Planning Network https://www.planningnetwork.org/ Connecting Minds That Shape American Cities en Mon, 31 Aug 2026 20:20:42 GMT Rewriting the Rules: How Mid-Size Cities Are Modernizing Zoning to Win the Talent Competition https://www.planningnetwork.org/mid-size-cities-modernizing-zoning-talent-competition/ https://www.planningnetwork.org/mid-size-cities-modernizing-zoning-talent-competition/ Across the country, a growing cohort of mid-size cities is dismantling zoning codes written for a different era, betting that regulatory modernization is the most powerful tool they have to stem brain drain and attract a new generation of residents. From Rust Belt revitalization to Sun Belt reinvention, planners at the forefront of these efforts are developing a replicable playbook—and confronting the entrenched interests that stand in the way. Planning Network Urban Planning Trends Mon, 31 Aug 2026 20:20:42 GMT The Participation Problem: Rethinking How Planners Hear—and Reach—the Communities They Serve https://www.planningnetwork.org/rethinking-public-participation-planning-communities/ https://www.planningnetwork.org/rethinking-public-participation-planning-communities/ The public hearing, long the cornerstone of democratic planning practice, is failing the communities it was designed to serve—systematically elevating the voices of the organized and the available while marginalizing the residents whose lives are most directly shaped by planning decisions. A new generation of participatory tools and methods is emerging to address that deficit, and planning professionals have both the opportunity and the obligation to lead the transition. Planning Network Professional Practice & Collaboration Mon, 31 Aug 2026 20:20:42 GMT Proximity as Policy: The Rise of Walkable Neighborhood Design in American Cities https://www.planningnetwork.org/proximity-as-policy-walkable-neighborhood-design-american-cities/ https://www.planningnetwork.org/proximity-as-policy-walkable-neighborhood-design-american-cities/ Across the United States, a quiet but consequential transformation is underway as planners reimagine the fundamental relationship between residents and the services they depend on daily. The 15-minute city framework — rooted in the idea that every essential amenity should be reachable within a short walk or bike ride — is gaining serious traction in municipalities from Portland to Pittsburgh. This analysis examines how American planners are adapting this global concept to the distinct realities Planning Network Urban Planning Trends Mon, 31 Aug 2026 16:20:57 GMT Shared Stakes: Why Architects and Planners Must Build a Common Language to Solve the Housing Crisis https://www.planningnetwork.org/shared-stakes-architects-planners-collaboration-housing-crisis/ https://www.planningnetwork.org/shared-stakes-architects-planners-collaboration-housing-crisis/ The United States faces a housing shortage of historic proportions, and two of the professions best positioned to address it — urban planning and architecture — have too often operated as parallel silos rather than integrated partners. This opinion-driven analysis argues that entrenched professional divisions are not merely an organizational inconvenience but a structural barrier to the innovative, scalable solutions the crisis demands. Drawing on successful collaborative models from across the Planning Network Professional Practice & Collaboration Mon, 31 Aug 2026 16:20:57 GMT