Principles of Sustainability in Land Use Planning - An Introduction to Course Content

Ecological Footprint

The use of the term “ecological footprint” was introduced by Dr. William Rees in 1992 as a mechanism for comparing and understanding resource use among different populations. Measuring ecological footprint entails tracking the human indicators of consumption and comparing that to the capacity of natural systems to support that consumption.

The “footprint” concept is intended to answer the question: How much of the planet’s ecosystems are needed to produce the resources we use and the waste we create? Where this concept is becoming mainstream is in consumer driven markets in products like wine, fruit, beef, etc. where the ecological footprint is being defined by the amount of fossil fuels being used to transport and cool foreign products.

Community-supported agriculture and food security are conversations starting to take root in large urban centers in Alberta. This is one example of a connection (system link) to these types of concepts. In British Columbia, the “carbon footprint” is the language being used on the street, in restaurants, and throughout the media dialogue on products and services in the consumer marketplace.

There are challenges in applying the footprint to sustainability planning. The ecological footprint really only measures the impact and doesn’t consider the value to the economy, to the society, to the consumer in the equation. Those aspects of sustainability that may exist in specific communities, corporations, or governments can be lost. Social or ecological responsible producers or corrupt government systems are not included in the calculations and are thus not complete assessments of sustainability.

Triple Bottom Line

Triple Bottom Line is a term coined by John Elkington, founder of the think tank and consultancy SustainAbility in early 1994, and further defined in his book Cannibals with Forks: the Triple Bottom Line of 21^st Century Business. Using an accounting philosophy, the triple bottom line refers to taking into consideration the environmental, social and economic performance (costs and benefits) when reporting on business operations.

The idea of integrating the values of human capital, natural capital, and financial capital in assessing the sustainability of an organization or business is quickly becoming the norm in large organizations that are seeking “social license to operate” from the larger community. In Alberta, many municipalities and several of the departments within the provincial government have been using the language and applying these principles to corporate management and reporting structures for over a decade.

Genuine Wealth®

Genuine wealth includes the strength of our relationships, the joy of our children’s play, the beauty of nature and our sense of happiness with life. What is genuine is that which resonates with our hearts, minds, our values and our principles. To build genuine wealth at the community level is to strive for the good of the commons through shared responsibility for the stewardship of the commonwealth (well-being of the community).

Genuine wealth encompasses five key aspects of community well being: personal, professional, social/civic, physical/environmental and financial. The term “capital” and “wealth” are interchangeable, however the assessment of community capital that applies the philosophy of genuine wealth, needs to measure, report, and manage our most important resources for improved or sustained well being.

SMART Growth

Cities who are employing SMART Growth principles typically endorse a strong environmental ethic, advocate for green building and the preservation of open spaces, focus on pedestrian-oriented design with efficiencies in city densities, and transportation corridor planning. In our review of where SMART Growth principles are being employed in Alberta we reviewed municipal development planning projects in Calgary, Okotoks, Cochrane, and Edmonton.

The impacts of urban sprawl are the primary assumptions at the forefront of SMART Growth principles. While Alberta doesn’t seem to have a solid definition as of yet, the main principles of SMART Growth that seem to stand out in each of these areas include: mixed use and infill development, transit-oriented development, walk-ability to community services, preservation and natural areas, and the implementation of multi use trail corridors.

SMART Growth is often used in association with cluster development whereby land developers identifying aspects of landscapes through values mapping seeking to add value to infrastructure, community social nodes, and economic pillars through planned growth with higher densities in specified areas of highest socio economic value with the least amount of impact to agricultural and ecological values.

Complete Communities

Another term supported by advocates of the application of SMART Growth principles is “complete communities” which takes the concept of value added community infrastructure (natural, economic, and physical) and expand the concept to include “live-work-play” where community cohesiveness becomes a value that is supported by the amenities that are planned for. Complete communities and neighborhoods are those that are designed to support facilities to live, play, learn, shop and work.

The concept of a complete community comes from a desire to ensure that urban amenities are available in developments. With greater distances between city or urban centers and housing developments we have seen increased infrastructure costs, longer commute times, and social fragmentation caused by poor planning for the social and economic habits of communities. Housing and land developers have not typically been in the business of creating social, ecological, or economic benefits for communities and often don’t see their projects as contributing to these assets.

Redeveloping Communities for Sustainability

Redevelopment within our cities is becoming an increasingly important aspect of continued development. Many cities face a scarcity of land, constrained by physical and legislative barriers. Others face significant and unsustainable strains on infrastructure caused by development spread over larger areas. Movement of former industrial uses away from residential areas creates brownfield redevelopment challenges and opportunities. Aging housing stock in some areas is being demolished and replaced with infill development at increased densities. Many existing buildings can be redeployed in adaptive reuse scenarios. Elements of New Urbanism, such as traditional neighborhood design, the reining in of urban sprawl and transit oriented development can be both elements and drivers of redevelopment.

The Nine Principles of Community Redevelopment (as defined by Ripley: inclusivity and democracy, stakeholder readiness through capacity building, communities as whole places, honor diversity, equitable benefitial land use, no forced displacement, direct benefits to affectied communities, integrate equity economics and the environment, ensure sufficient investment to secure adequate community engagement.

Sustainability Resources by Sustainability Resources is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada License.
Based on a work at www.sustainabilitycircle.ca.