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APA Policy Guides

Policy Guides represent APA's official position on critical planning issues and arm planners with the tools to advocate for policies that create great communities for all.

Make Your Mark on APA Policy Guides

Members are the center of APA policy guides. Guides are developed by APA members for planners and policymakers under the guidance of APA's Legislative and Policy Committee. Learn more about:

Influence Local, State, and Federal Policy

specific, actionable guidance on zoning, hazards, equity, housing, and transportation

New policy guidance on Equity in Zoning, Climate Change, Hazard Mitigation, Housing, Planning for Equity, and Surface Transportation are now available.

Cover of APA Equity in Zoning Policy Guide.
Cover of APA Climate Change Policy Guide.
Cover of APA Hazard Mitigation Policy Guide.
Planning for Equity
Housing Policy Guide
Surface Transportation Policy Guide

Adopted Policies

To date, APA has adopted more than 25 member-driven policy guides on a wide range of issues, including new guides on Hazard Mitigation, Planning for Equity, Housing, and Surface Transportation.

Aging in Community (2014)

Agricultural Land Preservation (1999)

Billboard Controls (1997)

Climate Change Policy Guide (2021)

Community and Regional Food Planning (2007)

Community Residences (1997)

Endangered Species and Habitat Protection (1999)

Energy (2012)

Environment: Waste Management (2002)

Environment: Wetlands (2002)

Equity in Zoning (2022)

Factory Built Housing (2001)

Food Planning (2007)

Freight (2016)

Hazard Mitigation (2020)

Healthy Communities (2017)

Historic and Cultural Resources (1997)

Homelessness (2003)

Housing (2019)

Impact Fees (1988)

Neighborhood Collaborative Planning (1998)

Planning for Equity (2019)

Provision of Child Care (1997)

Public Redevelopment (2004)

Security (2005)

Smart Growth (2012)

Surface Transportation (2019)

Takings (1995)

Water (2016)

Revised Sustainability Framework

APA's new Sustainability Framework recognizes that sustainability touches many different areas of policy and planning and therefore aims to lay out a broad framework to guide a wide array of APA advocacy, programming, and policy development.

Policy Development Process

The process begins with the selection of a topic or issue. These topics are, for the most part, APA's Legislative Priorities.

After a topic is chosen, a team of authors and reviewers is selected to produce a draft guide for review by the Legislative and Policy Committee. Once the draft guide is approved by the Legislative and Policy Committee it is sent to all APA Chapters and appropriate APA Divisions for review and comments.

Comments are submitted to the Legislative and Policy Committee, and a final draft is prepared for presentation at a Chapter Delegate Assembly. During the Assembly, chapter delegates make any final changes and then vote to adopt the draft guide.

Once the guide is adopted, it is forwarded to the APA Board of Directors for ratification.