Lead and Inspire with Purpose: AICP Code of Ethics Update
December 22, 2021 by admin
Policy/Legislative
As professionals, we embrace guiding principles to conduct ourselves with honesty, integrity and purpose. A code of ethics fulfills that role in so many ways. The AICP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct guides and inspires ethical decision-making and protects AICP-certified planners when faced with controversial or difficult choices.
I have always been inspired by the AICP’s Code of Ethics. I read the aspirational principles at least twice a year. Each time I read them, I am filled with a renewed sense of energy and purpose. I have read the code of ethics of other allied professionals and I can tell you, firsthand, that the planners’ code is distinct. It is inspirational and aspirational and truly emphasizes our pursuit to protect the public health, safety, and welfare. Our Code of Ethics makes be proud to call myself a planner.
The AICP Commission first adopted our modern-day code of ethics in March 2005. The code was revised in April 2016 and then again in November 2021. Each revision, like our profession, evolved to adapt to contemporary issues and practices.
The new Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct will become effective January 1, 2022.
Read the updated AICP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct
During the update process, the task force that was appointed to update the code reached out to members, chapters, and divisions through a virtual town hall and meetings. The 2021 revision expands the aspirational principles from three sections to five and reorganized the Rules of Conduct into more logical groupings. APA and AICP strongly believes these revisions urge planners to account for the planners’ role in social justice and racial equity; to respect the rights of others and to increase opportunities for underrepresented groups to become professional planners.
Most members have welcomed the revisions while a few have expressed concerns about a social equity focus. It should be noted that these aspirational principles to advance social equity and address racial inequity are not new. They have been in our code since 2005 and that inspired by our Ethical Principles in Planning adopted in 1992 as part the APA’s Agenda for America’s Communities.
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION
Diversity, equity and inclusion are core values of the American Planning Association and a revised code of ethics continues to make those values real to our profession, practice and the people we serve. But after years of discussing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), some people are still not clear about what it means. I will share my personal definitions in the hope that I can cut through the fog of confusion.
Equity means fairness. Diversity means the value of different perspectives. Inclusion means to be included and not excluded, to create a sense of belonging and make people feel welcome. Access means to remove physical, cultural and regulatory barriers. Applying these simple definitions to our practice should motivate us to focus on our valuable role as planners.
ASPIRATIONAL AND MANDATORY BEHAVIORS
As stated in the revised Code of Ethics, to meet our obligation to the public, we now must aspire to five principle categories. Please keep in mind that these principles (Section A) are aspirational and not mandated rules of conduct. The five new aspirational categories are:
- People who participate in the planning shall continuously pursue and faithfully serve the public interest;
- People who participate in the planning process shall do so with integrity;
- People who participate in the planning process shall work to achieve economic, social and racial equity;
- People who participate in the planning process shall safeguard the public trust; and
- Practicing planners shall improve planning knowledge and increase understanding of planning activities.
The Rules of Conduct (Section B) is mandated behavior for members of AICP. The 2021 version improves alignment of rules, clarifies types of employment and perceived conflict of interest, and reduces the use of frivolous complaints by an aggrieved member of the public against an AICP member. Only an AICP member now can file an appeal of a determination by the Ethics Officer related to a complaint of misconduct.
Thank you to the AICP Commission, Code Update Task Force, and AICP members for your leadership and input to make these important revisions a reality. The new year will bring a new focus to our code and professional conduct. I am grateful to the dedicated members of AICP who I am confident will continue to conduct themselves with honesty, integrity and a renewed sense of purpose.
Top Image: View of AICP’s updated Code of Ethics.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Recent News
- Brainstorming: Ukraine’s Post War Reconstruction
- How a new website may influence Wasatch Mountain planning
- CLAMOR IS KING –PART II
- Let’s Change the Process to Change Our Zoning: A Response to State and Federal Zoning Controls
- Awards Spotlight: Utah Valley Visioning
- Award Spotlight: Mid Valley ATP
- Award Spotlight: Interlocal Sustainability Action Plan
- Award Spotlight: South Salt Lake General Plan Update
- Hey, Utahns—stop driving your car
- Award Spotlight: 2020 Kearns General Plan and Resilience + Infrastructure Element
- Art as Daily Experience in Ogden’s Nine Rails Creative District
- Award Spotlight: Salt Lake City Reimagines Nature
- LET’S TALK! AND TALK. AND TALK SOME MORE…
- A Minnesota Judge Throws the Book at Immoral Tax Assessments
- The Great Rebalance
- To Fully Observe, We Need to Walk
- Study reveals that Utah housing prices have increased 200% in two decades
- DOUBLE WHAMMY
- The Office of the Property Rights Ombudsman
- Gov. Cox hails ‘generational’ effort in Utah’s water law history
- Clamor is King
- Utah Is Building a ’15-Minute City’ From Scratch
- Quality of Life – A Dishonest Approach to Change in Neighborhood Character
- Changing the Rules of Zoning
- Growth & Change In the West: 2022 RMLUI Conference Recap
- Vernacular Is Beautiful—If We Would Just Allow It
- APAUT Spring Conference Follow-up and Pictures
- To Airbnb or Not to Airbnb
- The Costs of Wide Streets in the U.S.
- APAUT President’s Message – March 2022
- How should we decide the fate of Utah Lake?
- How the Utah Legislature continues to usurp power from city and county government
- What to know about residential care facilities in your neighborhood
- University of Utah Professor Named the 3rd Most Cited Planning Faculty in the World
- TWO BIG BILLS OUT
- Examining the Impact of London’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing
- May We all Grow Together: Cultivating Support for Utah’s Emerging Planners
- A Commitment to Change
- Okay Boomer
- APAUT Book Discussion: Evicted by Matthew Desmond
- Economic Development After the Rise of Telework
- Follow the 2022 Legislative Session
- After the Bennett Freeze: Planning Within the Navajo Nation
- Flexible Zoning for the New Economy
- Lead and Inspire with Purpose: AICP Code of Ethics Update
- Janet Quinney Lawson – Institute for Land, Water & Air
- Emerging Planners Survey
- Plan to restore Utah Lake met with resistance from Utah County conservation groups
- New Murray projects and guidelines move forward as moratorium ends
- From the Office of Dodge, Wiggle, Hack, Shrug & DeCamp, LLC
- Land Use Training
- Paul Allred: Career Reflections & Valuable Advice – Part 3
- Cache Summit 2021
- WAVE HIKING PERMIT CHANGES ON THE WAY
- Paul Allred: Career Reflections & Valuable Advice (Part 2)
- Paul Allred: Career Reflections & Valuable Advice
- UDOT seeks public input on rural Utah transportation plans
- Electric Vehicles Are on the Rise. Is Your Community Ready?
- Call for Award Nominations
- Fifteen-Minute City
- Remember Olympia Hills?
- The Mountain Lions: these nine cities boomed in the COVID era
- AS PLANNERS, WHY DO WE DO WHAT WE DO, AND WHY ARE WE DOING IT?
- Andrea Garfinkel-Castro, doctoral candidate, “Unpacks” Latino Urbanism
- 11 Ways To Excel Ethically At Every Level
- Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD): core principles
- A Tale of Two Walks: Part 2
- Heat, Health & Equity: The Effects of High Temperatures on Health, and Ways to Mitigate Heat in Our City
- Help Shape Equity Planning Policy
- DO CITIES HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO BAN FIREWORKS?
- Air Quality Is Better In Utah Today Than Ten Years Ago, But…
- Layton council adopts water-saving landscaping requirements for most new development
- CAREFUL WHOM YOU CALL A NIMBY
- Considering A National Infrastructure Bank
- HEALTHY UTAH COMMUNITY
- Breaking Down Silos: The Inception of the Utah Rural Coordinating Council
- MAG Transit Studies
- Effective Public Engagement Requires a Lot More Than a Public Hearing
- Is Remote Work Here to Stay?
- SENSITIVE LANDS PLANNING: PROTECTING PUBLIC HEALTH, SAFETY, AND WELFARE FOR GENERATIONS TO COME
- Bond Ratings are for Investors (Not Taxpayers)
- It’s Complicated (Ok, you’ve heard that before, but maybe not for this topic – billboards.)
- The Color of Law APAUT Online Book Discussion
- The American Jobs Plan Will Make Our Infrastructure Crisis Worse
- President’s Infrastructure Proposal Includes Addressing Housing Affordability
- We Cannot Plan from Our Desks
- Rep. Curtis, Sen. Romney introduce bill to advance the Bonneville Shoreline Trail
- Utah could lose out on billions in federal funding for passenger rail
- The Cure for the Wasatch Front’s Housing Crisis: More Affordable Homes Between North Salt Lake and Lehi
- Ambassador Program Update
- Local Needs Among Utah’s Multicultural Communities During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Campus Mobility Hub Study – APAUT Award Winner
- Does Building New Housing Reduce Overall Housing Costs?
- Layton Forward – Layton City’s Comprehensive General Plan Update
- Spring Conference Postponed, Book Club, President’s Message
- Presidents Message
- Lehi Connectivity Standards – A Stronger Urban Fabric
- Housing First; Cars Last
- UDOT Bike Infrastructure Data Collection Project
- The Great Horizon Year of 2020
- Density is a Loaded Term
- New Study on Housing Affordability Focuses on Local Land Use Practices
- There is no such thing as ‘smart sprawl’
- Legislative Interim Committee – What You Need To Know
- A bipartisan opportunity to rebuild American infrastructure
- Zoning laws aren’t the only things hindering Utah’s housing market
- Congratulations to the APAUT 2020 Award Winners
- State and Local Governments Must Further Address Housing Affordability
- The Status of Women Leaders in Government – Utah Cities and Towns
- We have to do something about Utah’s housing crisis
- What the Wasatch Front needs is more basement apartments
- Cities Don’t Need High-Rises to Become Affordable
- Away from the bustle: Covid-19 and the end of commuterland
- The Color of Law: A Book Review
- (Contract) Zoning by Agreement in Utah
- Zoning Reform Is Not Leftism
- “The Great Localization” COVID-19 and Opportunities for Communities
- Missing Middle Housing: Thinking Big and Building Small to Respond to Today’s Housing Crisis
- Zoning Reform – English Style
- 3 Stories Show the Flip Side Of Zoning Reform
- APAUT Call to Action
- The Politics of Housing Affordability
- Zoning, Affordability, and COVID-19
- Where do we go NOW!? – President’s Message
- An Interview With Ashley Cleveland, MCMP
- The Importance of Sense of Place in our Communities
- An Answer to the Suburban Growth Dilemma
- Homeless to Housed Fall 2019
- A New Initiative: Children’s Walks
- Registration Now Open for Fall Conference!