Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
people to drive less and safely walk or bike more. Small infill projects that are
single use but that complement existing neighbouring uses, such as a new
affordable housing infill development in a neighbourhood that is already
well served by retail and commercial uses, are also good candidates for
certification.
It is vital to note that LEED-ND is not intended to certify an entire town,
county or city. Nor was it designed to rate existing neighbourhoods with
no new development. Its main goal is to be applied during the design of
new developments or during redevelopment and major retrofits. In addition,
it can be used to analyse whether existing development regulations—such
as zoning codes, development standards, landscape requirements, build-
ing codes, or comprehensive plans—are 'friendly' or are forming barriers
to sustainable developments. LEED-ND can also be used as a tool to meet
greenhouse gas reduction targets and as a 'best practice' manual for new
development.
3.3.1.3 Green City Index
The Green City Index, as mentioned in Chapter 1, measures the current
environmental performance of major cities on different continents as well
as their commitment to reducing their future environmental impact by way
of on-going initiatives and objectives. The EIU, in cooperation with Siemens,
developed the methodology of the index.
The index scores cities across eight categories: CO
2
emissions, energy,
buildings, transport, water, waste and land use, air quality, and environ-
mental governance; and it has 30 individual indicators. Sixteen of the index's
30 indicators are derived from quantitative data and aim to measure how
a city is currently performing. The remaining 14 indicators are qualitative
assessments of cities' aspirations or ambitions [23]. Currently, this index
covers areas of Europe, Latin America, Asia, the United States and Canada,
Germany and Africa [24].
Despite fuelling some debates regarding the choice of certain indicators
and the neglect of others, this index offers a tool to enhance understanding
and to highlight needed interventions for improving the environmental per-
formance of a particular city.
3.4 Sustainable Urbanism Theories
In the quest for forming a theory for sustainable urban planning, the debate
between going compact or dispersed has dominated the philosophical and
empirical research. The main principle in the compact city theory is high-
density development close to or within the city core with a mixture of
