Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapel Run
Thorpe Run
Conventional
development
Village cluster
alternative
Conventional
development
Large lot alternative
Conventional
development
Conventional
development
Parkway alternative
Cluster alternative
Buckingham Greene
Pleasant Hill Farm
Conventional
development
Courtyard cluster
alternative
Conventional
development
Natural swale/
open space corridor
alternative
Figure 3-9
Conservation designs for various site plans (Brandywine Conservancy; Wes
Horner, 1992).
we must be willing to change our thinking as to what constitutes a sustainable
habitat, office, or shopping center. Our traditional approach to land development
has been to alter the land to fit the development, and that such change was a
normal part of the process. In the sustainable approach, we try to minimize this
land alteration, and fit our program (or some portions of it) to the land, taking
advantage of the opportunities and constraints that go with the natural landscape.
We also need to rethink the patterns of development. Do we really need
to separate all of the activities that comprise our community, with a rigorous
set of guidelines that define what can be built where? Although many rural
municipalities have not yet adopted a zoning ordinance and map, many if not
most of the rapidly growing communities do impose a stringent set of boundaries
that separate the settlement into separate (and economically segregated) parts. The
ancient village offered a valid model of how to live together without conflict, but
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