Top Five Issues Facing North Carolina Planners in the Future

As we look back to celebrate the most influential planners of the past 50 years, it is also important to look ahead to the issues, challenges, and dilemmas that will face North Carolina’s next generation of planners over the coming 50 years. In this vein, members of the North Carolina chapter of the American Planning Association submitted their nominations for these emerging issues in 11 broad categories, including environment/sustainability, coastal issues, transportation, quality of life/ sense of place, open space/agricultural land protection, economic development, affordable housing, population growth/age/diversity, hazard mitigation, sprawl/redevelopment, and others. After receiving dozens of entries, the three authors condensed the impressive number of nominations into the Top Five Emerging Issues listed below