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Taking Action on Complete Streets: Implementing Processes for Safe, Multimodal Streets
July 2013by: Barbara McCann, Stefanie SeskinThis guide is designed to help planners, engineers, and public officials reform transportation planning and design processes to embrace a complete streets approach. -
Sustainable Streets: Sidewalk Reference Manual
May 2014This guide covers a wide range of topics, including sidewalk benefits, design alternatives, legal liability, financing, maintenance, and regulation. -
Health Impact Assessments: A Tool for Designing Climate Change Resilience into Green Building and Planning Projects
Journal of Green Building, 6(2): 66-87, 2011by: Adele HoughtonThis article discusses how health impact assessments (HIAs) can be used to design climate change resiliency into green building projects. -
A Citizen’s Guide to Better Streets: How to Engage Your Transportation Agency
2008by: Gary Toth, Herman VolkThis guide presents a general-audience overview of the transportation planning process and a context-sensitive approach to street design. -
Creating Design Guidelines That Work
Zoning Practice — March 2011by: Douglas Hammel, AICP March 01, 2011This issue of Zoning Practice sets forth some fundamental principles to follow while developing design guidelines. It poses a series of key questions to be asked prior to the development of design guidelines that aim to proactively address common pain points.List Price$10.00ZP subscriber$0.00 -
Contra Costa County, CA, Parklet Program Guidelines
November 2016by: Contra Costa County Department of Conservation and Development, Contra Costa County Public Works DepartmentThis guide lays out design and location standards and outlines the permitting process for parklets in Contra Costa County, California. -
Policies and Programmes Supporting Intergenerational Relations
2012by: Donna Butts, Leng Leng Thang, Alan Hatton YeoThis report challenges the traditional age-based approach to policy and program design and advocates for a more intergenerational approach. -
Controlling Strip Development with Design Guidelines
Zoning Practice — November 2011by: Ross Moldoff, Sarah Korjeff November 01, 2011Design 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 -
Old Saybrook, CT, Zoning Regulations
Updated March 2019The town’s zoning code establishes standards for sidewalks along public roads that facilitate alternatives to driving and sets design standards that signal pedestrian areas. -
Moraga, CA, Code of Ordinances
The city's code exempts solar panels from design review procedures and addresses solar orientation standards and easements for subdivisions. -
Northville, MI, Outdoor Dining Platform Requirements and Guidelines
Adopted by the Northville City Council on April 19, 2010This standalone policy establishes design and operational requirements for the temporary conversion of on-street parking spaces to outdoor dining areas. -
Palo Alto, CA, Single-Family Individual Review Guidelines
2005This guide for property owners and developers presents illustrated design principles for new single-family homes and additions in established neighborhoods. -
Lancaster, CA, General Plan 2030
Updated October 2013The city's comprehensive plan includes several policies and action statements that encourage solar site design and solar energy system use. -
Metro Transit Developers Guide to Transit Oriented Development (TOD)
2017This guide provides information to help developers in metropolitan Minneapolis-St. Paul design and implement transit-oriented development (TOD) projects. -
Cleveland, OH, Connecting Cleveland 2020 Citywide Plan
July 2007The city's comprehensive plan includes an arts and culture chapter that discusses the importance of creative placemaking in improving livability. -
Complete Streets Toolkit
March 2015This guide is designed to help cities and counties in metropolitan Chicago apply complete streets principles to planning, design, and construction processes and documents. -
Stormwater Case Studies By State
2019This case study contains design specifications, cost and job analyses, and performance measures for over 500 green infrastructure projects from 44 states and Canada. -
Hawaii Pedestrian Toolbox
May 2013This guide is a stand-alone companion to Hawaii’s Statewide Pedestrian Master Plan. It offers design, operations, and education guidance, in the context of planning for Hawaii. -
CityLab University
October 2019by: Benjamin SchneiderThis web page contains five articles in a special report collection by CityLab, covering important concepts in city design and urban planning. -
Improving the Link Between the LEED Green Building Label and a Building’s Energy-Related Environmental Metrics
Journal of Green Building, 3(2): 85-105, 2008by: G. Wedding, Douglas Crawford-BrownThis article offers several recommendations for improving the environmental benefits of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification system. -
Unintended Consequences: How the Use of LEED Can Inadvertently Fail to Benefit the Environment
Journal of Green Building, 1(4): 152-165by: Jeremy Bray, Natasha McCurryThis article discusses how some Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) projects fail to be as environmentally beneficial as intended. -
Guidebook for Creating a Municipal TDR program
1995This guide provides information to municipalities in Montgomery County, Maryland, to help them design and implement transfer of development rights programs. -
The Future of Planning Is Agile, People-centric, and Technologically Advanced
by: Petra Hurtado, PhDPetra Hurtado, PhD, APA's Research Director, explores patterns and the agility and technological innovation planners need. -
Designing for Affordable and Active Housing
April 2013by: Karen Lee, Gayle Nicoll, Brian PraterThis audio recording shares how affordable housing funders and developers can use New York City’s Active Design Guidelines (ADG) to improve health. -
Altamonte Springs, FL, Land Development Code
Update April 2019The city’s land development code identifies the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification as a category eligible for density bonuses. -
Manifesto for an Intercultural Urbanism
Planetizen, July 17, 2014by: Dean SaittaThis blog post defines intercultural urbanism and shares how it can help address the lack of diversity in urban planning and design. -
Model Conservation Subdivision Ordinance
2012This model ordinance provides a template for cities and counties in Georgia draft conservation subdivision design regulations to protect sensitive natural resources. -
Pima County, AZ, Pima Prospers: Comprehensive Plan Initiative
Adopted 2017The county’s comprehensive plan includes a Housing and Community Design section that addresses the need to “create livable, viable, multi-generational communities.” -
Oro Valley, AZ, General Plan: Your Voice, Our Future
The Land Use, Community Design, and Open Space and Natural Resources Conservation elements of the town's general plan include solar-related goals and policies. -
Center-ing Our Suburbs
Planning Commissioners Journal, 22, 1996by: Richard UntermannThis article outlines several ways to improve grayfield sites during redevelopment through planning a design. -
San Miguel County, CO, Land Use Code
Updated May 2016The county's land use code includes design standards and requirements for solar energy in several districts. -
Iowa City, IA, City Code
Updated July 17, 2018This regulation belongs to the Accessory Dwelling Units, Design Review, Environmentally Sensitive Areas, Food Trucks, Housing Supply Planning, Inclusionary Housing, and Transfer of Development Rights collections. -
Reclaiming the Right of Way: A Toolkit for Creating and Implementing Parklets
2012by: Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, Madeline Brozen, Colleen CallahanThis report introduces the concept of parklets, presents case studies of municipal parklet programs, and provides design guidance for parklet projects. -
Pennsylvania Land Choices: An Educational Guide
2009by: Estelle RuppertThis guide is intended to help planners, teachers, and other local leaders design and implement educational activities for students and citizens. -
Biophilic Cities Are Sustainable, Resilient Cities
Sustainability,5(8),3328-3345,2013by: Timothy Beatley, Peter NewmanThis article argues that biophilic design needs to be utilized on an urban scale to create biophilic cities, which are sustainable and resilient. -
Bordentown, NJ, City Code
Updated December 2018The city’s codified ordinances establish a Historic Preservation Commission, historic designation and design review processes, and a Historic and Landmarks Overlay Zone. -
Santa Barbara, CA, Climate Action Plan
Adopted September 2012The city's climate action plan calls for solar energy system installations and adoption of a solar access ordinance and solar design guidelines. -
Wellington, KS, Code of Ordinances
The city's subdivision code includes design standards that encourage solar orientation and solar energy use, and it provides for the establishment of solar skyspace easements. -
Building an ADU
Version 1.0, Summer 2017by: Dana Cuff, Jane BlumenfeldThis guide is designed to help property owners in Los Angeles navigate city requirements to design and build new accessory dwelling units (ADUs). -
Richland, WA, Municipal Code
2018Richland’s building code includes special requirements for wildland areas related to building/structure design and construction. -
Ventura, CA, 2005 General Plan
Adopted August 2005The Natural Resources and Planning and Design chapters of this general plan include policies and action items that address solar. -
Point Access Block Building Design: Options for Building More Single-Stair Apartment Buildings in North America
Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research, 26(1), 2024This paper introduces point access blocks as an alternative to traditional building codes. -
Norfolk, VA, A Green Infrastructure Plan for Norfolk Building Resilient Communities
Adopted July 2018This functional plan assesses natural assets to design green infrastructure for community resilience and effective integration with gray infrastructure in Norfolk, Virginia. -
Spotsylvania County, VA, Code of Ordinances
2017The county’s zoning code includes rural viewshed preservation as one of four design alternative optionss for development within planned residential rural district. -
Planning for Children in New Vertical Communities
2017by: City of Toronto Planning DivisionThis guide is meant to ensure that the design plans of dense, multi-unit residential developments in Toronto, Canada are family-friendly. -
West Chester, PA, Municipal Code
The borough's subdivision and land development ordinance includes design standards that require solar orientation for lots, streets, and facilities. -
Cornelius, OR, Municipal Code
Updated July 2019by: City of Cornelius, WAThe city's municipal code provides a solar design requirement for new single-family developments, solar balance point standards, and a solar access permit process. -
Irvine, CA, General Plan
The Energy Element of the city's general plan includes goals and a range of specific policies encouraging solar design and solar energy system use. -
Housing for Older Adults—Location, Location, Location
PlannersWeb, November 2013by: Jennifer Wallace-Brodeur, Stuart AndreasonThis article stresses the importance of coordinating housing and transportation, improving home design, and protecting affordability for building an age-friendly community. -
Reno, NV, Master Plan
The city's master plan includes objectives, recommendations, and actions promoting solar energy development and solar orientation and design.