A bowlful of acronyms

15 Acronyms Every Urbanist Should Know

November 29th, 2010
A bowlful of acronyms
Photo Credit: Wainwright on Flickr

Like any speciality, urbanists (particularly urban planners) have developed their own language.  A central part of this language is the alphabet soup of acronym.

Urban Acronyms

Here is a list  of 10 of the most popular acronyms used by urbanists, planners and developers to describe their clients, adversaries or projects.

  1. BED: Bleed ‘em Dry—a common tactic used by planners to “fix” a project they don’t like.
  2. CAVE [people]: Citizens Against Virtually Everything
  3. CRAVE[rs]: Citizens Radically Against Virtually Everything
  4. DIFF: Do It For Free
  5. DBTD: Death By a Thousand Days—another common tactic used by planners to “fix” a project they don’t like.
  6. DBTN: Death By a Thousand Nicks—yet another common tactic used by planners to “fix” a project they don’t like. Related to BED.
  7. DUDE: Developer Under Delusions of Entitlement
  8. KISS: Keep it Simple Stupid
  9. LULU: Locally Unwanted Land Use
  10. MIGA: Make It Go Away
  11. MISE: Move It Somewhere Else
  12. NIMBY: Not in my backyard—stay tuned for a special post on the various spinoffs of this popular acronym.
  13. RUID: Review Until It Dies
  14. SLAPP: Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation
  15. WIIFM: What’s in it for me?

For a hilarious example of many of these acronyms in action, check out PlanetizensThe Three Local Builders: A Modern Fairy Tale in Plannerese.

Your Turn

What is your favourite urban planning related acronym?

12 thoughts on “15 Acronyms Every Urbanist Should Know

  1. Pingback: Jargon Watch: Acronyms Every Green Urbanist Should Know | WiredVilla

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