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