Land Use Planning and Community Well Being

As our societies grow, becoming more complex and interconnected, the earth’s natural resources are becoming scarcer and the cost of remediating waste and pollution is rising. As it turns out, many of the processes that were beneficial to the growth and maturity of our society have become inappropriate and detrimental to our current state of health and prosperity. Though we have no historic precedent for the development and maturity of modern civilizations, it is possible to look to nature for models that can help us to understand how human society can become more sustainable.

As was discussed on the previous page, developmental change that occurs in a natural community is known as “ecological succession”. This change proceeds from an initial pioneer community of plants and animals, through various successional stages until the community reaches a level of maturity or climax. Interestingly, the pioneer species are extremely adaptable and resourceful at colonizing, finding and utilizing natural resources, such as light, water and nutrients. As pioneer species successfully appropriate natural resources, early development of the community is typified by rapid growth and competition. Over time, more and more species move into the community and the biomass, the weight of living matter, and the complexity of the ecosystem increases. As the ecosystem matures, the rapid growth in biomass tapers off and the makeup of species begins to shift from those that rely on competition for resources towards species that rely more on cooperation for mutual benefit. This cooperation and mutual aid between species enhances the conservation and recycling of precious and limited resources. In the mature community the emphasis shifts from growth to maintenance and from quantity to quality. Species tend to live longer and reproduce less. Most of the available resources in the ecosystem have already been assimilated, so species now focus on efficiently maintaining, managing and reusing limited resources while reducing waste.

There are obvious correlations between the present state of human civilization and the transition from a pioneer to a mature ecological community. We have reached a juncture where our societies must transition from growth to maintenance and efficiency if we are to maintain a reasonable quality of life. The emphasis will need to shift from competition for resources towards cooperation for the mutual benefit of all members within the society, as well as between societies and nations. Economic policies will need to be modified to be less focused on quantity and growth in the extraction and production of new resources and more focused on the quality, efficient use and recycling of existing resources.

Community planning must address a complex set of issues and must be adapted to local and regional conditions, but there are some guiding principles that we can follow to improve the efficiency of the communities we live in. We should first attempt to locate development away from sensitive and productive landscapes such as wetlands, water bodies, floodplains, steep slopes, and critical habitat for wildlife and endangered species. Prime farm land should also be protected for the vital role it plays in food production.

We can increase the density of developed areas, through infill and brownfield redevelopment, rather than allowing sprawl into surrounding agricultural and natural areas. Increased development density can make it so that residents have access to a variety of services, including housing, jobs, schools, shopping and recreation, all within a short distance of each other. By increasing the opportunity for short distance walking and biking trips we can reduce automobile usage. Reduced dependence on automobiles will decrease the need for paved streets and parking in urban and rural areas. Reducing the area of paved surfaces will leave more land for open space and recreation, and also reduce heat island effect, light pollution and noise pollution. To make our communities more livable and pedestrian friendly, we may need to restrict the access of autos in many areas. More emphasis can be placed on safe and efficient walkways and bike lanes, and less on automobile circulation within developed areas. Less reliance on the automobile could free up a tremendous amount of space, that is presently devoted to streets and parking. Reducing autos will also reduce noise and light pollution as well as improve the safety in these areas. Reducing the area of paved surfaces will reduce heat island effect, improve the urban microclimate, improve infiltration and reduce runoff.

Public transportation can make getting around town much more efficient and safe. Mass transit facilities, buses, trains and street cars, can further improve the efficiency of transportation by connecting different urban centers to each other and the surrounding vicinities. The utilization of renewable forms of energy to power mass transit could greatly reduce the carbon footprint of our transportation systems.

New buildings will need to be designed for maximum efficiency and existing buildings will need to be retrofitted to reduce energy consumption and improve efficiency. If we improve the efficiency in the usage of energy by 50%, that is the equivalent of producing 50% more energy. This transformation will be made easier by the switch to more renewable sources of energy and materials. Greater efficiency and local and on-site generation of renewable forms of energy will reduce the demand for utility distribution corridors.

Landscaping can be used to reduce building energy consumption and improve the urban microclimate. Deciduous trees planted to the South and West of the building can shade the building and reduce heat gain in the summer, while allowing the sunlight through in the winter months. Evergreen trees and shrubs can be used as a wind break, or to funnel wind over or around a structure. Trees improve property values, and make urban areas more livable. They can shade streets and parking lots, reducing heat island effect, as well as light and noise pollution.

Green roofs, landscaping on rooftops, can help insulate building roofs, reduce stormwater runoff, and reduce urban heat island effect. The total area of rooftops in developed areas represents a huge untapped resource. If we combine green roofs with urban agriculture, the ecological synergies and benefits would be tremendous. We could help to feed the growing population of urban dwellers. We could make use of a vast amount of valuable surface area for urban food production. We could insulate our buildings, reducing energy consumption. We can reduce urban runoff by capturing rainwater. We would reduce the ecological footprint of food consumption in urban areas, by reducing the machinery used to grow and transport produce. The increased absorption of CO₂ would help reduce greenhouse gases. The absorption of sunlight will reduce the heat island effect. It would also provide economic opportunities for urban farmers.

Community gardens can be incorporated into community open space programs. These gardens allow residents to grow their own food and reduce living expenses. More local production of food can reduce the environmental impact of food production by reducing the distance of transportation, and local gardening can often be practiced more sustainably than industrial agricultural practices. As we look for more efficient ways to use the land, producing food from home gardens may become more desirable. There are many plants that have both ornamental and nutritional benefits. When we use these “nutrimental” plants in our gardens we can reap greater benefits from the landscape. Through careful design we can have beautiful landscapes that contribute to our annual food needs. In fact many of the ornamental plants we find in the garden are suitable for eating.

Due to increasing scarcity and decreasing quality, water must be managed more efficiently, cleaned and reused, perhaps many times over, before it is returned to nature. One way we can reduce the volume of wastewater is to use and recycle our water more wisely. In new construction we can separate graywater (from lavatories, showers and washing machines) from blackwater (toilets), and reuse the graywater to flush toilets or irrigate the landscape. Graywater would be safer if we eliminate hazardous chemicals from household cleaning products. Collection of rainwater into cisterns can also reduce the load on municipal potable water. Rainwater is suitable for irrigation, toilet flushing and with some purification as potable water. Water usage laws in some western states need to be modernized to allow for collection of rainwater.

Paved and built surface area create surface runoff. These areas, under pre-development conditions were vegetated and pervious, meaning that much of the rain that fell on the land was taken up by vegetation or infiltrated into the soil. As these areas become developed, and surfaces become impervious, the volume of water that leaves a site is greatly increased. Increased surface flow creates the necessity for sanitary sewers in developed areas. Flooding, erosion and sedimentation are exacerbated by the increase of impervious surface area within developed areas. Flooding and sanitary sewer overflows during peak storms can be reduced by reducing the area of impervious surfaces within the community. Surface runoff can be greatly reduced by incorporation a variety of open space, detention, retention and infiltration systems within developed areas. These areas can serve multiple open space functions and improve the quality of life within the community. Ponds, parks, trails, roof gardens, rain gardens and wetland buffer zones all provide important community services while reducing stormwater and recharging aquifers. Paving materials can be pervious or semi pervious rather than impervious, allowing much of the rainfall to infiltrate rather than adding to the volume of surface runoff. By simply requiring that post development runoff volume and rate does not exceed the pre-development volume and rate, a community can encourage property owners and developers to find creative ways to maintain and reduce surface runoff.

As we attempt to create a sustainable society we have to consider how we manage waste. We tend to think of waste as an adjective (a byproduct, not needed, useless, left over, unwanted). But waste is also be defined as a verb, implying action (to use carelessly, extravagantly, ineffectively). we could say that material waste is the result of wasteful actions. The subject of waste generation and disposal is central to the ecological sustainability of human societies. In the past we have relied on the natural environment to assimilate our waste, whether it is the human waste dumped into waterways, the massive volume of debris dumped into landfills, or the excess CO₂ and pollutants dumped into the atmosphere. When populations were smaller, the ability of Mother Nature to absorb and assimilate our waste seemed almost limitless. It is now clear that we have begun to overload natural systems with the huge volume of waste production. For human engineered ecosystems to be sustainable we will need to find ways to creatively reduce resource consumption and waste generation, while maintaining a decent standard of living. We can find creative ways to reduce reuse and recycle our material resources. We will also need to cooperate with nature, providing a healthy environment for a variety of life forms. Going forward it is critical to our survival that we do not overload natural systems with waste and pollutants.

Examples:

• Locate development away from sensitive and productive landscapes

• Protect and restore critical habitats

• Protect and restore natural processes

• Reduce automobile use

• Provide pedestrian and bicycle corridors and pathways

• Provide mass-transit alternatives

• Reduce paved surfaces, improve infiltration & reduce stormwater runoff

•  Permeable paving

• Locally produced renewable energy

• Increase urban density

• Greenbelts, Conservation corridors, Wetland buffers

• Reduce reuse and recycle waste water

• Community gardens and urban food production

• Roof gardens

• Reduce waste production through materials reduction, reuse and recycling

• Increase trees and vegetated areas to reduce heat island effect, pollution and noise and to provide sanctuary for urban wildlife

• Low intensity site lighting, directional restriction and timing devices to reduce energy consumption and to protect wildlife

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