Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Table
2.2
Key principles of smart growth
1.
Mixed land uses, such as residential units and employment centres
2.
Take advantage of compact building design
3.
Create a range of housing opportunities and choices
4.
Create walkable communities
5.
Foster distinctive, attractive communities with a strong sense of place
6.
Preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty and critical environmental areas
7.
Strengthen and direct development toward existing communities
8.
Provide a variety of transport choices
9.
Make development decisions predictable, fair and cost-effective
10.
Encourage community and stakeholder collaboration in development decisions
as related policies that control suburban sprawl through land use controls and coor-
dinated transportation planning polices across 24 separate municipalities (Coroux
et al. 2006). Portland also developed a multimodal regional transportation network
that includes buses, light rail transit and streetcars as well as 330 km of pathways
that encourage residents to walk and cycle to and from the downtown core (Geller
2003
). Plans also require municipalities governed by the plan to reduce parking and
driving by 10 % over the next two decades (Coroux et al.
2006
). Local community
development has been an integral part of the overall plan that supports the revital-
ization of housing and infrastructure in the inner city, as well the maintenance of
low-income housing stock in areas undergoing redevelopment (Gibson and Abbott
2002
).
Numerous other cities are now adopting SG ideas and implementing all or at
least some of the core principles. Many of these plans and policies seem to stem
from growth management or environmental-sustainable development studies con-
ducted at the local level. A recent study in Calgary, for example, a city of 1.2 million
people that is the corporate centre of the Canadian oil and gas industry, has assessed
the costs and consequences of sprawl, and the impediments to Smart Growth us-
ing a Smart Growth framework (Coroux et al.
2006
). Ten recommendations were
made to guide policy developments that support SG principles, and it is evident
from these policies how closely they conform to the key principles of SG identified
above. The first is to promote SG through public engagement and education about
the costs of continued sprawl as well as the benefits of alternative development
patterns. A second is to reform planning regulations so they advance innovative
development initiatives such as SG. In terms of this, the report argues that plan-
ning regulations should be based on the following principles: (a) adopt mixed use
development that combines residential land within convenient walking distance of
employment, recreational and retail services, and mixed use zoning that allows for
multiple uses within zones; (b) ensure compact, transit-oriented nodes in all new
communities, in order to make transit more fiscally viable and efficient and there-
fore a more appealing transportation alternative; (c) support neighbourhood designs
that prioritize the safe and convenient movement of pedestrians and cyclists, rather
than the movement of cars; and (d) support redevelopment initiatives in existing
