11.360 | Fall 2010 | Graduate

Community Growth and Land Use Planning

Readings

SES # TOPICS READINGS
Part I: Fundamentals: Land use planning, regulation, and smart development
Week 1: Introduction
1 Course introduction No readings.
Week 2: Project introduction and start-up
2 Community planning project introduced No readings.
3 Discussion of client project

Thomas, June. “Neighborhood Planning: Uses of Oral History.” Journal of Planning History 2, no. 1 (February 2004): 50-70.

Salvesen, David. “The Making of Place.” Urban Land 61, no. 7 (July 2002): 36-41. Do these principles apply to our project context?

Smith, Mark Rodman. “Planning Densification.” Urban Land 68, no. 6 (June 2009): 80-83.

Week 3: Neighborhood planning: Old & new; visioning
4 The neighborhood unit: Historical perspective and evolution

Klein, Bill. “Citizen Participation: Whose Vision is It?” Agenda for America’s Communities. American Planning Association. May 1993, pp. 1-12.

Snyder, Ken. “Putting Democracy Front and Center.” Planning (July 2006): 24-29.

Shipley, Robert, and Ross Newkirk. “Visioning: Did Anybody See Where it Came From?” Journal of Planning Literature 12, no. 4 (May 1998): 407-414. Useful cautions and questions.

Papsidero, Vince, and Linda LaCloche. “Thinking and Acting Outside the Box.” Planning (May 2008): 43-46.

5 Visioning the future of places No readings.
Week 4: Making a plan: Where to begin?
6 Plan-making at the community level

Neuman, Michael. “Does Planning Need the Plan?” Journal of the American Planning Association 64, no. 2 (Spring 1998): 208-220.

Baer, William C. “General Plan Evaluation Criteria: An Approach to Making Better Plans.” Journal of the American Planning Association 63, no. 3 (Summer 1997): 329-344. Would you know a good plan if you saw one?

Talen, Emily, and Cliff Ellis. “Beyond Relativism: Reclaiming the Search for Good City Form.” Journal of Planning Education and Research 22, no. 1 (2002): 36-49.  Should planners embrace quality and excellence in the form of a city as well as in the built environment and in the content of plans?

Punter, John. “Developing Urban Design as Public Policy: Best Practice Principles for Design Review and Development Management.” Journal of Urban Design 12, no. 2 (2007): 167-202.

7 Imaging Newton’s Needham Street corridor

Buy at MIT Press Lynch, Kevin. “The Image of the Environment.” In Image of the City. The MIT Press, 1960, pp. 1-13. ISBN: 9780262620017.

Buy at MIT Press Jacobs, Allan B. “Making Great Streets.” Chapter 4 in Great Streets. MIT Press, 1993, pp. 269-308. ISBN: 9780262600231.

Szold, Terry S. “Terry’s Tips for Reading a Plan for Adoption and Success.” (PDF)

Week 5: Planning for growth and zoning controls
8 Zoning controls

So, Frank S., and Judith Getzels. “Zoning.” Chapter 15 in The Practice of Local Government Planning. International City Management Association in cooperation with the American Planning Association, 2000. pp. 416-443. ISBN: 9780873261715. Richard Babcock’s concise look at the evolution of zoning.

Hutton, David H. “Zoning a la Carte.” Planning (January 2006): 30-31.

Garvin, Alexander. “Land Use Regulations.” Chapter 16 in The American City: What Works, What Doesn’t. McGraw-Hill, 2002, pp. 356-372. ISBN: 9780071373678.
Nice history of zoning in New York City, and good illustrations of bulk and density controls.

Silver, Christopher. Part One “The Racial Origins of Zoning.”

Optional

Ritzdorf, Marsha. “Locked Out of Paradise: Contemporary Exclusionary Zoning, the Supreme Court, African Americans, 1970 to the Present.” In Urban Planning and the African American Community: In the Shadows. Edited by June Manning Thomas, and Marsha Ritzdorf. Sage Publications, 1996, pp. 43-57. ISBN: 9780803972346.

9 Land use planning, regulation, and property rights

Kaiser, Edward J., and David R. Godschalk. “Twentieth Century Land Use Planning: A Stalwart Family Tree.” Journal of the American Planning Association 61, no. 3 (Summer 1995): 365-384. A positive assessment.

Godschalk, David. “Land Use Planning Challenges: Coping With Conflicts in Visions of Sustainable Development and Livable Communities.” Journal of the American Planning Association 70, no. 1 (Winter 2004): 5-13.

Jacobs, Harvey M., and Kurt Paulsen. “Property Rights: The Neglected Theme of 20th-Century American Planning.” Journal of the American Planning Association 75, no. 2 (Spring 2009): 134-143.

Letunie, Niko. “Beyond Plain English.” Planning (October 2007): 41-44.

Optional

Teitz, Michael B. “Reflections and Research on the U.S. Experience.” In The Profession of City Planning: Changes, Images, and Challenges 1950-2000. Edited by Lloyd Rodwin, and Bish Sanyal. Center for Urban Policy Research, 2000, pp. 275-304. ISBN: 9780882851655.

Week 6: Sprawl and smart development
10 Thwarting sprawl; smart growth and the evolution of suburbia

Smart Growth Online

Sprawl Watch Clearinghouse

Smart Growth/Smart Energy Toolkit

Planners Web

Downs, Anthony. “Smart Growth: Why We Discuss It More Than We Do It.” Journal of the American Planning Association 71, no. 4 (Autumn 2005): 367-378.

Neuman, Michael. “The Compact City Fallacy.” Journal of Planning Education and Research 25, no. 1 (2005): 11-26.

Lewis, Paul G., and Mark Baldassare. “The Complexity of Public Attitudes Toward Compact Development.” Journal of the American Planning Association 76, no. 2 (Spring 2010): 219-237.

Krieger, Alex. “Beyond the Rhetoric of Smart Growth.” Architecture 88, no. 6 (June 1999): 53.

Blaesser, Brian, W. “Growth Management: A Developer’s Perspective.” Development Magazine XXIX, no. 3: 6 and 76.

11 Street design and traffic calming

Knapp, Keith K. “Traffic-Calming Basics.” Civil Engineering (January 2000): 46-49.

Shoup, Donald. “The Twenty-first Century Parking Problem.” In  The High Cost of Free Parking. APA Planners Press, Washington DC, 2005. ISBN: 9781884829987.

State of North Carolina. Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) Guidelines. North Carolina Department of Transportation: Division of Highways, August 2000. (PDF)

Week 7: Zoning innovations, mixed-use development, and incentives to broaden housing affordability
12 Project work day No readings.
13

Incentive-based techniques, mixed-use development, and methods to broaden housing affordability

Preliminary plans will be presented by project teams to the client and the public

Downs, Anthony. “Break Down Those Barriers.” Planning (October 2005): 20-23.

Porter, Douglas R. “Inclusionary Zoning.” Urban Land 63, no. 1 (January 2004): 27-31. Legal issues and beyond.

Berkowitz, Ellen. “Toward a New Discourse on Mixed-Use Development.” Urban Land 65, no. 1 (January 2006): 99-101. Removing barriers to creating mixed use projects.

White, S. Mark. “Affirmative Measures: Using Land-Use Controls to Provide Affordable Housing.” Affordable Housing. Planners Advisory Service, Report no. 441, American Planning Association, Chicago, IL, 1992, pp. 17-39. These measures deserve serious consideration as devices to broaden affordability.

Baker, Brian. “Affordable Housing Conundrum.” Urban Land 65, no. 5 (May 2006): 54-58. Strategies for affordability and new projects.

Mukhija, Vinit, Lara Regus, Sara Slovin, and Ashok Das. “Can Inclusionary Zoning be an Effective and Efficient Housing Policy? Evidence from Los Angeles and Orange Counties.” Journal of Urban Affairs 32, no. 2 (2010): 229-252. Lead author a DUSP grad!

Optional

Porter, Douglas R., Patrick L. Phillips, and Terry J. Lassar. “Introduction to Flexible Zoning.” In Flexible Zoning and How It Works. The Urban Land Institute, Washington, 1988, pp. 3-14. An overview and model application of performance zoning. ISBN: 9780874206869.

Schuetz, Jenny, Rachel Meltzer, and Vicki Been. “31 Flavors of Inclusionary Zoning: Comparing Policies from San Francisco, Washington, DC, and Suburban Boston.” Journal of the American Planning Association 75, no. 4 (Autumn 2009): 441-456. Includes Newton as part of survey/case study.

Kendig, Lane, with Susan Connor, Cranston Byrd, and Judy Heyman. “The Concept of Performance Zoning.” In Performance Zoning. Planners Press, American Planning Association, Washington, D.C., 1980, pp. 3-50. ISBN: 9780918286185. If you have any free time, perusal of this book in its entirety is worthwhile.

Part II: Place-making: Trends, methods, and approaches
Week 8: Area economic development planning
14 Area economic development planning: Tools and prospects

Culbertson, Kurt. “Fixing the Strip.” Planning. (May/June 2010): 38-41.

Currid, Elizabeth. “How Art and Culture Happen in New York.” Journal of the American Planning Association 73, no. 4, (Autumn 2007): 454-467.

Hinshaw, Mark, and Brian Vanneman. “The Supermarket as a Neighborhood Building Block.” Planning (March 2010): 28-31. There was once a contentious fight about bringing a Super Stop and Shop to Needham Street; is it time to reconsider the use, perhaps on a smaller scale? (PDF)

Seidman, Karl F. Revitalizing Commerce for American Cities: A Practitioner’s Guide to Urban Main Street Programs. The Fannie Mae Foundation, September 2004. An excellent primer. (PDF - 1.8MB)

15 Project work day: Discussion/debriefing No readings.
Week 9: Community design, place-making, form-based codes
16 Community design, new urbanism, and alternative regulatory approaches. What’s applicable to the Needham Street project?

Duany, Andrés, and David Brain. “Regulating as if Humans Matter: The Transect and Post-Suburban Planning.” In Regulating Place: Standards and the Shaping of Urban America. Edited by Eran Ben-Joseph, and Terry S. Szold. NY: Rutledge 2004. ISBN: 9780415948746.

Lopez, Guillermo. “Public Space Design.” Urban Land 65, no. 3 (March 2006): 60-64. The design/public space connection.

Nyren, Ron. “Creating Temporary Landscapes on Empty Sites.” Urban Land 66, no. 4 (April 2007): 140-141. An interesting take on making lively places on unused sites.

Talen, Emily. “Design by the Rules: The Historical Underpinnings of Form-Based Codes.” Journal of the American Planning Association 75, no. 2 (Spring 2009): 144-160.

Cable, Faith. “Design First, Codify Second: Germany Offers Lessons for U.S. Planners.” Planning (July 2009): 24-29. (PDF - 3.5MB)

Langdon, Philip. “The Not-So-Secret Code.” Planning (January 2006): 24-29. (PDF)

Nasar, Jack L. “Does Neotraditional Development Build Community?” Journal of Planning Education and Research 23, no. 1 (Fall 2003): 58-68.

Search the web to evaluate design review and design standards from other cities and towns. Search the following site: http://municipalcodes.lexisnexis.com/

17 Project work day No readings.
Part III: Planning and designing responsive environments
Week 10: Landscape planning
18 Landscape planning, history and current approaches

Rishbeth, Clare. “Ethnic Minority Groups and the Design of Public Open Space: An Inclusive Landscape?” Landscape Research 26, no. 4 (2001): 351-366.

Tarnay, Stella, and Ed McMahon. “Toward Green Urbanism.” Urban Land 64, no. 6 (June 2005): 54-59.

Enlow, Clair. “Planning—Rethinking Streets as Parks—Seattle’s Open Space Strategy Shifts its Emphasis Away from Traditional Parks to an Evolving ‘Urban Ecosystem’ that Focuses on City Streets.” Landscape Architecture 92 (2002): 52-58.

Optional

“Smart Site Practices for Redevelopment and Infill Projects Redevelopment.” Center for Watershed Protection, October 2001.

19 Optional project work day No readings.
Week 11: The greening of places; linking land use and transportation
20 Ecological considerations and sustainability

Dinola, Ralph, and Shum-Miller, Katrina. “Getting Behind the Wheel.” Urban Land, no. 6 (June 2006): 70-75. Green buildings and sustainability create market advantage.

Kreisler, Barbara. “Moving Beyond Green.” Urban Land 65, no. 6 (June 2006): 76-81. A more holistic approach.

Groc, Isabelle. “Keep Your Footprint Out of My Backyard.” Planning (January 2007): 32- 35. Vancouver’s eco-density initiative described.

Duerksen, Chris. “Saving the World Through Zoning.” Planning (January 2008): 28-30. (PDF)

21 The mobility challenge for planning; transit-oriented and infill development

Taylor, Brian D. “Putting a Price on Mobility: Cars and Contradictions in Planning.” Journal of the American Planning Association 72, no. 3 (Summer 2006): 279-284.

Handy, Susan. “The Road Less Driven.” Journal of the American Planning Association 72, no. 3 (Summer 2006): 274-278. (PDF)

Tumlin, Jeffery, and Adam Millard-Ball. “How to Make Transit-Oriented Development Work.” Planning (May 2003): 14-19. (PDF)

Strauss, Mark E., and Lawrence M. Rosenbloom. “Making TOD Real.” Urban Land 63, no. 5 (May, 2004): 14; 17.

McCann, Barbara. “Complete the Streets!” Planning (May 2005): 18-23. Pedestrians and cyclists are integral parts of complete streets.

Schellinger, David, and Sharon Priest. “Getting Streetscape Design Right.” Planning (June 2006): 44-49. Some basic tools and approaches.

Part IV: Integration and implementation
Week 12: Plan implementation
22 Client meeting with project teams No readings.
Week 13: Final plan recommendations and implementation strategies
23 Project work day No readings.
24 Project work day (cont.) No readings.
Weeks 14 and 15: Final project preparation and synthesis
25 The role of planning and the planner in society: Class wrap-up and synthesis

Szold, Terry. “Merging Place-Making and Process in Local Practice.” In The Profession of City Planning: Changes, Images, and Challenges 1950-2000. Edited by Lloyd Rodwin, and Bish Sanyal. Center for Urban Policy Research, Rutgers, New Brunswick, N.J., 2000, pp. 36-42. ISBN: 9780882851655.

Ben-Joseph, Eran. “The Future of Standards and Rules in Shaping Place: Re-engineering the Urban Genetic Code.” ASCE Journal of Urban Planning and Development, June 2004.

Glazer, Nathan. “The Public’s Image of the Profession.” In The Profession of City Planning: Changes, Images, and Challenges 1950-2000. Edited by Lloyd Rodwin, and Bish Sanyal. Center for Urban Policy Research, Rutgers, New Brunswick, N.J., 2000, pp. 224-230. ISBN: 9780882851655.

26 Final plan work day No readings.
27 Submission of final plan reports No readings.

Course Info

As Taught In
Fall 2010
Level
Learning Resource Types
Projects with Examples
Presentation Assignments
Written Assignments