Since 1949, APA's program of applied research has resulted in practical, up-to-date information about best practices in urban and regional planning in the U.S.

Research activities at APA are supported by grants from foundations, nongovernmental organizations, and government agencies, as well as subscription revenues. APA welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with organizations that have similar or complementary interests.

Contact us at Research@planning.org

Planning Advisory Service
For more than half a century, PAS has been a one-stop source of planning information. Agencies that subscribe to APA's research service gain access to one of the most extensive planning collections in the world.
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Merriam Center Library
The Merriam Center Library is at the heart of APA's research efforts. It is one of the finest focused collections of materials on planning practice in the nation.
Click here to search the library's holdings

Integrating Hazards into Local Planning
While the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 significantly advanced hazard planning nationwide, there is considerable room for better integration between the act and local planning. The APA Hazards Planning Research Center has contracted with FEMA to produce a best practices manual to describe how planners can best integrate hazards issues into all stages and types of planning. In addition, the project will explore the feasibility of various types of training options to sustain progress in this area.

Tribal Transportation Programs
The Transportation Research Board has just released Tribal Transportation Programs, a synthesis study produced by APA's Research Board over the last two years that includes profiles of 30 individual tribal transportation programs.

Planning for Urban and Community Forestry
A city's green infrastructure, including the entire urban forest, affects every aspect of the urbanization process. In partnership with American Forests and the International Society of Arboriculture, and supported by the USDA Forest Service, APA is undertaking to increase planners' understanding of this complex process through a project that will result in a PAS Report.

Planning for Wildfires
Wildfires are both dangerous and costly, yet people continue to build in wildfire-prone areas. This poses challenges for governments and planners, who must decide whether to permit development in such areas and how best to design developments that are allowed. A new PAS report, Planning for Wildfires, explores both issues, outlining how knowledge can be incorporated into comprehensive planning and identifying best practices for development in at-risk areas.

Context-Sensitive Signage Design
For planners and building officials, signs are but one component of the complex built environment. And planning for and regulating signs is just one aspect of a city or community design program.

Planning for a Disaster-Resistant Community
Under its cooperative agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), APA has developed a one-day training course in hazard mitigation planning, including coverage of the provisions and planning requirements of the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, for use at APA chapter conferences.

Growing Smart
Growing Smart is the American Planning Association's multiyear project to draft the next generation of model planning and zoning legislation for the U.S. It is intended to update the Standard City Planning and Zoning Enabling Acts, drafted by an advisory committee of the U.S. Department of Commerce in the 1920s.

City Parks Forum
The City Parks Forum is about creating a new opportunity for mayors to address park issues in ways that improve the quality of life and prosperity of city residents and businesses. This APA program is made possible by a $2.5 million grant from the Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Planning and Urban Design Standards
APA oversaw the production of a major reference book called Planning and Urban Design Standards, a 750-page volume published by John Wiley and Sons. The book is available through APA's PlanningBooks.com.
Click here for details

Central America-Caribbean Site Planning Training
With funding from U.S. HUD's Office of International Affairs, APA has developed Spanish-language training materials on proper site planning for countries in Central America and the Caribbean ravaged by Hurricanes Mitch and Georges. These materials include a workbook, training video, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, model university course, bibliography, and glossary of terms.

Research Highlights
Click here to read all about the new releases, project updates, and upcoming publications created by APA's research staff.

Planning and Climate Change: Mitigation and Clean Energy Strategies
APA and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) have embarked on a three-year research and education project, Planning and Climate Change: Mitigation and Clean Energy Strategies (previously Planning our Way to a New Energy Future). This project will include a best practices manual on integrating energy and climate change issues into local planning.

Housing Choice
With support from the Fannie Mae Foundation, APA conducted a series of scoping sessions designed to get in tune with real world affordable housing problems and opportunities throughout the country. Read summaries of the sessions, an analysis of the themes raised, and a set of promising affordable housing strategies created by APA.

Healthy Communities through Collaboration
APA has partnered with the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) to restore the bridge between land-use planning and public health practice. The organizations are exploring shared objectives, providing tools, and recommending options and strategies.

State Laws & Natural Hazards
APA recently completed for the Institute for Business and Home Safety a survey of planning legislation in all 50 states. The survey focused on how those laws mandate or promote planning for natural hazards in local comprehensive plans.

Planning and Designing the Physically Active Community
The APA Research Department has received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to conduct research and prepare a PAS Report and other educational materials on "Planning and Designing the Physically Active Community." The grant is part of a five-year foundation initiative to encourage changes to the built environment that will promote physical activity.

Land-Based Classification Standards
Land-Based Classification Standards provide a consistent model for classifying land uses based on their characteristics. The standards are based on a multi-dimensional land-use classification model. LBCS updates the 1965 Standard Land Use Coding Manual (SLUCM), a standard which was widely adopted for land-use classifications.

Landslide Hazards and Planning
APA's research department's landslide hazards program aims to bring together solutions from multiple disciplines into a single source. It will help serve local planning efforts in identifying landslide hazards sufficiently early in the planning process so as to minimize exposure to landslide risks. Read about the symposium

Programa de Entrenamiento en Planificación de Sitios para Centro América y el Caribe
Con fondos de la Oficina de Asuntos Internacionales de Departamento de Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano HUD, EE.UU, la Asociación Americana de Planificación (APA por sus siglas en inglés) ha desarrollado materiales educativos en español sobre planificación adecuada de sitios en Centro América y el Caribe para los países que sufrieron los mayores daños causados por los huracanes Mitch y Georges. Estos materiales incluyen un manual, un vídeo, un CD-ROM y DVD-ROM, un curso modelo universitario y un glosario de términos técnicos. Cliquee aquí para saber más sobre este programa y para copiar los materiales.