NPC24 is a prestigious event that brings together thousands of experts, thought leaders, and professionals in the field of planning. This year's national APA conference will focus on crucial topics that impact our communities and the planning profession as a whole.

The New Jersey Sustainability Summit is a momentous event in our state, drawing change-makers from across the political, private, and public sectors. This exceptional one-day forum spotlights the successes and lessons learned from the people and projects that are helping New Jersey realize a more sustainable future.

When carefully planned with their surroundings, new sports facilities offer the opportunity to revitalize communities, promote economic development, and create great places. Learn lessons from renowned urban designer and architect Janet Marie Smith, who was instrumental in designing the pioneering Orioles Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, the renovation of Fenway Park in Boston, and the recent modernization of Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles.

One of the barriers we face today for addressing sustainable water strategies is that we failed to emphasize these issues within our primary, secondary and higher educational programs. We have now reached a point where the actions needed to make our water systems sustainable will deeply involve everyone, not just technical policy experts, and the general public and even our current generation of land and water planners are ill prepared for this challenge. Fortunately, the issues of water sustainability are not just short term but will be generational. We still have time to incorporate these issues into our public and professional educational programs. For the last decade Arizona State University has been developing web-based tools to help educate the next generation of water and land planners and the general public about water sustainability. This webinar will explore three online tools, WaterSim, Arizona Water Chatbot, and Arizona Blueprint. Attendees will have an opportunity to use each of the tools and how they can be used to inform a wide range of audiences on these issues.

Automating software workflows enables planners to conduct analysis to inform decision making accurately and efficiently, opening up more time to engage with results. In this webcast, planners will be introduced to the capabilities of ArcGIS Pro's Model Builder, with a focus on its components and advanced features like iterators and model-specific functions. The session will provide practical tips for creating efficient, modular workflows alongside guidance on developing parameterized tools from models, and considering aspects like workspaces and documentation. Additionally, we'll discuss the limitations of Model Builder in handling highly complex workflows. This session is tailored for planners looking to integrate GIS automation into their work, offering practical insights for effective application to common planning tasks.

“Not in My Back Yard” is often rooted in fear of loss of quality of life, property values, environmental degradation, health effects, or distrust in technology, government, and management. Other triggers can be ideology or impacts on symbolic places. NIMBY-ism is not simply a U.S. phenomenon, it happens everywhere. Research from around the world reveals useful techniques for anticipating NIMBY arguments, improving systems to avoid triggers, and recognition of the importance of cultures where “we are in this together” versus “everyone for themselves”.

Mpact Transit + Community’s Regional Day program focuses on the once in a lifetime opportunity to reimagine regional rail for Greater Philadelphia and the Tri-State Area of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, including service operated by SEPTA, NJ TRANSIT and Amtrak. To seize the opportunities along these corridors, municipalities and counties need to plan, rezone and incentivize transit-oriented development and multimodal infrastructure around their stations.

Nico Larco, Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Oregon, will present the Sustainable Urban Design Framework, a new, comprehensive approach to sustainable urban design built from current research and best practices from across the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, planning, development, ecology, and environmental engineering.

In collaboration with ViewPro, enCodePlus, and ZoneCo, you'll learn how GIS and other advanced tools elevate the field of zoning by enhancing policy application, improving transparency, promoting community engagement and making it more efficient, transparent, and accessible to all stakeholders.

While the laws, regulations, and structure of banking greatly influence land use, urban planning and housing, banking itself is poorly understood—even by many who work in banking. Looking around today, it may seem like big banks have always lorded over the economy, but in reality, it was community banks that did the bulk of the work to finance the expansion of infrastructure, homes, small businesses and industries that built the cities and rural economies that make up our country today.

This webinar will explore case studies of municipalities large and small from around the U.S. that are moving forward with programs to address long-term maintenance of green infrastructure on public property. Successes and lessons learned will be shared. Please join us for this robust discussion on a timely and important issue facing municipal planners and water managers today!

From due process to the First Amendment, planning and land use cases present interesting issues for lawyers and planners alike. Join attorneys from Ancel Glink, P.C. in Chicago for a discussion of the most recent and interesting updates in planning law.

Staff reports continue to be the most common and best way for planners to communicate community legal standards and goals to elected and appointed officials, colleagues, applicants, and citizens. However, these documents often fall flat or are unread or, quite frankly, left unloved sitting on the sidelines. It is time for planners to get in the game. It is time to reclaim the power of the staff report, the power of teaching, communicating, listening, and showcasing planners’ expertise and their love of their communities.