In our latest episode we interview zoning attorney and author Donald Elliott about his book An Even Better Way to Zone: Achieving More Affordable, Equitable, and Sustainable Communities. Elliott’s work comes alongside other recent zoning books covered on the show, including M. Nolan Gray's Arbitrary Lines (arguing for getting rid of zoning) and Sarah Bronin’s Key to the City, his approach aligning with reforming zoning rather than eliminating it. Elliott explains that his ear

There’s regionalism as we all learned in planning school led by Louis Mumford at the Regional Planning Association of America (RPAA) and then there’s southern regionalism that Howard W. Odum and his Institute for Research in Social Science (IRSS) led from the University of North Carolina. The history of the southern regionalists was largely overlooked until Stephen Ramos published “Folk Engineering: Planning Southern Regionalism.” Sadly, Stephen passed away shortly after publ

Planning for the future can feel overwhelming, yet essential. The American Planning Association's (APA) 2026 Trend Report offers planners foresight into upcoming trends that could shape our world. In our latest episode, we talked with Petra Hurtado, APA’s Chief Foresight and Knowledge Officer, to delve into these trends. The Importance of Being Proactive As trends like artificial intelligence (AI), transportation, and housing continue to evolve, Hurtado emphasizes the need fo

In the latest episode of the Booked On Planning podcast, hosts Stephanie Rouse and Jennifer Hiatt sat down with author and developer Jamie Madden to discuss his new book, Bittersweet Lane: Creating Home(s) in the American Affordable Housing Crisis . Part memoir and part educational guide, the book offers a rare look at the housing crisis from someone who grew up in affordable housing and now spends his career building it. A Multi-Dimensional Perspective on Development Madden’

This episode of Booked On Planning features a conversation with author Mark Dunkelman about his book, "Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress—and How to Bring It Back". Dunkelman explains the origins of American progressivism as a response to the upheaval created by railroads and national-scale economic power, outlining two competing impulses within the movement: a Jeffersonian push to break up big institutions and return power to smaller, local actors, and a Hamiltonian push

In the latest episode of Booked on Planning, we dive deep into the ideas and themes behind Zahra Ebrahim's fascinating book, "Messy Cities: Why We Can't Plan Everything." This collection of essays explores the multifaceted concept of messiness in urban environments, challenging our typical notions of order and chaos. Throughout the conversation with Zahra, we uncover how this messiness often serves as a testament to a city's diversity and vibrancy. Understanding Messiness in

Cities rarely break all at once; more often they fray through policy choices that seem technical, neutral, even benevolent. Our conversation with historian Emily Lieb traces how Baltimore’s “Road to Nowhere” never reached a ribbon cutting yet still carved deep wounds into Rosemont, a Black middle-class neighborhood. The damage began with a pencil stroke: a highway alignment shifted in the late 1950s to run through Rosemont just as school board actions accelerated racial trans

Livable streets are not just a planning slogan; they are the everyday environments that shape how we think, move, and connect. Bruce Appleyard’s Livable Streets 2.0 revives and expands the classic research on traffic’s invisible harms, showing how speed, volume, and street design quietly erode social ties and negatively impact the health of individuals living on heavily trafficked streets. The original book, published by his father in 1981, documented how lightly trafficked,

Spiritual wellness sits in a blind spot in city-making. We measure traffic counts and hospital beds, yet struggle to name why a stroll under trees soothes us or how a plaza can lift a crowd into awe. Architect and planner Phillip Tabb draws a clear line: wellness is preventative, place-based, and social, while much of today’s investment flows to curative health systems. That gap shapes cities. He distinguishes spirituality from religion not to water it down, but to point towa