Urban Planning Cheat Sheet
The core ideas of Urban Planning distilled into a single, scannable reference — perfect for review or quick lookup.
Quick Reference
Zoning
The division of a municipality into districts with regulations governing land use, building height, lot coverage, density, and setbacks. Zoning is the primary legal mechanism through which local governments control the physical form and functional character of neighborhoods.
Transit-Oriented Development (TOD)
A planning strategy that concentrates housing, employment, and amenities within a short walking distance of high-quality public transit stations, reducing automobile dependence and promoting compact, walkable urban form.
Mixed-Use Development
An approach that blends residential, commercial, cultural, and sometimes industrial uses within a single building, block, or neighborhood, promoting walkability, economic vitality, and efficient land use.
Urban Sprawl
The uncontrolled, low-density expansion of urban areas into surrounding rural land, typically characterized by automobile-dependent subdivisions, strip malls, and separated land uses that increase infrastructure costs and environmental degradation.
New Urbanism
A design movement promoting walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods with diverse housing types, interconnected street networks, prominent public spaces, and architecture that respects local context and human scale.
Comprehensive Plan
A long-range policy document adopted by a local government that establishes goals, guidelines, and strategies for land use, transportation, housing, economic development, parks, and public facilities over a 10- to 20-year horizon.
Gentrification
The process by which investment and higher-income residents move into a lower-income neighborhood, raising property values and rents, often displacing long-term residents and altering the social and cultural character of the area.
Urban Renewal
Government-led programs that clear and redevelop areas deemed blighted, historically involving large-scale demolition of existing neighborhoods. Mid-20th-century urban renewal was widely criticized for displacing minority communities and destroying social networks.
Complete Streets
A transportation policy and design approach requiring streets to be planned, designed, and maintained to enable safe, comfortable access for all users, including pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders, and motorists of all ages and abilities.
Green Infrastructure
A network of natural and semi-natural systems, such as rain gardens, bioswales, green roofs, permeable pavements, and urban forests, that manage stormwater, reduce heat island effects, and provide ecosystem services within the built environment.
Key Terms at a Glance
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