Alexander, Don; Tomalty, Ray. Local Environment, Nov2002, Vol. 7 Issue 4, p397-409, 13p

In this paper, we focus on the issues related to development densities that emerged from our study of sprawl and development issues in three regions of British Columbia, Canada. We chose to focus on this aspect of the Smart Growth agenda because, while many of its other elements enjoy wide support across social interests, the goal of achieving a higher density urban fabric is highly controversial. We proceeded by collecting data on development densities and 13 indicators of community sustainability in 26 municipalities. The results suggest that the density of communities is associated with efficiencies in infrastructure and with reduced automobile dependence, with the ecological and economic implications which flow from that. However, it does not necessarily correlate with greater affordability of housing or more access to green space. In fact, if anything, we discovered a negative relationship between housing affordability and green space per capita and higher land-use densities. In a second stage of the research, we conducted a qualitative analysis of a subset of six municipalities and identified key policy issues for moving ahead with the Smart Growth agenda. The paper concludes with a discussion of the policy issues that emerged from these case studies.

[ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ISSN: 13549839

DOI: 10.1080/1354983022000027578

The Adoption of Sustainable Development Policies and Techniques in U.S. Cities How Wide, How Deep, and What Role for Planners? Edward J. Jepson, Jr. Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Tennessee–Knoxville. In this article, sustainable development is defined in terms of thirty-nine policies and techniques. In October 2001, a survey was sent to U.S. cities that (1) measures the extent to which actions are being taken relative to these policies and techniques and to local planning offices being involved in the taking of such actions and (2) identifies the principal impediments to the taking of action. Among the findings were that communities of all sizes and in all parts of the country are active in a wide range of policies and techniques, planning offices are playing an important leadership role with respect to the adoption of such policies and techniques, and impediments to such adoption are less related to politics and institutional capacity and more to motivation and knowledge.

Key Words: sustainable development • local planning • impediments

Journal of Planning Education and Research, Vol. 23, No. 3, 229-241 (2004)

DOI: 10.1177/0739456X03258638

The Willets Point Redevelopment Plan has been designed to include exciting retail and entertainment offerings, a hotel and convention center, thousands of mixed-income residential units and new public open spaces and other community amenities. The mixed-use program will create thousands of new permanent jobs and construction jobs, transforming Willets Point into a dynamic regional destination.

January 2008
Saving the World Through Zoning
The sustainable community development code comes to the rescue.
By Chris Duerksen

“Sustainable Community Development Code Reform” Initiative

This initiative seeks to bring sustainability to the forefront as a land use issue and understand how local governments can support sustainable communities through innovative land use codes.

The Healthy Development Measurement Tool is a product of the Urban Health and Place Team at the Program on Health, Equity and Sustainability within the San Francisco Department of Public Health. As described in the background, the HDMT was developed as part of the Eastern Neighborhoods Community Health Impact Assessment (ENCHIA) project.

Livagreen is a design consortium for achitects, urban designers, environmentalists, planners, and citizens intended to: provide information to those interested in land use and transportation planning; and build bridges between academia and professional practice using theoretical and practical frameworks of sustainable, systems-oriented environmental design. Thank you for your interest. Feel free to contact us if you have inquiries, suggestions, thoughts, or creative ideas.

Two concepts that provide new directions for public policy, environmental justice and sustainability, are both highly contested. Each has tremendous potential to effect long-lasting change. Despite the historically different origins of these two concepts and their attendant movements, there exists an area of theoretical compatibility between them. This conceptual overlap is a critical nexus for a broad social movement to create livable, sustainable communities for all people in the future. The goal of this articleis to illustrate the nexus in the United States. The authors do this by presenting a range of local or regionally based practical models in five areas of common concern to both environmental justice and sustainability: land use planning, solid waste, toxic chemical use, residential energy use, and transportation. These models address both environmental justice principles while working toward greater sustainability in urbanized areas.

The LEED for Neighborhood Development Rating System integrates the principles of smart growth, urbanism and green building into the first national system for neighborhood design. LEED certification provides independent, third-party verification that a development's location and design meet accepted high levels of environmentally responsible, sustainable development. LEED for Neighborhood Development is a collaboration among USGBC, the Congress for the New Urbanism and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC) released a new report, Building Green: Overcoming Barriers in Philadelphia, that identifies obstacles to green building in Philadelphia and recommends solutions to dissolving those barriers.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2008.