Routledge City Planning for the Public Manager (ASPA Series in Public Administration and Public Policy)

Why should public administrators care about city planning? Is city planning not a field ruled by architects and public works personnel? Much of city planning in fact requires expertise in areas other than buildings and infrastructure, and with city planning expertise, urban administrators are empowered to make more informed decisions on matters that involve budgeting, economic development, tax revenues, public relations, and ordinances and policies that will benefit the community. City Planning for the Public Manager is designed to fill a gap in the urban administration literature, offering students and practitioners hands-on, practical advice from experts with diverse city administration experience, and demonstrating where theory and practice intersect. Divided into three sections, the book provides an overview of the life cycle of a municipality and its services, explores city planning applications for planners on a strict budget, and walks the reader through a real-life planning research project, demonstrating how it was formulated, implemented, and analyzed to produce usable results. Topics explored include justifications for specific city services, internal and external benchmarking used for city planning, common technical tools (e.g., GIS), legal aspects of planning and zoning, environmental concerns, transportation, residential planning, business district planning, and infrastructure. City Planning for the Public Manager is required reading for students of urban administration and practicing city administrators interested in improving their careers and their communities. Review "City Planning for the Public Manager is a refreshing text that connects theory to practice by addressing key issues of budgeting, environment, housing, infrastructure, transportation and the political realities surrounding city planning. This is a must read book for students and practitioners interested in city planning, urban administration, economic and local development." – Meghna Sabharwal, The University of Texas at Dallas, USA About the Author Nicolas A. Valcik works as the Director for Institutional Research for West Virginia University, USA. Todd A. Jordan serves as the Director of Community Impact at United Way of Wyandotte County, Kansas, USA. Teodoro J. Benavides serves as a faculty member of Public Affairs in the School of Economic, Political, and Policy Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas, USA. Andrea D. Stigdon works in the Office of Strategic Planning and Analysis at The University of Texas at Dallas, USA.