest;
10. Not disclose confidential information acquired in the course of their duties except
when required by law, to prevent a clear violation of law or to prevent substantial
injury to third persons; provided that disclosure in the latter two situations may
not be made until after verification of the facts and issues involved and consulta-
tion with other planning process participants to obtain their separate opinions;
11. Not misrepresent facts or distort information for the purpose of achieving a
desired outcome;
12. Not participate in any matter unless adequately prepared and sufficiently capaci-
tated to render thorough and diligent service;
13. Respect the rights of all persons and not improperly discriminate against or
harass others based on characteristics which are protected under civil rights laws
and regulations.
Source: Excerpted from American Planning Association, “Ethical Principles in Planning,” adopted May 1992.
The entire document can be found at planning.org/ethics/ethicalprinciples.htm (accessed March 13, 2008).
11255-08_CH08.indd 438 1/16/09 11:05:25 AM

Focus on • Managers work in the trees; leaders see

the forest.
Planning leadership Nevertheless, in current thinking, the line

between management and leadership is
Paul Zucker becoming blurred. Today’s managers must
develop and articulate a vision and a mis-
There is no succinct definition of a leader; sion, create and promote strategies for
it’s tempting to simply say that you’ll know action, and motivate and empower employ-
one when you see one. Although it is some- ees. They get things done. And they rely
times suggested that leaders are born, not on the same skills that are often attributed
made, that information is of limited use to to leaders. As Jack Welch, former chief
those who want to learn how to lead. In the executive officer of General Electric, notes
planning field, Daniel Burnham, Edmund in Winning:
Bacon, and Edward Logue were three plan- One day, you become a leader. On
ners generally acknowledged as leaders who Monday, you’re doing what comes
got things done: they changed their commu- naturally, enjoying your job, running a
nities. Burnham was a noted Chicago archi- project, talking and laughing with col-
tect and planner who designed the Chicago leagues about life and work, and gos-
World’s Columbian Exposition (“the White siping about how stupid management
City”) and created the 1909 Plan of Chicago, can be. Then, on Tuesday, you are
as well as plans for many other communi- management. You’re a boss. Suddenly,
ties. Bacon, the executive director of the everything feels different—because it
Philadelphia City Planning Commission is different. Leadership requires dis-
from 1949 to 1970, was credited as being tinct behaviors and attitudes. . . . Before
the “Father of Modern Philadelphia.” Logue you are a leader, success is all about
was the redevelopment director for New growing yourself. When you become
Haven and Boston; he created Roosevelt a leader, success is all about growing
Island in New York as well as many other others.2
projects throughout the United States.
What Welch describes are different—but
complementary—skill sets. Both manage-
Management and leadership ment and leadership are necessary for
The concept of professional management a good planning program, and a single
has its origins in Henri Fayol’s General and individual—that is, the planning director—
Industrial Management, published in 1917.1 may not have both sets of skills. In larger
Fayol was the first to suggest that man- jurisdictions, the planning director may lead
agement can—and should—be taught. His while the assistant director manages. In
thinking, along with that of many others, led other communities, leadership comes from
to the American Management Association, elected officials or from community leaders
which was founded in 1923. Since that time, who are dedicated to a specific cause, and
the idea has fully taken hold, and today the planning director’s role is to help put the
there are literally thousands of books on ideas of others into action. In many planning
management. Many of these volumes make departments, however, the planning director
a distinction between management and must function as both manager and leader.
leadership: Planning directors, be they leaders or
• Management is keeping the trains running managers, need followers. But why would
on time; leadership is determining where one person follow another? Personal power
the tracks should be laid and what route derives from authority, rewards, coercion,
should be followed. charisma, and expertise; organizational
power is built on vision and mission and
• Managers administer; leaders innovate.
on systems (see accompanying sidebar on
• Managers are vested with authority; sources of power). Skilled planning directors
leaders earn it. use all seven sources of power judiciously,
• Managers tend to rely on analysis; but are likely to be most successful when
leaders tend to rely on intuition. they rely on organizational power; employees
11255-08_CH08.indd 439 1/16/09 11:05:25 AM

Sources of personal and organizational power
Personal power
Authority
Many planners cite their lack of formal authority as an excuse for not getting the job
done. But a planner can lead from any position in the organizational structure: it is not
unusual to find leaders at every level of an organization and in every part of the com-
munity. Citizens, for example, who are the source of many planning ideas, do not have
the authority to implement their ideas. But they do have creativity, commitment, and
persistence; in other words, they have leadership skills that planners can draw on as well.
The key to being a leader, whether as a planner or a planning director, is to be

proactive—to take the initiative to reach beyond normal job responsibilities. Because
planning, by its very nature, addresses virtually every aspect of government, organi-
zation- and community-wide issues are well within the planner’s purview.
Old-fashioned though the concept of formal authority may be, there are times when
it is useful. Effective planning directors recognize when to rely on formal authority to
accomplish planning goals.
Rewards
It used to be assumed that money and other extrinsic rewards were key to motivating
people. But study after study has demonstrated that intrinsic motivation—motivation
that comes from within and does not require ever-increasing reinforcement from
superiors—is more powerful. A planning director might provide intrinsic motivation by
giving planners a sense of purpose and greater control over their work. Nevertheless,
effective planning directors also know how to use extrinsic rewards: for example, they
ensure that pay rates are reasonable, that promotions are based on merit, that good
performance is praised, and that opportunities for “perks”—such as attendance at
conferences—are shared.
Coercion
Managing through the threat of punishment is largely ineffective. Positive reinforce-
ment has been shown to produce better results than its opposite. Skilled managers
spend most of their time discovering and drawing out other peoples’ strengths.1
Charisma
Charisma—once thought to be an essential attribute of leaders—can indeed be helpful.
Nevertheless, one of the findings of Collins’s Good to Great surprised everyone: virtually
tend to respond more positively to organiza- planning directors develop good relationships
tional power than to personal power. with elected officials and earn respect within
the political framework of the community.
Keys to being an effective (This aspect of the planning director’s job is
planning director discussed in greater depth in “The Role of the
Experience suggests that effective planning Planning Director” in this chapter.)
directors know how to do five key things:
exercise political skills, set the vision and Setting the vision and mission
mission, manage employees, manage deci- The vision (what we aspire to be) and mission
sions, and manage themselves. (how we should do business) of the planning
department will depend on the needs of the
Exercising political skills community. Although neither can be pursued
Planning departments operate within the successfully without buy-in from most of the
context of the community’s political structure. staff, development of the vision and mission
Therefore, planners are regularly involved with is a task that cannot be delegated: the plan-
politicians and with political issues. Successful ning director must take the lead.
11255-08_CH08.indd 440 1/16/09 11:05:25 AM

Sources of personal and organizational power
none of the great companies had charismatic leaders. Indeed, Collins observes that
“charisma can be as much a liability as an asset,” particularly “when people filter the
brutal facts” from a charismatic leader whose strength of personality is perceived as
overwhelming.2 While many planners are indeed charismatic, Collins’s findings should
give hope to those who are not. It is often useful to leave the task of being charismatic
to elected officials or informal community leaders.
Expertise
Particularly in an era dominated by high technology, planning directors continue to
be valued for their expertise. In fact, however, planning employees often have more
expertise than the director as related to processes, ordinances, and technologies.
Some of the most successful planning directors acknowledge that they may not be the
world’s greatest planners—but they are expert managers and leaders with good politi-
cal and interpersonal skills.
Organizational power
Vision and mission
Virtually every one of the approximately one thousand management books published
each year stresses the importance of a clear vision and a defined mission. Planning
departments—and the planning profession in general—seem to have difficulty in accept-
ing the importance of—or developing—a mission and vision. A clear vision that can be
translated into an understandable mission has more force than all the other sources
of power combined.
Systems
Many planners and planning directors do not understand the power of systems.
Systems are sets of practices or procedures that guide and influence everything the
planning department does. They provide an efficient, standardized approach to orga-
nizing, documenting, and controlling routine administrative activities. Most important,
well-designed, smoothly functioning systems can allow staff to focus on the nonrou-
tine activities that require creative solutions. Successful planning directors encour-
age their staff to think critically about existing systems, and to be constantly on the
outlook for innovations and improvements.
1 Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman, First, Break All the Rules (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005), 57.
2 Jim Collins, Good to Great (New York: Harper Business, 2001), 73.
In creating the vision and mission, manag- • Is the department a source of “big ideas”—
ers and leaders of planning departments the sort that can capture the imagination
need to address a number of key questions: and support of the community?
• In reviewing and processing private • Is the department doing “real planning”—
developments, does the department that is, is it using new tools to create the
play the role of regulator or problem kinds of new communities that citizens
solver? are demanding?
• Does the department regularly evaluate The planning director cannot be an effective
old plans and ordinances, and propose leader or manager without a clear vision
revisions to those that do not seem to be and mission. In Los Angeles, for example, an
improving the community? incoming director set a new vision and mis-
• Is the department working in partnership sion based on four strategic points. These
with developers, citizens, and other points became the catalyst that transformed
departments to develop better plans and the city planning department (see sidebar
enhance quality of life? on page 443).
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Leading from anywhere within an organization
Planners need to recognize that they can lead—regardless of where they are in the
organization. The following points, which have been adapted from John C. Maxwell in
The 360-Degree Leader, substantiate this view:1
• You can learn to lead up, across, and down. You don’t have to be the main leader to
have a significant impact in your organization. If you think you do, then you have
bought into the “position myth.”
• Influencing others is a matter of disposition, not position. Leadership is a choice
you make, not a place you sit. Strive to be at the top of your game, not necessarily
at the top of the organization.
• Your job isn’t to fix the leader; it’s to add value. If you make an effort to add value
to the work of those above you, you have the best chance of influencing them.
• When you find yourself following a leader who is ineffective, do the following:
— Develop a solid professional relationship with your leader and find common ground.
— Identify and appreciate your leader’s strengths. Think about how they might be
assets to the organization.
— Commit yourself to adding value to your leader’s strengths.
• With the right attitude and the right skills, you can influence others from wherever
you are in an organization by
— Developing strong relationships with key people
— Defining a win in terms of the team
— Engaging in crucial communication
— Gaining experience and maturity
— Putting the team above your personal success.
• Successful people do the things that unsuccessful people are unwilling to do: they
have a “whatever-it-takes” attitude. Push boundaries to find a better way.
• All good leadership is based on relationships. People won’t go along with you if
they can’t get along with you. And if you want to expand your influence, you have
to expand your circle of acquaintances.
• To avoid office politics,
— Don’t engage in gossip
— Stay away from petty arguments
— Stand up for what’s right, not for what’s popular
— Look at all sides of the issue
— Don’t protect your turf
— Say what you mean and mean what you say. But wait for the right moment to
speak up.
1 John C. Maxwell, The 360-Degree Leader (Nashville, Tenn.: Nelson Business, 2006). Used by permission. This
and other resources from Dr. Maxwell are available at maximumimpact.com (accessed June 18, 2008).
Managing employees screen prospective employees. Skilled

In Good to Great, Jim Collins lists four critical planning directors devote a substantial
challenges that every manager must meet:3 amount of time to attracting, recruiting,
and retaining talented staff.
• Getting the right people on the bus. The
planning director cannot rely on the • Getting the wrong people off the bus.
human resource department to find and Like other organizational entities,
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Los Angeles Department of City Planning: Mission statement, vision,

and strategic points
Mission statement
We honor our heritage and shape our future by partnering with all Angelenos
to transform Los Angeles into a collection of distinctive, healthy, and sustainable
neighborhoods—the tapestry of a great city.
Vision
We strive to create an efficient, effective, and sustainable organization that becomes
the focal point for planning in Los Angeles; a trusted resource that provides innova-
tive solutions, engages with the community, nurtures staff, and cultivates leadership.
Strategic points
Do real planning.
Build an efficient and effective department.
Develop innovative solutions.
Engage the community.
many planning departments include vision and mission, and creating and sustain-
staff members whose performance ing an outstanding team.
is poor. Effective planning directors
understand that settling for poor Self-management
performance is a disservice not only to Successful managers and leaders are
the department but to the employee as self-aware: they know their strengths and
well. Underperforming employees need their limitations, and they make a point of
to be moved to situations in which they developing the skills and discipline they
can be effective—or moved out of the need to manage their responsibilities. Good
organization. (Although it is sometimes self-management means
assumed that government employees
• Managing your calendar so that time is
cannot be fired, this is not the case in
available to address political issues; to
most communities.)
develop, discuss, and periodically revisit
• Getting the right people into the right the department’s mission; and to hire,
seats on the bus. A staff member who is place, and motivate staff.
a poor performer in one position may be • Assessing your strengths and weaknesses,
outstanding in another. A good manager and finding others whose talents com
and leader understands how best to plement your own. It is not unusual, for
deploy available resources. example, for strong leaders who are
• Deciding where to drive the bus. Where talented at “external” management—
the department lacks a clear vision and at interacting with elected officials,
mission, even the most talented staff stakeholders, and other agencies, for
members may not reach their potential. example—to lack the skills for internal
management. As noted earlier, in medium-
Managing decision making sized to large planning departments, the
In contemporary organizations, the manager planning director may focus on external
no longer makes most of the day-to-day deci- affairs while an assistant director or other
sions. Employees often have more knowledge senior staff member focuses on internal
than the manager, and the manager empow- management.
ers them to make decisions on such things • Learning to delegate. Difficulty
as daily operations, specific projects, and delegating is a common weakness among
technologies, while holding them accountable planning directors. But when directors
for the results. The planning director focuses take on work that could easily be handed
on handling political issues, setting a clear over to subordinates, they fall behind on
11255-08_CH08.indd 443 1/16/09 11:05:25 AM

crucial responsibilities that cannot be The careers of the most effective planning
delegated. Effective planning directors leaders reveal several patterns: they get
are not micromanagers. close to elected officials and other deci-
sion makers, they manage big ideas, and
they adjust their leadership style to suit the
Notes
circumstances.
1 Henri Fayol, General and Industrial Management
(1917; repr., London, Pitman Publishing Company,
1949). Getting close to decision makers
2 Jack Welch, with Suzy Welch, Winning (New York:
HarperCollins, 2005), 61. A first step toward understanding the job
3 Jim Collins, Good to Great (New York: Harper Busi- of the planning director is to recognize that
ness, 2001), 41.
the job is largely what the planning direc-
tor makes of it. Of course, the job cannot
be entirely self-defined. Although they vary
Focus on
from one community to the next, certain job
The role of the responsibilities are prescribed by law or by

the structure of the agency. For example,
many planning agencies are legally respon-
planning director sible for maintaining a comprehensive plan
that includes prescribed elements; admin-
Fernando Costa istering zoning and subdivision regulations;
and staffing federally funded programs for
Serving as a city, county, or regional plan- transportation and environmental planning,
ning director is one of the most challenging to cite just a few typical functions. These
and rewarding career opportunities avail- legal obligations inevitably consume a
substantial portion of the planning director’s
able to a professional planner. It demands a
time. However, the planning director—more
wide range of technical, administrative,
so than the heads of most other local
and political skills, many of which our plan-
departments or agencies—enjoys broad
ning schools do not or cannot teach. The
discretion in defining the purpose and scope
rewards come largely from the satisfac-
of the remainder of the job.
tion of making a difference in the life of a
community. A planning director needs to be a self-
starter, making a conscious effort to seek
The skill that distinguishes successful plan-
and seize opportunities that can make a
ning directors is leadership: the ability to
difference. Regardless of how competent or
get things done through others. Leadership
supportive the mayor, the governing body,
can manifest itself in many different ways,
and the local government manager may be,
but the ultimate measure of an effective
they will not necessarily share your views
leader is positive and lasting change in the on the role of planning in the community.
community. Peter Drucker, in his classic Just because you hold the title of planning
management book The Effective Executive, director—or even after you have established
draws a clear distinction between the effi- credible expertise on planning issues—local
cient executive, who gets things done right, officials will not necessarily come to you for
and the effective executive, who gets the advice. However, by providing timely and
right things done.1 For planning directors, proactive guidance about planning issues,
as for leaders in general, effectiveness is you can help decision makers recognize
more important than efficiency. As valuable that growth and development issues are,
as it is to produce complete and accurate at their core, planning issues. Only then will
reports, to process development permits in these leaders instinctively turn to you for
a timely way, and to stay within budget, the help. Getting close to decision makers may
planners who are remembered and honored require changes in formal reporting relation-
are those who have a lasting impact on the ships, but more often it involves informal
form, appearance, or vitality of a com- networking within the local government and
munity, or on the decision-making process throughout the community. Over time, these
that shapes the community’s growth and networks will be key to getting the right
development. things done.
11255-08_CH08.indd 444 1/16/09 11:05:25 AM

Managing big ideas able to execute those ideas through astute

Like any local government manager—a police management of the planning agency. Suc-
chief or public works director, for example— cessful planning directors make strategic
a planning director needs solid technical decisions about the allocation of human and
skills and the ability to manage people and financial resources, the hiring and promo-
operations. What skills, then, are uniquely tion of staff members, and the selection of
relevant to the position of planning director? consultants. While some of these manage-
Effective planning directors know how to ment decisions may appear to be straight-
create, impart, and implement “big ideas.” forward, they must be in keeping with the
political environment. Although the planning
To bring about positive and lasting change director must refrain from inappropriate
in the community, a planning director must political activity, he or she must understand
first create sound ideas. These ideas need how local political forces can affect the
to be visionary and broad in scope; at the implementation of big ideas.
same time, they must be conceptually valid,
appropriate for the community, and practi- Mastering different kinds
cal to implement. Sometimes the planner’s of leadership
ideas will even challenge the community’s
Effective planning directors are skilled at exer-
traditional ways of doing such basic things
cising different kinds of leadership with differ-
as setting budget priorities, regulating land
ent segments of the community. They must
use, or dealing with traffic congestion.
be able to move easily from role to role, func-
Of course, not even the best planning tioning as an educator, a consensus builder,
ideas will make much difference unless the and a spokesperson. These roles, which may
planning director can persuade others to not appear prominently in the director’s job
convert the ideas into action. Good com- description, can be pivotal to success.
munication skills are therefore essential. A
One of the planning director’s most impor-
planning director needs to write well—that
tant jobs is to educate citizens and elected
is, plainly and concisely. A planning director
officials about planning. An active and
must be skilled at public speaking—not only
well-informed citizenry can be the planner’s
to inform but also to persuade and motivate.
best ally in effecting change. While elected
The ability to communicate visually—through
officials are the planner’s most important
simple but compelling maps, charts, and dia-
clients, they tend to be more responsive to
grams—can also be valuable. Regardless of
their constituents than to technical experts.
the medium, the planning director needs to
As counterintuitive as it may seem, provid-
tailor the communications to the intended
ing citizens with information that they can
audience.
use to influence elected officials can often
But creating and imparting big ideas is not be more effective than seeking to influence
enough; the planning director must also be elected officials directly.
Figure 8–6 Building a

common vision for the
community’s future is a
large part of the planning
director’s job.
Source: Fernando Costa
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Figure 8–7 Job responsibilities vary from one Focus on

community to another. Here, Lawrence, Massachusetts,
planning director Michael Sweeney (center) joins Mayor
Michael J. Sullivan (right) and the mayor’s chief of staff,
Diversity in the
Myles E. Burke (left) on a tour of a nearly complete
Veterans Memorial Stadium. planning profession
Mitchell J. Silver
By 2050, America will look dramatically
different than it does today: the percent-
age of non-Hispanic whites, who now make
up about 72 percent of the U.S. population,
will have fallen to below 53 percent; the
Hispanic population will have grown from
13 percent to 23 percent, the black popula-
tion from 11 percent to 16 percent, and the
Source: Mark Wilson/Globe Staff Photo
Asian and Pacific Islander population from
4 percent to 10 percent.1
Regardless of how the current national
Because planning agencies generally lack
debate on immigration policy sorts itself
formal authority over other agencies, the
out, the racial and ethnic makeup of the
planning director must often serve as a con-
United States will continue to diversify,
sensus builder not only among stakeholders
and American communities will experience
in the community, but also among internal
dramatic change as a result. The coupling
departments with differing needs and objec-
of demographic shifts and globalization will
tives. Effective planning directors thus need
challenge a planning profession that has
to establish and maintain close working
struggled with diversity.
relationships with the leaders of sister agen-
cies if they are to achieve a common vision
Planning, social equity,
for the community’s future.
and minority representation
When serving as agency spokesperson, the In the nineteenth century, when city plan-
planning director must work effectively ning originated, it was based on notions of
with various news media. Opportunities to “scientific efficiency, civic beauty and social
interact with media representatives should equity.”2 The first National Conference on
not be viewed as disruptions but as valuable City Planning and the Problems of Conges-
opportunities to promote big ideas. Plan- tion, held in 1909, had its roots in progres-
ning directors need to be in full command of sive social reform. One hundred years later,
media relations, delegating to subordinates however, physical planning and design domi-
only the responsibility of filling in factual nate the profession, while social issues are
details. Ideas need to be condensed into delegated to progressive planners, sociolo-
appropriate sound bites for television and gists, and community organizations. Nor has
radio. Directors need to stay on message, the profession made significant progress
regardless of the specific questions that in ensuring minority representation among
reporters ask. Managing the emerging world planners. As of 2004, fewer than 9 percent
of blogs, Internet communications, and Web- of the members of the American Planning
based government presents a new set of Association (APA) belonged to minority
challenges. The planning director would do groups: approximately 4 percent identified
well, therefore, to understand these oppor- themselves as Asian American, 4 percent as
tunities and to employ media-savvy staff black, 2.2 percent as Hispanic, 0.4 percent
members who can help the planning agency as Native American, and 0.2 percent as
to use those media effectively. multiracial. The percentages are even lower
for minority members with professional
Note planning credentials.3 By comparison, in 2004
1 Peter Drucker, The Effective Executive (New York: people of color made up 28 percent of the
Harper and Row, 1967). U.S. population. This enormous disparity
11255-08_CH08.indd 446 1/16/09 11:05:26 AM

Table 8–1 Proportion of minority members in the American Planning Association, the American Institute of
Certified Planners, and the U.S. population, by percentage.
All members, %
(APA and AICP combined) APA only, % AICP only, % U.S. population, %
White (non-Hispanic) 79.4 73.6 85.3 62.7
Black 2.8 3.9 1.7 12.3
Hispanic 2.1 2.3 1.9 12.5
Asian 3.1 3.6 2.7 3.6
American Indian/ 0.4 0.5 0.3 0.9
Alaska Native
Other groups/mixed race 0.8 1.1 0.4 8.0
Unknown 11.4 15.0 7.7 —
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Source: American Planning Association 2004 and US Census
underscores the magnitude of minority Some minority planners did not mind being
underrepresentation in planning. typecast but felt that they lacked the skills,
tools, and support from their departments
Since 1979, when APA created the Women
to address the barrage of social issues that
and Planning Division, followed by the Plan-
confronted them. Many planners—especially
ning and the Black Community Division in
entry-level planners regardless of race—are
1980, APA has included social equity in its
not equipped to meet the intensity of the
strategic plans and programs. The American
needs in the distressed or minority communi-
Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), the
ties to which they are assigned. In many dis-
professional arm of APA, addresses both
advantaged communities, for example, issues
social equity and minority representation in
such as environmental justice, public safety,
its Code of Ethics:
gentrification, displacement, and access to
We shall seek social justice by working social services dominate public meetings and
to expand choice and opportunity for all must be addressed first, before discussions of
persons, recognizing a special respon- land use can start. But planning schools tend
sibility to plan for the needs of the dis- to focus on planning and development regula-
advantaged and to promote racial and tions and offer few courses, if any, on social
economic integration. We shall urge the issues. Other minority planners were disap-
alteration of policies, institutions, and pointed at being assigned work on the basis
decisions that oppose such needs. . . . of race or ethnicity; moreover, they felt that
management often failed to recognize and
We shall increase the opportunities for reward planners who had honed their skills
members of underrepresented groups in disadvantaged neighborhoods; those who
to become professional planners and had worked in central business districts or in
help them advance in the profession.4 high-profile neighborhoods were more likely
Despite a variety of efforts, however, there to be promoted.5
have been few gains in increasing the
extent of minority participation in planning The value of diversity
or the percentage of minority planners. In Embracing diversity—not just racial and
the 1990s, multiculturalism emerged as a ethnic diversity, but also diversity of culture,
new social value. Diversity in the workplace age, income, gender, and sexual orientation—
soon followed. To meet diversity goals, is a socially and morally responsible value.
private and public sector employers began Welcoming different perspectives produces a
to modify their staffs—which led, in many more balanced, inclusive, and comprehensive
cases, to professional typecasting: black way of experiencing the world. Carla Corroto,
planners were assigned to plan in black who has undertaken extensive research on
communities and Latino planners in Latino diversity, argues that if an underprivileged
communities. class exists, then a privileged class—that is,
11255-08_CH08.indd 447 1/16/09 11:05:26 AM

Organizational efforts to promote diversity and address critical needs
The American Planning Association (APA) confirmed its commitment to social respon-
sibility in 1979 and 1980, when it created the Women and Planning Division and the
Planning and the Black Community Division, respectively. In 1994, the American Insti-
tute of Certified Planners (AICP) published the Planning and Community Equity Book.
Later that same year, in the aftermath of the Los Angeles riots, AICP adopted the
Agenda for America’s Communities; and in 1995, it created the Community Assistance
Team to offer pro bono services to communities in need.
In 1999, the APA Board of Directors designated a seat on the board for a minority
member. In 2000, APA’s research department developed a Spanish-language train-
ing manual on site planning, and worked with countries in Central and South America
and the Caribbean that had been ravaged by Hurricanes Mitch and George in 1998.
APA staff and Spanish-speaking planning consultants partnered to hold nine training
workshops on site and hazard mitigation planning. In 2001, APA established the Judith
McManus Price Scholarship for minority and women students.
Planning organizations in other countries have also developed programs to address

diversity and social equity. The list of organizations includes the Canadian Institute
of Planners (CIP), the Planning Institute Australia (PIA), the Royal Town Planning
Institute, the Commonwealth Association of Planners, and the newly created Global
Planners Network, which was established at the United Nations World Habitat Urban
Forum and World Planners Congress in Vancouver in 2006.1 The CIP has implemented
planning and training programs in Trinidad and Tobago; most recently, it has assisted
and trained planners in Grenada, an island devastated by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. The
PIA has established programs in Sri Lanka to help with planning in the aftermath of
the devastating tsunami of 2005.
1 See globalplannersnetwork.org/ (accessed March 17, 2008).
white planners—must also exist. To date, workshops, and programs that focus on
however, the privileged class has acquired diversity tend to attract people of color.
little understanding or appreciation for Some whites feel that such topics are not
diversity. According to Corroto, “diversity is intended for them, and they have difficulty
still a concept that some whites—the privi- understanding how diversity issues can be
leged class—fail to grasp.”6 Conferences, relevant to their practice.
Figure 8–8 A diverse

group of design
professionals volunteer
their time to work
with Washington, D.C.,
residents to plan for the
redevelopment of the
St. Elizabeths Hospital
campus.
11255-08_CH08.indd 448 1/16/09 11:05:26 AM

As Leonardo Vazquez, one of the planners 2 Donald A. Krueckeberg, “The Culture of Planning,”
in Introduction to Planning History in the United
who have eloquently articulated the value of States (New Brunswick, N.J.: Center for Urban Policy
diversity, has observed, “Employers tend to Research, Rutgers University, 1987), 3.
embrace [diversity] for its marketing and out- 3 American Planning Association Membership Survey
2004.
reach benefits. While public sector employers 4 American Planning Association, “American Institute
can show their responsiveness to the commu- of Certified Planners Code of Ethics and Professional
nity by putting a planner of color in a frontline Conduct,” adopted March 19, 2005, effective June
1, 2005, planning.org/ethics/conduct.html (accessed
position, private sector employers find it valu- March 17, 2008).
able to have a minority planner at the table in 5 Mitchell Silver, “Telling the Planning Diversity Story,”
interviews.”7 True diversity, however, is more Carolina Planning 32, no. 1 (Winter 2007): 43.
6 Dr. Carla Corroto, remarks made during a lecture at
than a hiring goal or a marketing ploy. June the University of Pennsylvania Conference, “Unspo-
Manning Thomas, another planner who has ken Borders—Perspectives on Race and Design,”
written extensively on minorities in the profes- March 31, 2007.
7 Leonardo Vazquez, “Diversity and the Planning
sion, lists compelling benefits that members Profession,” Progressive Planning (2002),
of minorities bring to planning organizations: plannersnetwork.org/publications/2002_153_
the ability to serve as a symbol of accessibility, summer/vazquez.htm (accessed March 17, 2008).
8 Dr. June Manning Thomas, “The Minority Planner,”
greater access in predominantly minority com- Practicing Planner 5, no. 1 (Spring 2007), planning
munities, empathy and accessibility for the .org/practicingplanner/member/07spring/index.htm.
minority public, and a keener understanding
of issues and advocacy.8
Focus on
Looking ahead
Planning for a more diverse future will
involve a number of players. The Planning
GIS and beyond
Accreditation Board and accredited plan- Richard K. Brail
ning programs must scrutinize curricula
more vigorously to ensure that students are Geographic information systems (GIS) are
offered courses on diversity issues, emerg- computer-based technologies that support
ing neighborhood dynamics, and population the development, organization, analysis, and
shifts. If minority students aspire to plan in display of spatially referenced data.1 The
communities of color, they should be given technology is evolving rapidly, and GIS and
the tools to address the challenges they will related tools are now widely used in urban
find there. The focus in planning schools and regional planning.2 The 2007 annual
should be broadened to include social plan- meeting of the American Planning Associa-
ning issues such as public safety, environ- tion included a host of sessions that either
mental justice, and urban redevelopment. were directly focused on GIS or assumed a
Both public planning departments and pri- GIS infrastructure as the basis for discus-
vate sector firms must train entry-level plan- sion.3 Jurisdictions of all sizes will have GIS
ners and retrain seasoned professionals to be for map making and other tasks, such as
effective in communities of color. Assigning tracking applications for new development
minority planners to minority communities or delineating environmentally sensitive
does not, in and of itself, promote diversity; areas. An increasing number of local and
genuine diversity means embracing differ- state governments currently have GIS avail-
ent perspectives throughout the planning ability on the Web, where citizens can view,
process. Planning departments must develop download, and perform operations on maps,
the expertise to address issues beyond land such as querying about available parcels for
use and development, reclaiming the roots of development.
planning in scientific efficiency, civic beauty,
This article looks beyond the current uses of
and social equity.
GIS to emerging concepts and tools for spa-
tial analysis. Innovations can be expected in
Notes
the following arenas:
1 Jennifer Cheeseman Day, “Population Profile of
the United States: National Population Projections” • Local government planning and
(Washington, D.C.: U.S. Census Bureau, February operations
2008), census.gov/population/www/pop-profile/
natproj.html (accessed March 17, 2008). • Plan development
11255-08_CH08.indd 449 1/16/09 11:05:26 AM

• Public participation in planning they will continue to add data—such as traffic

• Supporting issues of importance to accident locations—that are found useful.
planning. This expansion of online data will provide
broad benefits, including the opportunity to
Local government planning better integrate infrastructure planning and
asset management. For example, “smart”
and operations
bridges and highways, which can self-report
Although GIS is already firmly established structural deficiencies and monitor traffic
in many planning organizations, it is often congestion in real time, are expected to come
used in disjointed ways. In one state govern- into wide use.5 Figure 8–9 shows a Web-
ment, for example, a different GIS software based, real-time traffic flow map; this is an
package was used in each of three different example of the kind of information that will
departments, creating serious impediments be connected to infrastructure and planning
to data sharing. To address this problem, both databases in order to support capital pro-
software developers and government have gramming and operational improvements.
focused on integrating information systems:
if GIS is to work across agencies, the key con- Improved management of energy consump-
cepts are interoperability—that is, the ability of tion and reduction of carbon footprints will be
dissimilar and spatially distributed information a central theme of public sector operations.
GIS-based tracking of city resources, such
systems to exchange data in real time—and
as vehicle operations, and of the energy
integration. Through the efforts of the Open
efficiencies of residential and nonresidential
Geospatial Consortium, Inc., an international
land uses, is already being done in some
organization that promotes interoperability,4
communities.6 The U.S. Green Building
and other organizations, planners will gain
Council has developed LEED-ND (Leader-
access to coordinated databases.
ship in Energy and Environmental Design
As new layers of data are added to existing for neighborhood development), a scoring
databases, new kinds of information will be system that promotes energy efficiency and
available to planners. For example, while can connect spatial information captured in
cities may begin by mapping land records, a GIS to evaluation tools.7
Figure 8–9 A Web-

based, real-time traffic
flow map, such as this
one in Seattle, Washington,
is useful for traffic
management as well as
for infrastructure
planning.
11255-08_CH08.indd 450 1/16/09 11:05:27 AM

Finally, GIS supports two aspects of emer- • Developing aggregate demographic

gency management planning: preparation and economic projections for an entire
for natural and man-made disasters, and jurisdiction or region
planning for recovery after an event. GIS has • Allocating these projections to sub-
traditionally been used to map hazardous areas, calculating the amounts of land
locations such as floodplains. HAZUS, a risk- consumed by various land uses, and
assessment model developed by the Federal distributing those land uses spatially
Emergency Management Agency, analyzes across the study area
potential losses from floods, hurricanes, and
• Evaluating the impacts of policy and
earthquakes.8 Based on a GIS framework,
programming options.
HAZUS comes with base data sets; it also
works with local information. Figure 8–10 Earlier computer-based analytic and display
shows two HAZUS-generated maps: one systems for planning were proprietary
indicates Louisville, Kentucky, residents’ designs that ran on mainframes or high-end
exposure to potentially higher earthquake workstations that required expert support.9
risks, and the other depicts flooding and The advent of powerful personal comput-
building losses from a hurricane in Florida. ers and graphical user interfaces created
an opportunity to develop user-friendly and
Plan development widely accessible decision tools. A plan-
Both short- and long-term planning require ning support system (PSS), for example, is
methods for predicting, visualizing, and a software application that integrates GIS,
evaluating future land use and transporta- projection and impact models, and visualiza-
tion patterns. The tools used to project and tion tools, all within a user-friendly graphics
analyze alternative futures typically have shell.10 There are two general classes of PSS:
GIS at their center. those that focus on larger regions, such as
metropolitan areas or counties, and those
In shorter-range planning, where the focus
that work at the community or neighbor-
is on the design and evaluation of proposed
hood level. Some PSS packages can move
development projects, GIS can be used
back and forth, offering solutions at both
to visualize and evaluate a neighborhood
regional and neighborhood scales. But what-
design, a transit-oriented development, or a
ever the PSS package, GIS sits at the core.
subdivision. For longer-term planning efforts,
GIS provides the data management and map- Four planning support systems illustrate the
ping support for three important functions: variety of approaches currently available. To
Figure 8–10 The HAZUS-generated map on the left shows residents’ exposure to earthquake risks in
Louisville, Kentucky; the map on the right shows flooding and building losses from Hurricane Ivan in Escambia
County, Florida.
11255-08_CH08.indd 451 1/16/09 11:05:27 AM

develop VISION 2020, a long-range plan for model that is freely available as open source
the region, the Puget Sound Regional Council code to the planning community.16 Regional
used INDEX, a PSS that portrays future land in scale, the package is intended for met-
use alternatives under different growth and ropolitan planning organizations undertak-
policy scenarios.11 INDEX currently comes in ing land use and transportation planning.
two varieties: PlanBuilder, through which a UrbanSim, which relies on GIS for data orga-
land use plan can be created and evaluated nization and display, is complex and robust
according to a set of indicators,12 and Paint and is under continuous development. The
the Town (or Region), a scenario and sketch- model operates at a highly disaggregate
planning tool that can be used to explore level, simulating future land use scenarios
alternative futures.13 Figure 8–11 shows how that are based on the actions of individual
Paint the Town was used by citizens in Puget entities in the marketplace. UrbanSim has
Sound to represent different types of develop- been tested in a variety of metropolitan
ment in both spatial and tabular format, and areas, including Puget Sound, Salt Lake City,
by citizens in Florida to explore the results of and Eugene–Springfield, Oregon.
distributing population to various areas. While UrbanSim harks back to the tradition
What if? uses GIS data to prepare sce- of large-scale regional models, the design of
narios for future land use, demographic, and CommunityViz closely follows the idealized
employment patterns.14 The package can concept of a PSS that connects data and
be used to consider a wide range of policy models with visualization. Developed with
options, including growth controls, infrastruc- the major support of the Orton Foundation,
ture expansion, and open space preservation. CommunityViz integrates two-dimensional
In Dublin, Ohio, for example, What If? was (2-D) maps and three-dimensional (3-D)
scenes with land use design, scenario con-
used to generate current land use patterns
struction, and indicator-based evaluation.17
as well as dramatically different land use
This system is unique in that it includes a
patterns both with and without a farmland
“formula wizard,” a powerful tool that assists
preservation plan (see Figure 8–12).15
the user in designing performance indica-
UrbanSim, developed at the University of tors. It also features strong linkages between
Washington, is a powerful urban-simulation the 2-D GIS maps and the 3-D visualizations,
Figure 8–11 Paint the Town allowed citizens in the Puget Sound region to create a visual representation of
their development choices (left); in a Florida community, citizens used the tool to explore the results of
population distribution to various areas (right).
11255-08_CH08.indd 452 1/16/09 11:05:28 AM

Figure 8–12 In this example, What if? illustrates current land use (left), and land uses in twenty-four years
without farmland preservation (center) and with farmland preservation (right).
which are shown side by side. Figure 8–13, on tells the story: as of February 2008 Google
page 454, is a screenshot of a typical Commu- Earth had been downloaded more than 350
nityViz application, a design for a hypotheti- million times and was available in thirteen
cal Brooklyn neighborhood. Indicators show languages19—a reflection of interest in digital
how well the design performs against various interactive mapping that has potentially pro-
diversity indicators while meeting the target of found implications for planning.
600 dwelling units within the project area.
In the future, citizens will simply know more
These four planning support systems about the environmental, demographic, and
demonstrate the richness of GIS applica- regulatory characteristics of their localities.
tions. Each makes a strong effort to be Thanks to local efforts to make planning more
user-friendly despite the complexity of the transparent, public information is increasingly
processes underlying the models. A host of available across cities and regions. It is not
other planning support systems are avail- uncommon to find land records and zoning
able; more will emerge in the future. information on the Web; the Land Records/GIS
system of Orange County, North Carolina, is
Public participation in planning just one of many examples.20
Advances in computer hardware and
Three-dimensional visualization will become
software have moved complex applications
ubiquitous for the display of urban designs.
from distant central facilities into offices
Google Sketchup and ArcGlobe are two
and homes. These same innovations are also
current visualization tools.21 While ArcGlobe
reshaping the relationship between citizens
is a GIS desktop application, Sketchup is a
and professional planners.
design tool that can communicate with GIS
The rapid evolution of GIS as an integral com- but is not itself a GIS implementation. What
ponent of Internet services has created the is particularly impressive is the increasing
Geoweb, “a geospatial dimension of the cyber- availability of free 3-D models of buildings
infrastructure.”18 As “distributed intelligence”— and even entire city centers on the Web.
the widespread use of mobile, Web-enabled Everything from the Philadelphia Museum
devices—matures, citizens’ understanding of of Art to a modern house in Jamaica can be
spatial relationships will deepen in ways that found at Google Sketchup 3D Warehouse.22
can now only be speculated on. One statistic The Boston Redevelopment Authority has
11255-08_CH08.indd 453 1/16/09 11:05:29 AM

Figure 8–13 This CommunityViz screenshot shows a design for a hypothetical Brooklyn neighborhood. At the
top is a 3-D window; the corresponding 2-D map view is below.
created detailed 3-D models of the entire ning. In the economic development field, for
downtown that are freely downloadable.23 example, it is fairly common for planners to
use GIS-based “best location” analysis to
Not only will citizens have increasing access
help new firms that are considering mov-
to spatially referenced data about their com-
ing to a specific region. GIS is also of use in
munities, but nongovernmental organiza-
determining whether the siting of undesir-
tions (NGOs) will have new tools to forward able land uses is discriminatory, and in
their agendas, potentially increasing their detecting other forms of spatial discrimina-
influence. For example, an NGO focused on tion, such as redlining.25 It can help address
environmental issues might use CITYgreen the needs of poor, elderly, or disabled
software, a GIS-based analytical tool created citizens: for example, in welfare-to-work ini-
by American Forests,24 to analyze storm- tiatives, GIS is used to match client locations
water runoff, air quality, energy savings, with transportation access.26
carbon mitigation, and tree growth.
Conclusion
Issues of importance to planning GIS and related technological advances will
GIS and related technologies support a continue to both challenge and support the
range of issues that are central to plan- planning function. Citizens will increasingly
Smart mobs
Distributed intelligence and broader citizen involvement may have a number of inter-
esting effects on planning. Howard Rheingold has coined the phrase “smart mobs”
to describe groups that are in virtual contact through a variety of wired and wireless
modes, and can act in consort.1 While it seems a long way from GIS to smart mobs,
consider the following: citizens already both support and protest public initiatives, and
continued increases in the availability of online information—such as planning and zon-
ing data—and the ubiquity of connections among interested parties make the presence
of smart mobs in planning situations likely.
1 See Howard Rheingold, Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution (Cambridge, Mass.: Perseus Books, 2002).
11255-08_CH08.indd 454 1/16/09 11:05:31 AM

expect from the public sector the kinds of of Models for Assessing the Effects of Community
Growth and Change on Land-Use Patterns, EPA/600/
online experiences found among private
R-00/098 (Washington, D.C.: Office of Research and
purveyors: while still developing long-range Development, 2000). These large-scale urban models
plans and programs, planners will be expected were often created in conjunction with transporta-
tion studies to project future development patterns
to create, maintain, and display spatial data
against which proposed roadways (or transit facili-
in real time. (Google, with its continuous ties) could be assessed.
updates, has come to represent the model 10 Three books present broad pictures of planning sup-
port systems: Richard K. Brail, ed., Planning Support
for a dynamic enterprise.) Printed plans are
Systems for Cities and Regions (Cambridge, Mass.:
giving way to online Adobe, GIS-enabled plan- Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 2008); Richard K.
ning databases, and 3-D visualization. Citizens Brail and Richard E. Klosterman, eds., Planning Sup-
will be accessing these data and collaborating port Systems: Integrating Geographic Information
Systems, Models, and Visualization Tools (Redlands,
with others in the emerging Geoweb. Calif.: ESRI Press, 2001); and Stan Geertman and
John Stillwell, eds., Planning Support Systems in
Practice (Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 2003). A classic
Notes overview of the relationships between GIS and plan-
1 The term GIS has also been used as an abbreviation ning support systems is presented by Britton Harris
of the term geographic information sciences—the and Michael Batty, “Locational Models, Geographic
academic study of the field, drawing on a number Information, and Planning Support Systems,” 25–57,
of disciplines that involve spatially referenced data, in Brail and Klosterman, Planning Support Systems.
including cartography, remote sensing, surveying, 11 Puget Sound Regional Planning Council, “Vision
geology, and geography. 2020+20,” Regional View (December 2005),
2 For an outline of the use of GIS in local government, psrc.org/publications/pubs/view/1205.pdf (accessed
including planning, see John O’Looney, Beyond July 1, 2008).
Maps: GIS and Decision Making in Local Government 12 Criterion Planners, INDEX PlanBuilder: Indicator
(Redlands, Calif.: Environmental Systems Research Dictionary (November 2006), crit.com/documents/
Institute [ESRI], 2000). For an excellent explora- planbuilder.pdf (accessed February 27, 2008). Plan-
tion of GIS as an application and a science, see Paul Builder is an extension of ArcGIS.
Longley et al., Geographic Information Systems and 13 For a description of the process, see Chicago
Science (Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons, Metropolitan Agency for Planning and Criterion
2001). For a detailed presentation of GIS basics, see Planners, “Turning Dots into Details: Implementing
Nicholas Chrisman, Exploring Geographic Information Chicago’s 2040 Regional Plan with Digital Char-
Systems (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1997). rettes” (workshop offered at the Sixth Annual New
3 Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), a
Partners for Smart Growth Conference, February 10,
leading GIS software vendor, sponsors an annual con-
2007), crit.com/documents/turningdotstodetails
ference; in 2006 it drew 14,000 attendees, including
.pdf (accessed February 28, 2008). In Florida, the
planners and GIS professionals whose work supports
Department of Community Affairs contracted for a
the planning function.
planning support system (PSS) tool to assist in edu-
4 Open Geospatial Consortium, opengeospatial.org/ogc
cating citizens about planning options; see Criterion
(accessed July 1, 2008).
Planners, ”Digital Charrette Handbook: Using INDEX
5 See the report on smart bridges in New Mexico,
PlanBuilder in Real-Time” (prepared for the Florida
“’Smart Bridge’ Technology Debuts in New Mexico,”
Department of Community Affairs, July 2007),
Newswise, July 20, 2004, innovations-report.com/
crit.com/documents/digitalcharretting.pdf (accessed
html/reports/information_technology/report-31413
July 1, 2008).
.html (accessed July 1, 2008); see also the real-time
14 See the website for What if? at what-if-pss.com
traffic monitoring system in Seattle at seattle.gov/
(accessed July 1, 2008), and Richard E. Klosterman,
html/traffic.htm (accessed July 1, 2008).
“The What if? Planning Support System,” 263–284, in
6 See Eliot Allen, “Carbon Footprint Reduction through
Urban Design” (session at the annual meeting of the Brail and Klosterman, Planning Support Systems.
American Planning Association (APA), Las Vegas, 15 Richard E. Klosterman, “Deliberating about the
Nevada, April 30, 2008), crit.com/documents/ Future,” in Engaging the Future: Forecasts, Scenarios,
coolspots.pdf (accessed July 1, 2008). Plans, and Projects, eds. Lewis D. Hopkins and Marisa
7 See Lish Whitson, Lyle T. Bicknell, and Lynne Barker, A. Zapata (Cambridge, Mass.: Lincoln Institute of
“LEED-ND in Seattle” (session at the annual meeting Land Policy, 2007), 199–219.
of the APA, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 14–18, 16 See Paul Waddell, “UrbanSim: Modeling Urban Devel-
2007), and City of Seattle, Department of Planning opment for Land Use, Transportation and Environ-
and Development, “How Green Are Seattle’s Urban mental Planning,” Journal of the American Planning
Centers?” dpdinfo 5, no. 7 (July 2007): 9, seattle.gov/ Association 68, no. 2 (2002): 297–314, for a general
dpd/publications/info/info2007-07.pdf (accessed overview. A more detailed explanation is in Paul Wad-
July 1, 2008). GIS-based tools are useful for LEED-ND dell et al., “Microsimulation of Urban Development
analysis: see Criterion Planners, “A Method for and Location Choices: Design and Implementation of
Identifying Lands Potentially Eligible for LEED-ND” UrbanSim,” Networks and Spatial Economics 3, no. 1
(Portland, Ore., November 2006), crit.com/documents/ (2003): 43–67.
leednd_method.pdf (accessed July 1, 2008). 17 See CommunityViz, communityviz.com/ (accessed
8 See HAZUS, fema.gov/plan/prevent/hazus/ (accessed July 1, 2008); and Michael Kwartler and Robert N.
July 1, 2008). Bernard, “CommunityViz: An Integrated Planning
9 The rich history of urban development models began Support System,” 285–308, in Brail and Klosterman
in the 1960s with the availability of the first high- Planning Support Systems. Like PlanBuilder,
speed computers. See Michael Wegener, “Operational CommunityViz is an extension of ArcGIS.
Urban Models: State of the Art,” Journal of the 18 Jack Dangermond, “GIS Is Providing a New Medium for
American Planning Association 60, no. 1 (1994): 17–30, Understanding,” ArcNews Online (Winter 2006/2007),
for an overview, and U.S. Environmental Protection esri.com/news/arcnews/winter0607articles/
Agency, Projecting Land-Use Change: A Summary gis-is-providing.html (accessed July 1, 2008).
11255-08_CH08.indd 455 1/16/09 11:05:31 AM

19 Chikai Ohazama, “Truly Global,” Google Lat Long dent, know the facts, and are mindful of
Blog, February 11, 2008, google-latlong.blogspot
.com/2008/02/truly-global.html (accessed July 1,
what they want their audience to take away.
2008). Good communication is central to what
20 Orange County, “Land Maps/GIS,” co.orange.nc.us/ Alexander Garvin describes as the main role
gis/gisdisclaimer.asp (accessed July 1, 2008).
21 ArcGlobe is a product of ESRI, at esri.com (accessed
of planning: influencing people’s lives.
July 1, 2008); Sketchup, at sketchup.google.com
(accessed July 1, 2008), is a product of Google.
Today’s political culture is driven by media
22 Sketchup 3d Warehouse, sketchup.google.com/ and information. As communicators, planners
3dwarehouse (accessed July 1, 2008). must compete with high-profile news events,
23 Boston Redevelopment Authority, cityofboston.gov/bra/
BRA_3D_Models/Index.html (accessed July 1, 2008).
thirty-second sound bites, and information
24 American Forests, americanforests.org/ that is packaged—or “spun”—for public con-
productsandpubs/citygreen (accessed July 1, 2008). sumption. They must convey information that
25 Working Group on Environmental Justice, ecojustice
.net/document/ejlinks.htm (accessed July 1, 2008). In
is complex (and sometimes boring) to the
the New York area, for example, the Neighborhood layperson. Planners must also master new
Economic Development Advocacy Project (NEDAP) communication tools. Gone are presentation
provides GIS support to community groups dealing
with redlining and other forms of spatial discrimina-
boards, 35 mm slides, overhead projectors,
tion; see NEDAP, “Financial Justice Mapping Project,” and two-dimensional graphics colored by
nedap.org/programs/mapping.html (accessed July 1, pencils and pantone. Today’s planners are
2008).
26 Multisystems, Inc., et al., Guidebook for Developing
expected to work with computer renderings,
Welfare-to-Work Transportation Services, TCRP Report digital technology, animation software, hi-
64 (Washington, D.C.: Transportation Research Board, tech presentation tools, and the Internet.
National Academy Press, 2000), onlinepubs.trb.org/
Onlinepubs/tcrp/tcrp_rpt_64-a.pdf (accessed
July 1, 2008).
Effective communicators are confident,
know the facts, and are mindful of what
Focus on they want their audience to take away.
Planners as The public profile of planners has also
communicators changed. Historically, with the exception of

legendary planning directors like Edward
Logue and Edmund Bacon, most planners
Mitchell J. Silver and Barry Miller left public communication to elected offi-
cials. Recently, however, a new generation
The success of implementing the vision is of planning directors—in Los Angeles;
not the vision itself, but the creator’s ability Philadelphia; Raleigh, North Carolina; and
to communicate effectively that vision to the Washington, D.C., among other cities—are
population. taking planning directly to the public.
Edmund Bacon
Former director, Philadelphia City As late as the beginning of the 1990s, most
Planning Commission planning schools paid little attention to
the importance of communication. Today,
Planners must communicate clearly and interest in communication as a planning tool
sensitively to a variety of audiences: elected extends throughout the profession. When
officials, the general public, agency staff, Jacqueline Guzzetta and Scott Bollens sur-
other planners, and, in many cases, the veyed more than 600 planners in Southern
media. Effective communicators combine California to determine whether planners’
hindsight, insight, and foresight. They have a perceptions of critical skills differed from
vision, a message, and a strategy for deliver- those of other professionals, they found
ing that message. A vision provides context that planners value communication skills
for the audience, and a message is a means even more highly than they do technical
of making that vision resonate. Effective and quantitative skills.1
messages are concise and grounded in facts:
today’s audiences are savvy and skeptical, Rebranding Raleigh, NC
and are quick to dismiss information that In 2005, the planning department of
is loaded with hype or is not supported by Raleigh, North Carolina, launched a brand-
data. Effective communicators are confi- ing campaign to set a new course for the
11255-08_CH08.indd 456 1/16/09 11:05:31 AM

city. While Raleigh regularly topped the list Today, residents, elected officials, and
as one of America’s best places to live, rapid the media have embraced the notion that
growth threatened the city’s traditional Raleigh is an emerging 21st-Century City.
character. After fifty years of sprawl, the Before the rebranding, there was resistance
city’s supply of undeveloped land was run- to “big city” ideas such as tall buildings and
ning out. Raleigh’s historic downtown, laid mass transit, even in the downtown core.
out in 1792, could no longer meet the needs Today, several buildings that are more than
of a rapidly growing region. Raleigh was at a thirty stories high are planned or under
crossroads—would it be a charming South- construction, and citizens have begun to
ern city or a metropolis driven by a high- embrace walkability in preference to sprawl.
tech economy? The planning department In meetings on the comprehensive plan,
launched a campaign to prepare the city for citizens are discussing what a 21st-Century
the hard choices ahead. City will look like. Although there is still
controversy, the intensity of the debate has
As part of the rebranding effort, the plan-
subsided. The communication strategy that
ning director came up with the message that
effected this change included three core
Raleigh was an “emerging 21st Century City,”
elements: a vision, a message, and a focused
and the planning department launched a
method of delivery.
lecture series, featuring nationally recog-
nized speakers, that explored Raleigh’s posi-
tion and potential in a regional and national Restoring planning in
context (Figure 8–14). Each lecture was Washington, D.C.
followed by a breakfast meeting attended Following the election of a strongly pro-
by key elected officials and real estate planning mayor and the appointment of a
representatives. At the same time, the plan- new planning director in 1998, Washington,
ning director requested an update of the D.C., launched a series of high-profile plan-
eighteen-year-old comprehensive plan to ning initiatives that transformed the political
define a new vision for Raleigh’s future. The and physical landscapes. Prior to 1998, the
city council agreed. public had viewed planning as the domain of
Figure 8–14 In
Raleigh, North Carolina,
a lecture series featuring
nationally known
speakers, such as Donald
Shoup below, provided a
powerful springboard for
rethinking the city’s
comprehensive plan.
Source: City of Raleigh Planning Department.
11255-08_CH08.indd 457 1/16/09 11:05:31 AM

Figure 8–15 An item from LivingStreets.com, “a blog about the urban living movement in Raleigh, North
Carolina,” illustrates how planners are using the Internet as another medium for communicating with the public.
Source: Derek L. Anderson
bureaucrats performing routine zoning and Projects once considered mundane or

administrative tasks. After 1998, the recon- academic suddenly achieved new visibility
stituted Office of Planning became the city’s and importance. For instance, neighbor-
think tank, developing and implementing hood commercial design guidelines were
programs that energized the nation’s capital. presented in a beautifully illustrated book
simply called Thrive.2 Corridor revitaliza-
Branding and communication were key
tion programs were bundled as the “Great
elements in the new planning director’s
Streets Initiative,” providing continuity with
efforts to revitalize planning and remake
the 1791 L’Enfant Plan that gave the city
the department’s image. In 2002, ten
its characteristic radial boulevards. The
complementary planning and revitaliza-
Anacostia Waterfront Initiative became
tion strategies were bundled under the
the mayor’s legacy project. Thanks in large
label “Neighborhood 10.” The strategies
part to communication strategies that
included creatively named initiatives such
included computer animation, videos, and
as “reSTORE DC” (which focuses on revital-
high-quality publications, the Neighbor-
izing neighborhood shopping districts) and
hood 10 initiative generated excitement and
“Home Again” (which focuses on refurbish-
hope among members of an extraordinarily
ing abandoned row houses as market-rate
diverse audience.
and affordable housing). A widely distrib-
uted color gazette, featuring attractive Key messages associated with the Neighbor-
renderings and other graphics, showed how hood 10 strategies were conveyed through
the ten strategies were tied together. simple yet compelling verbs: Imagine,
Eight steps to effective communication for planners
1. Articulate a vision.
2. Decide what message you want your audience to take away.
3. Establish a context for your message.
4. Keep the message simple: use “plain English.”
5. Tell a story.
6. Plan your visuals.
7. Use branding and messaging strategically.
8. Listen to your audience.
11255-08_CH08.indd 458 1/16/09 11:05:32 AM

Transform, Restore, Connect, Celebrate, Act, complex information about the city’s future
and so on. Some of these messages were to an audience that ranged from “planning
carried forward to the district’s comprehen- junkies”—who blogged about the projects—to
sive plan, which was adopted in 2006. The everyday district residents who simply cared
theme of the plan was “Growing an Inclu- about the future of their city.
sive City”—a direct response to the social
and economic divisions that had polarized Notes
Washington during the 1980s and 1990s. 1 Jacqueline D. Guzzetta and Scott A. Bollens, “Urban
Planners’ Skills and Competencies: Are We Different
The “Inclusive City” brand was one aspect from Other Professions? Does Context Matter? Do
of a multifaceted communications strategy We Evolve?” Journal of Planning Education and
that was designed to engage thousands of Research 23, no. 1 (2003): 96–106.
2 Thrive: A Guide to Storefront Design in the District
district residents in the plan update pro- of Columbia (Washington, D.C.: Office of Planning,
cess. The greatest challenge was to convey September 2002).
11255-08_CH08.indd 459 1/16/09 11:05:32 AM

11255-08_CH08.indd 460 1/16/09 11:05:32 AM
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contributors
Karen B. Alschuler, FAICP Brian W. Blaesser, JD

Principal, Perkins & Will Partner, Robinson & Cole LLP
San Francisco, California Boston, Massachusetts
Bruce S. Appleyard, AICP Richard K. Brail, PhD
Senior Planner, Dowling Associates Professor Emeritus
Researcher, University of California Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and
Transportation Center (UCTC) Public Policy
PhD candidate, Department of City and Rutgers University
Regional Planning New Brunswick, New Jersey
University of California, Berkeley
Rachel G. Bratt, PhD
Matthew J. Ashby, AICP Professor, Department of Urban and
Director of Urban Planning Environmental Policy and Planning
City of Cheyenne Tufts University
Cheyenne, Wyoming Medford, Massachusetts
Jonathan Barnett, FAIA, FAICP Paul C. Brophy
Professor of City and Regional Planning Principal, Brophy & Reilly LLC
Director, Urban Design Program Columbia, Maryland
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania David J. Brower, FAICP
Research Professor, Department of City and
Michael Batty, PhD, RTPI Regional Planning
Bartlett Professor of Planning University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University College London
United Kingdom Paul R. Brown, AICP
Executive Vice President, CDM Camp
Frank Beal
Dresser & McKee Inc.
Executive Director
Carlsbad, California
Chicago Metropolis 2020
Chicago, Illinois Evandro Cardoso dos Santos, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Urban
Timothy Beatley, PhD
and Regional Planning
Teresa Heinz Professor of Sustainable
Jackson State University
Communities
Jackson, Mississippi
School of Architecture
University of Virginia Robert Cervero, PhD
Charlottesville, Virginia Professor, Department of City and Regional
Planning
Alicia Berg
University of California, Berkeley
Vice President, Campus Environment
Columbia College Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
477

478 Contributors
Frances Chandler-Marino George C. Galster, PhD

Principal and Director of Regional Planning Clarence Hilberry Professor of Urban Affairs,
Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin Department of Geography and Urban
Orlando, Florida Planning Wayne State University
Detroit, Michigan
Frederick C. Collignon, PhD, FAICP
Associate Professor, Department of City and Alexander Garvin
Regional Planning President and CEO, Alex Garvin & Associates,
University of California, Berkeley Inc.
New York, New York
Fernando Costa, FAICP
Adjunct Professor of Urban Planning and
Assistant City Manager
Management
City of Fort Worth
Yale University
Fort Worth, Texas
New Haven, Connecticut
Randall Crane, PhD
Professor, Department of Urban Planning David R. Godschalk, PhD, FAICP
UCLA School of Public Affairs Professor Emeritus, Department of City and
Los Angeles, California Regional Planning
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
John L. Crompton, PhD
Distinguished Professor, Department of Thomas A. Gougeon
Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences Principal and Chief Development Officer,
Texas A&M University Continuum Partners, LLC
College Station, Texas Denver, Colorado
Thomas L. Daniels, PhD Ken Greenberg, FRAIC, Assoc. AIA

Professor, Department of City and Regional Principal, Greenberg Consultants Inc.
Planning Toronto, Canada
University of Pennsylvania Sir Peter Hall, PhD, RTPI
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Bartlett Professor of Planning and Regeneration
James B. Duncan, FAICP University College London
President, Duncan Associates United Kingdom
Austin, Texas Susan Handy, PhD
Robert Edelstein, PhD Professor of Environmental Science
Professor and Co-Chairman, Fisher Center for Policy Director, Sustainable Transportation
Real Estate and Urban Economics Center
Haas School of Business University of California, Davis
University of California, Berkeley Carey S. Hayo, AICP
Barbara Faga, FASLA Principal and Director of Master Planning
Executive Vice President and Principal, Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin
EDAW|AECOM Orlando, Florida
Atlanta, Georgia Lewis D. Hopkins, PhD, FAICP
W. Paul Farmer, FAICP Professor Emeritus of Urban and Regional
Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Planning and Landscape Architecture
American Planning Association University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Chicago, Illinois Con Howe
Lance Freeman, PhD Managing Director, CityView Los Angeles Fund
Associate Professor, Graduate School of Los Angeles, California
Architecture, Planning and Preservation
Karen Hundt, AICP
Columbia University
Director, Planning and Design Studio
New York, New York
Chattanooga–Hamilton County Regional
Robert H. Freilich, JSD Planning Agency
Professor of Law President, Tennessee chapter of the American
Partner, Miller Barondess LLP Planning Association
Los Angeles, California Chattanooga, Tennessee

Contributors 479
Thomas Jacobson, JD, AICP Daniel R. Mandelker, LLB, JSD, FAICP

Professor and Director, Department of Stamper Professor of Law
Environmental Studies and Planning Washington University
Institute for Community Planning Assistance St. Louis, Missouri
Sonoma State University
Randall Mason, PhD
Rohnert Park, California
Associate Professor, City and Regional
Jerold S. Kayden, JD Planning
Frank Backus Williams Professor of Urban Graduate Program in Historic Preservation
Planning and Design School of Design
Co-Chair, Department of Urban Planning and University of Pennsylvania
Design Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Dwight H. Merriam, FAICP
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Partner, Robinson & Cole LLP
Gerrit-Jan Knaap, PhD Hartford, Connecticut
Professor and Director, National Center for
Barry Miller, AICP
Smart Growth Research and Education
Planning Consultant
University of Maryland
Berkeley, California
College Park, Maryland
Terry Moore, FAICP
Bruce A. Knight, FAICP
Planning Director, ECONorthwest
Planning Director
Eugene, Oregon
City of Champaign
Champaign, Illinois Anne Vernez Moudon, Dr es Sc
Professor of Architecture, Landscape Archi-
John D. Landis, PhD
tecture, and Urban Design and Planning
Department Chair and Crossways Professor
Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology and Civil
of City and Regional Planning
and Environmental Engineering
University of Washington
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Seattle, Washington
Robert E. Lang, PhD
Dowell Myers, PhD
Professor and Director, Urban Affairs and
Professor of Urban Planning and Demography
Planning—Alexandria
University of Southern California
Co-Director, Metropolitan Institute at Virginia
Los Angeles, California
Tech
School of Planning and International Affairs Robert B. Olshansky, PhD, AICP
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Professor, Department of Urban and Regional
University Planning
Alexandria, Virginia University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Nancey Green Leigh, PhD, FAICP David W. Orr, PhD

Professor of City and Regional Planning Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of
Georgia Institute of Technology Environmental Studies and Politics
Atlanta, Georgia Senior Adviser to the President
Oberlin College
Christopher B. Leinberger
Oberlin, Ohio
Professor and Director, Graduate Real Estate
Program Ayse Pamuk, PhD
University of Michigan Associate Professor and Chair, Department of
Ann Arbor, Michigan Urban Studies and Planning
Visiting Fellow, The Brookings Institution San Francisco State University
Washington, D.C. San Francisco, California
Partner, Arcadia Land Company
Rolf Pendall, PhD, AICP
Wayne, Pennsylvania
Associate Professor, Department of City and
Paul R. Levy, PhD Regional Planning
President and CEO, Center City District Cornell University
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ithaca, New York

480 Contributors
Rutherford H. Platt, PhD Anna K. Schwab, JD/MRP

Professor of Geography Emeritus Senior Research Associate
University of Massachusetts, Amherst University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Senior Fellow, Institute for Sustainable Cities
John Shapiro, AICP, PP
City University of New York
Principal, Phillips Preiss Shapiro Associates
Director, Ecological Cities Project
New York, New York
Northampton, Massachusetts
Thomas P. Smith
Leslie S. Pollock, FAICP Senior Associate, Duncan Associates
Principal Consultant Chicago, Illinois
Camiros, Ltd.
Chicago, Illinois Anthony Sorrentino
Executive Director of Public Affairs
Steven A. Preston, FAICP Office of the Executive Vice President
Deputy City Manager University of Pennsylvania
San Gabriel, California Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nancy Roberts David C. Soule, PhD, AICP
Senior Associate and Planning Manager Associate Director, Center for Urban and
Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin Regional Policy
Orlando, Florida Northeastern University
Catherine L. Ross, PhD Boston, Massachusetts
Harry West Professor Robert Stacey, FAICP
Director, Center for Quality Growth and Executive Director, 1000 Friends of Oregon
Regional Development Portland, Oregon
Atlanta, Georgia
Lawrence Susskind, PhD
Lynne B. Sagalyn, PhD Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental
Earle W. Kazis and Benjamin Schore Professor Planning
of Real Estate Finance and Economics Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Director, Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate Cambridge, Massachusetts
Columbia Business School
Lois M. Takahashi, PhD
New York, New York
Professor, Department of Urban Planning
Peter D. Salins, PhD, FAICP UCLA School of Public Affairs
University Professor of Political Science and Los Angeles, California
Director Michael B. Teitz, PhD
Graduate Program in Public Policy Senior Fellow, Public Policy Institute of
Stony Brook University California
Stony Brook, New York Professor Emeritus, University of California,
Patricia E. Salkin, JD Berkeley
Raymond and Ella Smith Distinguished Jennifer S. Vey
Professor of Law Fellow
Associate Dean and Director, Government Metropolitan Policy Program, The Brookings
Law Center of Albany Law School Institution
Albany, New York Washington, D.C.
Bish Sanyal, PhD Martin Wachs, FAICP
Ford Professor of Urban and Regional Planning Director of Transportation, Space, and
Chair, Department of Urban Studies and Technology
Planning RAND Corporation
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Santa Monica, California
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Julie Wagner
J. Mark Schuster, PhD (deceased) Trans Atlantic Fellow
Professor of Urban Studies and Planning Metropolitan Policy Program, The Brookings
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Institution
Cambridge, Massachusetts Washington, D.C.

Contributors 481
Roger S. Waldon, FAICP Robert D. Yaro

Principal, Clarion Associates Professor of Practice in City and Regional
Chapel Hill, North Carolina Planning
Martha Lampkin Welborne, FAIA
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Managing Director, Grand Avenue Committee
President, Regional Plan Association
Los Angeles, California
New York, New York
Stephen M. Wheeler, PhD, AICP
Assistant Professor, Landscape Architecture Paul Zucker, FAICP
Program, Department of Environmental President, Zucker Systems, aka The
Design Management Doctor
University of California at Davis San Diego, California
George Williams, LLB, LLM (retired)

Assistant Director of Planning
San Francisco, California

Index
Abercrombie, Patrick, 171 American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP),

Accessibility 11, 425, 426, 447
disparities and obstacles in, 362–363 Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, 425,
explanation of, 359–361 426, 434–437
factors related to, 363–364 Planning and Community Equity Book, 448
measures of, 361–362 American Institute of Planners, 15
transportation planning and, 360–361 American Management Association, 439
Active Community Environments, 135 American Park and Outdoor Art Association, 10
Active Living by Design, 135 American Planning Association (APA), 35, 36,
Active Living Research, 135 117, 135, 136, 175, 188, 417, 425, 427,
Adaptive reuse projects, 131–132 428, 446–449
Adelaide, Australia, 354 American Society of Municipal Improvements,
Adequate public facilities ordinances, 302 10
Adirondack Park, 96 American Society of Planning Officials (ASPO),
Adirondack Park Agency, 37 14–15, 178
Adult entertainment, 289 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 359
Affordable housing AmericaSpeaks model, 236
as a dimension of social justice, 115, 116 Anacostia River Watershed (Washington, D.C.),
gentrification and, 92, 161–162 388, 389, 391
goals of, 378–379 Anacostia Waterfront Initiative (Washington,
incentives for, 382–283 D.C.), 458
innovative regulations for, 380–382 Annapolis, Maryland, 130
interventions in land and housing markets Appleyard, Donald, 366
and, 383–384 ArcGlobe, 453
as a planning issue, 377–378 Area plans, 221–224
revenue sources for, 379, 380 Arlington, Virginia, 124, 133, 375–376
Age, as a local planning issue, 91, 92 Arnstein, Sherry, 19
Agenda for America’s Communities (American Art of City Making, The (Landry), 165
Institute for Certified Planners), 448 Artist live/work spaces, 152
Agricultural land preservation, 312–315 Artistic events, urban, 151
Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians Arts development, 148. See also Cultural districts;
(California), 419 Cultural planning
Ahwahnee Principles, 50 Arts districts. See Cultural planning
AICP Codes of Ethics, 425, 426, 434–437 Ascher, Kate, 61
Airport planning, 266–270 As-of-right regulations, 275, 287, 297
Altshuler, Alan, 17 Association of Environmental Professionals, 427
American City, The, 14 Atlanta, Georgia, 139, 140, 156, 183–184,
American City Planning Institute (ACPI), 11 238–242, 328
American Civic Association, 15 Atlanta BeltLine, 239–242
American Civic and Planning Association, 15 Atlanta Regional Commission, 184
American Community Survey (ACS), 89–91, 93 Austin, Texas, 289, 354
American Hospital Association (AHA), 135 Automobiles, planning for, 9–10, 15, 18, 51, 105
483

484 Index
Babbitt, Bruce, 100 Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP), 448

Bacon, Edmund, 19, 32, 33, 34, 70, 439, 456 Capital improvement plan (CIP), 227, 396, 397
Baltimore, Maryland, 175, 205, 314 Car sharing, 365
Banneker, Benjamin, 6 Carbon-neutral cities, 167
Barker, Kate, 170, 171 Carbon taxes, 353
Barnes, Roy P., 184 Carson, Rachel, 18
Barnett, Jonathan, 18 Center City District (Philadelphia), 31, 193, 195
Bartholomew, Harland, 31–32, 34 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
Bassett, Edward, 35 135, 136
Bennett, Edward, 26, 28 Central business districts (CBDs), 222–223
Better Philadelphia Exhibition of 1947, 32 Central Park (New York City), 8, 29
Bettman, Alfred, 35 Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, 229–231, 251–253
Biederman, Daniel, 31, 193 Chapin, F. Stuart, 15
Bikeable environments, 76, 365, 366–373 Chapter 40R (Massachusetts), 382–383
Bioterrorism Act of 2002, 395 Charleston, South Carolina, 120, 130, 132
Black Community Division (APA), 448 Chattanooga, Tennessee, 401–402
Blackstone, William, 38 Cheyenne, Wyoming, 249–251
Blockbusting, 381 Chicago, Illinois
Bloomberg, Michael, 379 Burnham plan for, 10, 11, 26–29, 47, 70
Blueprint for Survival (Goldsmith), 111 comprehensive plan for, 226
Boise, Idaho, 396 regional planning in, 181–183, 232
Bollens, Scott, 456 19th-century development in, 9
Boomburbs, 163–165 zoning code in, 27, 226, 278–279, 291–295
Boston, Massachusetts, 6, 9, 18, 53, 382, 391. Chicago Area Transportation Study (CATS), 181,
See also Emerald Necklace park system 182
Boston Redevelopment Authority, 453–454 Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning
Boulder, Colorado, 303, 353, 391 (CMAP), 181–183
Brennan, William J., 37–38, 40, 43, 44 Chimayó, New Mexico, 133
Brown, Jerry, 98 Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, 155
Brownfields, 137–140, 224 Church v. Town of Islip, 315–316
Brownfields Redevelopment Access to Capital Circuitbreakers, 381
(BRAC) program (Massachusetts), 140 Cities. See also Metropolitan regions; specific cities
Bryant Park Restoration Corporation, 38, 193 arts and culture in, 149–150, 153
Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 289 as boomburgs, 163–165
Budgeting, 421 carbon-neutral, 167
Building-block zoning, 274 compact, 113–114, 120
Burgess, Ernest, 14 family-friendly policies for, 170
Burke, Myles E., 446 festivals and artistic events in, 151
Burlington, Vermont, 381 function of, 408
Burnham, Daniel, 9, 10, 26–29, 32, 34, 47, 48–49, growth of, 3–6, 348–349
51, 70, 439 healthy, 134–137
Bus-based transit, 168 planning in contemporary, 48–49
Bush, George W., 327 quality of life in, 166
Business improvement districts (BIDs), 31, 53, 177, revitalizing older industrial, 144–146
193–195, 283 systems and scale of, 343–344
virtual, 408–412
Calatrava, Santiago, 147 Cities for Climate Protection Campaign, 353
California Cities in the Wilderness (Babbitt), 100
comprehensive plans, 37 City, The, 14
Corona del Mar Business Improvement District City Beautiful movement, 9, 10, 32, 47, 55
(Newport Beach), 193, 194 City Place (Florida), 125
impact assessment in, 337–339 City Plan, The, 11
Marin County greenfields, 309 City Planning Quarterly, 11
Native American communications in, 419 City: Rediscovering the Center (Whyte), 122
subdivision exaction in, 332 Civic engagement, 234–242. See also Communities
zoning consistency requirements in, 273 Clark, Joseph, 70
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Clean Air Act of 1970, 18, 95, 134, 181, 183
337–338 Clean Water Act of 1972, 18, 66, 388, 398–399
California Planning Roundtable, 415–416, 426 Clean Water Act of 1977, 134, 388
Calthorpe and Associates, 192 Climate change, 94, 97–98, 100, 109–110, 113,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 205 350–355

Index 485
Clinton, Bill, 20 Coral Gables, Florida, 192

Coachella Valley, California, 419 Corona del Mar Business Improvement District
Coalition for Healthy Cities and Communities, 135 (Newport Beach, California), 193, 194
Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct Corridor plans, 223–224
(American Institute of Certified Planners), Corroto, Carla, 447–448
425, 426, 434–437 Costs of Sprawl, The (1974), 17
Codes of ethics. See also Ethics Councils of governments (COGs), 97, 418. See also
American Institute of Certified Planners, 425, Regional planning agencies
426, 434–437 Country Club Plaza (Kansas City), 16–17, 192
American Planning Association, 434, 438 Cultural districts, 148–150
Coleman, Norm, 253 Cultural diversity
Collaborative approaches, 77–78, 189–191, 427 design traditions and, 6
College Hill (Providence, Rhode Island), 130 in local planning, 89–92
Collins, Jim, 440–443 in planning profession, 428, 446–449
Columbia, Maryland, 12, 30–31 value of, 447–449
Commercial Club of Chicago, 10, 11, 26, 27, 97 Cultural planning, 146–154
Committee on the Congestion of Population (New Curitiba, Brazil, 165–166, 385–387
York City), 10 Curtin, Daniel, 316
Commonwealth Association of Planners, 448 Cuyahoga County, Ohio, 86
Communities. See also Civic engagement Cyclability, 365. See also Bikeable environments
adapting plans to, 219–220
dynamics of, 69–70 Dallas, Texas, 375
empowerment of, 162 Davidoff, Paul, 17
environmental management in, 76 Davies, Scott, 416
importance of input from, 235 Davis, Daryl, 192
preserving character of, 105–106 Davis, Robert, 192
Community design movements, 135 Death and Life of Great American Cities (Jacobs),
Community development bank, 283 17–18, 52
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Dedications, 299, 302
program, 66, 129, 199, 200, 203, 397 Defensible Space: Crime Prevention through Urban
Community development corporations (CDCs), Design (Newman), 18
115, 177, 199, 200, 204–206, 258, 263, 379, Demographic change, 103, 120
382 Denver, Colorado, 97, 266–270
Community Health Partnerships at AHA, 135 Department of Commerce, 12, 397
Community land trust (CLT), 115, 116, 383–384 Department of Housing and Urban Development
Community planning, 115–116 (HUD)
Community Preservation Act (Massachusetts), 380 establishment of, 16
Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, 19, 380 housing programs and, 19, 78
CommunityViz, 452–454 Office of Community Planning and
Compact cities, 113–114, 120 Development, 418
Compensation, for planners, 422, 423, 428 Department of Transportation (DOT), 16, 95
Comprehensive Community Revitalization Program Design with Nature (McHarg), 19
(CCRP), 248, 249, 261 Design review, 319–324
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compen- Development agreements (DAs), 300, 302–303,
sation, and Liability Act (1980), 18, 137, 138 315–318
Comprehensive plans Development exactions, 42, 299, 300, 302, 311, 316,
content of, 11–12, 35, 36, 37, 218–221 332–333
development of, 11, 12, 17, 18 Dill, Jennifer, 367
for greenfields, 309 Dillon, John F., 66
legal significance of, 35–36 Dillon’s Rule, 66–67
municipal authority to develop, 34–37 Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, 66, 141, 142
subdivision ordinance and, 290 Disasters. See Natural hazards
Concession, 283 Discretionary review systems, 274
Concurrency requirements, 300, 302 Disney World, 275
Conditional rezoning, 288, 315 District of Columbia. See Washington, D.C.
Congestion pricing, 365, 375 Diversity. See Cultural diversity; Ethnic/racial
Conservation districts, 128 diversity
Conservation easements, 301, 304 Diversity Initiative (American Planning
Construction sites, 397 Association), 428
Contract zoning, 315, 317 Does the Built Environment Influence Physical
Contracting out, 283 Activity?, 135

486 Index
Dolan v. City of Tigard, 41, 44, 317, 332 Environmental impact assessment (EIA)
Downtown areas. See also Business improvement effects of, 338–339
districts (BIDs) explanation of, 78, 279–280, 300, 304, 335–336
equitable development in, 106–107 federally required, 336–337
in Los Angeles, 196–198 greenfields and, 311
renewal of, 17 state and local, 337–338
Downtown D.C. Business Improvement District, Environmental impact report (EIR), 280
193 Environmental impact statement (EIS), 336
Downtown Denver Partnership, 195 Environmental planning
Downtown development corporations, 53 collaborative approaches to, 77–78
Downtown plans, 222–223 early developments in, 19
Downtown Seattle Association, 193 natural resource mismanagement and, 74–75
Drainage basins. See Watersheds partnerships in, 79–80
Drucker, Peter, 444 strategies for, 76
Duany, Andrès, 125 sustainability and, 112–113
Duany Plater-Zyberk (DPZ), 192 tools for, 78–79
Dublin, Ohio, 452 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Dumbaugh, Eric, 367 carbon dioxide regulation by, 97–98
cleanup of contaminated sites and, 137–139
Earth Summit (Rio, 1992), 111 clean water and, 394, 397, 399
Ecological footprint, 78 establishment of, 16, 19
Economic base analysis, 80–84 Environmental reviews, 128–129
Economic development Environmental risk, 84
classification of, 81 Environmental scans, 420
exports and, 82 Eplan, Leon, 239
immigration and, 157–158 Equitable development, 106–107
local market and, 80–84 Escambia County, Florida, 451
parks and recreation services and, 406 Ethics, in planning, 425–426, 433–438
role of arts and culture in, 153 Ethnic/racial diversity
shifts in, 103–104 accommodation of, 64
sustainability objectives and, 115 local planning and, 90
Economic Development Administration, 397 in the profession, 428, 446–449
Economic system, planning and, 25–26 statistics regarding, 20
Economic theory, 83 value of, 447–449
Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), 166 “Euclidean” zoning, 315
Economy, real estate and local, 84–85 Exactions, 42, 299, 200, 302, 311, 316, 332–333
Education, for planning professionals, 178–179, Externalities, 83
427
Effective Executive, The (Drucker), 444 Facilities planning, 357–358
Ehlers, Matt, 61 Fair Housing Act (New Jersey), 382
Ellicott, Andrew, 6 Fair Housing Act of 1968, 289
Emerald Necklace park system (Boston), 9, 29 Fair-market value, 326
Emergency Support Function (ESF), 143 Farm Bill of 2002, 314
Eminent domain. See also Property rights Farmers Branch, Texas, 288
development agreements and, 317–318 Farmington, Michigan, 148
explanation of, 325 Fayol, Henri, 439
Kelo case and, 44–45, 276, 317, 325–327 Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, 16
land readjustment and, 327–328 Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1962, 17, 180–181
legal cases in, 276–277 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),
Empowerment zones, 20 141, 143, 451
Endangered Species Act of 1973, 134, 310 Federal government
Energy use, reduction in, 104–105 function of, 66
English garden city, 10, 12, 13, 55 housing programs of, 378, 380
Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule, 394 planning managers in, 418
Enterprise Community Partners, 205 “701” program (1954), 17
Environment Federal Housing Administration (FHA), 14
federal legislation to protect, 18, 134 Federal Water Resources Planning Act of 1964, 388
individual and collective responsibility for, 75, Festivals, urban, 151–152
77 Fifth Amendment, 38, 47, 66
Environmental and historic overlay zoning, 300, Financial risk, economic analysis and, 83
304 Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), 337

Index 487
First English Evangelical Lutheran Church v. County Google Earth, 411, 453
of Los Angeles, 41, 44 Google Maps, 411, 412
Fiscal Impact Handbook, The (1978), 17 Google Sketchup, 453
Flagship cultural facilities, 147–148 Gore, Al, 355
Flex-work, 365 Governments, 46, 51, 56. See also Federal gov-
Floating zones, 288 ernment; Local governments; Planning
Flood Mitigation Assistance Program, 141, 142 organizations; State governments; Tribal
Floor-area ratio (FAR), 296, 297 governments
Florida Grand Avenue Committee (Los Angeles), 196, 198
growth management in, 68, 73, 189–191 Grand Central Partnership, 193
Southeast Orlando Plan, 71 Grand Central Terminal (New York City), 277
zoning consistency requirements in, 273 Grand Forks (North Dakota) flood of 1997, 142
Florida, Richard, 147, 166 Gravel, Ryan, 239
Ford, Henry, 9 Gray, David, 407
Form-based codes, 288–289, 301, 305 Great Depression, 14
Fort Worth, Texas, 29 Great Society programs, 18
Fortune magazine, 14 Greater Fort Worth Tomorrow, A, 29
Foundation for San Francisco’s Architectural Greben, Seymour, 407
Heritage, 296 Green corridors, 105
Fourteenth Amendment, 66, 320 Green technologies, 121
Framework plans, 217 Greenbelt, Maryland, 12, 14
Franchise, 283 Greendale, Wisconsin, 12, 14
Franklin, Shirley, 239, 242 Greenfields, 277–278, 307–311
Free rider phenomenon, 75 Greenhills, Ohio, 12, 14
Freedom Park (Atlanta), 238–239 Greenhouse gas emissions, 113, 350–355. See also
Freiburg, Germany, 167, 169–170 Climate change
Fruitvale Transit Village (Oakland, California), 375 Greenline parks, 130–131. See also Preservation
Fukuyama, Francis, 56 planning
Fulton Street Mall (Brooklyn, New York), 132 Greenways, 400–402
Groundwater protection, 289
Gans, Herbert, 18 Growing Smart Legislative Guidebook (2002), 35
Garden Cities of To-Morrow (Howard), 10, 47 Growth management. See also Smart growth
Garden city. See English garden city agricultural land preservation and, 314–315
Garvin, Alexander, 240, 456 approaches to, 299, 302–304
Geary, Bob, 458 background of, 298–299, 316
Gehl, Jan, 122 state programs for, 97, 299
General and Industrial Management (Fayol), 439 tools for, 300–302
Gentrification, 92, 159–163 Gruen, Victor, 17, 29
Geographic information systems (GISs) Guzzetta, Jacqueline, 456
for administrative operations, 424
to analyze data on foreign-born residents, 157 Hadacheck v. Sebastian, 38, 39
for field assessments, 371 Haines City, Florida, 190
function of, 410, 411, 450 Hanna/Olin, 193
local government planning and, 450–455 Harlem (New York City), 61
zoning maps used with, 276 Hart-Cellar Immigration Act of 1965, 155
Georgia Conversancy, 183–184 Harvard City Planning Studies Series, 17
Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA), Harvard University, 17
183–184 Haussmann, Baron, 26
Geoweb, 453 Hawaii Housing Authority v. Midkiff, 326
GIS. See Geographic information systems (GISs) Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, 141–142
Glendening, Parris, 117 HAZUS, 451
Global Planners Network, 448 Health, trends in, 134
Global positioning system (GPS), 412 Health impact assessments (HIAs), 136
Global warming. See Climate change Health promotion, efforts in, 134–135
Globalization, 56–57, 83 Healthy Cities in Europe, 135
Godschalk, David, 215 Healthy cities initiatives, 135–137
Goldberg, Gail, 427 Healthy Neighborhoods Inc., 205
Golden v. Planning Board of the Town of Ramapo, Healthy Neighborhoods Program (Baltimore), 205
316 Heavy-rail transit, 168
Goldsmith, Edward, 111 Heritage areas, 130–131, 150–151. See also
Good to Great (Collins), 440–443 Preservation planning

488 Index
Highway Beautification Act of 1965, 289 Individualized marketing programs, 365

Highways, development of, 16, 17 Industrial cities, 7–8, 144–146
Historic districts commissions, 128 Infill development, 114, 121–122
Historic preservation. See also Preservation Information technology (IT) in planning, 409–412.
planning See also Technological advances
documentation and, 128 Infrastructure planning, 299, 332–335, 356–359
evolution of, 130–132 In-lieu fees, 299, 302
explanation of, 19, 127 Input-output studies, 82
financial incentives for, 129–130 Institute for Urban Planning and Development of
function of, 128 the Paris Ile-de-France Region (IAURIF), 95
regulations for, 128–129, 289 Institutional plans, 228
Historic rehabilitation tax credits, 129 Integrating Planning and Public Health, 135
Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 39 Integrity, 433
Holmes, Thomas, 47 Interagency and Community Council on
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975, 19 Homelessness, 379
Home rule, 67 Intergovernmental issues, 79–80, 279
Homeowners Loan Corporation, 14 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Hoover, Herbert, 14 (IPCC), 109, 350, 351
HOPE VI (Department of Housing and Urban Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of
Development), 19 1991, 20, 96, 117, 181
Hopkins, Lewis, 216 International Council for Local Environmental
Horizontal organizations, 420 Initiatives (ICLEI), 353
Hospital Research and Education Trust (HRET), Isaacs, Reginald, 177
135
Housing Jacobs, Jane, 17–18, 48, 52, 110, 115
affordable, 115, 116, 377–384 (See also Jacobsen, Peter, 367
Affordable housing) Johnson, Lyndon B., 18
public, 14, 15, 19 Joint fact finding (JFF), 79
sustainability objectives and, 114–115 Joint powers authority (JPA), in Los Angeles,
Housing Act of 1949, 42 196–198
Housing Forum, 379 Joint venture, 283
Housing and Slum Clearance Act of 1949, 16 Journal of the American Planning Association, 11
Houston Downtown Management District, 193 Just compensation, 326
Howard, Ebenezer, 10, 47
Hoyt, Homer, 14 Kaiser, Edward, 215
Human resources, 421–423 Kellogg Foundation, 135
Hurricane Ivan, 448, 451 Kelo v. City of New London, 41, 44–45, 276, 317,
Hurricane Katrina, 70, 140–141, 275 325–327
Hutton, Thomas, 167 Kent, T. J., 15
Kobe earthquake of 1995 (Japan), 143
ICMA, 427
IL 130/High Cross Road Corridor Plan (Champaign, Lakewood, Colorado, 282
Illinois), 229–231 Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 314
Illegal aliens, 155 Land acquisition, 398
Image of the City (Lynch), 18 Land conservation organizations, 310
Immigration Land consumption, 20
background of U.S., 154–156 Land development plans, 227–228
cultural diversity and, 90 Land Ordinance of 1785, 6
to metropolitan regions, 94 Land preservation. See Preservation planning
planning for, 156–158 Land readjustment, 327–328
Impact assessment. See Environmental impact Land Records/GIS (Orange County, North
assessment (EIA) Carolina), 453
Impact fees, 42, 299, 300, 302, 333 Landry, Charles, 165
Impact zoning, 274 Land use planning
Implementation. See Plan implementation background of, 96
Import substitution, 110 to prevent sprawl, 190
Incentive zoning, 275 for sustainable development, 113–114
Inclusionary zoning, 301, 305, 306, 380 transportation and, 360–361, 366
Income, local planning and, 91–92 water supply planning and, 395–398
Inconvenient Truth, An, 355 Land use regulation. See also Zoning; Zoning codes
INDEX, 452 early history of, 273

Index 489
important cases in, 40–41 function of, 89

sustainability objectives and, 114 for immigration, 157–158
in zoning ordinances, 289–290 legal contexts of, 66–69
Lang, Robert, 164 meaning of, 61
Laws of the Indies, 6 public investments and, 107–108
Leadership social change and, 92–94
personal and organizational power and, social factors of, 89
439–441 Local Planning Administration (International City
planning directors and, 439–444 Managers’ Association), 15
skills for, 417, 426–427, 440–443 Location risk, 84
Le Corbusier, 14 Logue, Edward, 439, 456
Lee County, Florida, 73 London, England, 171, 353
LEED-ND (Leadership in Energy and Environmen- Los Angeles, California, 185–188
tal Design for Neighborhood Development), Los Angeles City General Plan Framework, 278
450 Los Angeles Department of City Planning, 443
LeFurgy, Jennifer, 164 Los Angeles Grand Avenue Authority, 196–198
Legislative risk, 84 Louisville, Kentucky, 451
L’Enfant, Pierre-Charles, 6, 47, 327–328 Low-income households, 91–92
L’Enfant Plan (Washington, D.C.), 458 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), 19, 378
Lerner, Jaime, 165–166, 385 Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, 41, 43–44
Levitt, William, 16 Lynch, Kevin, 18
Levy, Paul, 31
Life between Buildings (Gehl), 122 Macro risks, 83
Life-cycle status, 91 Main Street program, 127, 130, 131
Lifestyle centers, 124 Malmö, Sweden, 354, 355
The Limits to Growth (Meadows), 111 Management information systems, 424
Lindblom, Charles, 17 Mandelker, Daniel, 275
Line-item budgeting, 421 Marin County, California, 309
Lingle v. Chevron U.S.A. Inc., 41, 44 Marsh, Benjamin, 10, 55
Linkage fees, 299, 302 Marshall Plan, 55
Linkage programs, 380 Maryland, growth management in, 68
Live-work neighborhoods, 105 Mass transit, 104, 105. See also Public transporta-
Local governments tion; Transportation
affordable housing and, 379–381, 383–384 Massachusetts
brownfields redevelopment and, 138–140 affordable housing in, 379, 380, 382
capital improvement financing by, 87 Brownfields Redevelopment Access to Capital
climate change and, 113, 350–355 (BRAC) program, 140
cultural district investment by, 149 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 111
design reviews and, 319, 321 Matrix organizations, 420
economic forces in, 80–84 Maxwell, John C., 442
environmental planning and, 77–78 Mayor’s Climate Change Action Plan (London,
financing by, 277 England), 353
geographic information systems used in, McCarron, John, 261
450–451 (See also Geographic information McCormack Baron, 383
systems (GISs)) McDonough, William, 354
natural hazards planning by, 141–144 McHarg, Ian, 19
planning and, 69, 107–108 Meadows, Donella, 111
planning agencies in, 176 Measure 37 (Oregon), 330–332
planning managers in, 417–418 Methfields, 140
promotion of sustainability by, 112–117 Metropolitan Atlanta Transportation Initiative
as public developers, 88 (MATI), 183
public-private agencies involved in planning Metropolitan District Commission (Boston), 9
and, 177 Metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs),
real estate and, 84–88 95–96, 180–181, 418. See also Regional
relationship between state governments and, planning agencies
66–69 Metropolitan regions, 94–100. See also Cities
role in urban decline, 145–146 Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) (New
in Washington, D.C., 263 York region), 97
Local planning. See also Planning Metrorail (Washington, D.C.), 375–376
diversity and, 89–92 Meyerson, Martin, 17
economic shifts and, 104 Migration, to urban areas, 15

490 Index
Mile High Compact (Denver), 97 Needs assessments, 420

Miller, Anita, 258 Negroponte, Nicholas, 409
Mission, 440–441 Neighborhood buyout, 328
Mission Bay Plan (San Francisco), 87, 281 Neighborhood planning
Mission statements, 420 equitable development in, 106–107
Mitchell, Robert, 18 to maintain funkiness, 167
Mitchell, William, 408 in Seattle, 72–73
Mitigation, 109 walkable, 125–127
Mizner Park (Boca Raton, Florida), 124–125 in Washington, D.C., 261–266
Mobil Land, 192 Neighborhood plans, 221–222
Mobil Oil Company, 192 Neighborhood pooling, 328
Mobility, 92–93 Neighborhoods in Bloom (NiB) program
Mockingbird Station (Dallas), 375 (Richmond, Virginia), 199–204
Model Land Development Code, A (American Law Neighborhood 10 (Washington, D.C.), 263–266,
Institute), 36 458–459
Modern Confectionery Lofts (Portland, Oregon), NeighborWorks America, 204
129 Networks, urban systems and, 344–345
Modular zoning, 274 New Deal, 14–16
Montgomery County, Maryland, 305, 313, 380 New Housing Marketplace Plan, 379
Mortgage-recording tax, 86 New Jersey
Moses, Robert, 26, 29–30, 70, 235 affordable housing and, 382
Moule & Polyzoides, 192 growth management in, 68
Mt. Laurel decisions, 382 Radburn, 12, 13, 47
Multihazard Mitigation Council, 141 New Jersey Pinelands, 96, 313
Municipal Art Society, 9 New Jersey Pinelands Commission, 37
Municipal planning commissions, historical New Orleans, Louisiana, 140–141, 237, 275
background of, 11–12 New Towns (Great Britain), 12, 170
New York City, New York
Napolitano, Janet, 379 affordable housing in, 379
National Association of County and City Healthy Art Commission, 9
Officials (NACCHO), 135, 136 Commissioners’ Plan of 1811, 6
National Civic League (NCL), 135 Committee on the Congestion of Population,
National Conference on City Planning and the 10
Problems of Congestion (NCCP), 10–11, 15, Comprehensive Community Revitalization
446 Program, 248, 249, 261
National Congress of Community Economic Grand Central Terminal, 277
Development (NCCED), 205 Harlem, 61
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, historical background of, 6
18–19, 78, 134, 336 19th-century development in, 8–9, 29
National Environmental Protection Act of 1969, planning in Los Angeles vs., 185–188
388 PlaNYC, 132, 353
National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), 141, New York State, 86, 273
142, 289 Newman, Oscar, 18
National Folk Festival, 149–150 Newport Beach, California, 193
National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, 128, Nichols, J. C., 16–17
129 Nickels, Greg, 353
National League for Civic Improvement, 10 Nine Mile Run Watershed (Pittsburgh), 388, 389,
National Municipal League, 10 391
National Park Service, 129 Nixon, Richard M., 20
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Nodes, 223, 344, 345
(NPDES), 398 Nolen, John, 12
National Register, 128, 129 Nollan v. California Coastal Commission, 41, 44,
National Resources Planning Board, 14 332
National Trust for Historical Preservation, 19, 130 Nongovenmental organizations (NGOs), 454
National Urban Coalition, 15 Nonprofit organizations, 178, 419
Native American communications, 419 North Carolina Coastal Area Management Act, 69
Natural Communities Conservation Planning Act Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission
(California), 339 (NIPC), 181–182
Natural hazards, 140–144 Northgate Housing, Inc., 381
Natural resources, 74–75, 77, 112–113 Northridge earthquake of 1994 (California), 142
Nature Conservancy, 310 Northwest Ordinance of 1787, 6, 7

Index 491
Oakland, California, 223–224, 278, 374 PlanCheyenne, 249–251

Office of Community Planning and Development Planned unit developments (PUD), 288, 299, 308,
(HUD), 418 315
Oglethorpe, James, 47 Planners. See also Planning managers
Olmsted, Frederick Law, 9, 29, 30, 34 certification and licensing of, 426
Olmsted, Frederick Law, Jr., 10, 55 as communicators, 456–459
Omaha, Nebraska, 242–249 compensation for, 422, 423, 428
Omaha Community Foundation, 243 as detectives, 62–64
Omaha by Design, 242–249 as doctors, 61–62
Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc., 450 education for, 178–179, 427
Oregon as evangelists, 64
affordable housing in, 379 implications of global changes on, 57–58
growth management in, 68 as integrators of ideas, 27, 29–31
Measure 37, 330–332 integrity of, 433
planning requirements in, 273 as leaders, 25–34, 417, 426–427
urban growth boundaries in, 278 performance appraisals for, 423
Orton Foundation, 452 politics and, 430–433
Outsourcing, 283 as private consultants, 178, 188–189
Overlay zoning, 315 professional, 31–32, 175
Oxnard, California, 328 public, 189
in public service, 427–428
Paducah, Kentucky, 150 as skilled generalists, 32, 33
Paint the Town (INDEX), 452 sources of power, 440–441
Parking policies, 365 women as, 428
Parking, shared, 123–124 Planners Network, 427
Parks Planning. See also Local planning; Regional planning
community-wide benefits of, 406–407 for accessibility, 359–364
cultural and heritage, 150–151 anchor institutions involved in, 177
development of regional, 170–172 attitudes toward, 54–56
historical background of, 8, 9, 29 civic engagement in, 234–242
Parks and recreation field, 403–408 context-based, 74
Partnerships. See Public-private partnerships cultural, 146–153
(PPPs) economic context of, 25–26
Pasadena Hills Vision Plan (Florida), 190, 191 ethics in, 425–426, 433–438
Pasco County, Florida, 190 European precedents for, 6, 7, 10
Passel, Jeffrey, 155 foundations of local, 7–14, 175
Pedestrians. See Walkable environments function of, 23–25
Penn Central Transportation Company v. New York future outlook for, 103
City, 40, 43 for gentrification, 92, 159–163
Penn Connects, 209 guidelines for, 73–74
Penn, William, 47 historical overview of, 3–20, 34–35, 430
Pennsylvania, 273 for immigration, 156–158
Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, 39, 43, 329 impact of information technology on, 410–412
PENs-Public Entrepreneurship Networks model, natural hazards and, 140–144
79–80 politics and, 25–26, 27, 70, 430–433
Performance budgeting, 421 private consultants involved in, 178, 188–189
Performance monitoring, 422, 423, 425 private vs. public, 189
Performance zoning, 274, 289 public agencies involved in, 176–177
Permit caps, 301, 303–304 public participation in, 453–454
Perry, Clarence, 125–126 public-private partnerships in, 31, 286–287
Personal rapid transit (PRT) systems, 168 regional, 36–37
Peters, Robert, 243 rise of professional organizations for, 10–12
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania role on nonprofit organizations in, 178
Central City District, 31, 195 social context of, 89–94
City Planning Commission, 70 strategic, 70–71
professional planning in, 31–33 for sustainable development, 112–117
University of Pennsylvania and, 206–209 technical foundation for, 215
Phoenix, Arizona, 133 for walkable environments, 122–127
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 223 Planning Accreditation Board, 449
Plan implementation, 273–281 Planning Advisory Service (American Society of
PlanBuilder (INDEX), 452 Planning Officials), 178

492 Index
Planning agencies, 176 Planning support system (PSS), 451, 452

Planning commissioners, 426 Plan of Chicago (1909), 10, 11, 26–29, 47, 70, 439
Planning commissions, 290 Plans. See also Comprehensive plans
Planning and Community Equity Book (American area, 221–226
Institute of Certified Planners), 448 background of, 215–216
Planning directors. See Planning managers capital improvement, 227
Planning at the Edge of the Millennium (California common elements in, 213
Planning Roundtable), 415–416 development of, 229–232
Planning Gain Supplement, 170 downtown, 222–223
Planning Institute Australia (PIA), 448 elements of, 218, 220
Planning law, 36 factors influencing, 213
Planning managers. See also Planners framework, 217
certification and licensing of, 426 implementation of, 273–281
compensation for, 422, 423, 428 institutional, 228
in federal governments, 418 land development, 227–228
functions of, 424–425 neighborhood, 221–222
in local governments, 417–418 organizational use of, 230–231
in nonprofit organizations, 419 redevelopment, 224
performance monitoring by, 422, 423, 425 regulatory, 224, 226
in private firms, 418 reuse, 224
public vs. private, 415 short-range, 226–227
in regional planning agencies, 418 specific, 224
role of, 444–446 strategic, 226
skills for, 415–416, 417, 426–429, 439–446 system, 221
in state governments, 418 types and characteristics of, 214
in tribal governments, 419 vision, 216–217
Planning organizations. See also specific waterfront and corridor, 223–224
organizations PlaNYC (New York City), 353
administrative operations, 424 Plater-Zyberk, Elizabeth, 125
budgeting and finance, 421 Platt, John, 110
communications and marketing, 425 Pleasant Hill, California, 279
competing and conflicting demands in, 424–425 Police power, 67
diversity in, 428 Politics, 25–26, 27, 70, 430–433
forms of, 419–420 Pollution, water, 398, 399
human resources, 421–423 Portland, Oregon, 48, 101, 113, 114, 129, 131, 132,
innovation and change in, 426 303, 365, 367, 377, 391
leadership in, 417, 426–427, 439–444 Portland Metro 2040 Plan, 96, 97, 119
overview of, 419 Poverty, 91, 115, 145
performance monitoring, 423, 425 Preservation easements, 129–130
private, 415, 418 Preservation planning
rise of professional, 10–12, 14–15 agricultural, 312–315
strategic planning in, 420 historic, 127–133
Planning policy Priority funding area (PFA), 301, 304–305
avoiding excessive growth as, 171 Private consultants, 177, 188–189
building new transit alternatives, 167–169 Private property, 38. See also Property rights
capturing rising land values, 170 Procurement process, 283
creativity, 165–166 Program budgeting, 421
developing carbon-neutral cities, 167 Property rights. See also Eminent domain
developing family-friendly, 170 important cases in, 40–41
developing regional parks, 170 interplay between regulation and, 38–39, 42
experimenting with development methods, Supreme Court on, 38–45, 47, 276–277, 325–327
169–170 Property taxes, 85–86
improving quality of life, 166 Proposition 13 (California), 299
maintaining funky neighborhoods, 167 Proposition 90 (California), 317
Planning process Proposition 98 (California), 277
citizen participation in, 19 Proposition 99 (California), 277
communication strategies for, 236 Proposition 187 (California), 158
implementation of, 273–281 Proposition 227 (California), 158
tasks of, 232–234 Public capital investment, 86–88
Planning-programming-budgeting systems (PPBS), Public Entrepreneurship Networks (PENs) model,
421 79–80

Index 493
Public housing, 14, 15, 19. See also Housing Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons
Public Land Survey System (PLSS), 6, 7 Act of 2000, 66, 289
Public participation in planning, 115–116, 118, Rent control, 381
280, 433, 453–454 Repetitive Flood Claims Program, 142
Public planning, private vs., 189, 415 Residential neighborhoods, walkable, 125–127.
Public-private agencies, 177 See also Neighborhood planning
Public-private partnerships (PPPs) Resource protection contracts, 301, 304
in Denver, 266–270 Reston Town Center (Reston, Virginia), 125,
housing development and, 276–277 192–193
plan implementation and, 276–277 Reston, Virginia, 12, 47
as a planning strategy, 31, 190, 282–287 Reuse plans, 224
types of, 282–284 Rheingold, Howard, 454
urban renewal by, 52–54 Richmond, Virginia, 199–204
Public transportation. See also Mass transit; Riley, Joseph, 132, 281
Transportation RiverCity Company (Chattanooga, Tennessee), 402
accessibility and, 360–361 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), 135
bus-based, 168 Robinson & Cole, 243
in Curitiba, Brazil, 385–387 Rodgers v. Village of Tarrytown, 315
mobility improvement and, 364–366 Rodin, Judith, 206
operating costs of, 346 Roosevelt, Eleanor, 55
trends in, 374–377 Roosevelt, Franklin D., 14
Puget Sound Regional Council, 452 Rouse, James, 30, 31, 192
Roxbury, Massachusetts, 379
Quality of life, 104–107, 166 Royal Town Planning Institute, 448
Queensboro Houses (New York City), 15 RTKL Associates, 125, 192
Radburn, New Jersey, 12, 13, 47 Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transporta-
Raleigh, North Carolina, 61–65, 456–458 tion Equity Act - A Legacy for Users (SAF-
Rapkin, Chester, 18 ETEA-LU) (2005), 20, 181
Real estate, 84–88 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996, 393
Recreation. See Parks and recreation field Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, 18, 393, 394
Redevelopment Saint Paul, Minnesota, 252–258
brownfields, 137–140 Saint Paul on the Mississippi Development
economic issues related to, 121–122 Framework, 254–258
of industrial districts, 129 San Diego County, California, 280–281, 334
partnerships, 283 San Diego Gas & Electric Co. v. City of San Diego,
sustainability through, 114 44
urban renewal evolving into, 52–53 San Francisco, California
Redevelopment plans, 224 Mission Bay Plan, 87, 281
Reedy Creek Improvement District, 275 Transbay Transit Center, 277, 298
Regeneration, function of, 54 transferable development rights in, 296–298
Regional councils, 180 Yerba Buena Gardens, 53
Regional cultural and heritage parks, 150–151 San Gabriel, California, 426
Regional Plan Association of New York, 12, 13, 97 San José, California, 305
Regional planning. See also Planning San Juan Bautista, California, 219
in Chicago, 181–183 Santana Row (San José, California), 125, 305
climate change and, 97–98 Sarasota County, Florida, 190, 191
developments in, 36–37 Sasaki Associates, 125, 192
historical background of, 95–97 Sawmill Community Land Trust (Albuquerque),
Regional planning agencies, 35, 36–37, 95–96, 115, 116
418 Schenectady, New York, 328
Regional Planning Association of America Schwab, James, 143
(RPAA), 12, 13 Seaside, Florida, 125, 192–193
Regional Plan of New York and Its Environs Seattle, Washington, 72–73
(Regional Plan Association), 12, 13 “701” program (1954), 17
Regional visioning, 97, 99 Severe Repetitive Loss grant program, 142
Regionalism, 98 Shapiro, John, 258, 259
Regulation, interplay between property rights Shared Parking (Urban Land Institute), 124
and, 38–39, 42–43 Shopping malls, 16–17, 123
Regulatory plans, 224, 226 Shores, Roger, 424
Regulatory risk, 84 Shoup, Donald, 457

494 Index
Shuman, Michael, 110 Strategic Land and Infrastructure Contracts

Siegel, Steven, 315 (SLICs), 170
Sign regulation, 289 Strategic planning
Silent Spring (Carson), 18 for community transformation, 258–261
Silver, Mitchell, 458 components of, 420
Single-map zoning, 274 examples of, 71–73
Small-mart approach, 110 explanation of, 70–71
Smart growth, 117–122, 299, 300–307, 347. See also Strategic plans, 226
Growth management Streets, design of, 366–369, 372
Smart Growth and Neighborhood Conservation Subdivision exactions, 332
Acts of 1997, 117 Subdivision regulations. See also Greenfields
Smart Growth Legislative Guidebook (American development; Zoning
Planning Association), 117 explanation of, 290
Smart Growth Network (SGN), 117 trends in, 49–50, 298–307
Smart mobs, 454 Suburban planning, 16, 46–51
Social change, 92–94 Suburban sprawl, collaboration to prevent, 19,
Social justice, 111–112, 115 189–191
Social Life of Small Urban Spaces (Whyte), 18 Sullivan, Michael J., 446
Social services, 157–158 Supreme Court, U.S.
Society Hill (Philadelphia), 19, 130 on environmental issues, 97–98
SoHo phenomenon, 131 on property rights, 38–45, 47, 276–277, 325–327
Solar mallee trees, 354 on protected species, 310
Soules, Jon, 254 on zoning, 12, 39, 41–42, 49, 382
Southdale (Edina, Minnesota), 17 Surface Transportation Policy Project, 117
Southeast Orlando Plan, 71 Survey Graphic, 14
Southern California Association of Governments, Sustainability analysis, 78, 79
418 Sustainable development
Souza-Briggs, Xavier, 258, 259 explanation of, 111–112
Special districts, 333–334 goals of, 116–117
Special zoning districts, 128 historic preservation and, 133
Specific plans, 224 infrastructure planning and, 358, 359
Spot zoning, 315 parks and natural areas and, 406–407
Stafford Act of 1988, 141 promotion of, 112–115
Stagflation, 55 public participation in, 115–116
Standard City Planning Enabling Act (SCPEA) of Sweeney, Michael, 446
1928, 35, 36, 69 SWOT analysis, 420
Standard State Planning Enabling Act of 1928, 69 System plans, 221
Standard State Zoning Enabling Act of 1924, 67,
69, 287 Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, 57
Standard Zoning Enabling Act of 1926, 315 Tahoe-Sierra Preservation Council v. Tahoe Regional
Stapleton Airport (Denver), 225, 266–270 Planning Agency, 41, 44
Stapleton Redevelopment Foundation (SRF), Tax-allocation district (TAD), 239, 242. See also Tax
266–268, 270 increment financing (TIF)
State environmental policy acts (SEPAs), 338 Tax credits, 129
State governments Tax increment financing (TIF)
affordable housing and, 379–381, 383–384 for affordable housing, 162, 380
growth management programs in, 299 benefits of, 277
oversight in local government land use drawbacks of, 335
decisions, 68 explanation of, 87–88, 239, 333, 334–335
planning involvement by, 35, 273 use of, 70, 139, 224, 239
planning managers in, 418 Technological advances
relationship between local governments and, geographic information systems and, 157,
66–69 158, 276, 371, 410, 411, 449–454 (See also
role of planning in, 175–176 Geographic information systems (GISs))
State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System city planning and, 409–412
(SPDES), 398 plan implementation and, 276
Stephens, Ric, 427–428 smart growth and, 121
Stevens, Paul, 44 Tenement House Law (1901), 8
Stockholm, Sweden, 120 Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), 14, 388, 418
Stone, Michael, 378 Tenth Amendment, 66
Stone Harbor, New Jersey, 320 Thomas, June Manning, 449

Index 495
Thompson, Ben, 253, 257 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 11,

360-Degree Leader, The (Maxwell), 442 229, 251
Toward a Sustainable Seattle, 72–73 University of Pennsylvania, 206–209
Traditional neighborhood development (TND), Urban areas, 12, 303. See also Cities; Urban systems
125–126 Urban Design Associates, 192
Traffic flow maps, 450 Urban Design as Public Policy (Barnett), 18
Traffic management, 360 Urban Edge, 382
Transbay Transit Center (San Francisco), 277, 298 Urban General Plan, The (Kent), 15
Transect model, 114 Urban growth boundaries (UGBs), 119, 301, 303
Transfer of development rights (TDR) programs, Urban Land Institute (ULI), 124
313 Urban Land Use Planning (Chapin), 15
explanation of, 129, 296 Urban limit lines (ULLs), 301, 303
for farmland preservation, 313 Urban planning. See also Planning
as a growth management strategy, 171, 277 as career, 175
in San Francisco, 296–298 externalities in, 346
Transferable development right (TDR) system. foundation of, 12
See Transfer of development rights (TDR) historical background of, 47
programs systems and, 347–348
Transit-oriented development (TOD), 374–377. See Urban renewal, 16, 52–54
also Public transportation; Transportation Urban service boundaries (USBs), 301, 303
Transparency, in public-private partnerships, 286 UrbanSim, 452
Transportation. See also Public transportation Urban systems, 343–349. See also Cities
in Atlanta, Georgia, 183–184 Urban Traffic: A Function of Land Use (Mitchell &
for carbon-neutral cities, 167 Rapkin), 18
in Curitiba, Brazil, 385–387 Urban Villagers (Gans), 18
legislation dealing with, 20 Urban watersheds, 388–392, 393
new alternatives for, 167–169 U.S. Conference of Mayors, 14
operating costs of public, 346 U.S. Green Building Council, 450
sustainability objectives and, 114 U.S. Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement, 353
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century User benefits model, 403–405
(TEA-21) (2001), 20, 181 Utility fees, 334–335
Transportation improvement programs (TIPs), 181,
184 Valley Falls Heritage Park (Cumberland, Rhode
Transportation planning, 360–361, 364–366, 418 Island), 151
Treatise on the Law of Municipal Corporations Values-based approach, 77
(Dillon), 66–67 Vancouver, British Columbia, 114
Tribal governments, 419 Vasquez, Leonardo, 449
Trust for Public Land, 240–241, 259, 310, 402 Vauban (Germany), 169–170
Tucker, Gideon J., 327 Venice, Italy, 149
Twain, Mark, 327 Vermont, growth management in, 68
21st Century Land Development Code (Freilich & Vertical organizations, 420
White), 315 Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., 12, 39, 40,
41–42, 49
ULTra (Urban Light Transit), 168 Village at Shirlington (Arlington, Virginia), 124
United Kingdom, 6, 170 Vision for planning management, 440–441
United Nations Conference on Environment and VISION 2020, 452
Development (1972), 111 Vision for Growing an Inclusive City, A
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and (Washington, D.C.), 216, 217
Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 128 Vision plans, 216–217
United Nations World Habitat Urban Forum and
world Planners Congress (Vancouver, 2006), Wacker’s Manual of the Plan of Chicago (1912), 10
448 Walkable environments
United States compact, mixed-use, 123–125, 127
boomburbs in, 163–165 explanation of, 122–123
contemporary urban profile of, 20 implementing plans for, 371–373
growth of cities in, 4–5, 7–8, 15, 20 mobility improvement and, 365
health trends in, 134 in Omaha, 246, 248
immigration in, 154–158 planning for, 369–370
metropolitan regions in, 94–95 promotion of, 365
population growth in, 20, 23, 312, 392 residential, 125–127
postwar economic growth in, 55 safety and comfort of, 367–369

496 Index
Walking school bus, 136 Zoning. See also Land use regulation
Wallace Roberts & Todd (WRT), 192, 243 benefits and drawbacks of, 290–291, 298–299
Wal-Mart, 110, 242 contract, 315, 317
Washington, D.C. environmental and historic overlay, 304
historical background of, 6, 7, 327–328 greenfields and, 310–311
Metrorail, 375–376 inclusionary, 305, 306, 380
Neighborhood 10, 263–266, 458–459 innovations in, 274–275
planning initiatives in, 457–459 mixed-use, 275–276
renewing neighborhoods in, 261–266 modular, 274
Vision for Growing an Inclusive City, A 216, overlay, 315
217 performance, 274, 289
Washington State, 68, 273 spot, 315
Water pollution, 398, 399 Zoning administrators, 290
Water resources, 388–393 Zoning board of adjustment (ZBA), 290
Water supply planning, 388–400 Zoning codes. See also Land use regulation
Waterfront plans, 223–224 affordable housing and, 381
Watergate scandal, 55 in Chicago, 27, 226, 278–279, 291–295
Watersheds, 388–392, 393 comprehensive plans and, 35
Welch, Jack, 439 development of, 8, 12, 49, 134, 273
Western Harbor (Malmö, Sweden), 354, 355 discretionary review and, 287–288
West Philadelphia Initiatives (WPI), 206 to divide urban densities, 114
What if?, 452, 453 in Europe, 10
White, S. Mark, 315 form-based, 288–289
Whyte, William H., 18, 122, 193 function of, 287
Williams, Anthony A., 261 historic districts and, 128
Wirth, Louis, 14 individuals involved with, 290
Women and Planning Division (APA), 447, 448 for land uses requiring special protection, 289
Works: Anatomy of a City, The (Ascher), 61 for new types of land use regulation, 289
Works Progress Administration, 14 obstacles to revise, 278–279
World Commission on Environment and Develop- online, 276
ment (United Nations) (1987), 111 for planned unit developments, 288, 299, 308,
World Health Organization (WHO), 135, 136 315
World Heritage List (United Nations), 128 revision of, 290
World’s Columbian Exposition (1893), 9. 10, 47, single-use, 123
70 subdivision ordinance and, 290
Wren, Christopher, 29 suburban commercial, 123
Wright, Frank Lloyd, 14 water quality and supply and, 396
Zoning maps, 276, 288
Yerba Buena Gardens (San Francisco), 53 Zoning Resolution (1916), 8
Youngstown, Ohio, 71–72 Zukin, Sharon, 167
Local Planning: Contemporary Principles

and Practice
Text type
Interstate, ITC Slimbach
Composition
Circle Graphics, Columbia, Maryland
Printing and binding

Quebecor World Book Services Group
Design
Will Kemp, ICMA, Washington, D.C.
08-197

Local Planning
AN ICMA GREEN BOOK
Local Planning: Contemporary Principles and Practice, the all-new

edition of The Practice of Local Government Planning, focuses
on emerging issues and future challenges, offering useful, current
examples of leading planning practices. This new edition helps
planners, and nonplanners who manage the work of planners, apply
well-reasoned strategic thinking to their planning challenges, and
helps students of the profession bridge theory and practice.
■■ A contemporary look at local planning for a new generation of

planners
■■ Contributors include a wide-ranging collection of voices—
academics, practitioners, clients, and observers of planning
■■ Recommended for preparation for the AICP exam
■■ Perfect for graduate level introductory planning classes
■■ Written for planning directors and nonplanners in both the private
and public sectors
and Practice
ICMA Press is a leading publisher of books, reports, survey research,
Edited by
training materials, and other resources used by local government
management professionals, municipal and county associations, and Gary Hack
colleges and universities. Eugénie L. Birch
Paul H. Sedway
Mitchell J. Silver
icma.org/press
ISBN 978-0-87326-148-7
43522 08-197

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AN ICMA GREEN BOOK

Local Planning: Contemporary Principles and Practice, the all-new

■■ A contemporary look at local planning for a new generation of

Published in cooperation with the American

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Copyright © 2009 by the International City/County Management Association, 777 North

Printed in the United States of America

Eugénie L. Birch, FAICP, RTPI (hon), is Lawrence C. Nussdorf Professor of Urban

The Effective Local Government Manager

Emergency Management: Principles and Practice for Local Government

Local Government Police Management

Local Planning: Contemporary Principles and Practice

Management Policies in Local Government Finance

Managing Fire and Rescue Services

Managing Local Government Services

Service Contracting: A Local Government Guide

1 The value of planning 1

2 The context for local planning 59

3 Contemporary concerns of planning 101

Revitalizing older industrial cities / Jennifer S. Vey 144

4 Who plans? 173

5 Making plans 211

6 Putting plans to work 271

Eminent domain / Dwight H. Merriam 325

7 Planning for urban systems 341

8 Managing planning 413

For further reference 461

Sidebars Comprehensive Community Revitalization

Chapter 2 The context for local planning Other influences on greenfield

Revitalizing Paducah through the arts 150 Components of a strategic planning

Tables 1–13 Philadelphia’s Society Hill 19

6–5 Leading counties in farmland 1–20 Market Street, Philadelphia 33

2–15 Megaregions 99 3–27 The urban development in Vauban,

• Ayse Pamuk, associate professor, San Francisco State University

Bob O’Neill Paul Farmer

Why Communities Plan / Frederick C. Collignon

Planners as Leaders / Alexander Garvin

The Authority to Plan / Patricia E. Salkin

11255-01_CH01.indd 1 12/22/08 2:36:15 PM

From townsite to metropolis

From colonial town to industrial city

11255-01_CH01.indd 3 12/22/08 2:36:16 PM

Figure 1–1 This

Total population: 4,000,000

Total population: 9,700,000

New Orleans Urban

Source: Eugénie L. Birch

11255-01_CH01.indd 4 12/22/08 2:36:16 PM

Total population: 203,000,000

11255-01_CH01.indd 5 12/22/08 2:36:25 PM

Source: Courtesy of Historic Urban Plans, Inc., Ithaca, N.Y.

National customs, religious and social compacts, mercantilist demands, and

11255-01_CH01.indd 6 12/22/08 2:36:39 PM

Source: National Atlas of the United States® and Bureau of

The foundations of local planning

Figure 1–4 The

Source: Library of Congress

11255-01_CH01.indd 7 12/22/08 2:36:40 PM

Figure 1–5 In the

Source: Pittsburgh Survey 1914

Change comes to America’s cities

In response to dangerous urban conditions, numerous citizens’ groups mounted