winter 2010 - san diego american planning associationsdapa.org/download/winter_2010.pdftrials,...
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WINTER 2010IN THIS ISSUE:
DEFINING THE DECADEPage 1
UPCOMING EVENTSPage 2
DIRECTOR’S MESSAGEPage 3
PLANNING TOPICS
Rethinking Street DesignPage 4
Preemptive EcosystemsPage 9
Recent ProgramsPage 10
International FeaturePage 12
Free CM Credits?!!?Page 17
APA MembershipPage 19
ANNOUNCEMENTSPage 14
1©2009 APA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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Defining the Decade:Trials, Tribulations and Triumphs
Planning trends, innovations and shortfalls often take years to materialize. As we head into the decade of “twenty-tens”, it is important to reflect upon the trials, tribulations and triumphs of years past. The following comprises the Editor’s selection of some of the most interesting and important news in planning, design and development over the past decade.
- The Housing Bubble -
The housing market rise and fall may be considered one of the most pervasive tribulations of the decade. In the early 2000’s, the real-estate market was booming and housing prices were soaring. Over the years, jobs, incomes, tax revenue and the solvency of lending institutions came to rely on the stability of so-called stratospheric home prices. Mid-decade, housing prices at the national level were said to have peaked; and shortly thereafter, the inevitable major decline in property values led to the housing bubble burst. The rate of foreclosures skyrocketed and communities pulled together in a desperate attempt to counteract the drain on their local economies. Some put the blame on rapacious lenders and mortgage companies while others hold the Federal Reserve responsible for keeping interest rates too low. A few have even argued that land use regulation and city planners are the candidates to blame for the mortgage meltdown. These critics believe that more prescriptive land use planning policies, such as “urban consolidation” and Smart Growth, create a decline in housing affordability. See: How Urban Planners Cause the Housing Crisis Others admit that home buyers prefer smart growth communities, which may raise prices in such areas, but therefore, the answer is to build more smart growth communities to meet the demand and lower prices. See: Evaluating Criticisms of Smart Growth
Regardless of who’s to blame, the realities of this crisis are still felt throughout the nation as people are forced out of their homes, often resulting in entirely abandoned neighborhoods.
But many believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The housing calamity has hopefuls predicting that a new era will create more sensible mortgage and loan policies and a shift towards smaller, lower-priced, energy efficient homes. Perhaps this shift is already occurring as thousands of suburbanites return to the city in search of job opportunities, shorter commutes, more affordable homes and walkable communities. Additionally,
developers are starting to trade in McMansion floor plans for something smaller and more affordable to the general public. And looking into the future, a growing tide of non-profits and housing advocates are combining forces with HUD to initiate billions of dollars for a green affordable housing initiative. The main goal is to construct or retrofit 75,000 units of affordable housing to meet green building standards. This ambitious initiative also calls for the country’s entire affordable housing stock (approximately 30 million homes) to be retrofit to meet green standards by the year 2020. Hopefully, these types of initiatives and optimistic projections continue to grow and succeed in the twenty-tens.
SDAPA 2010 AwardsThe SDAPA 2010 Awards is approaching fast! The event will be held on Thursday, May 20, 2010. Check the SDAPA website for event updates and contact Dana Spaccarotella [email protected],619-243-2903 for any questions.
Call for 2010 Cal APA Conference Proposals: We are looking forward to seeing what sessions section members propose. We believe there are many groundbreaking policies and projects developed locally, and this is our chance to demonstrate how significant our issues are and how relevant our work is. Due Date: Feb 26, 2010. Please email Betsy McCullough with any questions at: [email protected].
SDAPA AICP EXAM PREP 2010! SDAPA offers a once a year training session for those planning to take the AICP exam in May or November. The session materials for 2010 have been updated based on information from those who took the latest exam in November 2009. San Diego has one of the highest pass rates in the State and Nationally, for those who participated in the trainings! Don’t miss this great opportunity; there is still time to sign up now; all 4 sessions for a nominal fee of $65.00 (includes celebratory lunch for those that complete the course). Register Online
SDAPA Young Planners Group The SDAPA Young Planners Group (YPG) was formed this year to organize events that encourage a greater connection between planning students, young professionals and the larger planning community in the region. Although the name may imply that the YPG is just for the young, don’t be fooled – we are a resource for all planners, but specifically target those under the age 35 and/or less than 8-10 years of experience. Next meeting will be held Tuesday, Feb 6, 2010. Please see page16 for more information!
Keeping Up with the Demand for “Green”Professional Development Courses at Cal State Fullerton Urban Planning: Current urban planners and those new to the field will benefit from our Certificate in Urban Planning, a comprehensive program, designed to help you develop sophisticated skills in various core subjects and prepare for expanded responsibilities. Created and taught by experts in the field who will share real-world experiences and practical, effective strategies that can be immediately applied. Sustainable Practices: What you learn in our Certificate in Green Building will help you develop the skills and know-how needed to integrate financially and environmentally conscious decision-making into building practices. Contact Kristyn Hursh at [email protected] or 657.278.7427 for more information.
San Diego Section Board MembersSection Director, Brooke Peterson, [email protected]
Section Director-Elect, Dan Wery, AICP 858.614.5081
[email protected] Dial, [email protected]
Secretary, Sara Lyons, AICP 619.236.6368
Membership Director, Elisa Marrone, [email protected]
Webmaster, Greg Konar, AICP 619.881.3265
[email protected] Newsletter Editor, Asha Saunders, LEED [email protected]
Professional Development (AICP), Stan Donn, AICP619.409.5953
Professional Development (Workshops), Nancy Graham, [email protected]
Awards Chair, Jennifer Cordeau, AICP619.294.9400
Marketing & Sustianable Initiative Director, Sarah Lozano, [email protected]
Programs Co-Chair, Dan Wery, AICP 858.614.5081
Program Co-Chair, Patrick Jelsema, [email protected]
Membership Inclusion Director, Connery Cepeda 619.688.6968
Young Planners’ Group Liason, Mario Osorio, LEED [email protected]
Academic Liaison/Mentor Programs, Kevin Grant858.453.3602
Student Representative- UCSD- Damon Jordon619.225.6459 [email protected]
Imperial Valley RAC, OPEN
Upcoming Events!
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Message from the Director
Welcome to 2010! As we head into this new year, I would like to recognize the incredible spirit of volunteerism that keeps San Diego APA running and providing you with quality programs and events all year long. From organizing a lecture, tour or workshop, to planning an annual awards program and other special events, to providing a critical link between local issues and statewide ini-tiatives, your San Diego APA is truly a volunteer run organization.
There are more opportunities than ever to get involved and help make San Diego APA what you need! Do you have an idea or creative suggestion on a program that APA should offer or how APA can improve its outreach to local planners? Do you have a local project success or treasure or know of an educational excursion that might be a great way to obtain CM credits? Let us know! We are always looking for new program and professional development ideas; we want to hear from you! Please email me
at [email protected] or send a note to our Programs Co-chairs, [email protected] or [email protected].
An excellent opportunity for you to get involved is the APA California Annual Conference coming to San Diego in November! The upcoming conference, Coast, Canyon, Crest: Elevating Sustainability, will be held November 1-4, 2010 at the La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad. Preparations are well-underway and your local Host Conference Committee has been hard at work. Mobile Workshops have been selected. The Call for Presentations has gone out and the deadline for submissions is February 26th. We want your ideas, your insight, your experience, and your expertise! Online submission is easier than ever before; just visit http://www.calapa.org/2010-conference, submit a complete proposal and you are done. No more back and forth! There are many other ways to contribute and get involved. Please contact me if you would like to get involved!
Volunteers mean value to all of us - San Diego APA does not have recurring professional expenses or paid local staff. Your membership dollar goes directly to local programs and statewide initiatives. We are committed to providing resources and financial assistance to members in these challenging times. We have four strategic initiatives for this year: 1) local promo-tion and participation in the 2010 Annual Conference; 2) fiscal responsibility; 3) successful launch of the Young Planners’ Group; and 4) focus on maximizing the relevance, value, and benefits to our members.
The San Diego Section Board of Directors continues to focus on equipping its members to stay ahead of the curve through support and education. We look forward to seeing you at a future event or hearing from you! For more information on SDAPA and our events, visit sdapa.org!
Sincerely,
Brooke E. Peterson, AICPDirector, San Diego Section of the American Planning Association
Section Director’s Message
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Rethinking Street DesignBy: Andy Hamilton, San Diego Air Pollution Control District
It’s been said, “when what you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.” My particular interest is street design, and I’m convinced most urban issues we could name can be addressed, at least in part, by rethinking the role and design of urban streets. No, really.
Consider a typical litany of current urban challenges: traffic safety, various transportation demands, climate change, air quality, increasingly severe urban heat waves, affordable housing, stormwater runoff, aging-in-place baby boomers, urban park deficits, water and energy conservation as well as pollution, local jobs, the obesity epidemic and its tremendous costs, crime, mental health, and social isolation. There is growing awareness that streets are an underutilized resource that could be tapped to address these and other issues.
About 25-30% of US urban land is entirely devoted to streets, sidewalks, and alleys. Streets represent the largest portion of undeveloped urban land, and it’s already publicly owned. Streets’ dominant function of moving vehicles comes at the expense of every other consideration. In what is probably a natural evolution, this is starting to change. Arguably, the most vibrant, economically healthy urban places (New York, Portland, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Singapore, most of Europe), don’t cater to, so much as tolerate, the automobile. It is thus no surprise that urban design improvements, which start with the public right-of-way, generally yield a high return on investment.
Safety vs. Speed
The single-purpose function of streets has a tragic downside, of course. In my opinion, Arterial streets are particularly frequently overbuilt. Their very size and design speed account for the fact that, in a recent year, 56% of urban pedestrian fatalities have occurred on these types of roads. In the last 20 years, studies have shown that traffic fatalities or crashes increase when the following occur: lanes are wider than 10-11 feet (the usual standard is 12), street width increases, shoulders are wide, lanes are added, curves are straightened, trees are removed, buildings are set back, and cul-de-sac neighborhood designs are employed. In other words, it appears that all the typical interventions used to increase capacity and/or improve safety make roads more, not less, dangerous. Fortunately, the treatments that render streets more livable – the opposite of those just listed – also make them safer and, if implemented widely, would free up considerable roadway space for other uses.
This became especially clear to me several years ago while reviewing the Padres Ballpark EIR. In a worst case traffic
scenario – a game letting out during rush hour – the freeways serving downtown were projected to experience Level of Service (LOS) F, but the downtown streets would show LOS B. How is this possible? The grid pattern is the key, dispersing traffic into many available routes. This implies downtown has a lot of spare capacity that could be reallocated to wider sidewalks, bike lanes, a tree canopy, public art, linear parks, space for vendor carts, etc. In the process, the current 3-lane, one-way streets that tend to encourage speeding could be made far safer. The large annual cluster of pedestrian crashes downtown could be ameliorated, and the retail environment and quality of life enhanced, all without increasing congestion. That’s a far better deal than the Faustian bargain downtown has now, trading safety for speed.
Reducing VMT and GHG
Rethinking the function of streets has never been more critical. Laws requiring cities to reduce greenhouse gasses seem to be multiplying. On average San Diego generates far more CO2 per household than transit-rich cities like New York. SANDAG’s forthcoming response to California’s SB 375 to curb Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) means we need to get creative fast. Our current regional transportation plan projects a 30% increase in VMT by 2030. Once the state provides a VMT reduction target in June, per SB 375, we’ll need to somehow go the opposite direction while accommodating the increase in population. What role can streets play in this challenge?
Our cities and villages can create local street environments that encourage residents to replace long car trips with short ones and replace short trips with walking and bicycling. Transit can play a greater role, and safe, attractive streets are essential
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The Street as Art
Residents in Portland, Oregon, tired of speeding traffic, began organizing with their neighbors to paint giant murals in the middle of speed-prone residential intersections. These colorful displays not only cause drivers to ease off the gas pedal, but they reduce the tendency to speed once neighbors know each other. The city, at first opposed these artistic endeavors, is now supporting these community initiatives to slow traffic. Other cities have installed sculptures, or entire sculpture gardens, on underused pavement.
“Depaving” – Another Portland First
Another Portland innovation is “depaving” – organizing large groups to break up and haul away pavement to make room for parks, gardens, or other green uses. Based on the economics alone, this makes a great deal of sense. Real estate next to a park is far more valuable than that next to a large road or parking lot. And recent studies show that health, mental health, physical activity levels, and life span all improve when residents have green open space nearby.
to a positive transit experience. Even in the recession, gas prices have inched above $3.00. Where will they go when the economy turns around? With a lack of cheap oil, the demand for other modes and local goods and services will only grow. Imagine the day when local shopping returns as the norm, and longer trips to save money on a roll of paper towels loses its appeal.
Let’s not forget that livable streets are “paved with gold”. Walkable neighborhoods with mixed uses and “third places” where people can linger have retained far more of their value during the recession. Walkability, and the sociability it fosters, is what people are hungry for. It follows that urban design treatments, including the streetscape, can help generate localized economic growth and jobs, especially if the era of global trade is interrupted by the exhaustion of a cheap oil supply.
Streets as Stormwater Filters
Streets guru Dan Burden says engineers care mostly about three things: drainage, drainage, and drainage. Indeed, during the 1990’s, local engineers, private and public, were consumed with capturing and handling stormwater runoff, thanks to new state requirements. In response, cities such as Seattle, Portland, and Chicago are installing “green streets” that allow water to percolate through the street itself or drain into bioswales, recharging the groundwater. This solution is far cheaper and more sustainable. Seattle, informally referred to as the “rainy city”, showed in a pilot project it can capture 99% of stormwater with this solution, in addition to achieving a 20% reduction in roadway construction costs. Any civil engineer can tell you there is huge savings available if a stormwater system can be downsized or eliminated altogether.
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New York – A Different City through Street Reclaiming
The champion for street reclaiming has to be New York City. Most planners have heard about New York’s many efforts to calm streets, install a network of “cycle tracks” (bike lanes nestled between the curb and parking lane), fix pedestrian danger “hot spots,” and convert parts of intersections and entire streets to public plazas. What they may not realize is that these projects evolved in concert with an unconventional new Street Design Policy.
The policy contains seven deceptively simple goals, which bear reciting:
#1 Move people and goods safely.
#2. Accommodate all street users, giving priority to the most energy- and space-efficient modes.
#3 Respond to neighborhood character.
#4 Create a vibrant public realm with high-quality public spaces.
#5 Contribute to a healthier and more sustainable environment.
#6 Create coherent and harmonious streetscapes.
#7 Provide the greatest possible value to the public.
Note the emphasis on design, protecting vulnerable users and returning value. Also notice also there is nothing about adequate parking, congestion relief, or Level of Service. After attending the International Walking Conference in New York last October, I was amazed at what’s been accomplished and how the Street Design Policy has made New York feel even more vibrant than ever before. Sure, New York has an amazing transit system, but much of what they’re learning could apply anywhere. Only later did I learn these changes were pushed through by a new Transportation Commissioner who, evidently, is not an engineer. I believe this is key. Engineers are great at what they do, but we shouldn’t expect them to be the visionaries. That’s not (usually) their thing.
University Avenue Demonstration Project
So where do we start? Cities, such as Copenhagen, that have dramatically transformed their streets began, not with a grand plan, but with small demonstration projects. Downtown San Diego could certainly experiment with a couple of streets. In the same way, a planned redesign of University Avenue in North Park could be the real catalyst we need.
The neighborhood’s Main Street organization worked with consultant KTU+A, City of San Diego staff and SANDAG to devise an innovative plan that dedicates two of the four lanes to buses, provides medians prohibiting dangerous left turns, and includes landscaped curb extensions and in-pavement flashing crosswalks at numerous locations. Left and right turn pockets will help traffic flow smoother and more safely, while the single lane each direction will let the prudent driver set the speed. If the scheme works, look for residents around the region to demand something similar. Until then, planners can be looking at the massive investment in their own community’s streets and asking how we can serve the public better by squeezing more value and more life from this amazing resource.
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- Smart Growth Initiative -
At the beginning of the decade, smart growth skepticism grew largely out of the sprawl industry’s continued success. During this time, many believed that smart growth needed to focus more on market and housing demands, and therefore, would never be successful as long as the sprawl industry continued to profit. Then, in 2003, a nation-wide study and two prestigious medical journals publicized a powerful discovery. A strong correlation was found between sprawling development and major health issues such as obesity, asthma and cancer; one obvious link being automobile dependency. The reports substantiated that commuters by car are more likely to be obese than those utilizing public transit or bicycles. Smart Growth principles help solve this key issue by advocating infill development, mixed land use and walkable communities. And now, especially with the advent of housing market changes, it seems as though the time has come for the Smart Growth Initiative to comfortably take its place in the future of land use planning.
In the San Diego Region, SANDAG has been working with local jurisdictions to identify Smart Growth Opportunity Areas and Smart Growth Place Types; see Designing for Smart Growth, Creating Great Places in the San Diego Region. And the City of San Diego’s recently adopted General Plan demonstrates a guided shift towards more sustainable planning and design, which is in line with many of the smart growth principles. “The City of Villages strategy is to focus growth into mixed-use activity centers that are pedestrian-friendly, centers of community, and linked to the regional transit system,” states the City of San Diego General Plan.
The implementation of such strategies, however, is often a challenging task. Particularly in California, the advent of air quality laws and rules to reduce carbon emissions bring a rivaling force of density deterrents. Tight limits on carbon
emissions from new development may prove to be a huge obstacle and disincentive for high-density city center projects that are increasingly being promoted as environmentally-friendly, smart growth. Although the Smart Growth Initiative continues to face many challenges and opponents, it seems clear that sustainable design practices and transportation reforms are in order.
Downtown San Diego has been cited as a prime example of Smart Growth
- Green Building Movement -
USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a product of the decade that has established itself as a pillar in sustainable design. Starting from one set of “New Construction” standards published in 1999, LEED has developed into a comprehensive network of six interrelated rating systems covering all aspects in construction and design. The latest version, LEED v3, was launched April 27, 2009 and represents a reorganization of the rating systems combined with a series of major technical advancements focused on the most urgent priorities like improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions. The widespread emergence of LEED has many states requiring certification for both new and renovated buildings. As of January 2010, San Diego has 868 LEED Accredited Professionals (LEED AP), 20 LEED Certified Buildings and 197 Registered Buildings.
The USGBC’s green building initiative continues to grow with pilot programs, such as Healthcare, Retail and Neighborhood Development. The latter will be an especially useful tool in land use planning as it integrates principles of smart growth, urbanism and green building to create the first national neighborhood design program. Stay tuned… LEED Neighborhood Development is expected to open for registration in 2010. More information can be found Here
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In other green building news, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced on January 12, 2010 that the California Building Standards Commission unanimously adopted the first-in-the-nation mandatory Green Building Standards Code (CALGREEN). The code requires all new buildings in
the state to be more energy efficient and environmentally responsible, and includes a set of comprehensive regulations to take effect on January 1, 2011. “The code will help us meet our goals of curbing global warming and achieving 33 percent renewable energy by 2020 and promotes the development of more sustainable communities by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving energy efficiency in every new home, office building or public structure,” said Governor Schwarzenegger.
San Diego’s Sun Harbor MarinaRemovated in 2005 to become the world’s first LEED Certified Marina
- Technological Advancements -
Released in 2005, Google Maps dramatically simplified the general public’s ability to access map, free of charge. Google Maps provides high-resolution satellite images for most urban areas in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and parts of many other countries. And as of October 2009, Google Maps has added parcel information, attracting much attention from the real-estate industry. Bing Maps (formerly known as Windows Live Local) is another web mapping service in which users can browse through topographically-shaded street maps, including main points of interest such as businesses, restaurants, metro stations, hospitals, stadiums and other facilities. Bing Maps also offers a bird’s eye view for many locations in over 100 cities in the US, Canada, Japan and over 80 European locations. This view provides four different angles from directly above buildings, thereby providing much more detail than aerial views.
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In addition to allowing users to learn more about the land use patterns of the world around them, the technology continues to provide a number of benefits for cities and concerned citizens alike. “Police departments have used Google to map crime trends and target resources; homebuyers can use versions of the software to find pricing data; and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Gulf Coast residents used Google Earth to find out which neighborhoods were devastated, and which were accessible. One lucky Italian even used the software to discover an ancient Roman villa in his backyard. “ [Planetizen]
- 9/11-Last, but not least, are the ghastly attacks of 9/11 that occurred at the early onset of the decade. The aftermath of these attacks initially created what had been termed as “national security sprawl” which engulfed many largely populated cities in an effort to disperse government offices and private firms away from dense city centers. The death of the iconic World Trade Center building caused many to believe that the age of the skyscrapers and megatowers might come to an end. And an overall push for scattered development, gated communities and decentralizing cities was thought to be the answer for an increased sense of security. However, as seen by the growing success of widely accepted sustainable development principles, the planning profession has overcome many of these forecasted, sprawl-related development trends. But despite these efforts, one of the most impacting and lasting consequences continues to be the massive transfer of wealth and resources away from our local needs.
Combined with the economic downturn, this tragedy has impacted the planning profession in many ways. City planners have been called on to streamline development procedures and reassess community values in an effort to meet public needs without straining the budget. In rare instances, some cities were even forced to dissolve their planning departments entirely. Nevertheless, the planning profession continues to promote and implement planning policies that respond to major global issues and promote sustainable growth to the greatest extent possible.
These trials, tribulations and truimphs, combined with other significant events, have influenced the planning profession in a number of ways. Here’s to hoping the year 2010 will guide us into a positive and productive decade of the “twenty tens.” One in which we can continue to plan great cities and formulate good policy by learning from the past, while addressing the needs of the future. Please feel free to send your thoughts, comments or related articles to the Editor on this topic for publication in future issues.
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Planning for Preemptive Ecosystems
By: Kimberly Bush
As urban populations grow, it is important to plan for the increasing demand for land and associated resources. Cities are being forced to confront how to sustain natural resources for future generations. Environmental preservation and land development have been in continuous conflict with each other, especially since the Industrialization Era. The preservation of open space continues to be used as both a means and an end, often simultaneously, of planning practice though it is widely under threat. Preemptive ecosystem planning, the preservation of natural resources before land development, addresses the environment by confronting land conservation before land development occurs in order to sustain ecosystems in the face of increasing development. In light of the problems of urbanization and sprawl, theorists and planners have developed a number of planning solutions to enhance the way cities develop and grow. Today, the environmental problems we are facing are more severe than ever before even though our understanding is continuously increasing. Only recently, have urban planning approaches, such as smart growth or LEED ND, shifted to include preemptive ecosystems as the basis for future development. In an effort to create sustainable cities through smart growth, it has become apparent that there is a need to do many things at once including mixed use, green building, transit, recycling, and greening of cities through gardens and trees. As a result, cities are beginning to form green indicators to monitor growth, measure development, and hold accountable new projects to be more sustainable (USEPA, 2001a). There is still a long way to go before we actually see preemptive ecosystem planning on a larger scale. For now, as detailed in the case studies, we are moving in the right direction and beginning to gain more momentum to sustain and preserve the natural resources. The challenge for future generations will be to make the transition away from growth-oriented and growth-addicted communities toward stability by finding the most sustainable growth management for each community. Sustainable communities can offer a better quality of life, public services, environmental quality as well as conservation of land and economic security. Every project
needs to reflect the civic consciousness to be fully implemented (Fodor, 1999).
Ridership is increasing on all forms of transit, including buses, subway systems, commuter trains and trolleys. This strong reversal of past trends reflects Americans’ changing attitudes. People are voting with their feet, and increasingly they are voting for transit and walkability. As people strive to improve the livability of their neighborhoods and towns, they are getting frustrated with traffic, rising taxes, the loss of open space, and the lack of affordable housing. More and more, they’re looking for alternatives that will deliver a better quality of life. They are demanding smarter growth (Urry, 2007).
A preemptive ecosystem planning with society has been highlighted as one that meets the needs of the present without comprising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Each day this slips further and further from our reach for future generations (Fodor, 1999). Societies on both a local and regional level must take an increasingly proactive role beyond that of the local government to create sustainable environments for the next generation.
ReferencesFodor, E. (1999). Better Not Bigger: How to Take Control of Urban Growth and Improve Your Community. Stony Creek, Conn: New Society.United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Development, Community, and Environment Division. (2001a). Our Built and Natu-ral Environments. Washington, D.C.: United States Environmental Protection Agency, Development, Community, and Environment Division.
Urry, J. (2007). Motilities. Cambridge: Polity.
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Recent ProgramsSDAPA, AEP & WEP Holiday Party at Rock Bottom!!
Young Planners’ Group Kick-off Mixer at Taste and Thirst!!
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Source: New Urban NewsBy: Philip Langdon
Guided by Vancouver’s Larry Beasley, the oil-rich emirate is using North America’s top urbanists to shape development.
In a still-shaky world economy, one place stands out as an enthusiastic employer of new urbanists and a potential model
of how to develop cities. That place is Abu Dhabi, the wealthy emirate that has recently been in the news for bailing out its profligate neighbor, Dubai.
When overextended real estate development in Dubai collapsed late last year, it was Abu Dhabi that came to the rescue with $10 billion. The largest and most petroleum-rich of the seven members of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi has a reputation for prudent government by its royal family. In the past several years, while Dubai was erecting flamboyant towers and building islands arranged like palm trees, Abu Dhabi was searching for a course that would work better in the longer run.
In 2006, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s desire for a more stable and sustainable pattern of development led him to recruit Larry Beasley, longtime co-director of planning for Vancouver, British Columbia, to serve as “special adviser” — in effect, chief planner for the nearly 1-million-population municipality of Abu Dhabi and the 1.6-million-populaton emirate of the same name. The sheikh, educated at Sandhurst in England, he is the emirate’s crown prince, sought out Beasley because he had heard about the accomplishments of Vancouver, including its success in managing development. Since 1986 the residential population of Vancouver’s downtown peninsula has more than doubled, to roughly 100,000, and mixed use development has flourished in outlying neighborhoods, aided by mass transit, walkable streets, and other civic amenities.
Beasley, who retired from his Vancouver post in August 2006, started working in Abu Dhabi the following month. He now spends 7 to 12 days a month there, and will probably continue until the beginning of 2012. He has brought in high-quality urbanists from around the world, including North Americans such as Calthorpe Associates, Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co. (DPZ), Torti Gallas and Partners, Moule & Polyzoides, Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates, Allan Jacobs, Elizabeth Macdonald, Peter Swift, and Rick Chellman.
Changes have come rapidly:
• Al Nahyan, who chairs the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, cancelled a freeway that would have carved a
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International Feature
destructive path through one of the oldest parts of the city. “The whole freeway was overscaled,” Beasley observes. “It was a disaster waiting to happen.” At Beasley’s urging, the government reestimated traffic demand (cutting it by half ) and decided that vehicular movement could be accommodated in a civilized way with a more modest-scale tunnel about six blocks long. Now under construction, the tunnel connects at both ends to a more traditional network of streets.
• A comprehensive transportation system is being designed, including streetcars, subways, and greatly expanded intercity rail freight and passenger service — this in a country that until two years ago relied almost completely on private cars and taxis for individual mobility. Grade-separated rail transit, most of it underground, is envisioned to provide rapid movement citywide. Joe Dills, a principal in Otak Inc., a Lake Oswego, Oregon, firm which three years ago opened an office in Abu Dhabi, marvels that in a matter of years Abu Dhabi is going to build a transit system that “would take decades to do in the US.”
• An extensive and respected planning apparatus has been created from scratch. “When I arrived, there was no planning department and no real approval process except that His Highness would just give a nod of the head” to projects he thought worthwhile, Beasley says. Since then, the government has formed an Urban Planning Council which now has a staff of about 175, including professionals from the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and elsewhere. The Council, says Beasley, “is doing very
Abu Dhabi: new urban showcase in the middle east?
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proactive planning work all over the emirate.”
• A program called “Estidama” (Arabic for sustainability) has been introduced. It is the equivalent of North America’s LEED program, but more locally oriented and without LEED’s high cost and bureaucracy. Estidama is starting to move Abu Dhabi away from buildings that are inappropriate for a hot desert climate, such as glass curtainwall structures, and toward a contemporary expression of the region’s architectural traditions.
There will be a shift toward “traditional materials and fenestration patterns” and “landscape forms that use less water or reuse water,” Beasley says. In the government’s ambitious plan for the new Capital District of Abu Dhabi, buildings will be required to meet Estidama standards, including taking advantage of breezes and other natural techniques.“From top to bottom, the entire system is being rethought,” says Andres Duany, whose firm worked on an urban waterfront complex for a private developer and will finish work early this year on planning for the historic royal city, Al Ain. “They’re not tinkering at the edges.”
In two charrettes, experts from eight countries worked with representatives of local authorities and departments to produce guidelines on how the city’s population could grow to three or more times its current size and yet consume nonrenewable resources sparingly. Duany says the planning sessions “look like American charrettes” except that “there are no random people walking in.”
Plan Abu Dhabi 2030 asserts that “new development should be designed at a human scale to ensure the city is still pleasant to live in when the population surpasses three million.” The existing city, which sits on an island, would accommodate some of the growth, but there would also be development on other islands, connected by modest-scale bridges.
Nearby on the mainland, a second city center is to be developed in the Capital District, which will be home to the UAE government, medical centers, and institutions of higher education. The main approach to this center is proposed to be a boulevard that passes under seven high arches (representing the seven emirates) and terminates at a square.
Unlike the megablock- and highway-fixated planning that foreigners did in Abu Dhabi in the 1970s, the latest plans call for a fine grain of interconnected streets. Throughout the emirate, “residential, retail, infrastructure and amenity development are [to be] clustered around a ‘high street’ or public square,” says the 2030 Plan. “Urban communities are
[to be] more rigidly defined, by a grid-like system of blocks, while the desert and island eco-villages are more organically set within their landscape.”
To “contain urban growth and prohibit unplanned sprawl,” the 2030 plan recommends establishing a protected “sand belt” and “desert fingers.”
Dills, at Otak, says his firm is working on a revitalization plan for the Abu Dhabi central business district that will transform the gigantic streets, subdivide the superblocks — “the biggest I’ve seen on the planet” — and establish “a clear and logical circulation system that prioritizes the pedestrian.” Parking is to be moved underground or into above-ground structures. New real estate development will help finance the parking facilities’ construction and introduce additional uses and amenities to the blocks.
For Tavistock Abu Dhabi Investments, DPZ produced a conceptual design for a marina on reclaimed land near Abu Dhabi’s convention center. If built as planned, it would be a walkable, compact, and complex development organized around harbors offering ”water plazas.”
Adapting to the culture
Using a series of five workshops, Torti Gallas, in conjunction with other firms, including Calthorpe Associates and the Philadelphia-based Olin Studio, completed a conceptual design in December for a client who wants to develop a 7,500-acre site in the Al Foah district of Al Ain, an inland oasis city of about 374,000. Much of the site is now a date farm — date farms being a national symbol — and has been targeted to become a compact, mixed-use community.
The project gave principal John Torti the opportunity to think about how to design in a way that suits the culture and climate. The resulting proposal calls for courtyard houses, which offer
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the privacy valued by Arab families, especially for women. (Some houses that were built in the emirate in recent decades were freestanding in a Western mode, and failed to provide the occupants with protected outdoor space.)
For the overall development in Al Foah, Torti says the team is proposing “a circulation system that has four levels of hierarchy,” including “internal walkways interrupted by little piazzas — gathering places for children to play, where women can meet.” The walkway system would make it possible for women to reach a neighborhood center via a route not shared with men — an important consideration in a culture that believes in separation of men and women.
Some of the trees from windrows of the date farm would be replanted to form a long green space about 500 feet wide, stretching across the site; they would form a kind of linear date farm in which mosques could be set at intervals. Public spaces based on traditional emirati culture are to be incorporated into the community’s design.
“New urbanist ideas are intrinsically local,” says Duany says. A “shade way” study is looking into how to incorporate continuous shaded walkways into Abu Dhabi development. “Forms and patterns that are unique to Arabic society should pervade the city and punctuate the skyline,” declares Plan Abu Dhabi 2030.
Just how traditional the architecture will be is unclear. In parts of the developing world, there’s a tendency among decision-makers to think that new buildings should look like the latest products of Europe and North America. Whether that will prove true in Abu Dhabi remains to be seen, but Duany notes, “The minute you do a local architecture, they get nervous.”
Source: New Urban News: http://www.newurbannews.com/15.1/abudhabi.html
Uncertain future
“They have a real consciousness of building a nation,” Beasley says. “There’s that sense of mission. They want things quickly and they want them to be the best.” In addition to having a highly intelligent crown prince, from a royal family that has distributed wealth broadly, Abu Dhabi offers another advantage, according to Beasley: “You’re not dealing with a vested power structure that wants to do something else.”
“One of my biggest efforts is to get as many new urbanists working in the public and private sector as I can organize,” Beasley says. Marina Khoury of DPZ says the work has been fascinating: “All these planners are having the experience of a lifetime.”
The culture of planning in Abu Dhabi has had only had a brief time in which to become rooted. It may prove fragile, particularly in a Middle Eastern society where d e v e l o p m e n t decisions in the past have been made in an ad hoc manner in which negotiation, not codes, ruled the day. “It will be interesting to see how negotiation meets with codes,” says Khoury.
So far, the crown prince has strongly
supported ideas from Beasley and his worldwide pool of urbanistic talent. “The Abu Dhabi government is expecting a higher standard than has ever been delivered,” says Jeff Tumlin of Nelson\Nygaard. “They’re doing 50 years of city-building in 5 years. It’s on the scale of what Napoleon III did for Paris or Catherine did for St. Petersburg.”
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Congratulations to San Diego’s
Newest AICP Members!
Matt Bator Elisa MarroneJulie Donofrio Charlie Richmon
Patrick Jelsema Jessica SiscoRobert Leholm Norma Villicana
AnnouncementsCity of Santee Forester Creek Improvement Project Nationally Recognized Award Winner!Interview with Julie Procopio, Forester Creek Project Manager, City of Santee
The Forester Creek Improvement Project is located within the City of Santee and comprises a 1.2-mile segment of water starting near the intersection of Mission Gorge Road and Carlton Hills Boulevard, traveling southeast toward Cuyamaca Street. The project proposal originated from flooding issues, which impacted adjacent business and residential properties. The creek also had major water quality concerns, including, but not limited to, low levels of dissolved oxygen and high levels of fecal coliform. The overall project objectives included restoration of the riparian ecosystem, promotion of flow retention and infiltration, improvement of the last viable segment of Forester Creek prior to its discharge into San Diego River, conveyance of 100-year flows without flooding and facilitation of State Route 52 expansion. Due to its nature and location, the project required a lengthy environmental review process that necessitated coordination with multiple departments and agencies. The project started in 1999. Approval of the EIR/EA occurred in 2004 and construction began January 2006. In
June 2008, the project was completed.
In addition to successfully meeting all the objectives, the Forester Creek Improvement Project has resulted in an amazing array of benefits to the community. The project substantially improved the water quality of the creek (achieving a 69% decrease in fecal coliform), replaced exotic and invasive plant species with native marsh wetlands, southern willow scrub and coastal sage scrub habitats, and created a beautiful public space that includes a bike path, picnic area and lengthened bridge. Therefore,
it comes as no surprise that the project was recently awarded by California Stormwater Quality Association (CASQA). And the project then went on to receive the American Public Works Award, of which only 15 projects are awarded nation-wide per year! “To have this national award is quite an honor,” says Ms. Julie Procopio. As seen from the many public benefits the project has created, Ms. Procoio asserts that the project has truly offered “a different approach to flood control.”
Young Planners’ Group (YPG) Kick-Off!
Starting this year, SDAPA has formed the YPG to organize events that create a greater connection between planning students, young professionals and the larger planning community in the region. Although the name may imply that the YPG is just for the young, don’t be fooled – we are a resource for all planners, but specifically target those under the age 35 and/or less than 8-10 years of experience. The purpose of the YPG is to provide opportunities to learn more about planning and related fields; build successful careers; expand social and professional networks; and ultimately become leaders in the planning profession and APA.
YPG recently hosted a kickoff mixer on January 28, 2010 at Taste and Thirst on 4th Avenue in the Gaslamp; Page 11 for pictures. The event had a was a great success and provided an opportunity for attendees meet with other young professionals and students in a relaxed setting and find out what others in planning and related fields are doing. For those of you who attended the Young Planners’ Group Kickoff Mixer, thank you showing your support for the group. For those who were not able to attend, we still look forward to meeting you and hope you can be involved in future events. YPG will be holding a follow-up meeting for people to learn more details and what our ambitions are for the year 2010. This will be a more informative meeting to share ideas for the group, go over goals of the YPG, and gain insight as to what YOU want to see and get out of the YPG, and how to be more involved in organizing the YPG structure and future events. Also, the 2010 Cal APA Conference will be in San Diego this year, and it would be great to have some good sessions geared towards up and coming planners in the region. This will definitely be a topic for discussion as the “Call for Presentations” is due at the end of the month (2/26). If you have some ideas on topics or sessions for the Conference or would like to participate more in the formation of the San Diego APA Young Planners Group, please consider attending and expressing your interest.
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Next YPG Meeting Details
Date: Tuesday, February 16 Time: 5:00 p.m.Location: HDR Office in Kearny Mesa (8690 Balboa Avenue, Ste 200 – Coronado Conference Room)
Please RSVP to Mario Osorio if you will be able to attend.
We look forward to seeing you, thanks!!
More AnnouncementsPlanetizen Announces Top 10 Book List
Planetizen recently announced its ninth annual list of the ten best books in urban planning, design and development published in 2009. This year’s assortment ranges from an impassioned argument for making transit fun to a low-key and practical guide to smart growth. And of course, Jane Jacobs makes an appearance.
The list is presented in alphabetical order, and not by rank.
1. Bycicle Diaries By David Burne
2. The Smart Growth Manual By Andrés Duany and Jeff Speck with Mike Lydon
3. Wrestling With Moses: How Jane Jacobs Took On New York’s Master Builder and Transformed the American City By Anthony Flint
4. On Private Property: Finding Common Ground on the Ownership of Land By Eric Freyfogle
5. Building Up and Tearing Down: Reflections on the Age of Architecture By Paul Goldberger
6. The Architecture of Community By Léon Krier
7. The BLDGBLOG Book By Geoff Manaugh
8. Paris Underground: The Maps, Stations and Design of the Métro By Mark Ovenden
9. Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less are the Keys to Sustainability By David Owen
10. Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City By Eric W. Sanderson
For additional information and to purchase any of these books, click here: Planetizen- Top 10 Books- 2010
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Free CM Credits!??!Planning for Healthy Places The American Institute of Certified Planners announces Planning for Healthy Places with Health Impact Assessments (http://professional.captus.com/Planning/hia), the first in a series of CM-eligible online courses from APA. Through examples and activities, this “how-to” guide explains the value of health impact assessments and outlines the steps involved in conducting one. The course was developed in partnership between the American Planning Association and the National Association of County and City Health Officials and is offered free of charge through a grant from the Centers for Disease Control. The course carries 6 CM credits.
Space Available!
Zucker Systems, a planning, development and management firm located at 1545 Hotel Circle South, Suite 300 has an excellent furnished extra private office space that it wishes to rent to a plan-ning or environmental consultant. Good opportu-nity for synergistic conversations. Call Paul Zucker, FAICP at (619) 260-2683.
SDAPA Support for Student Internships - The SDAPA supports students who are preparing to pursue careers in the planning field. As part of our supportive efforts, we are providing an active employment/internship assistance program which functions as an intermediary between the students and the planning business community at large.
While SDAPA does not guarantee employment, every possible effort is made to assist students in pursuing work experience in the diverse planning profession. SDAPA will accept and post internship opportunities for undergraduates and/or graduate students who are actively engaged in the pursuit of a career in the field with a planning emphasis. Intern positions will be posted on our jobs page at no charge.
We encourage you to participate in our efforts. Please download, complete, and submit the form below to Kevin Grant at [email protected]. Download Form
SDAPA Academic Liaison Mentor Program - Did you know that SDAPA has a Mentor Program that matches planning students with planning professionals? Students and faculty members are encouraged to utilize our SDAPA Board liaison to communicate and network between the Planning/Geography/Urban Studies Departments of the San Diego region universities and the professional planning community.
The liaison is also tasked with assisting student representatives in organizing interested students in becoming more involved in the planning community prior to commencement. For more information, please contact Kevin Grant at [email protected] or 858-342-8808.
Mail-List - Receive the latest SDAPA news and job announcements by subscribing to our e-mail list at no charge. Subscribe
Jobs Available - Check here for the latest San Diego Planning jobs. Go to jobs page
SDAPA Planning Library - Download PowerPoint presentations and workshop materials from SDAPA sponsored workshops and luncheons. Download Presentations
Request for Proposals - SDAPA is now accepting RFP documents in downloadable PDF format for posting on our jobs announcements page. Go to jobs page
Announcement Requests - Please submit announcement requests by e-mail to [email protected]. Announcements should be relevant to the San Diego planning community. Please see sample announcement request. Download sample announcement request
Announcements
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APA Membership
Becoming an American Planning Association member is easy! The APA website, www.planning.org, offers online membership services. To sign up go to
www.planning.org/joinapa/. You may also reactivate your membership, change your contact information and join up for additional services on the national website.
As a Planner, there are many benefits by becoming involved in the American Planning Association (APA). Whether you are interested in staying on top of current industry events, discussing planning issues, or just looking for a new job, APA is there to help facilitate it. As a professional organization, APA brings together people who share an interest in working towards better-planned communities.
APA aims to improve your career by providing opportunities to become more engaged in your profession. As a national professional organization, APA is highly recognized by private, public and academic entities as being on the forefront of the planning profession.
APA creates an opportunity to expand your career. As a member,
• UseAPAresourcestostayuptodateonpolicyissues
• YouareencouragedtobecomeAICPcertified.American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) is a designation for those who choose to take their profession one step further. AICP allows you to become a credible planner and show that you are trained as a certified planner. In addition, our local San Diego APA section offers professional development workshops and luncheons to keep professionals up to date on local planning issues.
• Get recognized. Annual conferences andaward ceremonies for national, state and local sections offer a way to exchange ideas and for projects and hard work to be recognized by your professional peers.
To keep members up-to-date on national trends, local news and innovative ideas APA provides a number of publications. National, state and special interest divisions produce monthly periodicals and the San Diego local section issues a regular newsletter.
For students, becoming a member of APA is an incredible tool in learning to navigate the professional world of planning.
The most helpful resource and simplest way to stay involved with what’s with happening locally and around the world is to sign up for email notices on the APA websites. (National: www.planning.org and locally, www.sdapa.org).
To become a member visit APA’s website:http://www.planning.org/joinapa/.