Planning as if People Matter

American communities are changing fast: ethnic minority populationsare growing, home ownership is falling, the number of people perhousehold is going up, and salaries are going down. According to MarcBrenman and Thomas W. Sanchez, the planning field is largely unpreparedfor these fundamental shifts. If planners are going to adequately serveresidents of diverse ages, races, and income levels, they need toaddress basic issues of equity. Planning as if People Matteroffers practical solutions to make our communities more livable andmore equitable for all residents.

While there are many books on environmental justice, relatively fewgo beyond theory to give real-world examples of how better planning canlevel inequities. In contrast, Planning as if People Matter iswritten expressly for planning practitioners, public administrators,policy-makers, activists, and students who must directly confront thesechallenges. It provides new insights about familiar topics such asstakeholder participation and civil rights. And it addresses emergingissues, including disaster response, new technologies, and equitymetrics. Far from an academic treatment, Planning as if PeopleMatter is rooted in hard data, on-the-ground experience, andcurrent policy analysis.

In this tumultuous period of economic change, there has never been abetter time to reform the planning process. Brenman and Sanchez pointthe way toward a more just social landscape.