URBS 400: Planning for the Built and Natural Environment

Home

ARCH 533a: Urban Ecology

URBS 350 : Cities and the Third World

 


 

Smart Growth Reports and On-line Resources: Bibliography

Ashwani Vasishth   <ashwani@csun.edu>  [Last update: April 13, 2004]

 

 

Alminana, Robert & Paul Crawford & Andres Duany & Laura Hall & Steve Lawton & David Sargent.  2003. White Paper On Smart Growth Policy In California.  Prepared for the State of California, GovernorÕs Office of Planning and Research, 10 February 2003.  <http://fisherandhall.com/OPR/WhitePaper.pdf>

 

Baldasarre, Mark.  2002.  Special Survey On Land Use.  San Francisco: Public Policy Institute of California.  <http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/S_1102MBS.pdf>   [Californians recognize the challenges facing this fastgrowing state Ð from too much traffic congestion to too little affordable housing Ð but most do not experience these troubles in their everyday lives, according to a new survey released today by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) and the Hewlett, Irvine, and Packard Foundations. The result? Residents are deeply ambivalent about their own part Ð as well as their governmentÕs role Ð in creating solutions.]

 

Bertaud, Alain.  2002.  "Clearing the Air In Atlanta: Transit and Smart Growth Or Conventional Economics?"   Accessed March 24, 2004.  http://alain-bertaud.com/images/AB_Clearing_The_Air_in%20Atlanta_1.pdf.   [ARC Regional Transportation Plan addresses the problem of pollution and congestion in Atlanta by proposing to expand the existing transit network and to reform land use to promote a more intensive use of the existing built-up area. This paper argues that, first, the current spatial structure of Atlanta is incompatible with a sizable transit market share; and second, AtlantaÕs spatial structure is so resilient that it cannot change significantly in the next 20 years, even if draconian land use regulations were adopted. The paper concludes that technology and congestion pricing is the only way to solve the problem of congestion and pollution in the long term. However while voters still believe that federally subsidized transit and smart growth will solve the congestion and pollution problem they are unlikely to support a solution which would increase their direct transport costs even if it decreases congestion and shorten commuting trips.]

 

Berube, Alan & Benjamin Forman.  2002.  Living on the Edge: Decentralization Within Cities in the 1990s.  Washington DC: Center on Urban & Metropolitan Policy,  The Brookings Institution.  <http://www.brook.edu/dybdocroot/es/urban/publications/berubeformanedge.pdf>   ["Our analysis of population changes within cities reveals that decentralization is occurring even inside city borders." * Large cities exhibited uneven growth patterns in the 1990s;  * While growing cities were primarily made up of growing neighborhoods,  nine such cities actually saw a majority of their neighborhoods decline in population;  * Over 60 percent of central city population growth occurred in  "outer-ring" neighborhoods,  compared to just 11 percent in "inner-core" neighborhoods;  * About two-thirds of all "downtown" census tracts gained population, including many in cities that lost population overall.]

 

Center for Transportation Studies.  2003.  Market Choices And Fair Prices: Research Suggests Surprising Answers to Regional Growth Dilemmas. Report #17 in the Series: Transportation and Regional Growth Study, University of Minnesota.  CTS 03-02.  Accessed March 24, 2004.   <http://www.cts.umn.edu/trg/publications/pdfreport/TRGrpt17.pdf>

 

Cohen, James R.  2002.  "Maryland's "Smart Growth": Using Incentives to Combat Sprawl," in  G. Squires (ed). 2002. Urban Sprawl: Causes, Consequences and Policy Responses. Washington, D.C: Urban Institute Press.   Accessed March 24, 2004.  <http://www.arch.umd.edu/URSP/People/faculty/jcohensgchapter.pdf>

 

Crane, Randall & Daniel Chatman.  2002.  "Traffic and Sprawl: Evidence from U.S. Commuting, 1985 To 1997,"  Planning and Markets, v6n1 (Sep 2003): <http://www-pam.usc.edu/volume6/v6i1a3s1.html>

 

David Suzuki Foundation.  2003.  Understanding Sprawl: A CitizenÕs Guide.  Vancouver, BC: David Suzuki Foundation.  <http://www.davidsuzuki.org/files/Climate/Ontario/Understanding_Sprawl.pdf>

 

David Suzuki Foundation.  2003.  Driven To Action: Stopping Sprawl In Your Community.  Vancouver, BC: David Suzuki Foundation.  <http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Climate_Change/Sprawl.asp>

 

De Cerreno, Allison L.C. & Isabella Pierson.  2004.  Context Sensitive Solutions in Large Central Cities.  Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management, NY University.  Accessed March 24, 2004.  <http://www.nyu.edu/wagner/transportation/research/research_docs/CSS%20report%20FINAL%202-9-04.pdf>

 

Downs, Anthony.  "What Does 'Smart Growth' Really Mean?"  Reprinted from Planning magazine, American Planning Association.  Accessed on March 26, 2004,  <http://www.planning.org/PUBS/plng01/april012.htm>.   [Can groups as different as homebuilders and transit advocates be using the term in the same way? The answer is noÑprompting one expert to offer advice about how to resolve deep conflicts.]

 

Downs, Anthony.  2003.  "Growth Management, Smart Growth, and Affordable Housing."  Keynote speech given at Brookings Symposium on the Relationship Between Affordable Housing and Growth Management, May 29, 2003.  Accessed March 26, 2004, <http://www.brookings.edu/views/speeches/downs/20030529_downs.htm>

 

El Nasser, Haya & Paul Overberg.  2001.  "Wide Open Spaces: The USA Today Sprawl Index,"  USA Today, (Feb 22, 2001).  <http://www.usatoday.com/news/sprawl/main.htm>   [The USA Today looks at changes in population density between 1990 and 1999, and uses these as a proxy for "sprawl".  By this definition, Los Angeles is less "sprawled" than Portland, and Nashville is worse than both.]

 

English, Mary R.  1999.  "A Guide for Smart Growth. " Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy  14.3 (1999): 35-39.  ProQuest.  Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles, CA..  11 Mar. 2004 <http://www.proquest.com/>    [Sprawl sucks the life out of older downtowns and neighborhoods, and it destroys community character and the countryside. Smart growth is about finding ways to manage sprawl and improve the total quality of life.]

 

Ewing, Reid & Rolf Pendall & Don Chen.  2002.  Measuring Sprawl and Its Impact.  Smart Growth America.  Accessed on March 25, 2004, <http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/sprawlindex/sprawlreport.html>.   [It represents a rigorous effort to measure the characteristics of sprawl and their impacts on quality of life. In this study, sprawl is defined as low-density development with residential,  shopping and office areas that are rigidly segregated; a lack of thriving activity centers; and limited choices in travel routes. These features constitute four factors that can then be measured and analyzed: 1) Residential density; 2) Neighborhood mix of homes, jobs, and services; 3)  Strength of centers, such as business districts; and 4) Accessibility via the street network. All of these are well-established descriptors of urban sprawl in the relevant academic literature, but this study represents the first effort to attempt to measure sprawl in all of these dimensions.]

 

Ewing, Reid & Tom Schmid & Richard Killingsworth & Amy Zlot & Stephen Raudenbush.   "Building the EvidenceÑU.S. Approaches: Relationship Between Urban Sprawl and Physical Activity, Obesity, and Morbidity,"  American Journal of Health Promotion,  v18n1 (Sep/Oct 2003): 47-57.  <http://www.smartgrowth.umd.edu/pdf/JournalArticle.pdf>   [This ecologic study reveals that urban form could be significantly associated with some forms of physical activity and some health outcomes. More research is needed to refine measures of urban form, improve measures of physical activity, and control for other individual and environmental influences on physical activity, obesity, and related health outcomes.]

 

Fishman, Robert.  2000.  "The Death and Life of American Regional Planning,"  107-126 in Bruce Katz (ed.), 2000, Reflections on Regionalism.  Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.  <http://www.brookings.edu/es/urban/reflections/essay4.pdf>

 

Fulton, William & Rolf Pendall & Mai Nguyen & Alicia Harrison.  2001.  Who Sprawls Most? How Growth Patterns Differ Across the U.S.  Brookings Institution Survey Series, Center on Urban & Metropolitan Policy.  July 2001.  Accessed on March 25, 2004, <http://www.brook.edu/dybdocroot/es/urban/publications/fulton.pdf>.   [An analysis of the density trends in every metropolitan area in the United States between 1982 and 1997 reveals: Most metropolitan areas in the United States are adding urbanized land at a much faster rate than they are adding population; The West is home to some of the densest metropolitan areas in the nation; Metropolitan areas tend to consume less land for urbanization-relative to population growth-when they are growing rapidly in population, rely heavily on public water and sewer systems, and have high levels of immigrant residents; Metropolitan areas tend to consume more land for urbanization-again, relative to population growth-if they are already high-density metro areas and if they have fragmented local governments.]

 

Galster, George & Royce Hanson & Michael R. Ratcliffe & Harold Wolman & Stephen Coleman & Jason Freihage.  2001.  "Wrestling Sprawl to the Ground: Defining and Measuring an Elusive Concept,"  Housing Policy Debate, v12n4 (2001): 681-717.  <http://www.fanniemaefoundation.org/programs/hpd/pdf/HPD_1204_galster.pdf>   [The literature on urban sprawl confuses causes, consequences, and conditions.  This article presents a conceptual definition of sprawl based on eight distinct dimensions of land use patterns: density, continuity, concentration, clustering, centrality, nuclearity, mixed uses, and proximity.  Sprawl is defined as a condition of land use that is represented by low values on one of more of these dimensions.  The approach is tested by its application to 13 urbanized areas.]

 

Geller, Alyson L.  2003.  "Smart Growth: A Prescription for Livable Cities,"  American Journal of Public Health  93.9 (2003): 1410-1415.  ProQuest.  Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles, CA..  11 Mar. 2004 <http://www.proquest.com/>    [In the US, public health and urban planning professionals have blamed a phenomenon called sprawl for a host of problems, from obesity and traffic injuries to environmental destruction. Geller highlights the movement called Smart Growth, which challenges the way the people build, work, and live; and also encourages the people to look at communities not only as places to live but as vehicles to promote health and well-being.]

 

General Accounting Office.  2000.  Community Development: Local Growth Issues Ð Federal Opportunities and Challenges.  Washington, DC: United States General Accounting Office.   [Across the nation, local communities are pursuing a variety of growth-related strategies in response to a range of challenges and concerns. For example, Columbus, Ohio, is encouraging growth and economic development and is concerned about providing sufficient water and wastewater infrastructure to support this growth. In Atlanta, Georgia, where rapid population growth has led to serious traffic congestion and air quality problems, state and local decision-makers are considering higher density development around established business and population centers and are planning for greater use of public transportation. Yet despite their concerns about growth-related challenges, local communities are placing a high value on economic development when planning for the future. Overall, infrastructure needs, traffic congestion, and the adequacy of their local tax base for supporting schools and services were the growth-related concerns most frequently cited by the cities and counties responding to our survey. When asked about their priorities in planning for the future, the greatest number of counties cited increasing their local tax base, attracting businesses, and enhancing transportation systemsÑmirroring their areas of highest concern. Cities cited similar planning priorities, but for them, revitalizing their downtown areas was more often a high or very high priority than enhancing transportation systems.]

 

Gordon, Peter & Harry W. Richardson.  2000.  "Critiquing SprawlÕs Critics,"  Policy Analysis, n365 (Jan 2000): 1-18.  Accessed on March 25, 2004, <http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~pgordon/pdf/pa365.pdf>.    [The argument that urban sprawl gives rise to excessively costly infrastructure, excessive transportation costs, and environmental damage is wrong. The facts point directly to the opposite conclusion. Finally, the belief that urban sprawl leads to social pathologies is without foundation. No one knows the recipe for good or bad community formations or the best spatial mix of housing that would accommodate myriad personal preferences. The American migration to the suburbs and exurbs can, in part, be seen as attempts by homeowners to move out of harmÕs way and protect their property rights. The controls proposed by sprawlÕs critics would add to the "push" forces, resulting ironically in more sprawl rather than less.]

 

Haughey, Richard.  2001.  Urban Infill Housing: Myth and Fact. Washington, DC: ULIÐthe Urban Land Institute.  <http://research.uli.org/content/Reports/PolicyPapers/PUB_U22.pdf>   [A wide variety of housing is being constructed or renovated in response to emerging market demand from people moving back to the city. Urban infill housing, including small-, medium-, and large- scale projects with single- family houses, townhouses, apartment buildings and condominiums, lofts and co- ops, is being constructed and quickly absorbed. This booklet is intended to dispel misperceptions about urban infill housing.]

 

International City/County Management Association.  Why Smart Growth: A Primer.  Washington, DC: ICMA; Smart Grwoth America.  <http://www.epa.gov/livability/pdf/WhySmartGrowth_bk.pdf>   [In communities across the nation, there is a growing concern that current development patternsÑdominated by what some call "sprawl"Ñare no longer in the long-term interest of our cities, existing suburbs, small towns, rural communities, or wilderness areas. Though supportive of growth, communities are questioning the economic costs of abandoning infrastructure in the city, only to rebuild it further out. They are questioning the social costs of the mismatch between new employment locations in the suburbs and the available work-force in the city. They are questioning the wisdom of abandoning "brownfields" in older communities, eating up the open space and prime agricultural lands at the suburban fringe, and polluting the air of an entire region by driving farther to get places. Spurring the smart growth movement are demographic shifts, a strong environmental ethic, increased fiscal concerns, and more nuanced views of growth. The result is both a new demand and a new opportunity for smart growth.]

 

Katz, Bruce.  2002.  "Smart Growth: The Future of the American Metropolis?"  CASE Paper 58, July 2002.  Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, London School of Economics.  <http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/dps/case/cp/CASEpaper58.pdf>   [In the past few years, widespread frustration with sprawling development patterns has precipitated an explosion in innovative thinking and action across the United States. This new thinking Ð generally labeled as "smart growth" Ð contends that the shape and quality of metropolitan growth in America are no longer desirable or sustainable. It argues that metropolitan areas could grow in radically different ways if major government policies on land use, infrastructure and taxation were overhauled. This essay discusses the current state of smart growth and metropolitan thinking in the United States. It outlines the demographic, market and development trends that are affecting metropolitan areas and the consequences of these trends for central cities, older suburbs, newer communities and low-income and minority families. It describes how current government policies facilitate the excessive decentralization of people and jobs and how smart growth reforms are being enacted, particularly at the state level, to shape new, more urban-friendly, growth patterns. It concludes by identifying the major challenges that smart growth needs to address if it is going to succeed in shaping new, sustainable metropolitan communities.]

 

Katz, Bruce & Amy Liu. "Moving Beyond Sprawl," The Brookings Review  18.2 (2000): 31-34.  <http://www.brookings.edu/press/review/spring2000/katz.htm>   [In the past few years, widespread frustration with sprawling development patterns has precipitated an explosion in metropolitan thinking and action across the US. A new policy language - smart growth, livable communities, metropolitanism, sustainable development - has emerged to describe efforts to curb sprawl, preserve open space, and balance growth and is now common not only among political, civic, and corporate leaders, but also among developers and others in the real estate industry. Sprawl, in the end, is not just about too much growth. It is also about too little growth in many parts of metropolitan America. Understanding that linkage and bridging that divide is the key to resolving some major social and economic challenges.]

 

Litman, Todd.  2003.  Evaluating Criticism of Smart Growth.  Victoria, BC: Victoria Transport Policy Institute.  <http://www.vtpi.org/sgcritics.pdf>.   [This paper evaluates various criticisms of Smart Growth. It defines the concept of Smart Growth, contrasts it with sprawl, and describes common Smart Growth strategies. It examines various criticisms of Smart Growth, including the claim that it does not reflect consumer preferences, infringes on freedom, increases traffic congestion and air pollution, reduces housing affordability, results in socially undesirable levels of density, increases public service costs, requires wasteful transit subsidies and is unjustified. Some specific criticsÕ papers are examined. This analysis indicates that many claims by critics reflect an incomplete understanding of Smart Growth, and inaccurate analysis. Critics identify some legitimate problems which must be addressed to optimize Smart Growth, but present no convincing evidence to diminish the overall justification of Smart Growth.]

 

Major, Mark D.  2000.  "Designing for Context: The Use of `Space Syntax` as an Interactive Design Tool in Urban Development,"  Planning Forum,  (Spring 2000): 40-56.  <http://www.ar.utexas.edu/planning/forum/vol6pdfs/v6major.pdf>   [Computer modeling has come a long way in the past decade, and planners throughout the world are working on different strategies to harness the latest technological advances.]

 

McCann, Barbara & Reid Ewing.  2003.  Measuring the Health Effects of Sprawl: A National Analysis of Physical Activity, Obesity and Chronic Disease.  Washington, DC: Smart Growth America; Surface Transportation Policy Project.  September 2003.  <http://www.smartgrowth.umd.edu/pdf/HealthSprawl8.03.pdf>   [This report presents the first national study to show a clear association between the type of place people live and their activity levels, weight, and health. The study, Relationship Between Urban Sprawl and Physical Activity, Obesity, and Morbidity, found that people living in counties marked by sprawling development are likely to walk less and weigh more than people who live in less sprawling counties. In addition, people in more sprawling counties are more likely to suffer from hypertension (high blood pressure). These results hold true after controlling for factors such as age, education, gender, and race and ethnicity.]

 

McElfish Jr., James & Susan Casey-Lefkowitz.  2001.  Smart Growth and the Clean Water Act.  Washington, DC: Northeast-Midwest Institute.  <http://www.nemw.org/SGCleanWater.pdf>   [The Clean Water Act influences land use patterns and land use patterns influence the implementation of the Clean Water Act. The ActÕs programs have the potential to promote revitalization and development of areas with existing infrastructure. This study investigates the relationship between three Clean Water Act programs and "smart growth," an approach to development that emphasizes greater density, mixed uses, redevelopment of underused areas, transportation choices, and open space protection. These programs can promote smart growth when federal, state, and local governments grasp opportunities to integrate water quality and smart growth goals. Some jurisdictions already have done so, resulting in efficiencies and environmental benefits.]

 

Miller, Ansje & Brian Parkinson.  2001.  Market-based Policies for Reducing Sprawl: A Critical Overview.  <http://www.redefiningprogress.org/publications/pdf/Policy_Options_Report.pdf>   [The problem of unchecked growth is gaining popular attention, as evidenced by a recent survey that found that 78% of Americans favor policies to combat sprawl. To help policymakers achieve this public mandate, this report presents three recent market-based policy innovations.2 These policiesÑlocation-efficient mortgages, space-based impact fees, and split-rate property taxesÑharness the market's power to encourage denser development close to existing infrastructure. (See center spread for a description of why market-based policies are important.) We hope that this report broadens understanding of these exciting policy innovations and illustrate the unique advantages of market-based incentives in combating sprawl.]

 

Mills, Edwin S.   1999.  "Truly "Smart Growth","  The Illinois Real Estate Letter,  v13n3 (Summer 1999): 1-7.  <http://www.cba.uiuc.edu/orer/V13-3-1.pdf>   [Much of their literature and rhetoric has been provocative; the very use of the term "sprawl" casts the idea of growing suburbs in an unfavorable light. (The non-pejorative term "suburbanization" is used in this discussion.) Academic economists have weighed in on issues relating to suburbanization. Their most important contributions have been in the areas of metropolitan location and spatial analysis, local government tax and expenditure analysis, and the analysis of interactions between metropolitan transportation and spatial issues. Yet, remarkably, academic economists have written almost nothing on the general government policy issue of allegedly excessive metropolitan suburbanization. This article presents the case for suburbanization from an academic redoubt.]

 

Moore, Curtis.  2001.  Smart Growth and the Clean Air Act.  Washington, DC: Northeast-Midwest Institute.  <http://www.nemw.org/SGCleanAir.pdf>   [The federal Clean Air Act has been both criticized as a cause of sprawl and praised as a useful tool to curb it. Critics contend that by barring increases in air pollution in cities where the air is unhealthy, the law drives businesses development to outlying areas, thus increasing sprawl and the air pollution from its attendant motor vehicle travel. This is the basis for claims that the Act can have the perverse and unintended effect of increasing air pollution rather than reducing it. However, the ActÕs defenders argue that it actually can deter sprawl by providing an incentive for transit-oriented, compact development, and urban revitalization. This argument credits the CAA, and the conformity provisions in particular, as a factor in spurring new types of urban development that facilitate transit use and pedestrian traffic and reduce automobile dependence. This study attempts to reconcile the contrasting views of the law by examining its application in several major metropolitan areas. The results suggest that the Act does not necessarily divert growth from urban centers and indeed can complement efforts to promote growth in areas with existing infrastructure.]

 

Muro, Mark & Robert Puentes.  2004. Investing In A Better Future: A Review of the Fiscal and Competitive Advantages of Smarter Growth Development Patterns.  Washington, DC: Resources for the Future.  <http://www.brookings.edu/urban/pubs/200403_smartgrowth.pdf>   [This paper makes the case that more compact development patterns and investing in projects to improve urban cores could save taxpayers money and improve overall regional economic performance. To that end, it relies on a review of the best academic empirical literature to weigh the extent to which a new way of thinking about growth and development can benefit governments, businesses, and regions during these fiscally stressed times.]

 

Myers, Dowell.  2000. "Building the Future as a Process in Time,"  Metropolitan Development Patterns, Annual Roundtable 2000, Cambridge, Mass.: Lincoln Institute for Land Policy, 2000.  <http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~dowell/pdf/buildingthefuture.pdf>

 

National Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals.  2003. Smart Growth For Clean Water: Helping Communities Address the Water Quality Impacts of Sprawl.  Washington, DC: National Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals; Trust for Public Land; ERG.  <http://www.nalgep.org/publications/PublicationsDetail.cfm?LinkAdvID=42157>   [Smart growth is emerging as a key strategy for clean water. Across America, examples are emerging where communities are utilizing "smart growth" tools like land conservation, greenway buff ers, the creation of park and recreational areas, natural and constructed wetlands, urban and community forestry, waterfront brownfi elds revitalization, low impact development, watershed-based management, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping, and other tools to reduce nonpoint source pollution, control stormwater, and improve water quality. These smart growth for clean water approaches are oð en more cost-eff ective than traditional structural solutions like building new wastewater plants or stormwater collection facilities. Moreover, these smart growth tools not only enable localities to achieve clean water goals, but they also help að ain other community objectives such as preservation of open space and parks, cleanup of environmental contamination and community eyesores, creation of sustainable economic development, saving tax dollars through effi cient use of infrastructure, and the improvement of overall quality of life.]

 

National Center for Public Policy Research.  2002.  Smart Growth and Its Effects on Housing Markets: The New Segregation.  (A econometric report by QuantEcon for the Center for Environmental Justice of The National Center for Public Policy Research)  Washington, DC: National Center for Public Policy Research.  <http://www.nationalcenter.org/NewSegregation.pdf>   [Concerned that simple supply and demand market principles dictate that a reduction in the availability of housing will push up housing prices, and aware that minorities in the U.S., on the average, have lower incomes than other Americans, The National Center for Public Policy Research's Center for Environmental Justice set out to determine if restricted growth policies are reducing homeownership opportunities for minority Americans.]

 

National Governors Association. 2002.  Growing With Less Greenhouse Gases: State Growth Management Policies That Reduce GHG Emissions.  Washington, DC: Center for Best Practices, national Governors Association.  <http://www.nga.org/cda/files/112002GHG.pdf>   [Communities are grappling with the good and bad of growth. Growth is the engine of prosperity, but maintaining a good quality of life in a growing community can be challenging. Growth increasingly produces traffic congestion, greater demand on resources, loss of greenspace, and other undesirable consequences. By properly managing growth, communities can reduce the negative effects of expansion while still reaping its benefits.]

 

OÕNeill, David J.  2002.  Environment and Development: Myth and Fact.  Washington, DC: ULIÐthe Urban Land Institute.  <http://research.uli.org/Content/Reports/PolicyPapers/PUB_E14.pdf>   [By debunking some of the prevailing myths about the environment and development, this booklet aims to make public and private sector decision makers more aware of the barriers to and opportunities for environmentally sensitive developmentÑand perhaps to inspire them to undertake and support sensitive projects.]

 

Proscio, Tony.  2002.  Smart Communities: Curbing Sprawl at Its Core.   Accessed March 24, 2004.  Published by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, New York. <http://www.liscnet.org/resources/2002/11/communities_976.shtml?Planning+%26+Land+Use>.   [Can community development and Smart Growth find common cause, share a common agenda, and serve mutual interests? Or are the aims of individual neighborhoods, resident-led development organizations, and central-city reinvestment necessarily at odds with those of regional planning and reduced sprawl?  "A few prominent skeptics have even suggested that community development, by focusing on individual neighborhoods and enfranchising lower-income residents, has little to offer those whose concern is with the broad distribution of wealth, population, and public resources.  Recent experience in a wide variety of metropolitan areas suggests that the skeptics are wrong. Community developers have, in fact, increasingly found themselves at the Smart Growth table, and metropolitanists have more and more come to regard community development projects as helpful, even necessary, for their own success."]

 

Real Estate Research Corporation.  1974.  The Costs of Sprawl: Executive Summary.  Prepared for the Council on Environmental Quality; the Office of Policy Development and Research, Department of Housing and Urban Development; the Office of Planning and Management, Environmental Protection Agency.  <http://www.smartgrowth.org/pdf/costs_of_sprawl.pdf>

 

Richardson, Harry W. & Peter Gordon.  2000.  Compactness Or Sprawl: AmericaÕs Future vs. the Present.  Working Paper # 2000-1008.  Los Angeles: Lusk Center for Real Estate.  <http://www.usc.edu/schools/sppd/lusk/research/papers/pdf/wp_2000_1008.pdf>   [Challenges the smart growth movement.]

 

Richardson, Harry W. & Peter Gordon.  2001.  "Sustainable Portland? A Critique, And The Los Angeles Counterpoint."  Working Paper # 2001-1003.  Los Angeles: Lusk Center for Real Estate Development.  <http://www.usc.edu/schools/sppd/lusk/research/papers/pdf/wp_2001-1003.pdf>   [This paper examines the Portland experience as AmericaÕs most widely regarded example of urban sustainability. It suggests that appearances are deceptive. It compares some characteristics of development in Portland with similar trends in Los Angeles, not known as an exemplar of sustainability. The data suggest that Portland and Los Angeles are much more alike than different. In fact, from some points of view, Portland is less sustainable. It sprawls more (with densities about one-half of Los Angeles), its housing is less affordable, it consumes more land for urban development, it has more roads, and its minimal reliance on transit is similar.]

 

Gordon, Peter & Harry W. Richardson.  2000.  Transportation and Land Use.  Working Paper # 2000-1005.  Los Angeles: Lusk Center for Real Estate.  <http://www.usc.edu/schools/sppd/lusk/research/papers/pdf/wp_2000_1005.pdf>   [Argues that sprawl (suburbanization) is the way to go.]

 

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  2003.  Promoting Active Living Communities: A Guide To Marketing And Communication.  Princeton, NJ: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  <http://www.activelivingbydesign.org/resources/rwjf_toolkit.pdf>   [This guide is designed to help you use communication tools to sell your community on the value of active living. It presents an approach that can be applied as you encourage individuals to adopt an active lifestyle and facilitate changes in the social environment or policy by changing attitudes on a community-wide basis. More specifically, itÕs about getting the right message to the right people at the right time, then working to ensure that if they are persuaded to become more active (adopt an active lifestyle), they are supported by community infrastructure. Because no two communities are alike, you should tailor and adapt the ideas here for your own needs, budgets, and funding mandates.]

 

Romano, Ellen.  2000.  "Living Smarter: Better Communities for the New Millennium,"  Journal of Property Management,  (Jan/Feb 2000): 30-35.   [A summary review of smart growth factors as they pertain to property management.]

 

Semandel, Allison & Michael R. Kinde.  2001.  Smart Growth: Creating Communities for People.  Milwaukee, WI: Citizens for a Better Environment.  <http://www.cbemw.org/smartgrowth/sg_gbook.html>   [A guidebook, including zoning language, to creating places where people can live and work, interact with their neighbors and participate meaning-fully in the life of their community. This guidebook presents local development policies that result in walkable and transit supportive neighborhoods, which encourage safe environments, healthy people, and strong communities. The zoning language promotes future developments that support the local tax base, use public infrastructure efficiently, maintain the social fabric of our communities, and create places where residents are free to move without needing a car.]

 

Sheehan, Molly OÕMeara.  2002.  What Will It Take To Halt Sprawl?  Washington, DC: World Watch Institute.  <http://www.worldwatch.org/pubs/download/EP151A/>   [Urban sprawl may pose greater dangers to the sustainability of civilization than even many anti-sprawl activists realize. But in three of the worldÕs most prominent cities, citizen actions have begun to raise awareness of the problemÑ and to show just how attractive the alternatives to sprawl can be.]

 

Sierra Club.  2000.  Sprawl Cost Us All: How Your Taxes Fuel Suburban Growth.  San Francisco: Sierra Club.  <http://www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/report00/>   [Characterizes and quantifies the ways in which local, regional and federal governments subsidizes sprawl: road building to make fringe areas more accessible, tax breaks encouraging businesses and corporations to locate in fringe areas, encouraging floodplain construction, and providing "public" services to developments outside of urbanized areas.]

 

Smart Growth Network.  2003.  Getting to Smart Growth: 100 Policies for Implementation.  International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and the Smart Growth Network.  Accessed on March 25, 2004, <http://www.smartgrowth.org/pdf/gettosg.pdf>.   [Proposes 10 principles for smart growth: Mix land use; Take advantage of compact building design; Create a range of housing opportunities and choices; Create walkable neighborhoods; Foster distinctive, attractive communities with a strong sense of place; Preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty, and critical environmental areas; Strengthen and direct development towards existing communities; Provide a variety of transportation choices; Make development decisions predictable, fair and cost effective; Encourage community and stakeholder collaboration in development decisions.]

 

Smart Growth Network.  2003.  Getting to Smart Growth II: 100 More Policies for Implementation.  International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and the Smart Growth Network.  Accessed on March 25, 2004, <http://www.smartgrowth.org/pdf/gettosg2.pdf>.  

 

Song, Yan & Gerrit-Jan Knaap.  2002.  Measuring Urban Form: Is Portland Winning the War on Sprawl?  National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education, University of Maryland (Forthcoming in Journal of the American Planning Association, Spring 2004).  <http://www.smartgrowth.umd.edu/events/pdf/Song_Paper2.pdf>   [In this paper we present several quantitative measures of urban form and compute these for neighborhoods of varying age in the Portland metropolitan area. Our results suggest: (1) neighborhoods in Washington County have increased in single-family dwelling unit density since the 1960s; (2) internal street connectivity, pedestrian accessibility to commercial areas and bus stops have improved since the early 1990s; (3) external connectivity continues to decline; and (4) the mixing of land uses remains limited. We conclude that PortlandÕs battle with sprawl is not yet won.]

 

Southern California Studies Center.  2001.  Sprawl Hits the Wall: Confronting the Realities of Metropolitan Los Angeles.  With The Brookings Institution.  Los Angeles: University of Southern California.  <http://www.usc.edu/dept/geography/SC2/sg/atlas3.html>   [The Los Angeles region is still spatially organized around the assumptions of the suburban era: that it serves a middle-class suburban population engaged in a middle-class suburban economy; that the supply of buildable land is practically unlimited; and, following from the first two assumptions, that the regionÕs middle-class and wealthy residents can simply move awayÑalways outwardÑfrom "urban-style" problems. But this is no longer the reality of the region. This report is an attempt to take a clear-eyed look at metropolitan Los AngelesÕs new reality. It seeks not to portray the Los Angeles of history or the Los Angeles of popular perception, but the five-county region today as it really existsÑa rapidly changing and immensely complicated metropolitan region with an emerging set of challenges that must be dealt with now if the region is to maintain both livability and prosperity in the future.]

 

Surface Transportation Policy Project.  1999.  Why Are The Roads So Congested? A Companion Analysis of the Texas Transportation InstituteÕs Data On Metropolitan Congestion. <http://www.transact.org/report.asp?id=63>   [The report analyses the effects of increases in population, vehicle miles traveled, and sprawl on congestion, and presents a depiction of perceived congestion due to these factors.]

 

US EPA.  2003.  EPAÕs Smart Growth INDEX In 20 Pilot Communities: Using GIS Sketch Modeling to Advance Smart Growth.  Accessed March 25, 2004, <http://www.epa.gov/livability/pdf/Final_screen.pdf>.   [The Smart Growth INDEX (SGI) model is a software tool that allows the user to benchmark existing environmental and community conditions, compare the impacts of multiple development and transportation scenarios, and monitor changes over time. The program provides clear graphics so that the public can understand comparable impacts. It allows the public visioning process to be integrated into the development planning and environmental protection process.]

 

US EPA.  2000.  Low Impact Development: A Literature Review.  Washington, DC: US EPA, Office of Water.  <http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/lid/lidlit.html>   [A literature review was conducted to determine the availability and reliability of data to assess the effectiveness of low impact development (LID) practices for controlling stormwater runoff volume and reducing pollutant loadings to receiving waters. Background information concerning the uses, ownership and associated costs for LID measures was also compiled. In general LID measures are more cost effective and lower in maintenance than conventional, structural stormwater controls. Not all sites are suitable for LID. Considerations such as soil permeablility, depth of water table and slope must be considered, in addition to other factors. Further, the use of LID may not completely replace the need for conventional stormwater controls.]

 

US GAO.  2000.  Community Development: Local Growth IssuesÑFederal Opportunities and Challenges.  September 2000.  US General Accounting Office.  Report # RCED-00-178.  Accessed on March 25, 2004, <http://www.gao.gov/archive/2000/rc00178.pdf>.   [Argues that the resource consumption and traffic-related effects of anticipated growth throughout the nation raise concerns about the need for planning.  Suggests that although land use and growth control are vested in local government, and, in some cases, in regional governance structures, the Federal government can also influence growth and development nationwide through its spending programs, regulations, taxes, and administrative actions.]

 

US White House Task Force on Livable Communities.  2000.  Building Livable Communities: Sustaining Prosperity, Improving Quality of Life, Building a Sense of Community Ð A Report from the Clinton-Gore Administration.  Washington, DC: Livable Communities Initiative.  <http://www.smartgrowth.org/pdf/report2knew.pdf>.   [Federal policies can influence patterns of growth Ð often, inadvertently Ð and their possible contribution to sprawl is a matter of some debate. With the Livable Communities Initiative, the Administration seeks to ensure that the federal government works with communities to build futures that:  Sustain prosperity and expand economic opportunity;  Enhance the quality of life; and  Build a stronger sense of community.  The Livable Communities Initiative contains an array of existing and proposed programs and policies to help communities meet these objectives. It offers communities resources and tools they can use to revitalize urban neighborhoods, ease traffic congestion, preserve farmland and open spaces, become disaster resistant, address the distribution of environmental burdens and benefits, and achieve equitable development. Through collaboration among neighboring jurisdictions, smart growth planning, and engagement of the private sector, these programs can help improve air and water quality, clean up abandoned brownfields, and improve traffic safety.]

 

Urban Land Institute.  1999.  Smart Growth: Myth and Fact.  Washington, DC: ULI.  <http://research.uli.org/Content/Reports/PolicyPapers/PUB_S50.pdf>   [While many individuals and communities recognize the value and benefits of growth, often they are troubled by its unintentional consequences. Recognizing that conventional planning and development approaches are not effectively addressing growing traffic congestion and greater losses of open space, communities across the United States, often with support from their state governments, are turning to smart growth. Smart growth, as reflected in Smart Growth: Myth and Factª, addresses the core issue of how communities will accommodate inevitable growth in a way that enhances livability, the environment, and the economy.]

 

Urban Land Institute.  2002.  Putting the Pieces Together: State Actions to Encourage Smart Growth Practices in California.  Washington, DC: ULIÐthe Urban Land Institute.  <http://research.uli.org/Content/Reports/PolicyPapers/PFR_672.pdf>   [To accommodate projected population growth without putting severe strain on the stateÕs resources and deteriorating the quality of life of its residents, California needs to concentrate development more. However, the state is moving in the opposite direction. Its most rapid growth (measured by the rate of population growth) is occurring in largely suburban counties characterized by low-density developmentÑsuch as Merced, Fresno, Sacramento, San Bernardino, and Riverside.]

 

Urban Land Institute.  2002.  Reality Check On Growth: Lessons Learned.  Los Angeles: ULI-LA.  <http://www.uli-la.org/realitycheck/postreport.pdf>   [Presents a summary of the outcomes of a participatory workshop designed to generate stakeholder-driven solutions to anticipated growth in Southern California.]

 

Wassmer, Robert W. & Marlon G. Boarnet.  2001. The Benefits of Growth.  Washington, DC: ULIÐthe Urban Land Institute.  <http://research.uli.org/Content/Reports/PolicyPapers/WP_664.pdf>   [Communities around the country often take a slow-growth or, in some cases, no-growth stance toward increases in population or development, appearing to assume that further growth is neither desirable nor inevitable. Yet, population growth in most parts of the United States is projected to rise steadily over the next 25 years.Why is growth important, and what are its benefits? Growth generates new jobs, income, and tax revenue, and raises property values, offering residents more choices and diversity. Examining more closely the benefits of growth offers insights into how to promote smart growth, to manage better the impacts of growth, and to respond to local resistance. This paper focuses on the short- and long-term benefits of growth to local communities and larger regions.]

 

Yaro, Robert D.  "Growing and Governing Smart: A Case Study of the New York Region," in Bruce Katz (ed.), Reflections On Regionalism.  Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.  <http://www.brookings.edu/es/urban/reflections/essay2.pdf>

 

 

Last update: April  13, 2004