The American Planning Association (APA) is a Chicago-based non-profit public-interest and research organization representing 30,000 practicing planners, officials and citizens involved with urban and rural planning issues.
It conducts extensive research on planning topics including a landmark study on Growing Smart, Site Planning Essentials for Central America and The City Parks Forum. 
It also publishes Planning, a monthly magazine and Zoning News, a monthly newsletter on local land-use controls, and the Journal of the American Planning Association, a quarterly journal, along with other specialized journals and Planning Advisory Service (PAS) reports.