Urban Planning For Dummies

363 Pages·2012·30.96 MB·English

by  Jordan Yin

Urban
Planning

FOR
DUMmIES‰
by Jordan Yin, PhD
Urban Planning For Dummies®
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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Yin, Jordan, 1970–
Urban planning for dummies / Jordan Yin.
Includes index.
Issued also in electronic formats.
ISBN 978-1-118-10023-3
1. City planning. 2. Land use—Planning. I. Title.
HT166.Y56 2012 307.1’216 C2011-908072-9
ISBN 978-1-118-10168-1 (ebk); 978-1-118-10166-7 (ebk); 978-1-118-10167-4 (ebk)
Printed in the United States
1 2 3 4 5 RRD 15 14 13 12 11
About the Author
Jordan Yin, PhD, AICP, is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, and his experience
growing up in this great American city inspired him to pursue a career as
an urban planner. He has also lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Buffalo,
New York; and Kalamazoo, Michigan. Jordan has been involved in urban
planning for more than 20 years. He has worked extensively with universities,
government agencies, and community organizations on a wide range of
issues, including neighborhood planning, affordable housing, environmental
conservation, economic development, comprehensive planning, downtown
redevelopment, and poverty reduction initiatives.
Jordan is a faculty member of the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban
Affairs at Cleveland State University, where he teaches graduate and
undergraduate classes in urban and regional planning, including workshop
classes that engage students in real-world community service projects
related to urban planning. He received master’s and doctoral degrees in City
and Regional Planning from Cornell University and has been a member of
the American Institute of Certified Planners since 1996. Jordan writes a blog
about urban planning on his website, www.ask-a-planner.com.

Dedication
To my daughter, Evan. We’ll go out for ice cream more often, I promise.
Author’s Acknowledgments
The opportunity to write a For Dummies book about urban planning has been
one of the great experiences of my career. It is also a shining example of
the old adage “Be careful what you wish for, because you might just get it.”
Without the assistance and support of many people, this already daunting
task might have become simply impossible. I thank Robert Hickey and
Elizabeth Kuball of the For Dummies series for their invaluable assistance
and encouragement on a day-to-day basis. Suggestions and comments from
my technical editor, Jennifer Cowley of The Ohio State University, have
been especially valuable and appreciated. I owe much of my expertise in
urban planning to mentors and colleagues who have shown me the way
over many years, especially Norman Krumholz and Pierre Clavel. I am also
greatly appreciative of my colleagues at Cleveland State University and
have particularly benefited from the support of Edward (Ned) Hill, Wendy
Kellogg, W. Dennis Keating, and Sung-Gheel Jang. Joseph Grengs of the
University of Michigan and Susan Hoffmann of Western Michigan University
also provided valuable support. The professional assistance of Scott Shapiro

and Gordon Hare is greatly appreciated. Lastly, the comfort and support of
friends and family have been of tremendous importance in seeing this project
to completion, including the Yin, Burness, Huston, Dowd, Kasper, Jacobs,
Northeim, Henderson-Terwilliger, Holverstott-Cockrell, Wood-Provence,
Wassom, May, Antisdale, Posner, Zulewski, Enos, Cross-Coleman, and
Moncrief families. Thanks to all.
Publisher’s Acknowledgments
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Technical Editor: Jennifer Cowley, PhD
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Contents at a Glance
Foreword ....................................................................xix
Introduction ................................................................ 1
Part I: What Is Urban Planning? ................................... 7
Chapter 1: Making Great Cities: Why Planning Matters ................................................9
Chapter 2: Changing Places: Planning for the 21st Century .......................................23
Chapter 3: Who Makes Urban Plans and Why .............................................................43
Chapter 4: Making Plans: A Step-by-Step Approach ....................................................57
Part II: Putting All the Pieces Together:
The Main Components of an Urban Plan ...................... 75
Chapter 5: Land Use: A Place for Everything ...............................................................77
Chapter 6: Housing: A Place to Call Home ....................................................................97
Chapter 7: Moving the City: Transportation ..............................................................119
Chapter 8: The City Beautiful: Urban Design ..............................................................135
Chapter 9: The Great Outdoors: N atural Resources, Open Space, and More ........149
Chapter 10: Infrastructure and Public Services: Something for Everyone .............163
Part III: Hot Topics and Urban Planning Challenges ... 179
Chapter 11: Greening the City: Making Sustainable Places ......................................181
Chapter 12: Urban Revitalization: Cities on the Rebound ........................................195
Chapter 13: Rushing to the Suburbs: Managing Sprawl ............................................207
Chapter 14: Healing the City: Planning and Disasters ...............................................223
Chapter 15: Taking Care of Business: Jobs and Economic Development ...............237
Chapter 16: Global Urban Planning: Answering the
Challenges of Growth and Development ..................................................................253
Part IV: Getting Involved and Going Further .............. 267
Chapter 17: Getting Involved in Your Community.....................................................269
Chapter 18: Becoming a Professional Urban Planner ...............................................279
Part V: The Part of Tens ........................................... 291
Chapter 19: Ten Ways to Make Your Community a Better
Place to Live, Work, and Play ....................................................................................293
Chapter 20: Ten Great Cities with Great Plans ...........................................................301
Chapter 21: Ten Urban Plans You Can Find Online ...................................................309
Appendix: Resources ................................................ 317
Index ...................................................................... 325