AICP flashcards
AICP · Build recall with a focused review session.
32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Nominal scale
- A measurement level that sorts data into named, unordered categories. Only frequency counts, percentages, and the mode are valid summaries of such data.
- Ordinal scale
- A measurement level that ranks categories in order with unequal or unknown intervals. The median and percentiles are appropriate; the mean is not.
- Margin of error
- The range around a survey estimate within which the true value likely falls; roughly 1/√n at 95% confidence, so 400 responses give about ±5%.
- Cohort-component projection
- A population forecast that advances age-sex cohorts year by year, adding births, subtracting deaths, and applying age-specific net migration rates.
- Euclidean zoning
- Use-based, cumulative zoning districts upheld in Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty (1926) as a valid exercise of the municipal police power.
- Form-based code
- A regulation governing building form, frontage, and streetscape rather than separating uses, often organized by transect zones from rural to urban core.
- Nonconforming use
- A use that lawfully existed before a zoning change but no longer complies with current rules; it may continue, be amortized, or be discontinued.
- Regulatory taking
- A government regulation so restrictive that it effectively deprives an owner of economically viable use, requiring compensation under the Fifth Amendment.
- Arnstein's ladder
- Eight rungs describing citizen participation, from manipulation and therapy up through partnership, delegated power, and citizen control at the top.
- Charrette
- An intensive, multi-day collaborative workshop in which stakeholders and design professionals produce a plan or design together in real time.
- Delphi method
- An iterative forecasting technique using repeated anonymous questionnaires to experts with controlled feedback until their opinions converge.
- BATNA
- Best alternative to a negotiated agreement: the course a party will take if negotiations fail, which sets its walk-away point.
- SMART objectives
- A test for writing objectives: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound, distinguishing them from broad, unquantified goals.
- Capital improvement plan
- A multi-year schedule, typically five to six years, listing capital projects, costs, and funding sources; it should match the comprehensive plan.
- Scenario planning
- Developing several plausible alternative futures and testing policies against each so decisions remain robust under uncertainty.
- Plan consistency
- The requirement that zoning, subdivision, and capital decisions align with the adopted comprehensive plan, horizontally across departments and vertically across government levels.
- Tax increment financing
- A redevelopment tool capturing growth in property tax revenue within a district to fund improvements, diverting that revenue from overlapping taxing jurisdictions.
- Impact fee
- A one-time charge on new development to fund off-site capital facilities, requiring an essential nexus and rough proportionality to the development's impacts.
- Adequate public facilities ordinance
- A concurrency rule allowing development only when roads, schools, water, and sewer have capacity to serve it at the time impacts occur.
- Transfer of development rights
- A market tool shifting development potential from sending areas preserved for open space to receiving areas designated to absorb growth.
- Zero-based budgeting
- A budget method starting each cycle from zero and requiring every proposed expenditure to be justified anew rather than built on last year's base.
- Critical path method
- A scheduling technique identifying the longest chain of dependent tasks, which determines the shortest possible duration of the whole project.
- Span of control
- The number of subordinates reporting directly to one supervisor; wide spans create flat organizations while narrow spans create tall hierarchies.
- Transformational leadership
- A leadership style motivating followers through shared vision, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration beyond simple reward-for-performance exchange.
- Tuckman stages
- Five predictable phases of team development: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning as the group matures and eventually disbands.
- Thomas-Kilmann conflict modes
- Five conflict-handling styles-competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding, accommodating-chosen according to issue importance and relationship value.
- Area median income
- The median household income of a metropolitan area, used to set affordable housing eligibility; affordability means housing costs at or below 30 percent of income.
- Level of service
- A transportation performance grade from A to F describing traffic flow and delay on a roadway segment or at an intersection.
- Section 106 review
- A federal historic preservation review required when federally funded, licensed, or permitted projects may affect properties listed or eligible for the National Register.
- Aspirational principles
- The AICP Code's ideals that planners should strive toward, including serving the public interest, fairness, honesty, and professional excellence; they are not directly enforceable.
- Rules of conduct
- The enforceable portion of the AICP Code setting mandatory standards; violations may lead to censure, suspension, or revocation of AICP certification.
- Conflict of interest
- A situation where a planner's personal, financial, or other interest could bias professional judgment; it must be disclosed and avoided.