PART 1: PLANNING AND GOVERNMENT

Transcription

1 PART 1: PLANNING AND GOVERNMENT Chapter 1: The nature of planning 1. Much has been written about the importance of factors other than rationality in planning. Discuss whether this amounts to an argument that planning is irrational. 2. Do you think that the US land use planning would be different if the country contained the same number of people on 5 percent of the land area? 3. Discuss the merits of an incrementalist approach to problems of public policy. Is such an approach compatible with long-term planning? 4. What role do interest groups play in the planning process? 5. Discuss the extent to which planners are able to advocate planning approaches which favor the disadvantaged. 6. Discuss how Issues of Implementation are crucial in the policy-making process. 7. How do national private foundations and community foundations help non-profit organizations that work in communities? 8. Discuss reasons for and against citizen participation in deciding public issues. 9. How is consensus building different from the traditional techniques of citizen involvement? 10. What is equity planning and why is it important? 11. What is GIS and how could planners use it? 12. How do cities use various forms of information technology in their day-to-day activities? 13. What is remote sensing? 14. Why would a city want to develop virtual models of communities? 15. How can social media devices aid cities in engaging the public? Chapter 2: Urbanization 1. What are the main reasons for urbanization in the United States? Have these changed over time? 2. To what extent can it be said that the suburbs have been created by federal policies? 3. Do you think that it is appropriate to term the modern suburb a new urban form? 4. Discuss the argument that in the postwar years cities had no realistic alternative but to embark on road building programs that are suicidal. 1

2 5. Do you consider that current trends in decentralization, population, and employment, are fundamentally different from those of earlier years? 6. Is it possible that edge cities will replace central cities as the heart of American metropolitan areas? What would be the effects of such a shift? 7. What is exurb and why is growth occurring in exurbs? 8. What is urban infill development and why are cities turning to it? 9. Discuss some problems commonly found in shrinking cities. Chapter 3: Governing and planning urban areas 1. What were the strands in the nineteenth-century reform movement? 2. Describe the City Beautiful movement. How did it originate? 3. Discuss the benefits and problems of gridiron plans. 4. In what ways were the principles of scientific management thought to be relevant to city planning? 5. Does the history of American city planning offer any lessons for the debate about the relative merits of comprehensive and incremental planning? 6. What arguments could be made for and against regional planning? 7. What forms of local government are there in the US? Chapter 4: Planning and sustainability 1. What is sustainability and why is it important? 2. Describe the importance of the Brundtland Commission. 3. Discuss the conclusions of several of the international conferences on sustainability. 4. What was the purpose of the Clinton Presidential Council on Sustainable Development? 5. How have states and local governments dealt with sustainability. 6. What are green building regulations? 7. Discuss the significance of community gardens in planning for sustainability. 8. What roles do community gardens play in community development? 2

3 PART 2: LAND USE REGULATION Chapter 5: The evolution of planning and zoning 1. Describe the police power; what does it have to do with zoning? 2. Discuss the constitutionality and fairness of the Mugler and Hadacheck cases. 3. In what ways was zoning unique? 4. What are standard state enabling acts? Why were they important? 5. Why did New York pass a zoning ordinance in 1916? Why did it have implications nationwide? 6. Consider the fairness of the Euclid decision. 7. Zoning is not planing. Discuss. Chapter 6: The institutional and legal framework of planning and zoning 1. How does a local government obtain its powers of zoning? 2. In what way do the courts presume that a municipality's judgment is valid? Why do they do this? 3. What restrictions are there on the zoning power? 4. Why are Kelo v. New London and Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection important cases for cities and state governments in the United States? Chapter 7: The Comprehensive Plan 1. What is a Comprehensive Plan? 2. What types of elements are included in a Comprehensive Plan? 3. Can localities include additional elements in a Comprehensive Plan? 4. Why is it important for text and diagrams to be consistent throughout the Comprehensive Plan and within individual elements of a Comprehensive Plan? 5. Describe the role of the public in developing a Comprehensive Plan. 6. How is a Comprehensive Plan adopted and amended? 7. Why is a city concerned with the environmental impacts of its Comprehensive Plans? 8. Why is it important to monitor and update a Comprehensive Plan? 3

4 Chapter 8: The techniques of zoning and subdivision regulations 1. Is zoning inherently exclusionary? 2. Discuss the role of zoning in the protection of property values. 3. Why are variances so called? Do you think that they should be subject to greater control, for example by a state review board? 4. What are the problems that arise over zoning for the single-family home? 5. In what ways has flexibility been introduced into zoning? 6. Zoning is more about law than policy. Discuss. 7. What is covered in a city's subdivision regulations? 8. What is the difference between zoning and subdivision regulations? 9. What is a form-based code and why are cities using them? 10. What is a transect? Chapter 9: City financing and planning for development 1. List the costs which are involved in residential development. Discuss who should bear these. 2. Argue the case for and against impact fees. 3. Describe the rational nexus. Do you think that it is a useful concept? 4. It is the purchaser who bears the cost of charges imposed on developers. Discuss. 5. Discuss the uses and problems of incentive zoning and bonusing. 6. Much of planning is in fact negotiation. Discuss. 7. Describe a development agreement. Why would a developer want one? 8. How do municipalities finance the provision of public service and facilities? 9. What is Tax Increment Financing? 10. What is the difference between a general obligation bond and a revenue bond? 11. What effect did the passage of Proposition 13 in California have on the financing and provision of public services? 12. What is a Capital Improvement Program and why is it important? 4

5 13. How can a tax credit program assist in financing economic development? PART 3: GROWTH MANAGEMENT Chapter 10: Growth management and local government 1. Describe the various methods of managing local urban growth. Which do you think is the most effective? 2. Discuss the case for and against growth management policies. 3. What is involved in the transfer of development rights (TDR)? For what planning purposes can this be used? 4. Evaluate the reasons given for farmland protection. 5. Is there a regional dimension missing from municipal growth management plans? 6. Consider the arguments of Chinitz (1990) on whether growth management is good for the town, bad for the nation (Journal of the American Planning Association 56:3-8); and the response by Fischel (1991) and Neuman (1991). 7. What are the reasons behind smart growth? 8. Why do some jurisdictions decide not to control growth? Chapter 11: Urban growth management and the states 1. What are the objectives of growth management policies? 2. Why are growth management policies so difficult to implement? 3. Outline a theoretically effective growth management policy. 4. Why have growth management policies widened to include such issues as housing and economic development? 5. Discuss the importance of citizen involvement in growth management policy-making. 6. Why have states become involved in growth management? 7. How can ballot measures affect state growth policies? 8. Can state growth policies impede job growth? 5

6 PART 4: PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT ISSUES Chapters 12 & 13: Environmental policy and planning & the limits of environmental policy 1. Discuss the ways in which environmental concerns have developed since the 1960's. 2. Why is it necessary to have environmental controls over federal agencies? 3. Describe the environmental review process. What are its limitations? 4. Explain the structure of clean air controls. 5. What are the problems of water pollution, and how can they be remedied? 6. With waste, treatment is better than disposal; and reduction is better than treatment. Discuss. 7. What is Superfund? Does it work well? 8. Compare regulatory controls and economic incentives. Do we need both? 9. Discuss the nature of risk. Why is it relevant to environmental policy? 10. Discuss the significance of vehicle emissions in environmental pollution. 11. What is the case for a greater degree of public participation in environmental policy? 12. What are Habitat Conservation Plans and how are they related to the Endangered Species Act? 13. What are wetlands and how can we mitigate their loss? 14. What are greenhouse gases and how do they affect the environment? 15. What is a cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas emissions? Chapter 14: Transportation 1. In what ways has transportation changed in recent decades? 2. Do you think that telecommuting will have major impacts on transportation? 3. How far can land use planning controls be used to restrain traffic? 4. How effective are transit villages in a comprehensive transportation plan? 5. What are the characteristics of a transit-oriented development? 6. What is the purpose of traffic calming? 7. Critically discuss Downs principle of triple convergence. 6

7 8. Discuss the role of transport demand management as a solution to traffic congestion. 9. Discuss the argument that parking controls are the single most effective means of traffic restraint. 10. If drivers paid the proper prices for their use of roads, there would be no traffic congestion problem. Discuss. 11. How viable is comprehensive transportation planning? 12. How do cities deal with the growing problem of traffic congestion? 13. Discuss some of the key pieces of legislation that have shaped our efforts at transportation planning. 14. Does transportation influence public health? 15. What are Complete Streets and why are they important? Chapter 15: Housing 1. What are the important features of housing? How do these affect land use and land use policies? 2. The problem of housing affordability affects not only the poor but also many middle-income households. Discuss. 3. What are the problems which faced the public housing program? Are these problems soluble? 4. Discuss the various ways in which the gap between market rents and affordable rents can be bridged. 5. Compare the ways in which motor vehicles and houses filter down to lower-income groups. 6. Can discrimination be effectively controlled by legislation? 7. What do the Mount Laurel and Arlington Heights cases tell us about the limits of court action? 8. How can states compel or persuade local governments to permit affordable housing? 9. What role do non-profit organizations play in the provision of affordable housing? 10. How could growth controls and sprawl affect the cost of housing in an area? 11. How do Housing Trust Funds and Community Land Trusts help fill the need for affordable housing in many American cities? 12. What role does politics play in responding to the nation's housing problems? 13. How do the HOPE VI and Choice Neighborhood Initiative programs fit into the discussions of housing and community development? 14. What is a subprime mortgage and how did it contribute to the current US mortgage crisis? 15. What is land banking and why is it important? 7

8 Chapter 16: Community and economic development 1. What are the objectives of community and economic development? 2. Compare the varying approaches to economic development taken by different administrations, and outline their strengths and weaknesses. 3. Discuss how far a national urban policy is feasible. 4. Are incentives for economic development justifiable? 5. What are the ingredients for a successful local economic development policy? 6. Compare the merits of local community development and local public policy. 7. Describe the enterprise zones initiatives. Do you consider them to be effective? 8. Why is urban policy so difficult? 9. What roles do non-profit organizations play in community development? 10. How will the ARRA of 2009 help in economic recovery efforts in the US? 11. What is economic gardening? Chapter 17: Urban design and aesthetics 1. What are the arguments for and against the regulation of aesthetic matters? 2. Do rural signs raise different issues for planners than urban signs? 3. In what circumstances (if any) do you consider that billboards should be banned? 4. Is preservation of community character a legitimate matter for land use regulation? 5. Do you think that good design can be measured by market prices? 6. How do the principles of New Urbanism differ from earlier development? 7. How can local governments regulate big-box stores? 8. What is community character and why is it important? 9. Why are digital billboards different from traditional, static billboards? Chapter 18: Heritage and historic preservation 1. Is it worth preserving buildings that have historical associations, but no architectural merit? Give examples to support your argument. 8

9 2. In what ways can historic preservation be integrated with land use planning? 3. Discuss the ways in which historic preservation policies impact on the federal government. 4. On what grounds is it justifiable to give public subsidy for the preservation of old buildings? 5. How can the impact of excessive tourism on popular sites of historic value be dealt with? 6. How are states and local governments involved in historic preservation activities? 7. What is heritage tourism and how is it being practiced in the United States? 8. What are the benefits associated with preserving historic properties? 9. What is the Main Street program and has it been successful? CONCLUSION Chapter 19: Some final questions 1. Since the problems are so difficult to define, wouldn't it be better simply to get on with doing something constructive, rather than escaping into clever arguments? Discuss. 2. Why does public interest in important problems wax and wane? 3. Do you think that it is a good idea to compensate residents who have obnoxious hazardous waste facilities located close to them? 4. Forcing local governments to allow childcare facilities is acceptable; but it is not right that locally elected representatives should be made to accept low-income housing. Discuss. 5. What roles can states play in urban planning? 6. How far do you think that resolution of urban problems must involve the reduction of discrimination? 7. Why do you think property rights legislation is so difficult to pass at the state and national levels of government? 9