Video for Planners

Video has become one of the most influential communication tools of recent times. Today, urban planners can film, edit, mix, and distribute video to communicate about planning issues as well as increase public knowledge and participation with little to no money.

In "Video for Planners," course instructor Tim Halbur, former communications director for the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), reviews examples of urban planning departments that have used video as an effective tool to promote understanding of a project and increase accessibility and interaction for the public. Students in this course will be able to identify four types of video content, understand the benefits and drawbacks of each type of content, and develop practical skills in capturing video. Students will also learn the best techniques for editing and mixing as well as the most powerful platforms for distribution. YouTube and Vimeo offer creative urban planners free video hosting platforms that make sharing online and via social media easier than ever.

Why use video for planning? A picture is worth one thousand words. Renderings are valuable to urban planning processes, but an even more valuable tool involves helping stakeholders to understand what they are looking at. Urban planning video communications help the public to associate the project with a human face and understand the importance of the project for the community. Posting a video to the web allows viewers to access the content anytime and anywhere without joining a planning meeting. Generally speaking, video allows for a more descriptive, relatable, and accessible representation of an urban planning project. Thanks to advances in video technology, urban planners can utilize video as an indispensable communication tool to present the various phases of planning processes.

Use this course to develop the skills necessary to produce high-quality video content without the help of a professional crew, studio, and sound mixer.