Survey Of Planners Research Articles

Collaboration and Public Participation for Municipal Growth in Land Economic Development Projects

This study examines the impacts of collaboration and public participation on municipal growth in midsize U.S. municipalities. It specifically looks at the cases of land economic development projects across the nation and how local governments’ population and employment growth are associated with public participation and collaboration. This study employs two methods—a survey of planners and officials and GPT-3 semantic search. Using a survey of planners and elected officials, four individual variables (traditional public participation, online public participation, public service collaboration, and staff regional meetings) related to collaboration and public participation were employed. Additionally, a semantic search approach was used to understand the current trend of public participation methods in real land development cases. The findings show that informal collaboration pushes population and employment growth, but the value of citizen participation is more contentious.

Municipal arts and cultural plans: implementation and impact

ABSTRACT Arts and cultural planning is a growing subfield of planning, but we know little about how arts and cultural master plans are used in daily practice. Based on a survey of planners in 64 U.S. cities, we found that arts and cultural planners draw on arts and cultural plans more and view these plans as more influential than do general planners. Respondents highlighted plans’ importance in increasing community pride, government support for creative and cultural organizations, and in supporting economic development and place-based interventions. Participants thought they had made good progress towards implementation but still had work to do.

Realizing the Potential of Autonomous Vehicles

ABSTRACTThe rapid development of autonomous vehicle technologies has led to widespread interest in how and when they will affect mobility, lifestyles and the built environment. Despite the potential for bringing about significant changes, city and transportation planners have yet to fully incorporate autonomous vehicles in their planning activities. An online survey of planners found considerable awareness of, as well as agreement about, the potential effects of these developing technologies. To fully realize the potential benefits of autonomous vehicles, however, planners will need to be more proactive in including autonomous vehicles in their plans.

Public Service Motivation and the Technical, Political, and Facilitator Roles of City Planners

Using a survey of planners in the United States, this study examines their roles (technical, political, and facilitator) in relation to public service motivation and determining the public interest. Regression analyses show different components of public service motivation associated with the facilitator and technician roles but not the political role. Also of significance were gender, age, professionalism, organizations, and population. Other results indicate planners favoring citizens over elected officials in deciding the public interest. This study highlights how planners and public administrators may differ on public service and reveals the struggle planners face in reconciling their roles within public organizations.

Overcoming Barriers to Placing Manufactured Housing in Metropolitan Communities

Problem: Manufactured housing is an option that is relatively little used in metropolitan communities although it appears to provide a quality-cost advantage over site-built housing. Purpose: This article examines barriers to placing manufactured housing in metropolitan areas that planners might influence, focusing particularly on land use and design regulations. Methods: We paired data from a nationwide survey of planners in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)-eligible metropolitan communities with information on those communities' characteristics to estimate several regression models explaining two measures of manufactured housing supply using both supply- and demand-side variables. Results and conclusions: A variety of regulatory restrictions, including the lack of by-right zoning, as well as permits, snow load standards, fire codes, zoning codes, subdivision regulations, and architectural design standards impede the placement of manufactured housing in metropolitan communities. In general, such regulations determine whether or not jurisdictions have any manufactured housing at all; if they do, market conditions have the primary influence on the number of such units in a community. Takeaway for practice: Planners play an important role in determining whether manufactured housing is a feasible housing alternative when they assess the demand for manufactured housing and recommend policies that will influence whether units are placed in their communities. We suggest that planners emphasize manufactured housing as an affordable housing option and we offer suggestions for accomplishing this. Research support: This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Thinking Outside the Big Box: Municipal and Retailer Innovations in Large-scale Retail

This study explores innovations in big-box retail development driven by both public and private sector initiatives. It includes a survey of planners in US cities asking about the presence and extent of big-box developments, how the cities approached regulating them, and innovations that retailers are undertaking. The results revealed that many cities have big-box retail, and they have typically adopted various regulations (such as limiting design standards, design review and size caps) to control it. Some cities reported that they were utilizing innovative techniques, such as dark-box ordinances, to ensure that big boxes will make positive contributions to their communities. Respondents reported that these regulations had only moderate success. Respondents also reported on innovations undertaken by retailers. As big-box retail continues to spread, communities will need to develop more effective mechanisms to ensure that big box retail is appropriately integrated.

Attracting Supermarkets to Inner-City Neighborhoods: Economic Development Outside the Box

The paucity of accessible supermarkets is a continuing concern in inner-city communities. Based on a survey of planners in 32 communities, this article examines initiatives to encourage grocery retail investment, reasons for the existence or absence of initiatives, and factors in successful developments. This research shows that systematic, citywide grocery initiatives are rare, with such efforts limited to particular sites or developments. Reliance on private initiatives, absence of grassroots requests for action, and assignment of lower priority to grocery stores in commercial revitalization programs explain planner inaction. Successful initiatives are characterized by political leadership, competent public agency participation, and, often, partnerships with nonprofit agencies. This article also presents recommendations for community and economic development planners to increase grocery investment in underserved areas.

The Successful Few: Healthy Downtowns of Small Metropolitan Regions

In the face of increasing suburbanization during the past half century, most downtowns have experienced decline, particularly those of small metropolitan regions. A survey of planners (both practitioners and academics) and other urban professionals has sought to identify small metropolitan regions considered to have successful downtowns and the factors associated with this success. Only a small number of such North American metropolitan regions were perceived as possessing a very successful or successful downtown. Factors that characterize such success are described. We conclude that revitalization policies should concentrate on niche markets that show little interest in homogenized suburban activities. More specifically, planners should focus on the retention and enhancement of the distinct physical characteristics that clearly distinguish downtowns from suburban environments. More and more U.S. cities and towns are coming to realize the benefits of greater street connectivity: reduced traffic on arterial streets, more continuous and direct routes, better emergency vehicle access, and improved utility connections. Here is an excellent overview of recent efforts by communities across the U.S. to increase street connectivity. The authors look at the motivation behind such efforts, the wide variety of issues raised, and the different approaches taken to resolve them. Planners, decision makers, and neighborhood residents will gain a better understanding of the concept of connectivity and how it applies in their own communities. Ideally, the jobs available in a community should match the labor force skills, and housing should be J. available at prices, sizes, and locations suited to the workers who wish to live in the area. Some argue that the market is the mechanism that will achieve a balance between jobs and housing. Jerry Weitz researched several types of jobs-housing imbalance and concluded that, in fact, the market failed to achieve such balance in three out of four scenarios. Weitz explains the details of jobs-housing balance– a planning tool that local governments can use to achieve a roughly equal number of jobs and housing units or households, resulting in overall community improvements.

Attitudes Towards Planning in a Devolved Scotland

Devolution has built upon and encouraged feelings of distinctiveness in Scottish Planning. However, beyond broad support there is little empirical evidence or assessment of future trajectories for planning. Based upon a comprehensive survey of planners across Scotland concerning attitudes towards planning post devolution this article highlights a number of important points. The main issue relates to the hiatus between high expectations and the perceived impact of the Parliament upon planning thus far. However, such expectations do not necessarily imply a divergence of planning between Scotland and the rest of the UK. Planners in Scotland, like their counterparts in England and Wales, desire a more community based and effective planning system. The Scottish Parliament is therefore yet to justify itself to planners.

Local impacts of US nuclear weapons facilities: a survey of planners

This research examines the perceptions of planners in communities around the largest US Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear weapons sites. Surveys and interviews revealed that planners are often unclear about DOE intentions, concerned about jobs and environmental contamination, and desire more involvement with future site use decisions. Planners' ratings of residents' trust of the DOE were also low, and low trust was most strongly associated with places where local officials have not been invited to future use meetings. Recommendations include improving coordination of on-site planning with local land use plans and increasing trust with a Federal-local government partnership that recognizes local concerns about the clean-up, closure and disposition of the sites.

Usefulness of information from the unlinked anonymous prevalence monitoring programme for HIV in England and Wales: survey of planners of HIV/AIDS services.

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether information from the Unlinked Anonymous Prevalence Monitoring Programme for HIV in England and Wales is useful to planners of HIV/AIDS services. The study involved 2 stages: examination of 1997 AIDS Control Act Reports for England and Wales, and a telephone questionnaire survey of local planners of HIV/AIDS services. Forty-eight out of 55 health authorities (87.3%) found information from the programme to be useful in general; 37/55 (67.3%) found the information useful for targeting of health promotion; 35/55 (63.6%) found the information useful for assessing the effectiveness of preventive measures aimed at reducing the spread of HIV; and 28/55 (50.9%) found the information useful for planning of medical or social services. If information from the programme was no longer available, 36/55 (65.5%) said it would make some difference to local planning, although 12/55 (21.8%) said it would make no difference. Local planners were generally supportive of the programme, and complaints were mostly directed at funding and timeliness of the reports.

Farmland preservation, development rights and the theory of the growth machine: the views of planners ∗

We examine the effectiveness of farmland preservation measures in challenging efforts to convert agricultural land to nonfarm uses in rural/urban fringe areas. Our focus is on programs based on the exchange of development rights in the northeastern United States. We employ theoretical constructs from Logan and Molotch's theory of the urban growth machine. They argue that the commodification of land associated with urbanization is the most important source of wealth and power for land-based elites. Yet, the activities of these elites are sometimes challenged with growth control measures like farmland preservation. To evaluate the effectiveness of these programs to defend farm land-use over purely commercial land exchange for speculative gain, we draw on data from focus group discussions and a survey of planners in metropolitan areas of the region. Our analysis also considers the limitations of such programs in the context of the absence of regional land-use planning. We find that farmland preservation programs based on the exchange of development rights do challenge some aspects of urban growth, but are also the result of those same development dynamics. Thus, they reflect certain class biases associated with the development of rural/urban fringe areas. However, we conclude that these programs could become more effective farmland protection tools with the implementation of comprehensive land-use planning.

Conflict at Large: A National Survey of Planners and Political Conflict

Results of a national survey reveal that planners respond to the risks of political conflict with either ambivalence or a willingness to engage in political organizing and negotiating. Among the planners who encountered politically threatening conflicts, most took efforts to prevent this sort of predicament, but their efforts usually failed. Organizing allies proved to be the only coping action that exhibited a direct statistical effect on conflict outcomes. The ambivalence evident in their reports not only reveals a need for individual education to improve practitioners' strategic negotiating and organizing skills, but also the institutional vulnerability of planning and its lack of political and cultural supports.