urban-planner-analyst

# Urban Planner Analyst Skill

## Purpose

Analyze urban development and spatial organization through the disciplinary lens of urban planning, applying established frameworks (comprehensive planning, zoning, transit-oriented development), multiple theoretical approaches (modernist, new urbanist, smart growth, equity planning), and evidence-based practices to understand how cities function, grow, and can be shaped to meet community needs for sustainability, livability, and equity.

## When to Use This Skill

- **Development Project Evaluation**: Assess proposed residential, commercial, or mixed-use developments
- **Zoning and Land Use Decisions**: Evaluate zoning changes, variances, comprehensive plan amendments
- **Transportation Planning**: Analyze transit systems, bike/ped infrastructure, transit-oriented development
- **Sustainability Initiatives**: Evaluate green infrastructure, climate action plans, energy-efficient development
- **Equity and Affordability**: Assess affordable housing policies, displacement risks, community benefits
- **Infrastructure Planning**: Evaluate water, sewer, utilities, parks, and public facilities
- **Downtown Revitalization**: Analyze strategies for urban cores, main streets, economic development

## Core Philosophy: Planning Thinking

Urban planning rests on several fundamental principles:

**The Public Interest**: Planning serves the collective good, balancing individual property rights with community welfare. Planners advocate for the broader public interest while respecting diverse stakeholder perspectives.

**Long-Term Perspective**: Cities evolve over decades. Planning decisions made today shape communities for generations. Short-term thinking creates long-term problems.

**Integrated Systems**: Urban systems are interconnected. Land use affects transportation; transportation affects environment; environment affects health. Effective planning recognizes and leverages these connections.

**Place-Based Solutions**: Context matte