Examining New Urbanism...Overall Conclusions

In today’s society, we are faced with a challenge that will ultimately determine how sustainable our cultural choices regarding our development patterns, transportation choices and consumer-based economy will prove to be.

Suburban sprawl is the product of the combination of all of these choices that continues to negatively affect the environment and threaten the sustainability of our society.

The sustainable response to suburban sprawl is the embracing of smart growth principles as well as the principles of New Urbanism.

This shift in development patterns as well as an overall paradigm shift from consumptionism to conservationism is especially significant in the emerging age of globalization.

As cultures begin to export their economic systems and the associated negative effects of these systems, the embracing of a sustainable form of development and overall environmental practices will help to ensure the overall sustainability of the global community.

Never before has an international effort to reverse the negative effects of unsustainable development patterns and practices been so significant to the health and welfare of the planet’s inhabitants.

The depletion of the rain forests, the desertification of areas due to increased unsustainable industrial practices and the hyper-consumption of non-renewable resources are important environmental issues that must be addressed by the global community.

All of these issues are directly linked with the unsustainable development patterns that have evolved from the practices of the United States. The United States has an opportunity to regain its international status as a responsible leader through the implementation of sustainable development principles.

Through the analysis of the four New Urbanist communities, a matrix has been created that will help developers and designers create truly sustainable communities.

This matrix highlights the six essential qualities that every sustainable community must possess;

 
  (1) a compact and consolidated intensity of uses;

  (2) a comprehensive and complimentary diversity of uses;

  (3) a contained and consistent extent of uses;

  (4) a connected and combined system of communication;

  (5) a centered, configured and comprehensible sense of place;

  (6) a re-configurable plan that allows for flexibility of uses.

Through the application of smart growth design principles and the embracing of New Urbanism principles, these qualities can be generated in nearly every development that is designed in the new millennium.

The importance of creating sustainable communities has never been more evident in this country than it is today.

We are faced with daily reminders of the negative effects of suburban sprawl as commuters sit in hours worth of traffic delays during seemingly endless commutes, wars are fought over the control of non-renewable resources and access to clean water and productive agricultural lands, communities become faceless and meaningless collections of individualist detached housing that ensures the residents privacy and social segregation and the country faces an obesity epidemic for the first time in its history.

Embracing the qualities of sustainable communities is the most effective tool in combating the negative effects of suburban sprawl that threaten our physical, social, cultural and economic health.

After 1980, you never heard reference to space again. Surface, the most convincing evidence of the descent into materialism, became the focus of design. Space disappeared. -Arthur Erickson

Village of Woodsong....Sustainable Qualities

Intensity of Use

The density yield of the development has been determined to be 7.4 units per acre when the final build-out of the development is achieved. The design of the development successfully creates a compact and consolidated community in which every portion of the development is easily accessible.

The maximization of build-able space in the development has greatly increased the potential for the development to become truly sustainable throughout its life. In addition to the maximization of available space within the development, the inclusion of townhomes and rowhouses within the mixed-use core as well as other portions of the development help to increase the density of the development.

The development has minimized lot sizes, provided designs for modest-sized residences and reduced street-edge setbacks in order to facilitate a higher density. The design consolidates all of the residential portions of the development around the mixed-use core that is intended to become the cultural center of the community.

It is essential that the developer not deviate from the intended build-out density in order to maintain assurance that the development will be sustainable when completed.

Diversity of Use

Woodsong features a diverse mix of housing types, including single-family detached homes, townhomes and a mixed-use core, that greatly benefit the overall design. In addition to a diverse mix of housing types and the inclusion of retail and office space, there are multiple options regarding the planning of community open spaces, nature trails and public performance spaces.

These factors have allowed the designers of Woodsong to achieve a comprehensive and complimentary use of the land within the development. The design of the development sites the elements in a manner that provides access to adjacent land uses that greatly increases its ability to provide a complimentary use of the land.

The development of the mixed-use core will provide the greatest amount of diversity in the development and will include apartment-style living that will be affordable to a diverse range of economic groups. The community will benefit from the inclusion of these apartments in that there should be a diverse mix of residents living in the development as well as working in the development.


Extent of Use

Due to the fact that the development has only reached a build-out of approximately 25-percent, it is difficult to determine if the boundaries of the development will be clearly defined.

The design of the development indicates that existing natural areas will contain two portions of the development and the remaining two edges will be defined primarily by architecture.

A preliminary analysis of the site plan and design intent leads to the conclusion that Woodsong will successfully create a development that is both contained and consistent.

The design of a single entry-point to the development creates a clearly defined gateway that will lead directly to the mixed-use and civic core of Woodsong. The preservation of existing natural areas provides a consistent edge in areas where there are no existing neighboring residential uses.

The edges that will be defined with architecture are directly adjacent to existing residential neighborhoods yet they do not encroach upon these uses and show no sign of negatively impacting the existing community.



When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. -John Muir

New Urbanism...What a Sustainable Community Should Be...

The groundwork for the analysis of traditional neighborhood developments has been established through the identification of the qualities of sustainability and the identification of the normative qualities associated with each aspect. With these qualities in mind, we can begin to generate an idea of what a sustainable community should strive to become by responding to the social, environmental and economic aspects related to each quality.

While this provides us with a starting point in the generation of an ideal sustainable community, it is important to understand that the complete list of characteristics for a sustainable community is exhaustive and evolving with each passing day.

A sustainable community should have a unique sense of place that will provide the community with an opportunity to create a community and social purpose that facilitates and enhances social interaction. It is through the creation of a sense of place that a sustainable community begins to become more than just a residential development; it begins to become an actual community.

Associated with the creation of a sense of place, the community should begin to develop a sense of civic pride and they should begin to take pride in where they live. It may be through the establishment of a diverse cultural matrix that the community can begin to create its unique sense of place coupled with the enhancement of an overall sense of civic pride.

The encouragement of efficient use of time ensures that the sustainable community will be flexible in its uses. This flexibility fosters a paradigm shift from consumerism to conservationism that helps to ensure the long-term sustainability of a community.

The move away from consumerism allows the community to focus on the quality of goods versus the quantity of goods consumed. It is through the education of the members of the community regarding the benefits of utilizing ecologically friendly products and design solutions that this paradigm shift will be possible.

A pro-active recycling and re-use plan helps to ensure a community’s sustainability through the application of progressive waste management practices that reduce the regional need for land consumption dedicated to the treatment and disposal of waste products. These products can be adapted and utilized in various stages of construction, fertilization and the manufacturing of goods from recycled material.

A sustainable community should be biased against the use of the private automobile as the main source of transportation. The encouragement of a pedestrian-friendly environment ensures that the dependence on the automobile can begin to be reduced. Public transportation should not be designated as a separate land-use in the sustainable community. The integration of viable public transit options with other land-uses will help to reduce the dependence on private automobiles as well.

The reduction of the dependence on the private automobile will allow the sustainable community to reduce its dependence on non-renewable energy sources. The encouragement of the use of alternative energy sources for every component of the community will not only help to reduce the dependence on non-renewable energy sources, but it helps to foster a community’s sense of civic pride and lends itself to the evolution of a unique sense of place for the community.

The sustainable community should strive to preserve the global environment through the implementation of these aspects and take pride in the fact that their community will serve as an example of how our development patterns can change in order to ensure our sustainability as a global community.

We are guilty for sending teams into foreign countries to advise them how to be like us. -Arthur Erickson

Examining New Urbanism...Flexibility of Use

A development can ensure its potential for sustainability by planning for a greater amount of flexibility in its use of the land. Attention to flexibility will ensure that the development can evolve over a period of time and that there has been a high level of pro-active planning involved to ensure that additional uses can be accommodated into the existing development.

This contributes to reducing or eliminating the need for the development to sprawl beyond its boundaries. The normative quality associated with the flexibility of the use of land in a development is measured by the development plans ability to be (re)-configurable.

A development plan that is re-configurable ensures long-term sustainability by allowing for the adaptation of different uses and methods to be implemented through the life span of the development. This will allow the development to evolve over a period of time while responding to the needs of the users without compromising the other qualities that are essential to a development’s sustainability.

The flexibility of use of the land should pro-actively respond to the challenges the development may face in the future without abandoning the principles of sustainability.

Providing for a diverse social structure will help to encourage a developments ability to re-configure itself when responding to the community structure. A diverse community structure or fabric allows a development to re-configure the uses of land through an organic manner that responds directly to the needs of the community itself. In order to maximize flexibility, the planning process of the development is essentially an ongoing process throughout the life of the development.

There is, however a certain level of community involvement with the ongoing planning process that will ensure the development’s flexibility. While logical and sustainable contingency plans can be formulated, it will be the evolution of the development’s community that will drive the need and direction of the flexibility of the use of the land.

The flexibility of use within a development allows for the conservation, preservation and the adaptation of the natural environment. Through ecologically sensitive design, the use of the natural environment can be monitored in order to ensure its sustainability.

It is only through a pro-active planning strategy that a high level of flexibility can be achieved, and it is through the planning process that the development can re-configure its objectives and practices in order to maximize its flexibility.

Flexibility of use within a development fosters a long-term plan for economic vitality throughout the life of the development. Throughout the design and implementation of the development, adjustments can be made to respond to the needs of the users in a manner that reduces unnecessary spending on elements that may not be relevant to the overall community.

The house itself is of minor importance. Its relation to the community is the thing that really counts. -Clarence Stein

Examining New Urbanism...Sense of Place

Sense of place is one of the most difficult qualities to address when analyzing the level of a development’s sustainability. There is no empirical formula for measuring sense of place; however when one experiences and interacts within the development, a certain amount of community character will lend itself to an intangible quality that will either elicit a positive or negative reaction from users.

The evolution of a development’s sense of place may rely on the utilization and implementation of the normative qualities associated with determining the creation of a sustainable and unique sense of place. The normative qualities that developments should embrace throughout the planning process are the creation of a development that is centered, configured and comprehensible.

A planning strategy that is centered, configured and comprehensible will first and foremost encourage the creation of a diverse population mix within the development. The layout of the development should encourage an increased sense of civic pride in order to help foster the evolution of a unique sense of place. This can be achieved through the creation of shared open-spaces that residents can utilize for a diverse range of social functions.

The execution of a centered, configured and comprehensible plan relies heavily on the successful design and implementation of the qualities discussed to this point as well. The creation of a civic or commercial-oriented core will also foster the evolution of the development’s sense of place through the encouragement of civic participation from all segments of the population.

The creation of a unique sense of place for a development addresses social issues throughout every phase of implementation. It is through the creation of the community that the development will begin to form its sense of place.

Ensuring social diversity will help to foster the creation of a sense of place in that a unique community character will emerge through the interaction between different groups who share the civic responsibilities and benefits of a tight-knit community.

A sense of place may evolve from the implementation of alternative and progressive approaches to conserving the environment. This approach helps to further encourage and foster a sense of civic pride within the development in that the residents can celebrate their collective efforts in helping to reduce the negative impacts on the environment.

A development that celebrates ecologically sensitive design principles and practices will have a greater chance at the creation of a truly unique sense of place within the global community.

Addressing economic factors within the creation of a development’s sense of place is difficult to measure due to the lack of empirical evidence applicable to a development’s “feel”. However, economic development could be a useful vehicle for the evolution of a development’s sense of place through the creation of unique activities that only occur within the development.

A sense of civic pride can also be created through the use of alternative technologies that reduce the need for over-consumption of goods and services or through the creation of an economically diverse community fabric. It is through economic diversity that a development has one of the greatest chances to create a truly unique sense of place while ensuring its long-term sustainability.

There is no there there. -Gertrude Stein

Examining New Urbanism...Extent of Use

The extent of use of the land required to implement a sustainable development should strive to maximize the land upon which it is built. This will ensure that as the development grows in terms of population and uses, it will not consume more land than is necessary.

This is an important factor in ensuring a development’s sustainability as well as a tool in combating the negative effects of suburban sprawl. To maximize sustainability, a development should strive to achieve the normative qualities associated with extent of use by formulating a plan that is contained and consistent.

A contained and consistent development plan limits the amount of land ultimately utilized for the implementation of the development; however it does not limit the amount of growth that can occur within the determined bounds of the development. Suburban sprawl does nothing to address the extent of use of the land and encourages low-density growth as a re-active planning measure as opposed to a pro-active measure.

The contained and consistent plan ensures that a larger and more diverse community matrix will evolve through the life of the development. Additionally, by providing clear boundaries to denote the place itself encourages the community to develop its character in an organic manner as opposed to a place with no clear boundaries that has a difficult time identifying itself.

As previously mentioned, the contained and consistent plan encourages a certain level of social interaction as well as the creation of a unique social character. Providing boundaries for the development will ensure that uses will remain in close proximity to each other and will encourage inter-personal communication and interaction. This helps to ensure the communities ability to sustain itself on a social level through the continuous interaction of people who belong to the same place but may originate from completely different backgrounds or be members of different socio-economic groups.

From an environmental standpoint, a contained and consistent plan maximizes the amount of land that will be consumed through the implementation of the development. This does not limit the ultimate population of the development nor does it limit the amount of diverse uses located within the development.

What it does limit is the overall amount of land the development requires in order to achieve a higher level of sustainability. The utilization of the existing land that is available to the development throughout its evolution is an excellent tool in combating the sprawling nature of developments that consume new land as they see fit.

The economic benefits of the contained and consistent plan are that the development will have the opportunity to retain the positive aspects of the commercial uses located in the development. The boundaries of the development allow for the continued growth, both physical and economic, of the development while ensuring that the services provided within the development will probably not relocate to an area that is not easily accessible.

While the notion that businesses will not relocate is not totally guaranteed, as the population of the development increases within the boundaries of the development the consumer-base available to businesses will most likely increase within close proximity to the commercial uses. This helps to ensure the economic sustainability of the businesses by being located to a “built-in” customer base.

There is an increasing awareness of the interrelatedness of things. We are becoming less prone to accept an immediate solution without questioning its larger implications. -Arthur Erickson

Examining New Urbanism...Intensity of Use

Intensity of Use

Intensity of use refers to the overall density of the development, specifically as to how the development utilizes the land. The empirical measurement of density for housing developments is expressed as housing units per acre of land. While the use of the empirical measurement of density will be important to our study, there are design factors that will need to be addressed when determining the sustainable qualities of the density of the four developments.

The siting of uses and their proximity to one another is one of the qualities that we will explore when assessing the intensity of use within each development. For analytical purposes two qualities have been identified when determining density within developments. The normative qualities associated with the intensity of use within the developments are whether or not the developments have been planned to be compact and consolidated in order to promote sustainability.

A compact and consolidated development promotes sustainability on multiple levels while addressing the three factors discussed earlier. Providing a compact and consolidated development encourages a higher level of social interaction between the residents and users of the development. Suburban sprawl actually deters social interaction between residents by siting residences on larger plots of land and lowering the overall density of a neighborhood.

Sprawl promotes this lower density due to the fact that individualism is the over-riding principle behind typical suburban development. A high-density development encourages and embraces the notion of civic pride; in that the uses are located within close proximity to each other and the residents feel that they not only live in the development but they are an integral part of the neighborhood and the overall development.

From an environmental standpoint, a compact and consolidated development consumes less land for the overall development and therefore reduces the negative impacts associated with sprawling development. This reduction of negative impacts is attributed to the encouragement of pedestrian forms of transportation in order to access portions of the development.

A truly sustainable higher-density development reduces the dependence on private automobile use thereby reducing the negative environmental impacts associated with automobile use. Suburban sprawl encourages the use of the private automobile through the implementation of low-density designs that separate uses and increase the distance required to travel in order to utilize different facilities.

This emphasis on individualism can be directly attributed to the ideals that capitalism was based upon, private ownership and individual freedoms. While these freedoms are essential for a capitalist economic system, it detracts from the democratic ideals of equality and civic pride.

Sustainable developments encourage economic diversity by providing a compact use of the land that reduces the cost of purchasing or renting a residence due to the fact that more residences may be located on a smaller amount of land.

The heart is the chief feature of a functioning mind. -Frank Lloyd Wright

Examing New Urbanism....continues

When addressing economic concerns in the establishment of a sustainable development, the needs of every segment of the population should be considered during each stage of design and development. Creating a community in which economic disparity is embraced contradicts the precepts of a sustainable development. Economic diversity contributes to social diversity within the community and provides opportunities for members of different socio-economic groups to participate in a sustainable society.

The findings of this research endeavor are meant to serve as a guide for future application to the design and implementation of sustainable developments. While design guidelines will be addressed through the analysis of the four developments, it is the intent of this project that this guide will be utilized to help designers ensure projects will address environmental, social and economic factors in regards to ensuring their sustainability.

Through the application of the analytical criteria established for the project, a critical assessment of existing and future developments can be made and a determination of their ability to achieve a high level of sustainability can be understood. It is only through the application of sustainable design that our society can hope to reverse the effects that suburban sprawl has had on the natural environment.

Designers and developers of traditional neighborhood developments often embrace and employ the principles of New Urbanism. New Urbanism is a design movement that aims to combat the negative effects of sprawl on multiple levels, including on the regional level as well as the neighborhood level.

New Urbanists believe “neighborhoods should be diverse in use and population; communities should be designed for the pedestrian and transit as well as the car; cities and towns should be shaped by physically defined and universally accessible public spaces and community institutions.” This form of sustainable development has become one of the foundations for regulations regarding TNDs in many municipalities, especially on the east coast.

This brief exploration will analyze four TNDs, all of which have been designed utilizing the principles of New Urbanism. The four developments are; I’on Village in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina; Woodsong Village in Shallotte, North Carolina; Carpenter Village in Cary, North Carolina and Southern Village in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The Congress for New Urbanism has recognized each of these neighborhoods as alternatives to suburban sprawl.

Through the careful analysis of the qualities of sustainability observed throughout this exploration, a determination regarding the level sustainability each of these developments achieves within its response to the social, environmental and economic factors involved in the design and implementation of these developments.

The Qualities of Sustainability

In order to determine how sustainable each of these developments are, we must establish a system with which to compare and contrast the qualities of the four developments. For the purposes of this study, six aspects that determine the level of sustainability of each development have been categorized and will be analyzed based on normative qualities that are associated with each aspect. These six aspects are; (1) Intensity of Use, (2) Diversity of Use, (3) Extent of Use, (4) Communication, (5) Sense of Place and (6) Flexibility of Use. In order to understand the qualities of sustainability, we must first understand what each of these six aspects represents.

Now there is one outstanding important fact regarding spaceship earth, and that is that no instruction book came with it. -R. Buckminster Fuller

Examining New Urbanism...

Traditional neighborhood developments, or TNDs, have become a design and planning strategy to combat the negative effects of suburban sprawl. There are, however, questions as to whether or not these new developments will prove to be an effective tool in the long-term struggle against sprawl and if the developments will prove to be sustainable. The American Heritage Dictionary defines sustainable as “capable of being continued with minimal long-term effect on the environment.”

While all development has some effect on the natural environment, sustainable development aims to minimize the long-term effects on the environment by encouraging more intelligent growth within the determined boundaries of the development and addresses not only environmental issues but social and economic factors as well.

Therefore, the definition of sustainability that we shall use for the purposes of this research endeavor reads as “human settlement that is designed, built and operated in a way that environmental, social and economic practices used in all phases of development provide for efficiency and equity for present and future generations of humans and other species.”

The revised definition of sustainability employed for our research endeavor emphasizes the importance of people, place and process in all phases of the development’s design. Every phase of design should consider the importance of the social, environmental and economic factors involved in order to ensure the development’s sustainability.

The developments should strive to create a diverse social structure within which a strong community can be built. It is through the creation of a strong community identity that a development can begin to ensure its long-term sustainability. The establishment of a strong and diverse community creates a sense of civic pride within developments that is difficult to measure with empirical methods, however, communities that lack a sense of civic pride are often characterized as places that are unsafe, in a state of disrepair and lack a strong economic base.

Suburban sprawl does not foster the creation of a strong sense of community due to the fact that it places a greater emphasis on individualism than it does on civic pride. In addition to creating a sustainable community, new developments should address the needs and concerns of existing developments and communities through every phase of design and construction in order to minimize any negative effects the new developments may have on neighboring areas.

The physical location of sustainable developments should aim to reduce the over-consumption of land that suburban sprawl encourages. The sustainable development, while integrated into the existing community fabric, should have clearly defined boundaries that will determine the ultimate size of the development and establishes a place within the environment.

A current criticism of traditional neighborhood developments is that they still encourage the use of the private automobile due largely to the fact that they are located on former agricultural tracts of land that are too far removed from the urban core. While this is a valid criticism of TNDs, the do offer a sustainable alternative to suburban sprawl through the integration of commercial cores that are accessible by foot from any portion of the development.

It should be noted that establishing a commercial core that is accessible via pedestrian movement is not the determining factor that should be considered for addressing the issue of place. The boundaries of a place, and the community that is created within the place will determine whether or not the development will truly be sustainable.

Milestone...

Some of you may have noticed a new addition to the enVisionReading list on the right side of the page. Indeed it is true, I have successfully made the transition from writer to author.

The book, Towards a Sustainable New Orleans, is available via the major online book merchants (certain advertising agreements prohibit me from telling you exactly which one's they are, but I will say that one is named after a South American river and the other rhymes with Narnes and Boble).

Here is a brief synopsis;

Focusing on the examination of land use and development choices that have been made in New Orleans in the recent past that relate to the economic system of hyper-capitalism, Towards a Sustainable New Orleans proposes a sustainable and equitable redevelopment strategy for the city and the region. Many of these land-use and development choices have placed a majority of the city¿s residents in harm¿s way of a natural disaster. Hurricane Katrina has demonstrated the need for coastal cities to adopt sustainable development plans in order to counteract poor choices made under the hyper-capitalist system. This book proposes a policy framework for the further development and implementation of a sustainable redevelopment plan for the city that utilizes the ideals of environmental justice as an organizing principle. Towards a Sustainable New Orleans is essential reading for designers, planners, government officials as well as people living in coastal areas.

Monopolizing sprawl....

During these difficult times for national builders, a feel-good story emerges from the organizations who gave us the concepts of fortified, age-restricted sprawling communities; McMansions and builder-based financing. In case you haven't heard, Pulte Homes is in the process of acquiring Centex. This will create the largest national home builder in the country (and most likely the world).

Hyper-capitalists everywhere are rejoicing!!! Perhaps we can continue to treat the land as a commodity and resume consuming it at an alarming rate!!!

Don't fire-up the mass-grading bandwagon just yet...I think I have some bad news for this sprawling mega-builder.

Perhaps the CEOs of the housing industry were too busy traversing the country in their private planes over the last few weeks to take notice of something that the new administration is fairly keen on...fixing failed business models.

I think that Rick Wagoner, the now former CEO of General Motors could give the new Pulex (which is a new company name that I freely offer the new mega-sprawler) some advice on revising their business plan.

Rick may begin by telling the building giant to steer clear of the "free-money-for-failed-hyper-capitalists" programs that the federal government has been funding over the past few months. That piece of advice would certainly be preceded by the caveat, things just ain't what they used to be.

Here's the real point; the housing industry needs to rethink their hyper-capitalist driven business models if they plan to survive.

This merger will not spur another housing boom. Sorry to burst the bubble before it even inflates, but if we think back about a year and a half, we should be able to remember that it was the national builders and the lending industry which started this economic downturn.

Here's another bubble-flattener; the new administration will not allow the widespread destruction of the American landscape in the name of hyper-capitalism. In fact, not since the 19th century has the federal government made a significant effort to fund and encourage public transportation projects.

What options does this leave our new friend Pulex? How about the opportunity to become the very first sustainable and equitable national home builder in the world.

Granted, the true meaning and practice sustainability and equity are foreign concepts to these folks. But let us imagine for a moment, a national homebuilder that creates truly sustainable site plans, encourages public transportation projects which connect their communities to urban cores, builds communities which encourage healthy living and social interaction and offer a diverse mix of housing types that people from every socio-economic status could afford.

Sounds nice, doesn't it. I'm certain that some hyper-capitalists are decrying the idea of such sustainable and equitable communities. They are most likely pulling out their latest mud-slinging terms; socialism, communists and the dreaded liberal.

But alas, I have some disturbing news for our hyper-capitalist brethren...these types of communities only embody one true political ideal; democracy.

Ahh yes, a concept which has become so clouded that a majority of people in this country don't even remember what it means. But let us remember that this great nation was founded (in theory at least) on the concepts of equality, fairness and opportunity.

These just happen to be the same ideals which drive the concept of creating equitable and sustainable communities. The time has come for a new approach to development in this nation, and Pulex has the incredible opportunity to lead that charge.

The question is, will they?

Instead of noblemen, let us have noble villages of men. -Henry David Thoreau

Everything is connected to everything else…

The title for this post comes from Barry Commoner’s visionary work, The Closing Circle, in which he presents the four laws of Ecology. The first law is that “everything is connected to everything else”, which while this law was applied directly to the overall ecosphere, this law can certainly be applied to all of the actions and decisions (social, cultural, economic, political, etc…) that we as humans make on a daily basis. It is from this simple ecological theory from which I derive much of the theoretical base for my own ideas and concepts.

The goal of this blog (as well as my entire existence as a designer, writer, filmmaker and artist) is to help inform the way in which we design, construct, develop and co-exist on this planet. When the label of environmental activist is used to describe a person’s ideologies, numerous socio-ecological theories and criticisms tend to split environmental activism into two broad categories, Pollyannas and Cassandras. The former are generally characterized as professing that while there are environmental problems and concerns, exerting any influence on these processes through policies and paradigms shifts would interfere with the normal course of nature. The latter, however, are viewed as tree-hugging socialists who would rather live in a world where human progress is heavily regulated and impeded through policies which aim to curb the destruction of the environment being caused by human activities. Granted, these views have changed slightly in recent years, but these characterizations are usually the basis for influencing popular opinion in the minds of politicians and others.

As I have mentioned on numerous occasions (even in the subtitle of this blog!), is that landscape architects undertake an educational and professional mission which is tailored perfectly to design, develop and inform a world which balances the multitude of factors that affect the overall ecosphere while continuing with the progress and development of the entire human race. I understand that for many that seems like a daunting responsibility and is probably not one of the reasons they entered into the profession in the first place. Admittedly, when I began my own landscape architectural education, this world-saving mission was not my motivation. However, as I have experienced various aspects of the profession, crossed disciplines to become a well-rounded student of the world and read more and more; this quickly became one of the main reasons why I have such a deep admiration for the profession and for its potential.

With that in mind, I am planning to publish a series of entries on this blog which explain, albeit briefly, many of the theories and concepts that are thrown about on a regular basis in my posts. These theories and concepts include the hybridized economic theory of hyper-capitalism; a clear and concise definition of sustainability; the ideals and principles of environmental justice; and finally a theoretical construct which connects everything to everything else, sustainable development. Explaining much of the theoretical base for my own philosophical musings will help you to understand the importance of the issues which I have discussed and plan on discussing over the life of this blog.

Just the facts...

Election day is less than a fortnight away and the race, which has been seemingly going on forever, is quite close. Here aresome of the facts that I would like to present to you, the readers, to demonstrate which candidate has a clear vision and action plan regarding issues that we are dealing with in our daily battle to further the cause of sustainability and environmental justice.

(Note: These policies and viewpoints are quoted directly from the candidate's websites.)

Obama:

Build More Livable and Sustainable Communities:

• Reform Federal Transportation Funding
• will re-evaluate the transportation funding process to ensure that smart growth considerations are taken into account
• re-commit federal resources to public mass transportation projects across the country

Restore the Wetlands:

• preserving our wetlands and supports a broad range of traditional conservation programs including the North American Wetlands Conservation Act and the Wetland Reserve Program in the Farm Bill
• will work with local governments to develop the best strategies for protecting and expanding wetlands
• protecting wetlands dates back to his days as a state senator, when he was a cosponsor of the Wetlands Protection Act in Illinois
• will help the Gulf Coast restore the wetlands, marshes and barrier islands that are critical to tamping down the force of hurricanes and serve as critical fish and wildlife habitat

Strengthen Federal Environmental Justice Programs:

• will make environmental justice policies a priority within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• will work to strengthen the EPA Office of Environmental Justice and expand the Environmental Justice Small Grants Program
• will work to provide low-income communities the legal ability to challenge policies and processes that adversely affect the environmental health of low-income and minority communities

Build Healthy Communities:

How a community is designed – including the layout of its roads, buildings and parks – has a huge impact on the health of its residents. For instance, nearly one-third of Americans live in neighborhoods without sidewalks and less than half of our country’s children have a playground within walking distance of their homes. This lack of a safe place to walk and play is a major contributor to the growing numbers of overweight children. Barack Obama introduced the Healthy Places Act to help local governments assess the health impact of new policies and projects, like highways or shopping centers. Once the health impact is determined, the bill gives grant funding and technical assistance to help address potential health problems.

McCain:

Wetlands

• we must develop water resource policies that will protect these important natural assets for the benefit of all
• employing long-term science-based strategies that properly manage strained freshwater resources
• promote polices that will preserve sensitive areas like the Everglades and the Louisiana coastal marshes

Open Space

• Economic development is essential to a strong American economy
• promote responsible growth and encourage state and local officials to implement open space initiatives and establish green corridors within our communities
• will require strengthening federal tools like Land and Water Conservation Fund that emphasizes recreation and the protection of wildlife areas

Yes folks, that's all that Senator McCain talks about in his vision for creating a more sustainable and equitable America. As you can clearly see, McCain's policies are still founded on hyper-capitalist ideals that work against the ideals of sustainability and environmental justice. One of the most important paragraphs in this entry is Obama's views on Building Healthy Communities. Notice in the very first sentence he talks about design.

Can we honestly say that there has been a major political candidate in the past 30-years that has even uttered the word design in reference to the faceless, hyper-capitalist driven sprawl model which America has embraced for so long?

"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crises. The great point is to bring them the real facts." -Abraham Lincoln

The end of hyper-capitalism

The Washington Post is currently reporting that the current financial crisis is the end of "American-style Capitalism"

Proponents of sustainability, specifically those of us who have been theorizing about the link between capitalism and sustainability, have known for some time that the United States has been operating under an economic system that is itself unsustainable. Not surprisingly, the right side of the political spectrum often labels those of us who have warned about over-consumption, corporate greed and the dire need for equity throughout the nation, as "socialists", "communists" or "liberals".

Regardless, it has become glaringly apparent that hyper-capitalism (which is the most appropriate label that we can give to our current economic system which has been encouraging unchecked consumption, greed and disparity to an alarming, unsustainable levels) has finally run its course.

This does not necessarily indicate, however, that we are shifting back to an agrarian, trade-based economy or that we are simply going to abandon over one hundred years of economic evolution simply because the greedy have begun to panic as they can see the end of their selfish, consumptionist lifestyles. We will most likely return to a normal, somewhat sustainable and manageable form of capitalism.

Rhetoric reminds us that "from the ashes a phoenix shall rise", and the current economic crisis is no different than the opportunities which we are presented with following a catastrophic natural disaster. Our return to a normalized capitalist system is a golden opportunity for America to instill an equitable and more sustainable approach to our national lifestyle.

We have seen evidence of the influence that hyper-capitalism has imposed on our nation's social, cultural and environmental planning and development choices. There is no better example of this influence than the inequity that had been fostered in the City of New Orleans for decades, and was placed on international display in the days, weeks, months and years that have followed since Katrina.

The time has come for a new breed of capitalism, one that instills social, economic and ecological equity into our developmental and planning choices (keep in mind that the onset of this downfall can be directly linked to the greed of the mortgage industry and the housing industry).

Sustainability, sustainable development and environmental justice are the concepts that must drive our new brand of American capitalism. A brand that highlights, celebrates and fosters these concepts so that we may live in a truly democratic society.