SOLVING SPRAWL, PART 1

TEN PRINCIPLES FOR SMART GROWTH ON THE
SUBURBAN FRINGE: SOLVING SPRAWL

Clearly, America is a nation with an unquenchable thirst for developing land. There is so much growth that where once was only city and rural, there now are the additions of suburbs, exurbs and micropolitans.

Planners, researchers, developers and even the staunchest conservationists concede that there is no way to stem the tide of growth. So the bottom line is -- if it is a foregone conclusion that growth in the U.S. will continue to spiral out of central cities at a record pace -- what can be done to make sure that growth is smart, not sprawl?

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) published Ten Principles for Smart Growth on the Suburban Fringe to outline clear, attainable methods for solving the sprawl riddle while building the best urbanism possible.

Michael Pawlukiewicz, when he was ULI’s Director of Environment & Policy Education, directed the team that compiled the report that opens with the staggering fact that “across the country, land is being developed faster than ever before: more than two million acres of open space is converted each year.”

“We know there will be a lot of growth in the US. According to the Census Bureau, we’ll grow by 50 million people in the next 20 years,” Pawlukiewicz said during an interview. “Even though we would like those people to live in cities or close in suburbs, the fact is most of the population growth will take place on the fringes of urban areas.”

Pawlukiewicz said even though people will continue moving to the fringe, this nation can build with better development patterns to avoid the problems that sprawl development of the past 50 years has given us. Sprawl has created traffic jams, degraded the environment and misused land.

“We have to move toward compact nodes of development,” he said. “As we identify appropriate sites for these development nodes we must also make sure we identify and protect land for recreation, agriculture and habitat conservation. We have to make sure that development and the protection of natural areas and resource areas go hand in hand.”

Pawlukiewicz said transit-oriented development can be a powerful tool for smart growth – but communities must be sure to coordinate transportation investments with planning for smarter land use. He also stressed the importance of promoting compact, walkable and mixed use communities where everyone has transportation choices including walking, public transportation and driving.


Editor's Note: Tomorrow, we'll share the 10 principles.