Public Outreach

Land use disputes are increasingly taking up our time and producing unsatisfying results. A new approach to resolving conflict based on mutual gains may provide a better way to manage the most challenging situations.

June 19, 2013 - Sean Nolon

This week, outgoing Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa kicked off an ambitious five-year effort to revise L.A.'s outdated and unwieldy zoning code. The goal of the project is to create an accessible guide for transforming Los Angeles.

June 14, 2013 - Daily News Los Angeles

After participating in at least 27 planning processes over the last 15 years, residents of City Heights can be forgiven for wanting to actually see something built. Plentiful funds for planning, but meager funds for building, are causing frustration.

May 21, 2013 - Voice of San Diego

As they move into positions of leadership in their communities and in the public sector, a generation once labelled as "slackers" is helping to change the relationship between governments and their citizens, reports Rob Gurwitt.

May 5, 2013 - Governing

Polls show widespread public support for New York City's new bike share program. But as stations begin to appear on city streets, pitched battles are being waged over the control of public spaces.

April 29, 2013 - The New York Times

According to Arianna McBride, the recipe for good community design must effectively balance community wisdom with expert knowledge. She shares three ways that planners can facilitate the type of participation that leads to great places.

April 24, 2013 - Citizens' Institute on Rural Design

Only five months after the city passed the long-overdue update to its 1962 zoning code, City Council members are once again tinkering with the ground rules. Two months after moving to revise parking requirements, they're now focused on outreach.

January 30, 2013 - philly.com

What does it mean to truly involve the public in planning processes? Neeraj Mehta finds "too much placation, manipulation and tokenism in our engagement efforts," and identifies principles for collective problem-solving and shared decision-making.

November 1, 2012 - Next American City

Kelly Morphy provides tips and strategies on improving civic engagement - the key to healthy communities and desired outcomes.

October 18, 2012 - Better Cities & Towns

Chris Haller parses the data in a recent report on Internet use for implications for how communities should manage their public outreach strategies.

August 22, 2012 - Engaging Cities

Neighborhood Improvement Districts in Philadelphia are facing challenges from a skeptical public for the first time since their introduction over 20 years ago, Alex Vuocolo reports.

July 5, 2012 - Next American City

Consider adding this animated video, which explains how past planning practices created sprawl and how smart growth policies can help solve multiple problems, to your family's Sunday morning cartoon rotation.

March 18, 2012 - Saga City

Mukta Naik, a consulting planner with Indian housing firm micro Home Solutions, discovers that grand plans for a 'slum-free India' missed the mark on one key point: the lives of slum dwellers.

March 16, 2012 - The Global Urbanist

The Emerald City puts the streetlight of the future to the test – for both safety and feel, and the results could affect how cities everywhere are illuminated in the future, reports William Yardley.

March 14, 2012 - New York Times

Candy Chang is using public art installations to spark community involvement and input on land use.

August 16, 2011 - Grist

To kick off its Legacy Plan update process, the Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, NC planning board made a music video featuring an original song, a bluegrass band and some familiar scenes.

March 28, 2011 - Winston-Salem Journal

Many thanks to Wired’s Jeff Howe who’s 2006 article “The Rise of Crowdsourcing” put an effective label at what the internet was doing to business.  Building from Web 2.0 applications focused on social media like Facebook and on-line communities, it’s become a popular and controversial term in tech circles.  For those not as familiar with the idea, let’s consult the most often used example of crowdsourcing – Wikipedia.   “Crowdsourcing is a distributed problem-solving and production model. Problems are broadcast to an unknown group of solvers in the form of an open call for solutions.

March 24, 2010 - Scott Page

In thousands of planning and zoning laws across the nation, official announcements are required to be published in the local newspaper of "general circulation." In an era of newspaper decline and expanding diversity of media, are these laws becoming obsolete? Furthermore, should we be concerned with newspapers at all if a newer, more universally accessible medium is available: the Internet? A variety of announcements are legally required to be published in a local periodical of "general circulation," sometimes in addition to being published in an official government gazette. The practice entered the planning world through the U.S. Department of Commerce's highly influential standard zoning and planning enabling acts.

September 28, 2008 - Robert Goodspeed

During my term of office as president of the American Planning Association, I made my theme “telling the planning story.” My point then – and today – is that we need to do a better job of explaining to our many publics what it is that planners do and why it makes a difference.

March 7, 2007 - Eric Damian Kelly