Land Use and Land Use Management System

7/29/2019 Land Use and Land Use Management System

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LAND USE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

The Land Use Management function works to ensure that all land and properties in Cape Town

are used only according to their permitted land-use or zoning rights. It considers applications for

new developments by property owners and developers to change permitted land uses, zoning

rights and their accompanying restrictions, which are in turn specified in a zoning scheme. This

responsibility is exercised in line with the City's commitment to sustainable and equitable

development.

Typical land-use or zoning categories in a zoning scheme include:

Residential zones

- single residential dwellings

- group housing schemes

- blocks of flats)

Open space zones

- public open spaces

- parks

- sports fields

- cemeteries

- private open spaces)

Business commercial zones

- shops

- office blocks


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Community use facility zones

- schools

- clinics

- places of worship

Industrial zones

- factories

- motor repair garages

- warehouses

Utility zones

- electricity substations

- water treatment plants

Transport zones

- public roads

- railway lines

- public transport interchanges


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In addition to the spatial development frameworks and structure plans drawn up by spatial

planning officials, zoning schemes and related regulations and policies are primary tools for

land-use and development management. Spatial development frameworks and structure plans

stipulate where development may or may not happen in future and provide an overview of land

use in the city.

All decisions on development applications must be consistent with these controls, as must the

guidelines and requirements found in the Land Use Planning Ordinance (15 of 1985) and other

applicable planning laws, as well as with Council's related operational policies and requirements.

Collectively, these controls are known as the City's Land Use Management System.

The Land Use Management function is currently rationalizing the City's existing separate local

zoning schemes into a single standard integrated zoning scheme for the entire city.Land use

management services in Cape Town are delivered through a network of local district offices thatoffer the following services:

Pre-application advice to residents, consultants and developers about land use management

issues and application procedures for the submission of development applicationsProcessing and

facilitating applications for rezoning, subdivision, zoning scheme departures and amendments,

removal of title deed restrictions,Enforcement of planning and land use management related

legislation and zoning scheme regulations

Issuing of property zoning certificates Investigating and resolving land-use management

complaints and illegal land use, and prosecuting contraventions

Land use can be seen as the human modification of natural environment or wilderness into built

environment such as settlements, agriculture or pasture. By defining new functions to the land,

also in term of changing the functionality of land, the human is transforming his environment

consequently. The land structure resulting from this use of land has to be considered as the result

and the mirror of his society and his culture, resulting of the action of different actors, mobile

and immobile.

As management is the human activity meaning the action of people working together in the aim

to accomplish desired goals, land use management is a process of managing use and

development of land, in which spatial, sector-oriented and temporary aspects of urban policy arecoordinated. Resources of land are used for different purposes, which may produce conflicts and

competitions, and land use management has to see those purposes in an integrated way.

Therefore, land management covers the debate about norms and visions driving the policy-

making, sector-based planning both in the strategic and more operative time spans, spatial

integration of sectoral issues, decision-making, budgeting, implementation of plans and decisions

and the monitoring of results and evaluation of impacts. The Management System includes all


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processes, methods and tools used for organising, operating and supervising the urban

environment including the factors influencing it. Management systems cover all phases from the

visions behind the preparation of plans and decisions to their implementation and the monitoring

of impacts. Planning practices, decision making processes and procedures, implementation and

monitoring mechanisms and methods and tools used in the above-mentioned phases are all

elements of management systems. In general, land use management is driven by various

decisions taken at different levels of administration.

Often, short-term orientation is conflicting the long-term ones. Therefore, a sustainable land use

management will improve coordination of urban policy as well as public-public investments and

public-private investments, and involves inhabitants and local stakeholders in common visions.


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EFFECTIVENESS OF A VARIOUS LAND AND TRANSPORTATION

A common transportation goal of urbanized areas is to reduce traffic congestion during a.m. and

p.m. weekday peak hours. Programs that apply transportation demand management strategies to

individual employment work sites are one potentially effective response that has been used in

urban areas throughout the United States over the last 25 years. Participating employers have

offered programs and incentives to employees of work sites located in congested areas and who

commute during times of peak traffic congestion. The programs are designed to persuade

commuting employees to switch to a different travel mode other than single occupant vehicle, or

to change travel time to outside the peak period, telecommute, decrease trip making, or decrease

distance traveled.Transportation professionals, program funding agencies, and employers want to

know the level of effectiveness of these programs.

TDM marketing specialists charged with promoting the creation of TDM programs need reliable

information about how successful programs can be duplicated at other work sites and what

factors contribute to TDM program success. While numerous programs exist across the nation,

the most abundant information includes traffic problem characterizations and simple descriptions

of efforts undertaken. Many programs have not collected baseline information about prior

commuting characteristics to compare against travel behavior after program implementation.

Many programs have not measured program results or adequately tracked progress over time but

instead provide only a snapshot write up of program characteristics for one point in time. Often

there is an inadequate demonstration of the causal link between the program and the results.

Other programs may track data that are inadequate indicators of program effectiveness.There are

many preconceived notions that arise from anecdotal information, not based upon any sound

evidence, about what conditions are ideal for successful programs. For example, common

guidance calls for establishing a work-site commuter choice program administered from the

human resources department.

This advice originated from observations about what many organizations have already done in

the past rather than any evidence that human resources departments have special qualities for

directing commuter choice programs. Another commonly held belief is that employee

transportation coordinators with charismatic personalities will be able to persuade commuters to

alter their travel behavior. In addition to the limited usefulness of anecdotal information, the

good quality program information that does exist is usually not shared but archived separately at

each program source. The data are not gathered in one known place where they can be easily

accessed and used by others.The availability of properly documented TDM program results is

critical to knowing what strategies work effectively and how to improve existing programs.

Positive results provide justification for TDM program funding and can convince other

employers to start programs of their own.

Transportation systems and land use patterns influence air quality. Roads, transit, and other

transportation elements shape land development, while the distribution and types of land uses


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affect travel patterns and transportation facilities. A dispersed pattern of low-density

development relies almost exclusively on cars as the primary mode for transportation.

Alternatively, denser and more mixed use urban development can combine different land uses in

closer proximity, encouraging walking, biking, transit and other non-motorized travel. The type

of development is sometimes referred to as smart growth or sustainable development.

The link between transportation, land use and air quality can be complex. Incorporationg

elements of smart growth that offer a choice of transportation options can have a positive impact

on air quality, energy use and people's health. In addition, Transportation Demand Management

(TDM) strategies can improve travel through the more efficient use of our existing transportation

system rather than buidling new roads or widening existing ones. Strategies include increasing

the use of public transit, carpooling, vanpooling, biking, walking and telecommuting.

The links below are connected to agencies, organizations and programs that play important roles

in the local and regional connection between land use, transportation and air quality:

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LAND TRANSPORTATION AND LAND

USES

Land use and transportation interaction is a dynamic process that involves changes over spatial

and temporal dimensions between the two systems. Changes in land use systems can modify the

travel demand patterns and induce changes in transportation systems. Transportation system

evolution, on the other hand, creates new accessibility levels that encourage changes in land use

patterns. There have been many studies to identify interaction between the two systems in terms

of a time lag, the magnitude of impact, and the spatial relationship. Property value change has

been popularly used in the regression model as an indication of land use change as well as

increased development.

In this study, a framework for identifying the spatial and temporal interactions between

transportation and land use was developed based on statistical analysis of time series. The results

of the time-series analysis showed that transportation improvements impacted land uses at

varying rates and intensities. Cumulated impact was also measured with time series techniques.

To provide temporal variables for land use and transportation, historical land use and

transportation data were collected and converted to GIS data. Historical data collected was time-

stamped.


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Program that was capable of handling and manipulating spatiotemporal data was used and a

framework for identifying the spatial and temporal interactions between transportation and land

use was developed.Avenue scripts was capable of storing temporal spatial data and extracting

useful information to support the visualization and analysis of transportation and land

interactions. This study was able to account for interactions spatially and temporally at smaller

geographic scales.

Much has been written about the desperate need to seek alternative solutions to the urban traffic

congestion problems we face today. To manage these problems, three main streams of

intervention have evolved from supply, demand and land-use management paradigms. Whilst

their underlying measures all have the ability to reduce traffic congestion one way or another,

little has been done to integrate the measures of each stream using a qualitative decision

framework or process that enables the selection of site-specific measures appropriate to local

traffic and transport conditions.

To this end the study reports the results of an empirical investigation by which a Multi-CriteriaAnalysis based Dynamic Adaptive Decision Framework (D.A.D.F.) was developed. This screens

selected measures, and identifies those that have the potential to alleviate site-specific road-based

traffic congestion. The product of the screening process is a set of sustainable measures

transposed into an integrated strategy tailored to address local traffic congestion issues. Once the

D.A.D.F. was developed, its usefulness and workability was tested by applying it to a case study.

The case study results demonstrated that the D.A.D.F. is capable of producing integrated

strategies with the ability to manage traffic congestion, encourage sustainable development and

alleviate some site-specific development challenges within the context of the study areas. Going

beyond developing the decision framework, the study recommends positioning the D.A.D.F.

within the South African planning system as part of a Traffic Congestion Management Plan

(T.C.M.P.) setting out its likely components within the local context.

It is concluded that the main innovation of the study is the development of the D.A.D.F, the

T.C.M.P., the recommendations to situate both in the planning system and the comprehensive,

but still transparent, approach undertaken to create integrated strategies for specific local

conditions consisting of elements that work together to produce cumulative short- to long-term

effects that attain a balanced set of environmental, social and economic goals - all imperative for

sustainable development.

Both land use and transportation are part of a dynamic system that is subject to externalinfluences. Each component of the system is constantly evolving due to changes in technology,

policy, economics, demographics and even culture or values. As a result, the interactions

between land use and transportation are played out as the outcome of the many decisions made

by residents, businesses and governments. The field of urban dynamics has expended the scope

of conventional land use models, which tended to be descriptive, by trying to consider

relationships behind the evolution of the urban spatial structure. This has led to a complex


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modeling framework including a wide variety of components. Among the concepts supporting

urban dynamics representations are retroactions, whereby one component changes it influences

others. The changes will influence the initial component back, either positively or negatively.

The most significant components of urban dynamics are:

Land use.This is the most stable component of urban dynamics, as changes are likely to modify the

land use structure over a rather long period of time. This comes as little surprise since most

real estate is built to last at least several decades. The main impact of land use on urban

dynamics is its function of a generator and attractor of movements.

Transport network.This is also considered to be a rather stable component of urban dynamics, as transport

infrastructures are built for the long term. This is particularly the case for large transport

terminals and subway systems that can operate for a very long period of time. For instance,

many railway stations are more than one hundred years old. The main contribution of the

transport network to urban dynamics is the provision of accessibility. Changes in the

transport network will impact accessibility and movements.

Movements.The most dynamic component of the system since movements of passengers or freight

reflect almost immediately changes. Movements thus tend more to be an outcome of urban

dynamics than a factor shaping them.

Employment and workplaces.They account for significant inducement effects over urban dynamics since many models

often consider employment as an exogenous factor. This is specifically the case for

employment that is categorized as basic, or export oriented, which is linked with specific

economic sectors such as manufacturing. Commuting is a direct outcome of the number of

jobs and the location of workplaces.

Population and housing.They act as the generators of movements, because residential areas are the sources of

commuting. Since there are a wide array of incomes, standards of living, preferences and

ethnicity, this diversity is reflected in the urban spatial structure.


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Effects of Transportation on Land Development

State DOTs influence land development through providing infrastructure and, to a lesser

extent, through transportation-related regulations. These influences are seldom part of a

projects goal and are usually not intentional. State transportation projects are normally

planned to improve safety, decrease travel time by alleviating congestion, and achieve other

mobility-related goals.Transportations most significant impact on land development occurs

when access is provided to land. Increased access to land raises its potential for development,

and more development generates additional travel. Once access has been provided, land

patterns begin to change over a period of time. The results of these changes are, for the most

part, irreversible.

Transportation investment can be an important factor in influencing economic growth.

Highway facilities can attract economic growth by increasing access to new areas, which in

turn may provide access to skilled labor markets and inexpensive land for new businesses.Many state DOTs have recognized and addressed the interaction between transportation and

economic development.This section summarizes the basic concepts that can be used to

analyze the economic development impact of new highways.Transportation is only one of

many factors that affect economic development. It is clear that actions taken by local or state

transportation agencies affect economic activity in a variety of ways. As transportation

systems change,increased accessibility to new areas will make them attractive for

development.Although most state statutes delegate economic development planning to local

municipal or county governmental bodies, there are a variety of ways for a state DOT to

influence the decisions made locally.

Land and economic impacts of transportation must be understood in their geographic context.

The increased access to land provided by new or upgraded transportation facilities can either

induce new development or change existing development patterns.The extent of the impact

depends upon the geographic scope of the analysis. A small impact area can show an increase

in economic activity, but when a larger area is defined the impact will appear as a shift in

development within the region or local jurisdiction. The gains to one location are matched by

losses at another location.For example, in the drawing above the shift of activity across the

county line would be viewed as either a positive impact or a transfer, depending upon how

the area boundaries are chosen. A new highway interchange can cause development patternsto shift from one area to another. This shift causes a localized gain for one county with a loss

to the other. However, the net result is zero. These are called transfer effects. Economic

benefits resulting from roadway improvements or initial construction vary depending on the

viewpoint of the analyst. Benefits observed at the local level or surrounding the highway

interchange may not be realized when observed at a statewide level.If the regional economy

is growing, transportation improvements are likely to have a big effect on land development


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patterns. If the economy is stagnant,transportation system improvements are less likely to

induce new land development, but rather cause it to shift from one location to another. When

considering the potential impact of transportation projects it is important to recognize that

there are many other factors, locally, regionally and nationally, that influence where land

development occurs.Investment in highway infrastructure has typically been looked at as a

means of supporting economic development. Studies have shown that while highway

investments result in cost savings to travelers by providing easier access to outlying areas,

the local economic development benefits may be derived from a shift of activity to an area of

increased accessibility from a region of lesser accessibility. Therefore, highway investment

decisions that have a goal of economic development, should not be made based on transfer

effects, that is,when there is no net gain in economic activity when looked at on a regional or

statewide or national scale.


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URBAN SPRAWL AND SMART GROWTH

Urban sprawl or suburban sprawl is a multifaceted concept centered around the expansion of

auto-oriented, low-density development. Topics range from the outward spreading of a city andits suburbs to its logical limits, to low-density and auto-dependent development on rural land,

examination of impact of high segregation between residential and commercial uses, and

analysis of various design features to determine which may encourage car dependency.The

meaning of the urban sprawl associated with the phrase. For example, some commentators

measure sprawl only with the average number of residential units per acre in a given area. But

others associate it with decentralization spread of population without a well-defined centre,

discontinuity ,developmentas, segregation of uses, and so forth.

The term urban sprawl generally has negative connotations due to the health, environmental and

cultural issues associated with the phrase.Residents of sprawling neighbourhoods tend to emitmore pollution per person and suffer more traffic fatalities.Sprawl is controversial, with

supporters claiming that consumers prefer lower density neighborhoods and that sprawl does not

necessarily increase traffic.Sprawl is characterized by several land use patterns that usually occur

in unison.

Cities can be thought of as the absence of physical space between people and firms. As such,

they exist to eliminate transportation costs for goods, people and ideas and transportation

technologies dictate urban form.Sprawl is ubiquitous and that it is continuing to expand.Sprawl

is not the result of explicit government policies or bad urban planning, but rather the inexorable

product of car-based living. Sprawl has been associated with significant improvements in qualityof living, and the environmental impacts of sprawl have been offset by technological change.

Single-use zoning

This refers to a situation where commercial, residential, institutional and industrial areas are

separated from one another. Consequently, large tracts of land are devoted to a single use and are

segregated from one another by open space, infrastructure, or other barriers. As a result, the

places where people live, work, shop, and recreate are far from one another, usually to the extent

that walking, transit use and bicycling are impractical, so all these activities generally require anautomobile.


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Low-density zoning

Sprawl consumes much more land per-capita than traditional urban developments because

zoning laws generally require that new developments are of low density. The exact definition of

"low density" is arguable, but a common example is that of single family homes on large lots,

with four or fewer units per net acre. Buildings usually have fewer stories and are spaced fartherapart, separated by lawns, landscaping, roads or parking lots. Lot sizes are larger, and because

more automobiles are used much more land is designated for parking. The impact of low density

development in many communities is that developed or "urbanized" land is increasing at a faster

rate than the population is growing.Overall density is often lowered by "leapfrog development".

This term refers to the relationship, or lack thereof, between subdivisions. Such developments

are typically separated by large green belts, i.e. tracts of undeveloped land, resulting in an

average density far lower even than the low density described in the previous paragraph. This is

a 20th and 21st century phenomenon generated by the current custom of requiring a developer to

provide subdivision infrastructure as a condition of development.Usually, the developer is

required to set aside a certain percentage of the developed land for public use, including roads,

parks and schools. In the past, when a local government built all the streets in a given location,

the town could expand without interruption and with a coherent circulation system, because it

had condemnation power. Private developers generally do not have such power and often choose

to develop on the tracts that happen to be for sale at the time they want to build, rather than pay

extra or wait for a more appropriate location.

Areas of urban sprawl are also characterized as highly dependent on automobiles for

transportation, a condition known as automobile dependency. Most activities, such as shopping

and commuting to work, require the use of a car as a result of both the area's isolation from the

city and the isolation the area's residential zones have from its industrial and commercial zones.

Walking and other methods of transit are not practical; therefore, many of these areas have few

or no sidewalks. In many suburban communities, stores and activities that are in close proximity

"as the crow flies" require automobiles, because the different areas are separated by fences,

walls, and drainage ditches. Some critics argue that excessive parking requirements exacerbate

car dependency.


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Job sprawl and spatial mismatch

Job Sprawl is another land use symptom of urban sprawl and car-dependent communities. It is

defined as low-density, geographically spread-out patterns of employment, where the majority of

jobs in a given metropolitan area are located outside of the main city's Central Business District

(CBD), and increasingly in the suburban periphery. It is often the result of urban disinvestment,

the geographic freedom of employment location allowed by predominantly car-dependent

commuting patterns of many American suburbs, and many companies' desire to locate in low-

density areas that are often more affordable and offer potential for expansion. Spatial mismatch

is related to job sprawl and economic Environmental Justice. Spatial Mismatch is defined as the

situation where poor urban, predominantly minority citizens are left without easy access to entry-

level jobs, as a result of increasing job sprawl and limited transportation options to facilitate a

reverse commute to the suburbs.Job sprawl has been documented and measured in various ways.

Other ways of measuring the concept with more detailed rings around the CBD.In terms of

measurement, spatial mismatch can be thought of as the percentage of people who would have to

move in order to be distributed in the same way as jobs.

Conversion of agricultural land to residential

Land for expansion of suburban housing is usually purchased from farmers or ranchers.Avoid tax

on profit by using a tax break exempting like-kind exchanges from capital gains tax; proceeds

from the sale are used to purchase cheap agricultural land elsewhere and the transaction is treated

as a "swap" or trade of like assets and no tax is due. Thus urban sprawl is subsidized by the tax

code.


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Developments characteristic of sprawl

Housing subdivisions

Housing subdivisions are large tracts of land consisting entirely of newly built residences.They

are also referred to as developments.Subdivisions often incorporate curved roads.Suchsubdivisions may offer only a few places to enter and exit the development, causing traffic to use

high volume collector streets. All trips, no matter how short, must enter the collector road in a

suburban system.

Shopping malls

Another prominent form of retail development in areas characterized by "sprawl" is the shopping

mall. Unlike the strip mall, this is usually composed of a single building surrounded by a parking

lot that contains multiple shops, usually "anchored" by one or more department stores.The

function and size is also distinct from the strip mall. The focus is almost exclusively onrecreational shopping rather than daily goods. Shopping malls also tend to serve a wider public

and require higher-order infrastructure such as highway access and can have floorspaces in

excess of a million square feet.Shopping malls are often detrimental to downtown shopping

centres of nearby cities since the shopping malls act as a surrogate for the city centre.Some

downtowns have responded to this challenge by building shopping centres of their own.

Urban sprawl and automobile dependency

Whether urban sprawl does increase problems of automobile dependency and whether

conversely, policies of smart growth can reduce them have been fiercely contested issues overseveral decades.Within cities, studies from across many countries have shown that denser urban

areas with greater mixture of land use and better public transport tend to have lower car use than

less dense suburban and ex-urban residential areas. This usually holds true even after controlling

for socio-economic factors such as differences in household composition and income.This does

not necessarily imply that suburban sprawl causes high car use, however. One confounding

factor, which has been the subject of many studies, is residential self-selection people who prefer

to drive tend to move towards low density suburbs, whereas people who prefer to walk, cycle or

use transit tend to move towards higher density urban areas, better served by public transport.

Some studies have found that, when self-selection is controlled for, the built environment has no

significant effect on travel behaviour.More recent studies using more sophisticatedmethodologies have generally refuted these findings: density, land use and public transport

accessibility can influence travel behaviour, although social and economic factors, particularly

household income, usually exert a stronger influence.


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Urban Sprawls Negative Impact

Urban sprawl has a negative impact on the quality of life in many ways.As suburbs grow, more

commuter traffic strains the infrastructure.Infrastructure consists of the basic facilities, services,

and machinery needed for a community to function. For example, roads and bridges need

maintenance. More cars on the road for more time adds to air pollution.Also, sources of water,

such as rivers or underground aquifers (layers of water-holding rock or soil), become depleted.

Urban sprawl also has other costs.The cost of providing streets, utilities,and other public

facilities to suburban communities is often at least 25 per cent higher than for high-density

residences in a city. Urban sprawl also separates classes of people. When those in upper-income

brackets choose to live in outlying areas, lower-income residents oftenbecome isolated in inner-

city areas.

CAUSES OF URBAN SPRAWL

Sprawl occurs in metropolitan areas that allow unrestricted growth or that have no plans to

contain it. Other factors include the widespread use of automobiles and the building of

expressways. Autos and relatively cheap gasoline enable Americans to drive many miles to and

from their jobs. Despite clogged highways and long commutes, Americans prefer their cars to

mass transit. Expressways provide the means for continued reliance on the automobile.Yet,

despite sprawl, there are many reasons why Americans have moved to suburbs. Some people

want open spaces or better schools and housing. Still others want to try to recapture the sense of

community they experienced while growing up. They want their children to know their

neighbors and have a backyard in which to play. Only recently have urban planners started todesign big-city neighborhoods to give a sense of community, hoping to slow the flight to the

suburbs


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SMART GROWTH

Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in compact

walkable urban centers to avoid sprawl. It also advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable,

bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood schools, complete streets, and mixed-use

development with a range of housing choices.'Compact City' or 'urban intensification' have often

been used to describe similar concepts, which have influenced government planning policies in

the UK, the Netherlands and several other European countries.Smart growth values long-range,

regional considerations of sustainability over a short-term focus. Its goals are to achieve a unique

sense of community and place; expand the range of transportation, employment, and housing

choices; equitably distribute the costs and benefits of development; preserve and enhance natural

and cultural resources; and promote public health.

The concept of "Smart Growth" has emerged in the last 1020 years driven by "new guard"

urban planners, innovative architects, visionary developers, community activists, and historic

preservationists. Smart Growth is a term which has become codified in Federal and State

regulations. It has various flavors, but the basic principles are generally similarbeing

variations of the same concept with different emphasis.

Perhaps the most descriptive term to characterize this concept is Traditional Neighborhood

Development which recognizes that Smart Growth and related concepts are not "new" but

fundamental development practices that have been employed for centuries. Many favor the term

New Urbanismwhich invokes a new, but traditional way of looking at urban planning. The

most general term characterizing this concept is likely Sustainable Development, or more simply

just "Resource Stewardship" or "Best Practices."

There are a range of "best practices" associated with "Smart Growth"these include:

supporting existing communities, placing a value on communities and neighborhoods.

redeveloping underutilized sites, enhancing economic competitiveness, providing more

transportation choices, developing livability measures and tools, promoting equitable and

affordable housing, providing a vision for sustainable growth, enhancing integrated planning and

investment, aligning, coordinating, and leveraging government polices, redefining housing

affordability and making it transparent.

There are many goals of Smarth Growth and they include: making the community more

competitive for new businesses, providing alternative places to shop, work, and play, creating abetter "Sense of Place," providing jobs for residents, increasing property values, improving

quality of life, expanding the tax base, preserving open space, controlling growth, and improving

safety.

Smart Growth principles are directed at developing sustainable communities that are good places

to live, to do business, to work, and to raise families. Some of the fundamental aims for the

benefits of residents and the communities are to increase family income and wealth, improving


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access to quality education, fostering livable, safe and healthy places, stimulating economic

activity (both locally and regionally), and developing, preserving and investing in physical

resources.

One needs to distinguish between Smart Growth "principles" and Smart Growth "regulations"

the former are concepts and the latter their implmentationthat is, how federal, state, andmunicipal governments choose to fulfill Smart Growth principles. Many critics of Smart Growth

point to deficiences in Smart Growth regulationsit is hard to criticize principles that promote

"best practices," "stewardship," and "quality of life."

Compact neighborhoods

Compact, livable urban neighborhoods attract more people and business. Creating such

neighborhoods is a critical element of reducing urban sprawl and protecting the climate. Such a

tactic includes adopting redevelopment strategies and zoning policies that channel housing and

job growth into urban centers and neighborhood business districts, to create compact, walkable,

and bike- and transit-friendly hubs. This sometimes requires local governmental bodies to

implement code changes that allow increased height and density downtown and regulations that

not only eliminate minimum parking requirements for new development but establish a

maximum number of allowed spaces. Other topics fall under this concept:

- mixed-use development- inclusion of affordable housing- restrictions or limitations on suburban design forms- inclusion of parks and recreation areas

Transit-oriented development

Transit-oriented development (TOD) is a residential or commercial area designed to maximize

access to public transport, and mixed-use/compact neighborhoods tend to use transit at all times

of the day. Many cities striving to implement better TOD strategies seek to secure funding to

create new public transportation infrastructure and improve existing services. Other measures

might include regional cooperation to increase efficiency and expand services, and moving busesand trains more frequently through high-use areas. Other topics fall under this concept:

- Transportation Demand Management measures- road pricing system (tolling)- commercial parking taxes


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Pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly design

Biking and walking instead of driving can reduce emissions, save money on fuel and

maintenance, and foster a healthier population. Pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly improvements

include bike lanes on main streets, an urban bike-trail system, bike parking, pedestrian crossings,

and associated master plans. The most pedestrian- and bike-friendly variant of smart growth and

New Urbanism is New Pedestrianism because motor vehicles are on a separate grid.

Environmental impact assessments

One popular approach to assist in smart growth in democratic countries is for law-makers to

require prospective developers to prepare environmental impact assessments of their plans as a

condition for state and/or local governments to give them permission to build their buildings.

These reports often indicate how significant impacts generated by the development will be

mitigated, the cost of which is usually paid by the developer. These assessments are frequently

controversial. Conservationists, neighborhood advocacy groups are often skeptical about such

impact reports, even when they are prepared by independent agencies and subsequently approved

by the decision makers rather than the promoters. Conversely, developers will sometimes

strongly resist being required to implement the mitigation measures required by the local

government as they may be quite costly.

In communities practicing these smart growth policies, developers comply with local codes and

requirements. Consequently, developer compliance builds communal trust because it

demonstrates a genuine interest in the environmental quality of the community.


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OBJECTIONS TO SMART GROWTH

Although smart growth appears to be a promising alternative to urban sprawl that could benefit

public health and the environment, it has met with stiff resistance in some communities.The

following are five of the most frequently voiced objections to smart-growth philosophies and

policies:

Smart growth can decrease property values.Property values may be adversely affected when

high-density housing units are built in an area where low-density housing prevails because the

increase in population density may exacerbate local traffic, congestion, and crime, which reduces

property values. Property values may also be negatively affected by commercial development in

a residential area, because commercial development can increase traffic and crime. Crime may

also increase when mass transit connects a residential area to a location where crime is more

prevalent, such as the inner city.

Smart growth can decrease the availability of affordable housing.Requiring developers to buildplanned communities with mixed uses, sidewalks, recreation areas, and bike paths may increase

the cost of housing. Also, setting aside large undeveloped spaces can limit land available for

development, which drives up the price of housing.

Smart growth restricts property owners use of their land.Suburbanites have complained that

laws requiring residential areas to have sidewalks and bike paths deprive them of lawn space.

Farmers have protested against laws that prevent development of large portions of agricultural

and forest land because this interferes with their rights to sell the land.

Smart growth can disrupt existing communities.Low-density, quiet, noncommercial living areas

may become high-density, noisy, and commercial. Historically low-income minority

communities may be displaced to make room for high-rise, smart-growth housing complexes and

upscale commercial development.

Smart growth may increase sprawl instead of decreasing it.Some opponents of smart growth

have argued that it often fails to achieve its intended effect and can actually exacerbate sprawl,

traffic, congestion, pollution, and other urban problems.


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Smart Growth strategically directs financial resources toward programs and

policies that support:

1. development focused on existing communities2. a range of housing choices3. walkable neighborhoods4. attractive communities with a sense of place5. mixed land uses6. preservation of farmland and natural areas7. multiple transportation choices8. compact building design

Sprawl is a post-World War II land development pattern supported by

policies and institutions that promote:

1. new low density development2. preference for undeveloped land over upgrading or renovating older buildings and

infrastructure

3. widespread strip commercial development along roads with extensive visible parking4. segregated housing5. segregated land uses6. new wide roads7. utility expansion/extension8. automobile dependency9. large fiscal disparities between localities10.lack of coordinated planning

Documents

Land Use and Land Use Management System