1975
Ithaca
New York
The Planners Network (PN) was founded in 1975 as a national organization of professional urban planners committed to social justice and community-based planning. The organization was the second iteration of Planners for Equal Opportunity, which grew out of a movement of planners concerned about the impact of urban renewal and top-down planning approaches on low-income communities and communities of color. PN’s founders believed that planning should be more responsive to the needs and interests of local communities, and that planners should work as advocates and allies of marginalized groups rather than as neutral technocrats.