American Planning Association

In this episode of the APA podcast, Roberta Rewers, senior communications manager, explores Detroit's Heavyweight Impact: The Joe Louis Greenway Neighborhood Planning Study for Inclusive Neighborhood Growth, recipient of the 2025 National Planning Excellence Award.

Joined by Michele Flournoy, urban designer at Detroit's Planning Development Department, and Ashley DiCaro, senior associate at Interface Studio, they discuss how the Joe Louis Greenway Neighborhood Planning Study uses the greenway as a catalyst for neighborhood redevelopment, creates economic opportunity, and strengthens community ties to ensure nearby residents benefit from the greenway's investment.

Episode URL: https://www.planning.org/podcast/connected-neighborhoods-the-joe-louis-greenway-neighborhood-study/

In this episode of Critical Conversations in Transportation Planning, co-hosts Divya Gandhi and Em Hall spoke with Luke Van Denend, Outreach Coordinator at AECOM, and Zoe Miller, MPH, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Moving Maine Network, for a wide-ranging discussion focused on rural Transportation Demand Management (TDM) and mobility access.

The conversation explores how rural communities require fundamentally different approaches to TDM than their urban counterparts, from coalition building and community-driven solutions to rethinking the metrics we use to measure success. Luke and Zoe challenge the assumption that technology alone can solve rural transportation barriers, emphasizing instead that trust, local knowledge, and cross-sector collaboration are the real drivers of change. The conversation digs into what it actually takes to bring community members with lived experience into formal transportation decision-making, and why simply inviting people to the table isn't enough. Luke and Zoe also reflect on what's giving them hope: a growing willingness among rural employers to engage in transportation conversations, and a generational resurgence of interest in mutual aid as a foundation for mobility solutions.

Episode URL: https://planning.org/podcast/connecting-communities-rural-solutions-for-transportation-challenges/

In this episode of the APA podcast, Roberta Rewers, senior communications manager, explores the 2045 Unified Plan from Gwinnett County, Georgia, recipient of the Daniel Burnham Award for a Comprehensive Plan in the 2025 National Planning Awards.

Joined by Yang Chen, Planning Division director at Gwinnett County, and Allison Stewart-Harris, lead consultant with TSW, they discuss how the plan reimagines suburban planning through a “mode-agnostic” approach to the 15-Minute City—prioritizing access to daily needs no matter how residents travel.

Episode URL: https://www.planning.org/podcast/embracing-transformation-the-gwinnett-county-2045-unified-plan/

In this episode of the Trend Talk podcast, a companion series for the 2026 Trend Report for Planners, Joe DeAngelis, research manager at the American Planning Association, chats with climate urbanist and researcher, Helen Santiago-Fink. Helen shares insights drawn from her extensive experience working with international organizations and city governments as the two discuss the convergence of the circular economy, climate action, and technological innovation, highlighting how cities can harness AI and digital marketing approaches to promote sustainability. Planners and city leaders will find inspiration and practical insights for integrating circularity at the local level, as well as an exploration of how community engagement and forward-thinking strategies can pave the way for a more sustainable future. The 2026 Trend Report for Planners is created by APA in partnership with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

Episode URL: https://www.planning.org/podcast/the-circular-economy-climate-action-and-urban-sustainability-with-helen-santiago-fink/

What does it take to prove that community engagement didn’t just happen — but actually shaped decisions, priorities, and outcomes?

In this episode of People Behind the Plans, APA Editor in Chief Meghan Stromberg talks with planner Christina Edingbourgh about a framework her team calls “Memphis Math.” The approach turns open-ended community input into trackable, quantifiable data — without losing the nuance, emotion, or lived experience behind what people say.

Drawing on her background in nonprofit community development, Christina, who serves as the administrator of the Office of Comprehensive Planning for Memphis’s Division of Planning and Development, explains how Memphis built its engagement strategy for Memphis 3.0 around a simple but demanding standard: Every interaction should feel safe, comfortable, and meaningful.

The conversation digs into how Memphis Math works in practice, with more technical details described in here recent PAS Memo “Everything Counts in Memphis: Community Engagement for Data-Driven Planning.” Christina walks through the meeting structure, consensus-building, and the labor-intensive but scalable process of coding and tagging notes so feedback can be analyzed across the city’s 14 planning districts. The method measures how widespread an issue is, how deeply people care about it, and whether different neighborhoods are actually talking about the same thing in the first place.

Along the way, Christina reflects on rebuilding trust in a city that went 40 years without a comprehensive plan and why public transparency — posting meeting notes, maps, and feedback online — has been critical to changing how residents see the planning department.

“We’re professional recommenders,” Christina says. “But we can prove that what people said mattered.” For anyone grappling with the question of how to honor community voices long after the meeting ends, this episode offers both a practical framework and a powerful reminder that listening only counts if you can show your work.

Episode URL: https://www.planning.org/podcast/memphis-math-a-formula-for-meaningful-engagement/

Episode Sponsor: Scenario Planning for Urban Futures certificate course from Michigan Engineering Professional Education ope.engin.umich.edu

In this episode of the APA Podcast, three planning professionals share their personal journeys and practical advice on how planners can engage in advocacy work. Planners have the data, vision, and insights that elected officials need to be able to make informed decisions for our communities. And yet, advocacy can still feel intimidating or even prohibitive to planners. Over a series of conversations, Ed LeClear, AICP, Laila Imihy, AICP, and Madeline Sturms, AICP, aim to demystify advocacy work and help us better understand how it can be empowering in a planning career. They also highlight the value of planting seeds for future change, the rewarding outcomes of long-term advocacy, and why we need planning voices at the table now more than ever.

Episode URL: https://www.planning.org/podcast/pathways-to-influence-finding-your-voice-as-a-planning-advocate/

In this episode of the Trend Talk podcast, a companion series for the 2026 Trend Report for Planners, American Planning Association (APA) Research Manager Joe DeAngelis, AICP, talks with Chrissy Caggiano, AICP, chair of APA’s Hazard Mitigation and Disaster Recovery Division. The two discuss the evolving role of planners in hazard mitigation and climate change adaptation, and how these critical topics are being integrated into planning education and professional practice. They also discuss how planners working in this space are coping with an environment of uncertainty and what it means for the federal government to transition responsibility for hazard mitigation and response to state and local governments. The 2026 Trend Report for Planners is created by APA in partnership with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

Episode URL: https://www.planning.org/podcast/the-current-and-future-state-of-hazard-mitigation-planning-with-chrissy-caggiano-aicp/

Marccus Hendricks, associate professor at the University of Maryland and director of the Stormwater Infrastructure Resilience and Justice Lab, joins People Behind the Plans for a wide-ranging conversation on disaster resilience, environmental justice, and the current challenges facing the planning profession.

Drawing on his upbringing in Dallas, his scholarship on flood risk and infrastructure inequity, and his experience as a senior adviser for Climate and Community Resilience in the Biden administration, Hendricks explores the roots of social vulnerability and the role planning plays in shaping health, safety, and opportunity. He also shares a path to planning via public health and emergency medicine, and namechecks some of his planning heroes, like Shannon Van Zandt, Walt Peacock, Lori Peek, Dennis Mileti, Norma and Bill Anderson, John T. Cooper Jr., and Philip Berke.

“My mentors were studying the aftermath of disasters and I wanted to get after the root causes of how we got here. Individuals and groups who live at the social and economic margins of our society are the least likely to be able to mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from environmental hazards. “

— Marccus Hendricks

Hendricks shares how cuts to federal planning programs and research funding are affecting planners, students, and academic institutions, and why retreating from hard truths poses a risk to the future of the field. And he offers candid advice to students and local planners navigating uncertainty, emphasizing the enduring power of community-centered work and action at the local level.

Episode URL: https://planning.org/podcast/marccus-hendricks-on-infrastructural-justice-and-staying-true-to-your-values/

How can a public space help someone who’s in the middle of a depressive episode? And what does it mean to design with emotional experiences in mind?

In this episode of People Behind the Plans, planner and design researcher Kelsey Zlevor joins APA Editor in Chief Meghan Stromberg to explore how parks, streetscapes, and public spaces can be intentionally crafted to support people living with depression and anxiety. Drawing from dozens of interviews and her own lived experience, Kelsey introduces four “design amendments” that planners can use to shape spaces that feel more emotionally inclusive and less overwhelming — particularly for people navigating mental health conditions.

The conversation builds on Kelsey’s illustrated book Mental Landscapes, a self-published guide designed to help planners, designers, and community leaders take the emotional and psychological experience of place seriously — without making it clinical or inaccessible.

Together, Meghan and Kelsey unpack what it means to feel seen in public space, why awe and observation matter, and how something as simple as removing a “Keep Off the Grass” sign can open the door to healing. Whether you're a park planner, an equity advocate, or someone navigating your own emotional landscape, this episode offers insight into the subtle power of design — and the radical potential of listening.

Episode URL: https://planning.org/podcast/kelsey-zlevor-on-designing-public-spaces-for-mental-health/