The American Planning Association has released its list of 2013 National Planning Awards winners that exhibit the best planning efforts that create communities of lasting value. Among the recipients are regional plans that seek to revitalize post-industrial cities, plans to preserve and rehabilitate native settlements, restore blighted communities, reassess planning and zoning in major cities, develop environmental conservation programs, regenerate access to our natural topography and develop guidelines and regulations for more sustainable approaches to building. The projects are diverse and span a significant realm of urban reclamation and development.
Join us after the break for a look at some of this year's recipients.
The Daniel Burnham Award for a Comprehensive Plan went to Northwest Indiana's 2040 vision for providing a broad stroke to redeveloping a region that has been neglected due to the fall of the steel industry. The Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission assembled their report based on citizen and stakeholder interest with the goal of developing strategic objectives for planning on a variety of issues including transportation, land use, human and economic resources and policy objectives. The outreach resulted in a diversity of ideas on a variety of scales that provide a vision for more developed strategies as the project takes its course.
The HUD Secretary's Opportunity and Empowerment Award was awarded to the Owe'neh Bupingeh Preservation Plan whose goal is to rehabilitate the historic housing within the tribe's village center. Two phases of its development has already been completed, which includes the rehabilitation of 20 homes and the development of infrastructure. It is a part of an effort to initiate a holistic discussion to the preservation issues faced by the tribe.
The National Planning Excellence Award for a Best Practice was awarded to Philadelphia's Integrated Planning and Zoning Process which include the Citizen's Planning Instutute, Philadelphia 2035, and a new zoning code and map revision. The city has succeeded in adopting the plan and is working to implement the agenda whose themes are "Thrive, Connect, and Renew".
National Planning Excellence Award for Environmental Planning was awarded to the NYC Department of City Planning for its Zone Green initiative which provides more guidance and options for homeowners and builders to make better decisions towards issues of sustainability. Zone Green works towards NYC's 2030 goal of reducing carbon emissions by 30%.
To view more of the projects that gained recognition by the APA, click here .
