Podcasts about national planning conference

In this episode of the People Behind the Plans podcast series, host Courtney Kashima, AICP, is joined by Rasmus Astrup, partner and design principal at Danish urban design and landscape architecture practice SLA. Rasmus was a co-presenter during the 2021 National Planning Conference at a session titled, “Strategies to Combat Extreme Heat”. Rasmus and Courtney discuss the importance of biodiversity and nature-based solutions to address the needs of cities to mitigate against the effects of climate change and specific issues like extreme urban heat. The two also discuss a few of the projects that his firm worked on from places around the globe like Toronto, Abu Dhabi, Copenhagen, and Detroit. They also dig into the significance of local knowledge and expertise when taking on projects as well as how to deal with the disproportionate impacts on more vulnerable populations. Episode URL: https://planning.org/podcast/fighting-climage-change-in-cities-with-biodiversity-and-nature-based-design/ This episode is sponsored by Tyler Technologies

Vacant lots make up nearly 17 percent of land in U.S. cities. Their existence in a community is correlated with higher levels of crime and lower levels of health. Furthermore, many communities with unmanaged vacant lots — or areas that have been historically disinvested in — are disproportionately affected by climate change. In Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) and the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) teamed up to solve this multipronged issue — one involving urban blight, community health, and a climate that's becoming hotter and wetter. With the Philadelphia LandCare program, they've transformed 12,000 vacant lots into climate-resilient pollinator gardens, using plants that are native to the region and thus better able to adapt to changing conditions. In this episode of the APA Podcast, planning and community health manager Sagar Shah speaks with two people close to the project: Jen Mihills, executive director of Mid-Atlantic Regional Center at the NWF; and Samir Dalal, planning manager of the Philadelphia LandCare Program at the PHS. Throughout their comprehensive discussion, which began with the 2021 National Planning Conference session Nature-Based Solutions for Creating Climate Resilient Communities, they provide actionable advice to planners looking to use similarly low-cost but high-impact solutions in their own communities. Episode URL: https://www.planning.org/podcast/philadelphia-is-transforming-vacant-lots-into-climate-resilient-pollinator-gardens/

Trends in planning. GovLove was recently at the National Planning Conference for a session all about right-of-way. Local governments hold the public right-of-way in trust for the benefit of the public; but rapid changes in technology, federal policy, and constitutional law are increasing demands for services and challenging local regulatory authority. Experienced local government attorneys, and industry professionals discuss best practices for right-of-way management in the face of emerging challenges. Panelists include: Alan Weinstein, Cleveland State University; Alicia Giudice, San Rafael, CA; Brandon Bordenkircher, Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development; Daniel J. Bolin, Ancel Glink; Gail A. Karish, Best Best & Krieger LLP; and Isidro A. Jimenez, San Francisco, CA. This episode was recorded from the 2019 National Planning Conference in San Francisco, CA. 

Trevor Dick, AICP, hates dry planning events. That means whenever he's involved in a National Planning Conference session — like the always popular Fast, Funny, and Passionate series — or an APA Illinois Chapter conference event, he makes things fun by using some ... unexpected tactics. Trevor and host Courtney Kashima, AICP, bring the same kind of lively spirit to this episode of People Behind the Plans. Not only does Trevor divulge some of his off-the-wall presentation antics, he also reveals his favorite planning references in pop culture and regales Courtney with stories of public meetings gone awry. The two switch gears to discuss the exciting developments underway in Aurora, Illinois, where Trevor is Director of Development Strategy and Facilitation. Currently one of the city's big projects is revitalizing the Fox Valley Mall, which sits squarely within the Route 59 commercial corridor, the second biggest retail hub in the state after Chicago's Michigan Avenue. Trevor also talks about the city's plan to create a downtown International Marketplace District and how it will serve as an inclusive space for all residents. He goes on to praise the diversity of the city's workforce, as well as his staff's efforts to ensure that every resident's voice is heard as they work to make positive change in the city.

New Orleans’s City Park claims some impressive titles: At 1,300 acres, it’s the largest regional park in Louisiana, and it ranks as the most visited park in the state at nearly 15 million visits per year. But that wasn’t the case 13 years ago, when Hurricane Katrina hit on August 29, 2005, and devastated the city — including that well-loved civic space. For this special episode of People Behind the Plans, recorded in New Orleans at the National Planning Conference earlier this year, Courtney hears from Bob Becker, FAICP, CEO of City Park and an adjunct professor at the University of New Orleans. During the first half of the episode, Courtney and Bob look back on the effect of Hurricane Katrina on the park — every building damaged, 2,000 trees destroyed, and 90 percent of its funding gone overnight. Just five months before the storm hit, the organization finished devising a new master plan for the space, and Bob stresses how important that document was for charting a course forward during the recovery effort. (In fact, their work was recognized with a 2010 National Planning Excellence Award for a Hard-Won Victory.) During the second half of the episode, Bob talks about his career trajectory, including how he ended up doing planning work in Kuala Kencana, a company town in Papua, Indonesia, and how he finished a PhD program at a later-than-typical point in his career.

Mitchell Silver, FAICP, thinks parks are more than just islands of green spaces — much, much more. As Commissioner of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Mitch makes it his mission to understand how people use these critical urban spaces, and he aims to ensure that children, adults, seniors, and everyone in between have access to a quality 21st-century park system. Courtney caught up with Mitch during the 2018 National Planning Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, and the two discussed not only how he was shaped by a childhood spent blocks away from Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, but also how seriously he takes public engagement when working with residents on park projects. He touches on some of the initiatives under way in his department and highlights a few of the less well-known examples of park success stories in New York City, including St. Mary's Park in the Bronx and Highbridge Park, home to the city’s oldest standing bridge. Mitch reflects on his time in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he served as Chief Planning & Development Officer and Planning Director and sought to encourage growth in a community once hesitant to change. He also shares his views on equity, which he defines simply as fairness, in a bid to eliminate the jargon planners can sometimes employ when discussing the subject.

In the second episode of the People Behind the Plans series, Courtney Kashima, AICP, chats with David Fields, AICP, at the 2017 National Planning Conference in New York City. David is Principal at Nelson Nygaard in San Francisco and the former chair of APA's Transportation Division.

Dutch Dialogues Dale Morris of the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Washington, D.C., and David Waggonner of Waggonner and Ball Architects based in New Orleans discuss the purpose and outcomes of the Dutch Dialogues series held in New Orleans. Read about Dutch Dialogues at www.dutchdialogues.com.

New Orleans Moving Forward Stephen Villavso, FAICP, of Villavaso & Associates, discusses the current planning status of New Orleans and the future of the city.

Clear As Mud Hear authors Rob Olshansky and Laurie Johnson discuss their new release Clear As Mud: Planning for the Rebuilding of New Orleans. Olshansky and Johnson discuss how Hurricane Katrina differed from other international disasters and their experience in tracking the rebuilding of New Orleans.

Food and Planning in New Orleans Among the many things New Orleans is famous for is its food. Increasingly, that food is locally grown. Vanessa Ulmer, the Policy and Advocacy Coordinator with the Prevention Research Center at Tulane University, joined Broadcast APA to talk about local food, fighting obesity, and citywide polices that increase food access. She also gives listeners tips on where to eat in New Orleans — all of which are included in the New Orleans Food System Guide, compiled by APA's Planning & Community Health Research Center.

Post-Katrina Demographics Estimating the population of New Orleans was a tricky business in the months — and years — after Hurricane Katrina. With the 2010 Census coming up, planner Rafe Rabalais talks about what the official decennial count means for the city, shifts in local demographics since the August 2005 storm, and the tool his company developed to track the resettlement of New Orleans.