Booked on Planning
Booked on Planning is a podcast that goes deep into the planning books that have helped shape the world of community and regional planning. We dive into the books and interview the authors to glean the most out of the literature important for preparing for AICP certification and just expanding your knowledge base. We are all busy with our day to day lives which is why we condense the most important material into short 30 minute episodes for your commute, workout, or while you are cleaning up around the house. Join us while we get Booked on Planning.
Episodes
105 episodes
An Even Better Way to Zone
In our latest episode we interview zoning attorney and author Donald Elliott about his book An Even Better Way to Zone: Achieving More Affordable, Equitable, and Sustainable Communities. Elliott’s work comes alongside other recent zoning books ...
Folk Engineering
There’s regionalism as we all learned in planning school led by Louis Mumford at the Regional Planning Association of America (RPAA) and then there’s southern regionalism that Howard W. Odum and his Institute for Research in Social Science (IRS...
2026 Trend Report
Planning for the future can feel overwhelming, yet essential. The American Planning Association’s (APA) 2026 Trend Report offers planners foresight into upcoming trends that could shape our world. In our latest episode, we talked with Petra Hur...
Bittersweet Lane
In the latest episode of the Booked On Planning podcast, hosts Stephanie Rouse and Jennifer Hiatt sat down with author and developer Jamie Madden to discuss his new book, Bittersweet Lane: Creating Home(s) in the American Affordable Housing...
Why Nothing Works
Progressivism struggles with a never ending pendulum swing between Jeffersonian and Hamiltonian impulses, bringing us to our current problem of inaction. Author Mark Dunkelman in his book, "Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress—and How to Brin...
Messy Cities
In this episode of Booked on Planning, we dive into a conversation with Zahra Ebrahim, author of 'Messy Cities: Why We Can't Plan Everything.' Ibrahim discusses the inspiration and collaborative effort behind her book, a collection of 42 essays...
Road to Nowhere
A road that was never built still managed to hollow out a neighborhood. We sit down with historian Emily Lieb to unpack how Baltimore’s “Road to Nowhere” took shape on paper, and why that was enough to destabilize Rosemont—a Black middle-class ...
Livable Streets 2.0
Streets can be good friends or quiet bullies. We talk with author and planner Bruce Appleyard about Livable Streets 2.0 and how design choices—lane widths, speeds, buffers, sidewalks, and bike protection—shape safety, community bonds, and the e...
Spiritual Wellness and the Built Environment
What if city design could prevent harm before it happens—and even lift our sense of purpose? We sat down with architect and planner Phillip Tabb to explore spiritual wellness as a practical, universal lens for shaping healthier streets, homes, ...
Choosing to Succeed
Climate action isn’t only written in federal legislation or international agreements. It’s shaped block by block through local land use law—where homes are built, how streets connect, what landscapes we preserve, and which energy systems we per...
Going for Zero
Forget the shiny renderings—our path to climate-ready cities starts with what already stands. We talked with architect and preservationist Carl Elefante, author of Going for Zero: Decarbonizing the Built Environment on the Path to Our Urban Fut...
Overbuilt
What if the United States didn’t just build too many highways—but built a funding machine that makes it hard to stop? We sit down with Erick Guerra, author of Overbuilt: The High Costs and Low Rewards of U.S. Highway Construction, to unpack why...
Reclaiming the Road
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 on...
Paved Paradise
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 ...
The Shoup Doctrine
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...
Introduction to Housing
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,...
Before Gentrification
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 troubl...
Gentrifier
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 th...
The Cities We Need
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 gu...
Miami in the Anthropocene
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.
Resilience Matters 2025
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 ...
Homelessness is a Housing Problem
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 re...
Meet Me By The Fountain
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 origi...
Meet Me at the Library
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 fro...
Second Order Preservation
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...
