Western Planning Book List

Looking for some great reads? The Western Planner Resources board put together a list of their top books. Check these out and send your book recommendations.

Abbott, C., Adler, S., & Abbott, M. P. (1997). Planning a new West: the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Oregon State University Press.

Adler, S. (2012). Oregon plans: the making of an unquiet land use revolution. Oregon State University Press.

Arendt, Randall et al. Rural by Design: Maintaining Small Town Character / by Randall Arendt; Contributing Authors, Elizabeth A. Brabec [and Others]; Cosponsored by Lincoln Land Institute of Land Policy, Environmental Law Foundation, Center for Rural Massachusetts. Chicago, Ill: Planners Press, American Planning Association, 1994. Print.

Babbitt, B. E. (2005). Cities in the wilderness: a new vision of land use in America. Island Press/Shearwater Books.

Barth, D. (2020). Parks and recreation system planning: a new approach for creating sustainable, resilient communities. Island Press.

Carson, Rachel et al. Silent Spring / by Rachel Carson; Drawings by Lois and Louis Darling. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1962. Print.

Daniels, Thomas L, John W. (John William) Keller, and Mark B Lapping. The Small Town Planning Handbook / Thomas L. Daniels, John W. Keller with Mark B. Lapping. Washington, D.C: Planners Press, 1988. Print.

Flores, D. (2022). Wild new world: the epic story of animals and people in America (First edition.). W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Garreau, J. (1992). Edge city: life on the new frontier (1st Anchor books ed.). Anchor Books.

Jackson, Kenneth T. Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States / Kenneth T. Jackson. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985. Print.

Katz, B. (2000). Reflections on regionalism. Brookings Institution Press.

Kousky, C., Fleming, B., & Berger, A. (Eds.). (2021). A blueprint for coastal adaptation: uniting design, economics, and policy. Island Press.

Levine, J. (Jonathan C.), Grengs, J., & Merlin, L. A. (2019). From mobility to accessibility: transforming urban transportation and land-use planning. Cornell University Press.

MacKaye, B. (1928). The new exploration; a philosophy of regional planning, by Benton MacKaye; illustrated with maps. Harcourt, Brace, and company [c1928].

Moore, L. M. (2022). Rural renaissance: revitalizing America’s hometowns through clean power. Island Press.

Peterson, J. L., & Island Press, publisher. (2019). A new coast: strategies for responding to devastating storms and rising seas. Island Press.

Seltzer, E., & Carbonell, A. (Eds.). (2011). Regional planning in America: practice and prospect. Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

Stein, Clarence S. Toward New Towns for America / with an Introd. by Lewis Mumford. Liverpool: University Press of Liverpool, 1951. Print.

Walker, J. (2024). Human transit: how clearer thinking about public transit can enrich our communities and our lives (Revised edition.). Island Press.

Williams, T. (2022). Willamette River greenways: navigating the currents of conservation policy and practice. Oregon State University Press.