Patrick Condon on 7 Rules for Sustainable Communities Today at Metro

Thanks, Jim Zehren, for this great synopsis:

Patrick Condon, professor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture in Vancouver, British Columbia, spoke today at an open-to-the-public brown bag event at Metro on the subject of achieving reductions in greenhouse gases (GHG) through particular approaches to urban form.  Condon’s presentation was based on his recently published book, Seven Rules for Sustainable Communities:  Design Strategies for the Post-Carbon World (Island Press 2010) www.islandpress.org.

Condon prefaced his review of the seven rules described in his book with some overarching points.  He stated his conclusion that we can achieve GHG reductions of at least 50 percent through changes in land use patterns alone.   He then said that at the heart of the inability of North American metro areas to achieve GHG solutions through urban form is the “silos” problem.  By that he meant the phenomenon of many specialized stakeholders and others who affect the development and redevelopment of our urban areas failing to see the big picture and to take collaborative actions in ways that achieve the common good.  He also said he believes that fractal geometry is a good model for understanding the form of successful cities and urban regions. 

Condon spent the most time discussing the first rule articulated in his book, which is:  “Restore the streetcar city.”  Regarding this rule, he was quick to emphasize that it is not necessarily the use of the streetcar per se that we need to restore, but rather the land use-transportation connection that existed in our cities during the pre-automobile streetcar era.  He referred to Portland as a good example of a streetcar city prior to World War II.  And though he lauded the City of Portland for beginning to rebuild its streetcar system, he lamented that Portland’s streetcars move at such a slow speed.

Condon explained that the remaining six of his seven rules are essentially extensions of the first rule.  Those remaining rules address, respectively, the need for:  an interconnected street system; services, transit and schools located within a five-minute walk; jobs close to affordable housing; a diversity of housing types; a linked system of natural areas and parks; and lighter, greener, cheaper and smarter infrastructure.

Condon concluded by stating that there is an urban form that can be successful in achieving our GHG goals, if we restore that urban form as we build and rebuild our cities and suburbs.  He noted that it took North American metro areas about 50 years to deviate from that workable urban form, and we now have about 50 years to restore it.

In response to questions, Condon agreed that the on-going lack of activity in the real estate sector in the US economy poses a real problem for achieving our GHG goals if redeveloping our cities is a primary solution.  He also commented that his seven rules do not address the need for local food security, which he believes is important.  He agreed that getting transportation planners and traffic engineers to do their work consistent with achievement of our adopted GHG goals remains a major impediment, and stated that they must change their approach within this decade if we are going to achieve our GHG goals within the 50-year timeframe we are facing. 

Condon also agreed that finding a way to convince the education community to reconfigure schools and school sites to help achieve GHG goals also is a difficult challenge, particularly given the political and governance aspects involved.  Finally, he repeated his own question from earlier in his remarks regarding what Sandy Boulevard in northeast Portland would look like as a “streetcar city” element in the city today if the eastbound MAX from downtown Portland had been routed along Sandy rather than along I-84 and had been a faster version of Portland’s streetcar rather than light rail.

For more, see the book! 

COC Hosts Webinar!

In early February, Elaine Cogan and Steve Faust gave an online presentation on the nexus of public engagement and land use development.  Nearly 75 people from all over the country logged on to view their visuals and hear them speak about innovative civic engagement tools and practices related to land use decisions in five communities facing demographic and socio-economic changes.  The basis for their presentation was their recent study for the Intermountain West Funder Network, where they examined civic engagement processes in Bend, OR Cheyenne, WY; Hayden, CO; Dubuque, IA; and the Sacramento, CA region. Included in Elaine’s and Steve’s findings and recommendations are innovative tools and practices other communities can use to make better land use decisions.  You can view their presentation by clicking here or obtain a copy of the study here.  Note: The presentation begins at 18:30 of the video file, please skip ahead.