PlanningCollaborative

The Planning Collaborative is an interactive online resource for learning about the range of Tools, Case Studies, Methods and Practitioners that support land use planning, community development, and ecosystem-based management.  Links among the four topic areas allow users to easily explore the range of information provided.  The Smart Growth Tools Database is incorporated into the Planning Collaborative.

Tools Database 

The Smart Growth Tools database was designed as a resource to help communities and planners identify tools and processes for better community planning. It was developed by Ken Snyder, Executive Director of PlaceMatters, with financial support from the Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities. Several of the tools listed in this database come from the U.S. EPA report on Projected Land-Use Change, listed in the documents section below.

iCommunity.TV

iCommunity.TV is a collaborative broadcast network for local news, built to promote video as a medium for citizen reporting. As an aggregation platform, iCommunity.TV ties into the popular video-sharing service Youtube.com, extending its offerings by letting a broad audience geo-reference (mark with a location) and sort video clips into news categories (e.g. “Politics in Berlin, Germany”). iCommunity.TV offers multiple convenient ways to watch and subscribe to these custom channels.

Useful Documents and Publications 

(see also "Publications" link for PlaceMatters' publications) 

• "PlaceMaking: Tools for Community Action"
  

This guide, and its accompanying Powerpoint, provide a starter kit for a community member, city ofcial, planner, or design professional to identify currently available planning tools and to assess their applicability and appropriateness to specic projects or issues, alone or in combination.

Authors: CONCERN, Inc., Environmental Simulation Center, Denver Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, PlaceMatters. 2002.

• "Projecting Land Use Change: A Summary of Models for Assessing the Effects of Community Growth and Change on Land-Use Patterns"

This document provides a review of various land use change models.  The Smart Growth Tools Database, now part of the Planning Collaborative, incorporates much of the information contain in this report.

Authors: US EPA 2000. EPA/600/R-00/098. U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Cincinnati, OH.