CRWP Smart Growth

Smart Growth means using comprehensive planning to guide, design, develop, revitalize and build communities for all that: have a unique sense of community and place; preserve and enhance valuable natural and cultural resources; equitably distribute the costs and benefits of development; expand the range of transportation, employment and housing choices in a fiscally responsible manner; value long-range, regional considerations of sustainability over short term incremental geographically isolated actions; and promote public health and healthy communities. Compact, transit accessible, pedestrian-oriented, mixed use development patterns and land reuse epitomize the application of the principles of smart growth.

Engineers increasingly resort to life-cycle cost analysis to evaluate trade-offs whilst investors and company proprietors remain more interested in the "bottom line" of profitability. Neither group is particularly interested in discussing proposed changes in the status-quo if there is no identified funding source for alternative development, or the benefits of smart growth seem remote. However recently the idea of smart growth has grown in popularity as an alternative to urban sprawl, traffic congestion, disconnected neighborhoods and urban decay. Although meaningful policy shifts towards smart growth would undoubtedly discomfort many vested interests. Many lifestyles and corporate practices do pre-suppose relatively cheap travel for example.

One popular approach in democratic countries is for law-makers to require prospective developers to prepare environmental impact reports of their plans as a condition for state and/or local governments to issue building permits and/or certificates of occupancy. These reports also indicate how significant impacts generated by the development will be mitigation - the cost of which is usually paid by the developer. 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. Developers will sometimes go to extraordinary lengths to attempt to avoid being required to implement the mitigation measures required by the local government as they may be quite costly, but they will generally comply with the required measures, since building the community's trust over the long term through open dialogue is also in their long term interest and may help in recruiting and retaining staff, investors and perhaps customers with a genuine interest in social and environmental quality.

For more information on Smart Growth please have a look at the documents on the right.