Thirteen years ago, the first edition of Land-Use Planning for Sustainable Development examined the question: is the environmental doomsday scenario inevitable? It then presented the underlying concepts of sustainable land-use planning and an array of alternatives for modifying conventional planning for and regulation of the development of land. This second edition captures current success stories, showcasing creative, resilient strategies for fundamentally changing the way we alter our landscape.
Written by two experienced professionals in sustainable development planning, the second edition revisits the successes as well as barriers to progress associated with establishing new community development models, such as EcoMunicipalities. The authors emphasize the necessity and potency of citizen involvement and initiatives. They provide proposals for alternative approaches that rest on lessons from history as well as the research, wisdom, and vision of many individuals and communities whose work they have studied. The book supplies a sturdy platform on which to continually build and innovate progress in sustainable land use planning.

Editor's Note xi

Preface xiii

1. Sustainable Development: The Concept 1

Introduction 1

The Elements of Sustainability 2

      First Element: The Water Bed Principle 3

      Second Element: Understanding and Accepting Nature's Inviolate Biophysical Principles 4

      Third Element: Understanding and Accepting That We Do Not and Cannot Manage Nature 6

      Fourth Element: Understanding and Accepting That We Make an Ecosystem More Fragile When We Alter It 8

      Self-Destruction 10

      Loss of Labor Pool 11

      Introduced Technology 12

      Long-Distance Transport of Air Pollutants 13

      Direct and Indirect Pollution of Soil and Water 15

      Fifth Element: Understanding and Accepting That We Must Reinvest in Living Systems Even as We Reinvest in Businesses 16

      Sixth Element: Understanding and Accepting That Only a Systemic Worldview Is a Sustainable Worldview 18

      The Transition 21

      Seventh Element: Accepting Our Ignorance and Trusting Our Intuition While Doubting Our Knowledge 23

      Eighth Element: Specifying What Is to Be Sustained 25

      Ninth Element: Understanding and Accepting That Sustainability Is a Continual Process, Not a Fixed End Point 28

      Tenth Element: Understanding, Accepting, and Being Accountable for Intergenerational Equity 30

      Eleventh Element: Understanding, Accepting, and Being Accountable for Biophysical Limitations to Land "Ownership" and the Rights of "Private Property" 31

Human Relationships 33

      Intrapersonal 34

      Between People and the Environment 36

      Between People in the Present and Those of the Future 37

The Questions We Ask 38

      When Is Enough, Enough? 38

      Are the Consequences of Our Decisions Reversible? 39

      A Ditch 40

      A Dam 40

      Soil 42

      Returning to the Question: What Is Sustainable Development? 43

Summary 45

Endnotes 46

2. True Community Is Founded on a Sense of Place, History, and Trust 49

Introduction 49

Community History 50

Money versus Wealth 52

The Value of Social Capital 54

Reweaving the Social Fabric 55

Grieving for Our Environmental/Social Losses 57

Of Leisure and Community 59

Summary 60

Endnotes 61

3. Nature's Inviolable Biophysical Principles and Land Use Planning 63

Principle 1: Everything Is a Relationship 64

      Application of Principle to Land Use Planning 65

Principle 2: All Relationships Are Inclusive and Productive of an Outcome 67

      Application of Principle to Land Use Planning 68

Principle 3: The Only True Investment in Our Global Ecosystem Is Energy from Sunlight 69

      Application to Land Use Planning 71

Principle 4: All Systems Are Defined by Their Function 73

      Application of Principle to Land Use Planning 74

Principle 5: All Relationships Result in a Transfer of Energy 75

      Application of Principle to Land Use Planning 75

Principle 6: All Relationships Are Self-Reinforcing Feedback Loops 76

      Application of Principle to Land Use Planning 77

Principle 7: All Relationships Have One or More Trade-offs 80

      Application of Principle to Land Use Planning 80

Principle 8: Change Is a Process of Eternal Becoming 82

      Immediate Change 82

      Understanding Historical Change 83

      Change as a Historical Continuum 83

      Application of Principle to Land Use Planning 85

Principle 9: All Relationships Are Irreversible 86

      Application of Principle to Land Use Planning 87

Principle 10: All Systems Are Based on Composition, Structure, and Function 88

      Application of Principle to Land Use Planning 90

Principle 11: All Systems Have Cumulative Effects, Lag Periods, and Thresholds 90

      Application of Principle to Land Use Planning 93

Principle 12: All Systems Are Cyclical, But None Is a Perfect Circle 93

      Application of Principle to Land Use Planning 94

Principle 13: Systemic Change Is Based on Self-Organized Criticality 95

      Application of Principle to Land Use Planning 97

Principle 14: Dynamic Disequilibrium Rules All Systems 97

      Application of Principle to Land Use Planning 98

Closing Comment 98

Summary 99

Endnotes 99

4. Planning for a Local Living Economy: Reinventing the Comprehensive Plan 105

Living Economy Defined 105

Community as Ecosytem 105

Comprehensive Plan for a Local Living Economy 107

      Human Capital 109

      Housing 110

      Public Utilities and Facilities 112

      Transportation 118

      Food and Nutrition 119

      Cultural Resources 120

      Financial Capital 124

      Economic Development 124

      Natural Capital 127

Summary 128

Endnotes 128

5. Planning for a Local Living Economy: Nature's Biophysical Requirements 133

Protecting Nature's Free Services 133

Protecting Diversity through Constraints to Development and Land Use Planning 134

      Habitat 134

      Open Space 135

      Communal Open Space 137

      Water 138

      Quiet 140

      Surrounding Landscape 141

      Agricultural Cropland 141

      Forestland 142

      Riparian Areas and Floodplains 142

      Riparian Areas 144

      Floodplains 144

The Misguided Role of Today's Planning for Transportation 145

When a Community's Population Begins to Destroy Its Quality of Life 147

In the End, It Is a Question of Biological Carrying Capacity versus Cultural Carrying Capacity 150

Summary 152

Endnotes 152

6. Reframing the Problem 155

All of Life Is Cyclic 158

We Make What We Are 160

Humankind in Amnesia 161

Competing Instincts and Ecological Unconscious 162

Removing the Blame Factor 163

Summary 164

Endnotes 164

7. Modeling the Planning Process after Nature 167

Zero Waste 168

Diversity within the Planning Process 169

Strengthening the Flow of Energy through Self-Organization 171

Free-Flowing Communication 173

Open Space Planning, an Alternative Process 176

      Step by Step: A Suggested Process for Developing a Comprehensive Plan 177

      Setting the Stage for Planning 177

      Step 1: Mining for Meaning—Obtaining Community Values 180

      Step 2: Creating a Community Vision 181

      Step 3: Preparing Elements of the Plan 183

A Top-Down Planning Process: Lessons from the Field 184

      Bioengineering versus Natural Processes 184

      Riverbank Instability and Its Risk of Failure 186

      The Riverfront Forest 187

      The Outcome of the Proposed Project Is Uncertain 188

      Listening—Really Listening—to the Citizens 190

      Or Only Pretending to Really Listen 191

      Eliminating Unwelcome Voices Within 192

Summary 195

Endnotes 195

8. Implementing the Comprehensive Plan 199

Zoning Ordinances 199

      Percentage Impervious Surfaces 200

      Building Setbacks 201

      Plans for Erosion Control and Contouring the Land 201

      Open-Space Requirements 201

      Requirements for Landscaping 202

      Design Controls: Site Design, Architecture, and Signage 203

      Site Design 206

      Architectural Standards 207

      Signage Standards 207

Transitioning to Local Living Economy Land Use Practices 208

      Overlay Districts 208

      Revisions to Development Standards to Accommodate Green Building Practices 209

Other Regulatory Approaches to Land Use Control 210

      Protection of Farmlands 211

      Population Growth Rate and New Construction 212

Nonregulatory Methods of Controlling Land Use 214

      Incentive-Based Tools 214

      Outright Purchase of Land 214

      Donated Conservation Easements 215

      Purchase of Development Rights 215

      Transfer of Development Rights 215

      Incentives Themselves 216

      Development Review 217

      Citizen-Initiated Development Review 217

      Obstacles to Development Review 220

      Fiscal Impact Analysis: Require for Specified Development Proposals 222

      Environmental Impact Analysis 224

      Checklists for Sustainability 275

Summary 227

Endnotes 227

9. Monitoring Progress 231

Change and Our Perception of It 232

Creating Measures of Progress 236

Outputs versus Outcomes 239

Summary 240

Endnotes 240

10. Ongoing Community Engagement: Citizens as Planners 243

Knowing Our Audience 244

What Do We Need to Be Communicating and How? 245

Is a "Paradigm Shift" Occurring? 247

Barriers to Overcome 250

Summary 253

Endnotes 253

Index 257

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