The Green Bible (third edition) - AICP
Exam Study With Questions And
Answers
Village of Euclid v. Amber Realty Co (pg 8) - Answer - 1926, Supreme Court upheld legality of local zoning
practices
Different community types to apply planning (pg 9) - Answer - Old central cities, sun belt cities,
suburbs, rural communities, and resort communities
Edge cities (pg 9) - Answer - Larger, rapid growing suburbs of periphery of major metropolitan areas
Gentrification (pg 10) - Answer - A strong residential retail market for rehabilitated housing that may
price lower income residents out of the housing market
Paul Davidoff (pg 13) - Answer - "Advocacy planning" and "widening choice", 1960s
"Advocacy Planning" - Answer - Theory of planning where the planner is a facilitator advocating for
underrepresented groups and encouraging them to participate. Public participation is a central tenant of
the theory.
"Widening Choice" - Answer - To give more options to residents by making proper choices, widening
the options availiable
Equity planning (pg 13) - Answer - Advocacy planning and other socially conscious planning (like
planning developed from feminist analysis)
Consensus building (pg 14) - Answer - Connecting needs of diverse stakeholders and avoiding legal
disputes through negotiation, knowledge, and mediation. Alternative to adversarial planning situations
that can emerge among competing interests/stakeholders
, Rational Decision making Model - Answer - A guide of planning expertise and practice that uses
professional detachment and application of disciplinary knowledge to a planning area. Inwardly focused
planning. (pg 22)
Four steps of the rational decision making model - Answer - 1) Define the goals, 2) identify the
problems that frustrate fulfillment of these goals, 3) identify alternative solutions to the problems that
will achieve the goals, and 4) compare the relative merits of each alternative as a solution to the
problem. (Pg 23)
Adaptations of the rational decision making model - Answer - Offer more inclusive understanding of
how to guide public decisions. Include comprehensive planning, policy planning, strategic planning, and
consensus building.
Comprehensive Planning - Answer - Multi year process, identify community character, goals, and
alternatives. Adopted by APC as policy guide for the future local development. (pg 24)
Policy Planning - Answer - Planning that focuses on process rather then place.
Generally accepted policy local general plan process (systematically includes interchange between
citizen groups and planners) - Answer - With citizen participation and intergovernmental coordination at
all steps (and environmental review process on steps 3-8): 1 - ID issues, opportunities, & assumptions, 2
- Formulate goals, 3 - Collect and analyze data, 4 - Revise goals and determine objectives, Pause to
environmentally review & allow participation/coordination then, 5 - Develop and evaluate alternative
plans, 6 - Select and adopt preferred plan, 7 - Implement the general plan, 8 - Monitor and amend the
plan following same process. (pg 25)
Strategic community planning - Answer - Used to confront the problem of entering uncertain
international markets while finding new ways to capture larger shares of domestic markets. This type of
planning uses a wide variety of policies and strategies that an entity might use to improve their
competitive advantage. Uses environmental scans, SWOT analysis (external factors vs internal abilities
so as to address them), include specific actions designed to achieve goals. Streamlines rational decision
making by focusing on coping with uncertainties that hamper goals. (pg 26)
Consensus Building Planning - Answer - Rational integration of diverse goals through shared
deliberation. Deliberations occur in every arena, not just political ones. All interests represented,
democratic deliberation, relies on normal communication, and careful attention to using knowledge to
find useful common goals.
, FAR - Answer - Floor Area Ratio
Judith Innes - Answer - Expert on collaborative planning. Author of Planning With Complexity as well as
many other publications.
Strategy Development and Implementation Cycle - Answer - Organize, Scan environment, Select key
issues, Develop mission statement, Conduct internal and external analysis, Develop
goals/objectives/strategies, Develop action plan, Implement, Monitor, Start over with Scanning the
environment. (pg 28)
What do Urban Plans do? - Answer - They help people anticipate and prepare for the collective future
(pg 29)
Comprehensive Plan Scope - Answer - Birds eye view, abstract, general plans that are rarely revised and
provide ideas and alternatives for where an entity or project is headed. Needs Site Plans (specific
development) to make it relevant (pg 31).
Site Plan Scope - Answer - Very detailed evaluation of plans for a specific location. Routine and
revisable to adapt to the situation. Needs the Comprehensive Plan to keep it in sync with the larger
picture (pg 31).
Comprehensive Plan Goals and Vision - Answer - Goals direct public attention to the future and
authorize the plan. Some may recognize conflicting interests. Visions are usually maps and images
showing what could be. (pg 32)
Comprehensive Plan Analysis of current problems - Answer - Analysis through modeling, statistical
models, GIS, surveys, and analytical tools in order to understand how a region is changing and made
realistic proposals to address the changes. More specifically, fiscal impact studies, environmental
reviews, project cost-benefit estimates and other analytical evaluations and more useful for narrow
plans or specific site development.(pg 33)
Comprehensive Plan Creation of Alternatives - Answer - The imaginative consolidation of diverse goals
into more specific forms of action people might take. Anticipate a goal and change its meaning by
showing some consequences that might come from following it in a particular context. (pg 33)
Exam Study With Questions And
Answers
Village of Euclid v. Amber Realty Co (pg 8) - Answer - 1926, Supreme Court upheld legality of local zoning
practices
Different community types to apply planning (pg 9) - Answer - Old central cities, sun belt cities,
suburbs, rural communities, and resort communities
Edge cities (pg 9) - Answer - Larger, rapid growing suburbs of periphery of major metropolitan areas
Gentrification (pg 10) - Answer - A strong residential retail market for rehabilitated housing that may
price lower income residents out of the housing market
Paul Davidoff (pg 13) - Answer - "Advocacy planning" and "widening choice", 1960s
"Advocacy Planning" - Answer - Theory of planning where the planner is a facilitator advocating for
underrepresented groups and encouraging them to participate. Public participation is a central tenant of
the theory.
"Widening Choice" - Answer - To give more options to residents by making proper choices, widening
the options availiable
Equity planning (pg 13) - Answer - Advocacy planning and other socially conscious planning (like
planning developed from feminist analysis)
Consensus building (pg 14) - Answer - Connecting needs of diverse stakeholders and avoiding legal
disputes through negotiation, knowledge, and mediation. Alternative to adversarial planning situations
that can emerge among competing interests/stakeholders
, Rational Decision making Model - Answer - A guide of planning expertise and practice that uses
professional detachment and application of disciplinary knowledge to a planning area. Inwardly focused
planning. (pg 22)
Four steps of the rational decision making model - Answer - 1) Define the goals, 2) identify the
problems that frustrate fulfillment of these goals, 3) identify alternative solutions to the problems that
will achieve the goals, and 4) compare the relative merits of each alternative as a solution to the
problem. (Pg 23)
Adaptations of the rational decision making model - Answer - Offer more inclusive understanding of
how to guide public decisions. Include comprehensive planning, policy planning, strategic planning, and
consensus building.
Comprehensive Planning - Answer - Multi year process, identify community character, goals, and
alternatives. Adopted by APC as policy guide for the future local development. (pg 24)
Policy Planning - Answer - Planning that focuses on process rather then place.
Generally accepted policy local general plan process (systematically includes interchange between
citizen groups and planners) - Answer - With citizen participation and intergovernmental coordination at
all steps (and environmental review process on steps 3-8): 1 - ID issues, opportunities, & assumptions, 2
- Formulate goals, 3 - Collect and analyze data, 4 - Revise goals and determine objectives, Pause to
environmentally review & allow participation/coordination then, 5 - Develop and evaluate alternative
plans, 6 - Select and adopt preferred plan, 7 - Implement the general plan, 8 - Monitor and amend the
plan following same process. (pg 25)
Strategic community planning - Answer - Used to confront the problem of entering uncertain
international markets while finding new ways to capture larger shares of domestic markets. This type of
planning uses a wide variety of policies and strategies that an entity might use to improve their
competitive advantage. Uses environmental scans, SWOT analysis (external factors vs internal abilities
so as to address them), include specific actions designed to achieve goals. Streamlines rational decision
making by focusing on coping with uncertainties that hamper goals. (pg 26)
Consensus Building Planning - Answer - Rational integration of diverse goals through shared
deliberation. Deliberations occur in every arena, not just political ones. All interests represented,
democratic deliberation, relies on normal communication, and careful attention to using knowledge to
find useful common goals.
, FAR - Answer - Floor Area Ratio
Judith Innes - Answer - Expert on collaborative planning. Author of Planning With Complexity as well as
many other publications.
Strategy Development and Implementation Cycle - Answer - Organize, Scan environment, Select key
issues, Develop mission statement, Conduct internal and external analysis, Develop
goals/objectives/strategies, Develop action plan, Implement, Monitor, Start over with Scanning the
environment. (pg 28)
What do Urban Plans do? - Answer - They help people anticipate and prepare for the collective future
(pg 29)
Comprehensive Plan Scope - Answer - Birds eye view, abstract, general plans that are rarely revised and
provide ideas and alternatives for where an entity or project is headed. Needs Site Plans (specific
development) to make it relevant (pg 31).
Site Plan Scope - Answer - Very detailed evaluation of plans for a specific location. Routine and
revisable to adapt to the situation. Needs the Comprehensive Plan to keep it in sync with the larger
picture (pg 31).
Comprehensive Plan Goals and Vision - Answer - Goals direct public attention to the future and
authorize the plan. Some may recognize conflicting interests. Visions are usually maps and images
showing what could be. (pg 32)
Comprehensive Plan Analysis of current problems - Answer - Analysis through modeling, statistical
models, GIS, surveys, and analytical tools in order to understand how a region is changing and made
realistic proposals to address the changes. More specifically, fiscal impact studies, environmental
reviews, project cost-benefit estimates and other analytical evaluations and more useful for narrow
plans or specific site development.(pg 33)
Comprehensive Plan Creation of Alternatives - Answer - The imaginative consolidation of diverse goals
into more specific forms of action people might take. Anticipate a goal and change its meaning by
showing some consequences that might come from following it in a particular context. (pg 33)
