Site planning is the process by which planners and designers decide how a particular project site will look. Planning departments typically require developers to submit site plans to receive construction permits. Planetizen Courses will teach you how to create, review, and evaluate plans for clarity and compliance with local regulations.

Site Planning Courses

model created in sketchup
SketchUp 2016 for Planners: Introduction
Jaymes Dunsmore
44 Mins
  • AICP CM
  • CNU-A
  • SACPLAN CPD
Construction inside a large two-story mall.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
David Dixon
48 Mins
  • CIP
  • AICP CM
grid overlay on landscape drawing
Drawing in the Landscape: The Adventure Begins
Darryl Jones
36 Mins
  • AICP CM
closeup of a hand holding a pencil and architectural drawings on a desk
The Site Plan
Brad Neumann
55 Mins
city created in sketchup
The DIY Form-Based Code: Publishing and Expanding
Norman Wright
87 Mins
interpretive sign in the foreground with nature and hills in the background
Interpreting Places and Spaces
Adam Fine
56 Mins
  • CIP
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
map illustration created in illustrator
Illustrator for Planners - Introduction
Mike Ernst
99 Mins
  • AICP CM
  • CNU-A
  • SACPLAN CPD
3-d model site plan created in sketchup
SketchUp 2016 for Planners: Site Planning
Jaymes Dunsmore
39 Mins
  • AICP CM
  • CNU-A
  • SACPLAN CPD
Bright walkway inbetween buildings with palm trees and a man walking in the background in Dubai
Walkable City 5: The Comfortable Walk
Jeff Speck
66 Mins
  • CIP
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
ink drawing of buildings and people in foreground
Drawing in the Landscape: Pen, Pencil and Watercolor
Darryl Jones
57 Mins
  • AICP CM
city with connection points
Location Optimization
Kevin Credit
70 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
  • SACPLAN CPD
screenshot of map created with communityviz
GeoDesign Using CommunityViz: Buildout and Visualization
Chuck Donley
130 Mins
  • SACPLAN CPD
The Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park.
History of U.S. Landscape Architecture, Part 1
Kristin Faurest
64 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
vector maps created in adobe illustrator
Illustrator for Planners - Intermediate
Mike Ernst
101 Mins
  • AICP CM
  • CNU-A
  • SACPLAN CPD
park with buildings in background
Calculating the Benefits of Parks, Trails, and Open Space
Todd J. Poole
34 Mins
  • AICP CM
  • CNU-A
  • SACPLAN CPD
site plan created in autocad
AutoCAD 101
Jaymes Dunsmore
63 Mins
  • AICP CM
  • CNU-A
  • SACPLAN CPD
map of proposed transit corridor
Suitability Analysis and Linear Optimization: Siting a New Transit Line
Kevin Credit
92 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
street with buildings and trees
Form-Based Codes 101: Corridors
Geoffrey Ferrell, Kaizer Rangwala
55 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
  • CNU-A
  • LA CES
Brooklyn Bridge Park at golden hour
History of U.S. Landscape Architecture, Part 2
Kristin Faurest
61 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
vector map of new york created in adobe illustrator
Illustrator for Planners - Advanced
Mike Ernst
100 Mins
  • AICP CM
  • CNU-A
  • SACPLAN CPD
storefronts lined on sidewalk
Frontage Types and the Public Realm
72 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
  • CNU-A
  • SACPLAN CPD
site plan created in autocad
AutoCAD for Site Planning
Jaymes Dunsmore
74 Mins
  • AICP CM
  • CNU-A
  • SACPLAN CPD
screenshot of map using Lingo software
Area-Based Location Optimization: Urban Green Space Selection
Kevin Credit
48 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
  • SACPLAN CPD
downtown salt lake city skyline
Form-Based Codes 101: Downtowns
Mary Madden, Victor Dover
66 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
  • CNU-A
  • LA CES

Top Site Planning Instructors

Jaymes Dunsmore

Jaymes is a planner and urban designer who recently completed a Master in City Planning and...

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Kristin Faurest

Kristin Faurest is a public garden education and outreach professional, author, and landscape architecture educator, committed...

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Kevin Credit

Kevin is the Assistant Director for Urban Informatics at the Center for Spatial Data Science at...

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Menka Sethi

Menka Sethi is an accomplished consultant and professor in the field of real estate development and...

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Norman Wright

Norman Wright is the Director of Neighborhood Services for Adams County, Colorado. In his career as...

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Darryl Jones

Darryl Jones is an artist and filmmaker based in Oakland, CA.

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David Dixon

David is well known for helping create new, mixed-use urban districts (in both cities and suburbs)...

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Elliot Hartley

Elliot Hartley is an internationally recognised geodesign and Esri CityEngine expert.

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Mike Ernst

Mike Ernst is an urban planner and designer whose work has focused on participatory planning, community...

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David Rouse

David is a consultant, educator, and author with over 40 years of experience in urban and...

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Christy Dodson

Christy is an Urban Designer at Code Studio, with a background in architecture and planning.

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Jason Neville

Jason is an experienced urban planner, redevelopment professional, and affordable housing developer.

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Carolyn Staskiewicz

For nearly 16 years, Carolyn has been involved in a multitude of educational facility planning efforts...

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Chuck Donley

Mr. Donley is an urban and regional planner who specializes in creating CommunityViz applications. He brings...

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Jeff Speck

Jeff Speck is a city planner who advocates internationally for more walkable cities.

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Kelly Porter

Kelly Porter is the Assistant Director for City of Fort Worth Transportation and Public Works Department...

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Elizabeth Doerr

Elizabeth Doerr is a writer with expertise and awareness around social and racial justice issues and...

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Lynn Peterson

Lynn Peterson is a nationally recognized transportation and land use integration expert.

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Adam Fine

Adam is the Director of experiential graphic design at Nova Scotia-based Fathom Studio and has worked...

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John Hersey

John is a planner with two decades of experience critically evaluating and advancing transit-oriented development as...

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Brad Neumann

Brad Neumann is a MSU Senior Extension Educator who serves as an educational resource for local...

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Daniel Garcia

Daniel Garcia is a freelance urban designer. His most important works deal with the auto-constructed city...

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Geoff Boeing

Geoff Boeing has a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley.

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JJ Zanetta

JJ is an architectural illustrator working in traditional and digital media.

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All Site Planning Courses

Visual Simulation: Rendering Styles and Presentation with SketchUp Sign Up

Visual Simulation: Rendering Styles and Presentation with SketchUp

Instructor: Mike Ernst

Learn to create finalized drawings in SketchUp that look more hand drawn than photorealistic. Using SketchUp and Adobe Photoshop, this course will help you take more control over final images than possible when only exporting from SketchUp.

4.46
29 Mins
AICP CM
SACPLAN CPD
Visual Simulation: Advanced Rendering in SketchUp Sign Up

Visual Simulation: Advanced Rendering in SketchUp

Instructor: Mike Ernst

In this course, you'll learn to create an advanced rendering of a SketchUp site model, using a free third-party renderer called Kerkythea to design realistic lighting and shading. Then add components to your rendering in Adobe Photoshop.

4.40
46 Mins
AICP CM
SACPLAN CPD

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