Policy Guide on Neighborhood Collaborative Planning  Adopted
April 6, 1998  Printer version (pdf)   Neighborhood advocates
and experts representing a variety of perspectives convened in
Chicago in late 1996 for a Symposium on Neighborhood
Collaborative Planning. A series of working papers were
commissioned through APA's Research Department to inform the
discussion. Dozens of communities were surveyed and plans and
programs collected and analyzed. This Policy Guide responds to
the needs identified in both the working papers and the
symposium, and in subsequent discussions with participants and
others identified through the process.  APA defines
neighborhoods as diverse, dynamic social and economic entities
with unique characteristics, which are recognized by residents
of both the neighborhood and community at large. Neighborhoods
should be recognized as building blocks of overall community
development. Local officials and planners must heed opinions and
suggestions of people and groups within the neighborhood