In 2011, the School of Urban and Regional Planning launched the RIO (Rebuild Iowa Office) Project website. The site incorporates the original Rebuild Iowa Office’s website, created to assist Iowa communities with disaster recovery planning after the statewide 2008 flood, and materials collected prior to the closing of that office in 2011. The School continues to provide updates to materials in areas of the website that contain the Smart Planning Toolbox and Legislative News.

Most recently, the School is inventorying every comprehensive plan in the state of Iowa that has been completed since 2005 and posting them on the site. We are doing this to provide Iowa planners and communities with a view of contemporary planning practices in the state. The Legislative News provides users with up-to-date information on Iowa legislation that is deemed important to planning by the Iowa Chapter of the American Planning Association.

The Toolbox was launched by the Iowa APA and RDG Planning and Design consultants to provide planners in Iowa with smart planning tools that can be applied to their communities throughout the state. It contains a comprehensive list of planning related links.

The RIO Iowa Project website can be found at https://rio.urban.uiowa.edu/.