 |
The future—it's not working! Sprawl and other forms of
pollution are the result of millions of small, individual decisions
that negatively impact urban neighborhoods, agricultural
communities and the region's ecological health.
Within the next decade, the challenge for planning will be on the
regional scale and these plans will be essential to providing a
higher quality of life, energy efficiency, resource protection,
pollution reduction and lower taxes.
Regional resources drive the local economy—think locally, act
regionally. Bioregional forces create regional form. The form and
function of a place is a result of many thousands of years of
biological and natural forces. These forces are wind, sun, soil,
slope, geo-hydrology, and precipitation. In nature, all form and
change-in-form are a result of these forces and the pattern
responses to
them. All communities of plants and animals work with those forces
to supply their daily needs.
Energies and forces such as sunlight, gravity, hydrological cycles,
tides, storms, volcanoes, earthquakes, and windstorms have created,
over a long period of time, the way things are. Some pattern
response examples are water flow creating the Grand Canyon,
sunlight—photosynthesis and biomes, wind—sand dunes,
tectonics—mountains, and volcanos—new land forms.
The
forms and patterns of communities, farms, cities, rock formations,
canyons, cars and feet—all are responses to energy
flow—energy creates form.
When the energy used is of a nonrenewable source, such as fossil
fuels or the overuse of a renewable energy such as water for
irrigation of deserts or hydroelectric power, the existing form
(location, size, pattern and economy) is not a long-term
sustainable pattern.
The American Dream?
The reliance on fossil fuels and the overuse of renewable
resources have created a series of unsustainable land uses, yet
these patterns are revered as the "American Dream." As the reality
of accomplishing this dream becomes less affordable, due to costs
of energy and environmental degradation, the method to achieve it
will change.
One example of a changed method starts by reemploying the
natural energies and the reuse of their free work. The value in
studying, understanding, and applying a biological
regionalism—bioregionalism—is that the derived form and
pattern are always related to the energy flows and environmental
conditions of the place. The pattern is place-based.
Community design and architectural form, up until the advent of
fossil fuel-driven forced mechanical space conditioning and
millions of miles of roads, was directly connected to comfort and
protection by using the energy forces and resources of the region.
Some of the most powerful urban and architectural form seen in
historic settlements was derived from this common sense approach to
incorporating regional forces. These forces were well
understood—the architect and builder would not build without
proper orientation to breezes or natural light. Even the community
squares were warmed by the sunlight in winter and cooled by the
shade from the deciduous trees in the summer.
A New Agenda: Regional Design
Expanding the scale of problem solving to regional design
is an essential step towards sustainability. Understanding
the bioregion—all biological flows within a region—is a
critical scale. All comprehensive planning starts with the
recognition of boundaries. The issue has always been what makes up
the boundaries and why are they the logical and measured parameters
for study. The answer is quite simple when it comes to
watersheds—a watershed is the area defined by contours where
the precipitation falling on the surface is distributed within the
area by gravity. An economic value in the watershed is that
gravity—free work—is distributing water without
taxes.
The design elements of a self-organized system incorporate the
roles played by water, solar, soil, and natural forces.
A south Florida project illustrates the integration of
bioregional resources in a manner that establishes both a plan and
vision of how a neighborhood, community, or region can increase in
quality of life, while absorbing additional population and reducing
taxes. These examples are initiated by the premise of recharging
the regional water system to provide a sustainable potable and
natural system water supply, but then also integrate with
transit-oriented design standards, smart growth principles,
agricultural preservation, and ecological protection all while
reducing taxes.
The south Florida vision is a compelling one. Located within the
coastal corridor, there would be a series of distinct and diverse
communities sharing, among other things, commuter rail and a water
supply system of regional greenways and blueways. Within the
region, every community would grow "smarter"—becoming more
livable/sustainable through integration of transit and alternatives
to automobiles. Together, south Floridians would share the combined
responsibility for protecting the
"future of the future" for the children of their
grandchildren and beyond.
This smart growth alternative analyzes, defines, designs, and
illustrates a future of economic, social and ecologic well-being.
This vision will develop through urban and regional design --
a sustainable urban, agricultural and natural systems plan within a
regional and urban vision. The project size is 120 lineal miles and
varies in width from 5 to 20 miles. It encompasses 70
municipalities, 4.5 million people, two railroads and five
counties. As a cost versus price comparison, this plan will be
accomplished at less of a price than typical technological
solutions ? which would include pumping and desalinization --
and at a much lower "cost" to the whole system.
This process of planning and design will solve the immediate
problems of flooding and water supply
while providing strong urban and regional edges, preservation of
agriculture, and regional natural
resource protection. And the savings are real:
- 67,725 acres of developable land
- 13,887 acres of fragile environmental lands
- 52,856 acres of prime farmland
- $62 million in state road costs
- 108 lane miles of state roads
- $1.54 billion in local road costs
- 4,221 lane-miles of local roads
- $157 million in water capital costs
- $135.6 million in sewer capital costs
- An average of $ 24.25 million per year in public-sector service
costs.
This process, while providing for a sustainable water storage,
also plans for a compatible environmental/economic fit and a
considerably higher quality of life. It can be a blueprint for a
"green plan" for the Seattle region—a plan that maximizes
winners by solving three-dimensional problems simultaneously. All
critical issues of today are connected to one another.
Salmon,
transportation, congestion, water supply, stormwater, traffic,
neighborhood connections, economic vitality, jobs, and, yes, taxes
are positively impacted by the strong comprehensive planning of the
whole region—but it is not being done.
A state-wide planning initiative that looks at the issues of
today but considers the next hundred years is needed if the region
is to find a sustainable path. A multi-county plan based on the
watershed principles illustrated here that assures all
neighborhoods and people (critters too) a remarkable life while
providing and preserving a desirable future for our children's
children is also essential.
To leave it to chance and political whim is refusing to see the
results that approach has brought and letting go of the opportunity
to shape a future desired.
|
