The Practice of Local Government Planning

by Charles J. Hoch (Editor)

This classic ICMA "green book" is filled with practical guidance on a broad range of issues that planners are likely to encounter--whether they work in inner cities, older suburbs, rural districts, or small towns. In addition to covering the latest planning trends and the impact of technology, diversity, and citizen participation, this text gives complete coverage of basic planning functions such as housing, transportation, community development, and urban design.

Genres: Urban Planning, Urbanism, Reference

496 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1988

Reviews

[Isabelle Gillibrand]

I’m super fun at parties

[Katherine Henderson]

I think four stars is about as energetic as one can be about a textbook. This book is referred to as the "Green Bible" of urban planning, and with good reason. I'm reading it in preparation for the AICP exam, and have found it to be informative and relatively readable, a great crash course in the profession. Would be perfect for an "intro to urban planning" course. Actually wish I'd been required to read this during my Masters program.

[Sam Starr-Baum]

Was this worth reading? No. But am I glad I read it to pass the AICP? Still no.

[Bee]

AICP Exam must! Also referred to as "the Planners Bible"!

[Joe Liang]

I read the third edition, which was published in 2000, making it outdated. There was a chapter on using technology for planning, and I suppose it is only until now that technology is truly taking root within planning.

Anyways, the last two chapters on planning ethics was truly insightful, and it even provided insight onto four types of planners and politics in planning. The book takes the position for the planners to be adversarial advocates or conciliatory mediators as most useful to communities, which I do agree as planners have a unique role to be informants and advocate for helpful projects in local developments.

[Colette!]

The 3rd edition is still useful for the AICP (not a must-read, but good for subjects you need to get a better handle on), and equally good for brushing up on or getting a crash course in certain planning topics. I was not as impressed with the more-recent fourth edition.

[Christian Hamilton]

The "Green Book" of planning. It serves as a good companion piece for local planning and should be on every planner's bookshelf. But it more serves as an overview for certain things than as a guide. That's where "Planning and Urban Design Standards" really shines.

[Steven Peterson]

Against common sense, I used this as a textbook on a graduate course I once taught at Alfred University--The Politics of Planning. I always thought it made sense to introduce students to the nitty gritty of local planning before expanding on the politics of the process.

This book, sometimes styled as "The Green Book" and, at other times, as "The Green Bible" provided my students the background on what local planning is like as a process. Once they understood that, we went into a detailed discussion of the politics of local planning.

The introductory section provides context for the subject, including a history of city planning. The second part of the book examines "District, Environmental, and Transportation Planning." Part Three looks at urban design and land use regulation. Next, Part Four, Economic and social planning. This area is somewhat more controversial. Social elements in planning? Part Five considers management, finance, and information. Finance and budgeting, obviously, are critical elements in planning. Part Six has just one chapter--focusing in the values of planners.

For students who might not be invested in the logistics and details of city planning, this book can be daunting. However, its value is revealed by the fact that my students responded well to it, addressed it seriously, and learned from it.

All in all, a fine volume, even though it is now, clearly, dated to some extent.

[Val]

The Green Book/Bible is esstential for passing the AICP exam. The easiest way to make it through the entire textbook is to split the reading with a group of people and swap chapter summaries. I did this with a group while studying for the AICP exam, we even scanned our highlighted sections and shared our written notes. Good luck!

[Kelly]

Another AICP book. On the plus side, all these academic additions to my book list are making me look intelligent!

[Erika]

It's the bible of planning. I still flip it open from time to time.

[Scott]

Planning grad school standard text book. Used it to study for my AICP exam and it helped.

[Katie]

I primarily read the second edition and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was well-written and interesting.