American Planning Association

As the old saying goes, “when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” For decades, zoning has been the hammer swung by cities at a laundry list of challenges. But this blunt tool, developed to regulate land use and density, has had profound collateral damage, planner Nolan Gray argues. Cities and planners have long been constrained by a zoning “straitjacket,” he says, preventing them from solving the problems that plague communities today: housing affordability, sprawl, segregation, environmental concerns.

How can we reverse that trend? Gray’s new book, Arbitrary Lines, looks for answers in the form of zoning reform.

“My argument in the book is, yes, zoning has failed, and we should abolish zoning. But it’s not a pure deregulation argument. It’s a ‘we’re-regulating-the-wrong-things' argument. I actually do think planners have a hugely important role to play in the impacts of new development.” —Nolan Gray, Planner and Author of Arbitrary Lines

In this special episode of the People Behind the Plans podcast, Gray sits down with guest host Jason Jordan, APA’s director of public affairs, to examine the cities and states charting a new course for zoning reform — and offer advice for planners navigating the myriad interests impacting land use decisions.

Episode URL: https://planning.org/podcast/arbitrary-lines-author-nolan-gray-on-zoning-reform-and-hitting-plannings-reset-button/

Every two years, the American Planning Association Transportation Planning Division publishes the State of Transportation Planning Report with the intention of highlighting innovative ideas, cutting-edge research, and interesting experiments in transportation planning in the United States. As part of the 2022 edition of the report - titled “Intersections + Identities: A Radical Rethinking of Our Transportation Experiences" - we’re bringing you a series of critical conversations with pioneers and industry leaders across the US who are offering their insights into some of the most challenging issues facing our field.

In this podcast episode, we’ll hear from Judy Shanley, a Project Director with the National Office of Easterseals in Chicago, and Claire Stanley, a Public Policy Analyst at the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN). Their conversation brings forth insightful ideas and guidance on how transportation professionals can reimagine how we plan for maximum mobility and accessibility in our transportation infrastructure and beyond.

Advertisement: APA Passport

Episode URL: https://planning.org/podcast/critical-conversations-in-transportation-planning-judy-shanley-and-claire-stanley/

While it’s hard to have missed the buzz that’s been building around blockchain over the last five years, it’s easy to be confused and overwhelmed by its applications. Cryptocurrency and NFTs have been in the news recently, but less has been said about blockchain’s potential in urban planning and city government. Those were the questions Mark Wheeler, CIO of the city of Philadelphia, wanted to answer when he got interested in blockchain and Web 3.0 technology.

With a background in planning, Wheeler is passionate about community engagement and making open data accessible to the citizens of Philly. And he’s been exploring how blockchain can provide transparency to the data collection that fuels smart cities. In this episode, Wheeler shares what he’s learned about blockchain’s potential, his advice for planners, and where he looks for inspiration and innovation.

Episode URL: https://planning.org/podcast/philadelphia-cio-mark-wheeler-web-3-and-blockchain-could-bring-transparency-to-smart-cities/

One of L.A. City Council’s newest members, Nithya Raman, ran on a platform of addressing homelessness and advancing inclusivity in city government. As a former urban planner and founder of a homelessness nonprofit, she’s working to show her fellow Angelenos how issues like homelessness, traffic, and gentrification all stem from a lack of housing inventory.

After a year and a half in office, Raman shares her vision for reducing homelessness, offers tips for working more effectively with city government, and explains how planners can use their expertise to educate and galvanize communities for positive change.

Episode URL: https://planning.org/podcast/planner-and-city-official-nithya-ramans-vision-to-end-homelessness-in-los-angeles/

Every two years, the American Planning Association Transportation Planning Division publishes the State of Transportation Planning Report with the intention of highlighting innovative ideas, cutting-edge research, and interesting experiments in transportation planning in the United States. As part of the 2022 edition of the report - titled “Intersections + Identities: A Radical Rethinking of Our Transportation Experiences" - we’re bringing you a series of critical conversations with pioneers and industry leaders across the US who are offering their insights into some of the most challenging issues facing our field.

In this podcast episode, we’ll hear from Olatunji Oboi Reed, who serves as the founding President & CEO of Equiticity, a racial equity movement, operationalizing for racial equity, increased mobility, and racial justice to improve the lives of Black and Brown people across the United States. He discusses emerging research on the ways in which a neighborhood’s infrastructure can have an impact on reducing violence, and how Equiticity’s Mobility Rituals are increasing social cohesion and collective efficacy through bike rides, neighborhood walking tours, and public transit excursions.

Episode URL: https://planning.org/podcast/critical-conversations-in-transportation-planning-olatunji-oboi-reed/

As a growing number of cities develop mobility justice initiatives, Naomi Doerner, MUP, is helping planners navigate these efforts to address systemic inequities and barriers in transportation. Doerner, principal and director of equity, diversity, and inclusion at  Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates and former program manager of Seattle's  innovative Transportation Equity Program, sat down with host Courtney Kashima, AICP, to talk about what mobility justice looks like in practice, including some inspirational examples from around the world.

Doerner is also a co-founder and national co-organizer for the Untokening, a multiracial collective that centers the lived experiences of marginalized communities to address mobility justice and equity. Growing up riding public transit in Chicago and translating for her mother, Doerner draws on her personal experience as a translator and navigator to help planners and municipalities build bridges with communities, so the people living in them can play a prominent role in determining how places and spaces serve and support their needs.

Episode URL: https://planning.org/podcast/navigating-mobility-justice-with-naomi-doerner/

In this special episode of the People Behind the Plans podcast, guest host Jason Pugh, AICP, AIA, NOMA, LEED AP, president of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), sits down with Michael Ford, AIA, NOMA, keynote speaker at the 2022 APA National Planning Conference. In this live-recorded discussion in San Diego, Ford and Pugh talk about the unique connection between hip hop, urban design, community engagement, and so much more.

Ford, a licensed architect, is the creator of the Hip Hop Architecture Camp, a free national summer camp, dedicated to introducing underrepresented youth to architecture planning, creative placemaking and economic development. Through the camp, he helps young people analyze hip hop songs by local artists to uncover critiques of their cities, then learn how to address those issues through urban design. Ford currently serves as president of the Wisconsin NOMA Chapter, and he is the founding principal of BrandNu Design Studio in Madison.

Episode URL: https://planning.org/podcast/the-intersection-of-hip-hop-and-architecture-with-michael-ford/

Dahvia Lynch, AICP, the director of Planning & Development Services for San Diego County, talks about her agency’s bold plans for housing and climate change, an accessory development unit program that helped drive a 70 percent uptick in ADUs, and an agricultural conservation program that has permanently set aside nearly 80,000 acres. The agency is also taking a connected approach to housing and vehicle miles traveled, while supporting electric vehicle adoption.

Episode URL: https://planning.org/podcast/San-Diego-County-Tackles-Affordable-Housing-and-Climate-Change/

In this episode of the Resilience Roundtable series, host Rich Roths, AICP, speaks with Michael Greenberg, Ph.D, distinguished professor at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. The two discuss the concept of cascading hazards, what they are, where are they more prevalent, how they are prepared for and mitigated against through plans at local, state and federal levels of government.

Episode URL: https://www.planning.org/podcast/cascading-hazards-with-dr-michael-greenberg/

This episode is sponsored by Tyler Technologies

In this episode of the People Behind the Plans podcast series, host Courtney Kashima, AICP, is joined by Rasmus Astrup, partner and design principal at Danish urban design and landscape architecture practice SLA. Rasmus was a co-presenter during the 2021 National Planning Conference at a session titled, “Strategies to Combat Extreme Heat”.

Rasmus and Courtney discuss the importance of biodiversity and nature-based solutions to address the needs of cities to mitigate against the effects of climate change and specific issues like extreme urban heat. The two also discuss a few of the projects that his firm worked on from places around the globe like Toronto, Abu Dhabi, Copenhagen, and Detroit. They also dig into the significance of local knowledge and expertise when taking on projects as well as how to deal with the disproportionate impacts on more vulnerable populations.

Episode URL: https://planning.org/podcast/fighting-climage-change-in-cities-with-biodiversity-and-nature-based-design/

This episode is sponsored by Tyler Technologies