Recommend 100 Essential Books of Planning

Deadline: October 30, 2008

Celebrate the centennial of the planning movement by helping to create the list of essential books. Think back over the past hundred years, and share your recommendations for great — and perhaps overlooked — books that create the foundation for planning.

The list will be announced in stages starting in January 2009. Watch for updates in APA Interact and on this page. The final list will be promoted through libraries around the country.  

Recommendations Criteria

1. Technical planning books, journalistic books, policy-oriented books, fiction, and books of essays
2. Books that informed you and shaped you as a planner
3. Books that inspired you
4. Books that are essential to learning about the field of planning
5. Books that offered new opportunities, presented new ideas, challenged existing practice, or provided insight into issues and problems  
6. Overlooked gems or books from previous decades (1909 and on) that readers would enjoy and learn from today

Submission Instructions

Submit suggestions via e-mail to library@planning.org. Include the following information in your e-mail:

1. Title of the book
2. Author
3. Date of publication
4. Three sentence description of why this is an essential book
5. Your name and full contact information (address, phone, and e-mail)