The Planning Van: Empowering Citizens To Get Involved

The Planning Van is an innovative community outreach program focusing on capacity building, education, and project implementation. The program was initiated earlier this year by the Orange Section of the American Planning Association, California Chapter, and offers pro-bono assistance to local governments, non-profits, and community groups to implement small-scale projects in their communities. The Planning Van team is also dedicated to having a presence at community events throughout Southern California to promote the planning profession as a whole and educate the public on planning issues in a fun, non-controversial way.  It is a grassroots effort with a mission educate, engage, and empower both individuals and groups so that they may play an active role in the development of their communities.

Foundation For Discussion
The Planning Van staff and community volunteers educate citizens about urban planning concepts in order to provide a foundation for discussion about land use issues. They also inform citizens of the ways they can get involved in and have a meaningful impact on decisions that shape their built, social, and economic environments. This is achieved by providing educational materials and interactive exercises at community events such as farmers' markets and street fairs.

Engagement Opportunities That Help Citizens Influence Community Decisions
The Planning Van is committed to engaging community members, especially those who have traditionally been left out of the planning process, through creative outreach strategies. They do this by actively bringing together a variety of stakeholders within the community to build consensus and find solutions to land use and development challenges, and offering opportunities for citizens themselves to inform and influence decisions in their communities. Collaboration with local planners, jurisdictions and other development professional volunteers enables this engagement process and complements existing outreach efforts.

Citizens Turn Their Visions Into Reality
Empowering community members to bring their ideas to life is what The Planning Van is all about. By providing citizens with the tools and resources they need through mentorships and ongoing consultation, enabling community members to identify their own projects and see them through to completion.

Earlier this year, The Planning Van set out on its first ever three month tour of Orange County. Below are a few case studies from the inaugural tour:

Carfax/Del Amo Neighborhood Improvement Project
In August of this year, Tustin Planning Division utilized The Planning Van as part of their Neighborhood Improvement Task Force (NITF) community improvement project. An essential goal of this project is to share the vision of urban planning and the role that planning a safe and aesthetically pleasing neighborhood can have for residents. To help them attain their instrumental goal, the The Planning Van hosted an event at the city’s “Substation-for-a-day” community outreach event in the Carfax/Del Amo neighborhood. During this event Planning Van volunteers educated the community on the role of planning and how through CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) they can create a crime preventive environment. During the event, the ask Force also hosted a neighborhood clean-up and share the City’s plans for improving the neighborhood.

Harbor Corridor Critical Idea Fair
The Planning Van was in action at the City of Santa Ana, CA’s Harbor Corridor Fair in September, helping residents envision a mass transit-rich future! The Planning Van volunteers recorded participant ideas on large maps of the corridor and facilitated discussions around concept like vertical and horizontal mixed use, transit oriented development, and complete streets in a one-on-one setting. The Planning Van was successful in engaging a multilingual community of neighbors, speaking English, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

Read more about how The Planning Van has helped other communities >>