Booked on Planning

What if the biggest public space in your city isn’t a park—it’s the street right outside your door? We sit down with author and planner‑geographer David Prytherch to rethink roads as social infrastructure and unpack why “complete streets” is only the starting line. From the rapid legal and engineering turn that handed streets to cars a century ago to the community‑led experiments that reclaimed asphalt during the pandemic, this con...

Ever wonder why a “simple” parking spot can decide what gets built on your block, how long your commute takes, or whether your favorite cafe survives? We sit down with Henry Grabar, author of Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World, for a live episode recording that reveals how curb space, parking minimums, and meter policy quietly shape housing, transit, local business, and city budgets. Henry takes us from the horse‑and‑wa...

What happens when cities eliminate parking requirements? When curbside parking is priced at market rates? When parking revenue stays in the neighborhood instead of disappearing into general funds? These questions form the core of Donald Shoup's revolutionary approach to urban parking policy, explored in depth through Daniel Baldwin Hess's new book "The Shoup Doctrine."

Bringing together 37 contributors ...

Housing affects every aspect of our lives, yet few of us truly understand the complex systems that determine where and how we live. In this eye-opening conversation with Dr. Andrew Carswell, co-editor of "Introduction to Housing, Third Edition," we explore the fascinating evolution of housing markets and what the future might hold.

Carswell reveals how the timing of each edition coincided with pivotal moments in housing hi...

The racial wealth gap in Washington DC isn't what you think it is. While conventional wisdom suggests Black families couldn't access homeownership due to racist housing practices, author Tanya Maria Golash-Boza reveals a more complex and troubling reality. Drawing from her personal experience growing up in DC's Petworth neighborhood as one of the few white children in a predominantly Black community, Golash-Boza unco...

What happens when you win a "free house" in one of America's most complicated real estate markets? Author Anne Elizabeth Moore pulls back the curtain on her experience receiving a donated house in Detroit through a writer's residency program that promised to solve her housing concerns while supporting her creative work. The dream quickly unravels as Moore discovers her "free" home carries hidden costs—...

What makes our neighborhoods feel like home isn't just the buildings that surround us but the countless human connections that happen within them. Author Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani spent decades exploring this phenomenon by asking residents to guide her through their neighborhoods, showing her the places that matter most in their daily lives.

Her approach revealed something profound: places we might walk past without a ...

The ground beneath our cities is shifting—literally in coastal areas facing sea level rise, but also conceptually as we grapple with what urbanism means in an era of profound environmental, technological, and social transformation. 

Stephanie Wakefield's provocative exploration of Miami as a laboratory for climate adaptation challenges us to completely rethink how we imagine urban futures. Moving beyond simplistic nar...

Resilience is much more than just bouncing back after a disaster. Over the past decade, as climate impacts have intensified, our understanding of what makes communities truly resilient has evolved dramatically. In this conversation with Laurie Mazur, editor of Island Press's "Resilience Matters: 10 Years of Transformative Thinking," we explore how climate resilience has transformed from buzzword to essential framewor...

Addiction, mental illness, or poverty may explain why an individual may lose their housing—but these factors fail to explain why Seattle has five times more homelessness than Chicago. Through rigorous analysis, Colburn demonstrates that high rent prices and low vacancy rates are the true culprits behind regional homelessness variations. This revelation transforms how we should approach solutions.

Colburn advocates reframin...

What if shopping malls weren't just retail spaces, but carefully designed social hubs that reveal profound truths about American culture? Alexandra Lange's "Meet Me by the Fountain" takes us on a fascinating journey through the unexpected origins and evolution of one of America's most influential architectural forms.

Throughout our conversation, Lange uncovers surprising connections between malls a...

Libraries have always been pillars of knowledge in our communities, but their role is evolving far beyond book repositories. As author Shamichael Hallman reveals, these vital public institutions now serve as rare neutral spaces where people from all backgrounds can gather, connect, and rebuild the civic muscles we've lost in our increasingly polarized society.

What makes libraries uniquely positioned for this work? Fi...

A new perspective on preservation is the topic of our conversation with Erica Avrami on her groundbreaking book "Second Order Preservation." This episode challenges everything you thought you knew about historic preservation, pushing beyond the binary "listed or not listed" mentality that has dominated the field for decades.

What happens when we shift from seeing preservation as merely saving buildings ...

Join us as we discuss the world of systems thinking with Beth Sawin author of "Multisolving: Creating Systems Change in a Fractured World." Far from being an abstract academic concept, multisolving offers a practical framework that reveals how seemingly separate challenges—from climate change to public health to economic development—can be addressed simultaneously with thoughtfully designed interventions.

Beth ta...

The world of planning is transforming at a rapid pace, and staying ahead requires more than just reacting to change—it demands foresight. In this conversation, we welcome back Petra Hurtado to discuss the American Planning Association's 2025 Trend Report, now in its fourth year of helping planners anticipate the forces reshaping our communities.

Petra highlights how "the only constant is accelerating change,"...

This episode captures a vision of creating resilient communities that are not only eco-friendly but also accessible and inviting. We explore the five central themes of "The Sustainable Urban Design Handbook," with author Kaarin Knudson's, offering insights on energy efficiency, community connectivity, and innovative design strategies that cater to diverse urban settings.

Show Notes:

• To help support the sh...

Steven Robinson joins us to unravel the captivating saga of how dedicated activists thwarted the massive 1990s Television City development on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Imagine the world's tallest building casting a shadow over a vibrant community, threatening its cultural and environmental essence. Our conversation with Robinson shines a spotlight on the resilience and ingenuity of local groups like West Pride and the ...

In this episode we sit down with Michael Eliason, the architect behind "Building for People: Designing Livable, Affordable, Low-Carbon Communities." Michael unveils the potential of eco-districts as a transformative alternative to the all-too-often car-centric and monotonous transit-oriented developments found in the U.S. Drawing from his extensive research in Europe and China, he casts a spotlight on how cities prioritiz...

Have you ever stopped to consider how you would get through your day if driving wasn't an option? We get into this question during our conversation with Anna Zivarts, author of "When Driving Is Not An Option: Steering Away From Car Dependency." Anna's journey, shaped by living with nystagmus, unveils the challenges and daily realities faced by non-drivers in a predominantly car-dependent society. From disabled i...