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Journey Toward Better Decision-Making Using Digital Twins
by: Jon DePaolisDigital twins are having a moment — becoming more and more part of the built environment zeitgeist as planners look for ways to visualize and better design their communities. -
Controlling Strip Development with Design Guidelines
Zoning Practice — November 2011by: Ross Moldoff, AICP, Sarah KorjeffDesign guidelines use illustrations and photographs to clarify what the desired type of development looks like. TThis issue of Zoning Practice discusses how Salem, New Hampshire, and the Cape Cod Commission have used design guidelines to improve the quality of development along commercial strips.List Price$10.00ZP subscriber$0.00 -
New York, NY, Climate Resiliency Design Guidelines
September 2020This guide belongs to the Hazard Mitigation and Urban Heat Resilience collections. -
New Jersey Complete Streets Design Guide
2017This guide is designed to help public agencies and private developers implement complete streets projects in New Jersey. -
How to Design a Great Street
May 2020This video describes some of the characteristics that contribute to a great city street, which differs based on local climate, culture, architecture, and activities. -
Improving Public Health Through Community Design
November 2017by: Gary GastonThis video explores the relationship between civic engagement, the built environment, and public health. -
Design Lights Consortium Outdoor Lighting Ordinances
April 2024This interactive map details which cities in all 50 states have enacted outdoor lighting ordinances. -
Design for Health Comprehensive Plan Review Checklists
September 2007This guide is a series of checklists that can help planners incorporate health into comprehensive plans. -
Boston, MA, Coastal Flood Resilience Design Guidelines
This guide is designed to help property owners and developers in Boston incorporate flood-resilient designs into their projects. -
Fircrest, WA, Municipal Code
2017The city's land development code establishes an administrative design review process and provides design guidelines.Fircrest, WA -
Durango, CO, Design Guidelines for Established Neighborhoods
2006This guide for property owners and developers was developed as a companion piece to the community’s updated development standards. -
Alexandria, VA, Complete Streets Design Guidelines
April 2016This guide is designed to help public agencies and private developers implement complete street projects. -
Tactical Urbanist’s Guide to Materials and Design
2016by: Street Plans CollaborativeThis guide discusses and illustrates various materials useful for implementing tactical urbanism projects. -
Neighborhood Planning as Collaborative Democratic Design
Journal of the American Planning Association, 73(4): 373-387, 2007by: Carmen SirianniThis article discusses how local governments can function as civic enablers and capacity builders in neighborhood planning processes. -
Green Building Construction and Sustainable Design
November 2015This video includes an interview that discusses the challenges and benefits to constructing prefabricated green homes. -
Equitable Development: Social Equity by Design
May 2018by: Carlton EleyThis recorded lecture looks at how to incorporate environmental justice into the planning process to practice more equitable development. -
Sustainable Design and Green Building Toolkit
June 2013This toolkit addresses how local governments can identify and remove barriers to green building within their permitting process. -
Street Design: Part 1—Complete Streets
Public Roads, July/August 2010by: Robin Smith, Sharlene Reed, Shana BakerThis article introduces the complete streets concept. -
Tucson, AZ, Downtown Urban Design Reference Manual
August 2008This guide includes strategies to help reduce or moderate the effects of urban heat islands in Tucson, Arizona. -
Fayetteville, AR, Permit-Ready Building Design Program
2024This program offers permit-ready architectural designs for residential construction in Fayetteville, Arkansas. -
Youth Voices in Community Design Handbook
2004This guide helps adults engage youth in community planning by providing background information, benefits and challenges, models and trainings, and case studies of successful projects across the nation. -
How kids can help design cities
February 2018In this Ted Talk, Mara Mintzer, an urban planner, shares her experience of including youth in designing a park in Boulder, Colorado. -
Denver, CO, Small Cell Infrastructure Design Guidelines
April 2018This guide is designed to help wireless facility applicants and installers comply with the city's preferences for small wireless facility deployment in public rights-of-way. -
How to Design a City for Women
CityLab, 2013by: Clare ForanThis article features an effort in Vienna, Austria, to understand the different ways men and women use public transportation, and to address some of the unique challenges that women face. -
Better Site Design Code and Ordinance Worksheet
December 2017by: Karen Cappiella, Bill Hodges, Julie SchneiderThis guide outlines strategies to evaluate local development regulations for stormwater management using green infrastructure and low-impact development (LID) tactics. -
Living with Heat: A Boston Design Charrette
October 2019by: Michael HobanThis report presents information to help land-use professionals and other decision-makers implement solutions that help mitigate the effects of urban heat islands on the built environment. -
Yakima River Basin, WA, Integrated Water Resource Management Plan
Adopted 2012The Yakima River Basin Integrated Water Resource Management Plan is a forward-thinking plan that addresses current and anticipated future threats to the Basin’s water security, especially during drought years. -
Youth ARTivism: Fostering Civic Engagement Through Public Art
Journal of Urban Culture Research, 9(3), 2014This article highlights the Sustainable Thinking and Expression on Public Space (STEPS) Emerging ARTivist program that supports youth from diverse, low-income communities to improve public spaces through art. -
Lansing, MI, 2012 Comprehensive Plan: Design Lansing
Adopted April 2012The city's comprehensive plan discusses solar installations and promotes the development of renewable energy infrastructure. -
New York, NY, Active Design Guidelines: Promoting Physical Activity and Health in Design
2010This guide shares cost-effective ways that architects and designers can promote daily physical activity. -
Greenlighting Cannabis — What Every Planning Department Needs to Know
Momentum for cannabis legalization is growing nationwide. For communities in states that might be next, the best time to start preparing is now.by: Daniel Vock February 11, 2021Communities everywhere should be thinking about and planning for the eventuality of legalized recreational cannabis. Fortunately, they can look to local jurisdictions in states that have gone before them for lessons on what works — and what doesn’t. -
Equitable Community Engagement Requires Learning, Self-Reflection, and Transparency
Five ways planners, engineers, and other allied professionals can establish a long-term, measurable approach to equitable planning.by: Jennifer Fierman, AICP, Kristof Devastey, PE, PTOE, PTP, Lindsay Welsch Sveen, PhD March 23, 2023Five ways planners, engineers, and other allied professionals can establish a long-term, measurable approach to equitable planning. -
Meridian, ID, Architectural Standards
2016This manual replaced the prior design manual in 2016 to free the design review process from subjectivity and confusing requirements.Meridian, ID -
Davis, CA, Davis Downtown and Traditional Residential Neighborhoods Design Guidelines
2001, revised 2007These guidelines were developed through a community-based process.Davis, CA -
Freeport, ME, Codes and Ordinances
2011The town code includes a design review ordinance.Freeport town, ME -
Galena, IL, Code of Ordinances
Updated November 2018The city's code of ordinances include solar site design requirements. -
Pocatello, ID, City Code
The city's subdivision regulations include requirements for solar access design.Pocatello, ID -
Chapel Hill, NC, Design Guidelines for Downtown Chapel Hill
1998These guidelines help maintain the character of the downtown area in the preparation, review, and approval of plans.Chapel Hill, NC -
RTCSN, NV, Complete Streets Design Guidelines for Livable Communities
March 2013This guide is designed to help cities and counties in metropolitan Las Vegas, Nevada, implement complete streets projects. -
Nibley, UT, City Code
The city's subdivision regulations encourage solar lot layout and design.Nibley, UT -
Clayton, CA, Municipal Code
Updated May 2019The city’s zoning code includes provisions on universal design. -
Tolland, CT, Low Impact Development and Stormwater Management Design Manual
July 2011This guide presents a technical framework for implementing low-impact development (LID) tactics to improve surface water and ground water quality. -
National Summit on Design and Urban Mobility: Summary Report
2017This report offers recommendations to help cities integrate transportation innovations into their communities. -
Solar Access: Using the Environment in Building Design
Zoning Practice — April 2010by: Mary-Margaret Jenior, AICP April 01, 2010This issue of Zoning Practice highlights the elements of solar building design and discusses how communities can use land use controls to promote and protect solar access.List Price$10.00ZP subscriber$0.00 -
Arvada, CO, Design Guidelines for Olde Town Arvada
Adopted November 2012This guide addresses appropriate solar installations for historic buildings as well as new and infill construction in this district. -
The Atlanta City Design: Aspiring to the Beloved Community
2017This report acknowledges racist and exclusionary planning practices from Atlanta's past and outlines a vision for realigning plans, projects, policies, and priorities to guide change in alignment with the city's shared values. -
Durango, CO, Land Use & Development Guidebook Lighting Design Supplement
The guide explains the city’s lighting regulations and offers a lighting worksheet for applicants. -
Biophilic Cities: Design for Planetary Health and Human Flourishing
May 2020by: Timothy BeatleyThis online training discusses the importance of biophilic elements for human wellbeing and the resilience of cities. -
How Families Can Benefit the Planning and Design of Cities
Planetizen, September 2, 2014by: Bradley Calvert, AICPThis blog post pushes back against the assumption that families are expensive for cities.