Community Engagement
East Portland Mobilizing Against Gentrification
East Portland is home to 25 percent of the city's residents—many of which are low-income or immigrants. The East Portland Action Plan aims to protect the community as a wave of gentrification approaches.
A New Guide to Participatory Planning
A new guidebook by the Montréal Urban Ecology Centre can help improve a critical part of the job for all planners.
Calling on Teens to Participate in Comprehensive Plans
A group of teens were recently participated in the comprehensive planning process for the city of Rockville, Maryland.
High-Tech Lego Model Provides Interactive Transit Planning Test Bed
The process of building tactile models of neighborhoods as tools for planning outreach just got an upgrade with a high-tech, interactive Lego model built for the Boston area.
A Planning Primer: Validating the Lived Experiences of Immigrants
A few key considerations, implemented during a public engagement process, can ensure active and engaged participation from commonly marginalized groups and individuals.
How Growth and Neighborhood Protection Coexist in Pasadena
Pasadena recently elected its first new mayor in 16 years, and the city is completing a 20-year General Plan Update that aims to continue animating downtown Pasadena by addressing growth and mobility simultaneously.
Innovating the Planning Process Through Community-Centered Design
Sean O'Malley and Andrew Watkins, of the landscape architecture, planning, and urban design firm SWA, describe the benefits of a design process that empowers people and communities to participate.
Lessons for a Career's Worth of Community Engagement
Community engagement on planning subjects is fraught with the potential for boredom and political conflict. The former mayor of Chattanooga recounts lessons gained while combating those possibilities over a 40-year career.
Urban Big Data: Where is the Signal in the Noise?
Amid growing skepticism, an international gathering examines the useful benefits for an age of critical urban challenges.
Grant Funding Rewards Innovation in Community Engagement
The Citi Foundation and Living Cities announced $3 million in grant funding to help cities adopt innovative practices in community engagement. Albuquerque, Atlanta, Baltimore, New Orleans, and Seattle will have 18 months to empower citizens.
Building Capacity in Underserved Urban Areas
Seeing projects through—whether affordable housing, public space, or infrastructure—for low-income populations in cities like Los Angeles requires grit and coalition-building.
Residents Dig Into North Carolina Triangle Light Rail Planning
Ahead of a February 2016 deadline for an environmental impact statement, residents are making their opinions known about the potential routes for a proposed light rail line connecting Durham and Chapel Hill.
Inside Flint's Innovative Blight Elimination Plan
A blight elimination plan for Flint, Michigan has take shape over the past year, revealing innovative, community-based strategies for improving vacant properties and stabilizing the city's population.
Nextdoor—the 'Facebook for Neighborhoods—Catching on with Investors and Users
As social media platforms evolve into specific niches, the Nextdoor platform is quickly expanding its online version of neighborhood-level interaction.
Dallas Residents Gather for a 'Festival of Ideas'
A huge crowd braved un-Texas-like weather this weekend in Dallas to participate in the "Festival of Ideas." The Dallas Morning News hopes the citizens of Big D will keep up their momentum in working to improve their city.
How To: Design a User-Friendly Museum Exhibition about Planning
John King writes that the "Gallery + Ideas Forum" at the Presidio in San Francisco provides an excellent model for presenting issues and ideas of planning and urban design to the public.
A Dissenting Take on the Nicollet Mall Planning Process
While many are excited about the prospect of James Corner Field Operations redesigning the Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis, one commenter sees some of the worst dynamics of top-down planning at work.
Washington D.C. Hires a New Director of Planning
Washington D.C. made a high-profile hire to run its Office of Planning: the former director of community and economic development of Salt Lake City, Eric Shaw.
3 Strategies for Controlling Gentrification
Sandy Smith summarizes a recent "Gentrification, Integration, and Equity" event hosted by Next City in Philadelphia.
North Carolina Planners: Where to Build Light Rail (and Should it Be Built)?
This week residents in the North Carolina Triangle (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill) will provide input on key segments of a future regional light rail system. The project has been analyzed for 15 years, yet the question of whether to build it remains.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
City of Moreno Valley
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
City of Cambridge, Maryland
