Sep 2009 - Parsons Brinckerhoff

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Letter from the CEO Inside © 2006 DAVID SAILORS P arsons Brinckerhoff (PB) is proud to be working with clients worldwide that are developing new communities offering vibrant places for people to live and work while respecting the natural environment and conserving the earth’s resources. In Australia, PB is involved in creating planned communities that offer a full range of amenities for comfortable living but also seek to minimize the environmental impact of suburban residential life. PB offered a number of measures to conserve water, reduce waste and minimize greenhouse gas emissions at the Buckland Park development in northern Adelaide. For the Seaford Heights development, also in suburban Adelaide, PB is part of the team that is creating a carbon-neutral residential community— a first for South Australia—through carbon-management strategies to reduce and offset the production of greenhouse gases. Outside Seoul, South Korea, a truly astounding vision is taking shape: the creation of a new community— the Songdo International Business District (IBD)—in which nearly all development will be built to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, generally considered the worldwide standard for sustainable buildings. PB is assisting in the implementation of LEED criteria for Songdo IBD and is providing construction management services for discrete aspects of the new city. Another ambitious vision is taking shape in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, where the City Council and the Aura Newcastle consortium (of which PB is a member) are building or refurbishing 16 schools in a partnership lasting 10 years. But this effort, part of the UK’s larger Building Schools for the Future program, is more than just bricks and mortar. A key goal is to engage the community in planning schools that offer superior educational opportunities for children and youth, as well as a range of vocational and recreational programs for the entire community. Many traditional American suburbs were built around rail lines, offering people a way to commute to cities without relying on automobiles, and to live within easy reach of public transportation. That kind of community is being reinstituted through transit-oriented development (TOD) that seeks to concentrate residential, retail and commercial development around transit, and to create diverse communities with a “sense of place.” PB’s PlaceMaking group is contributing to TOD development in communities worldwide. In each case, PB engages residents in the planning process to develop a vision of the community they desire. People all over the world seek communities that offer a range of affordable housing, along with quality schools, easy access to public transportation, and a wide range of amenities including shopping, parks and recreation. PB is helping to plan and deliver those kinds of communities—where people want to live. Keith J. Hawksworth Chief Executive Officer Parsons Brinckerhoff Page 2 2 Transit-Oriented Development: Creating a Sense of Place 7 ACE Mentor Program: Launchpad for Leaders 8 Infrastructure Gifts: A Lasting Legacy 12 Educational Transformation In Newcastle upon Tyne Page 8 15 Songdo IBD: Super-sized Sustainability 17 Sustainable Communities: A Top Priority Down Under 19 Public Involvement: Key to Project Success 24 Notes on Projects 28 Notes on the Firm on the cover Children enjoying the new playground at the West Jesmond Primary School in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Photo courtesy of Aura Newcastle Ltd NOTES is published three times a year by PB for the employees, affiliates and friends of PB. Please contact the Executive Editor in the New York office for permission to reprint articles. © 2009 Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc. All rights reserved. Editorial Board Keith J. Hawksworth Chuck Kohler David A. McAlister Richard A. Schrader Stuart Glenn George J. Pierson Judy Cooper Executive Editor Tom Malcolm Editor Susan Walsh Contributors Muriel Adams Leon Erlanger Charlotte Forbes Julie Johnson Terry Kuflik Tom Malcolm Kathy Montvidas Judith Raymond Susan Walsh Graphics Services Manager Richard Mangini Graphic Design Jamie Dugan Gary Hessberger Director of Corporate Communications Judy Cooper Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc. One Penn Plaza New York, NY 10119 1-212-465-5000 www.pbworld.com pbinfo@pbworld.com Page 15 Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB), founded in 1885, is recognized as a leader in strategic consulting, planning, engineering, program management, construction management, and operations and maintenance for all types of infrastructure. PB is employeeowned with 13,000 people in more than 150 offices on six continents. Notes • 1
Transit-oriented development (TOD) makes sense from just about every 21st century perspective, whether it’s urban or suburban economic revitalization, sustainable community building or energy-efficient living. West Hyattsville: Casting the Net Wider In Maryland’s Prince George’s County, West Hyattsville has adopted a TOD plan, revised zoning to accommodate it and is now working on choosing developers for the site. PB served as the prime consultant for the county and Maryland Department of Transportation for the West Hyattsville TOD Strategy, guiding the project from concept to a final master development plan that was completed and approved in June 2004. “This was the first time the state, county and transit agency worked in partnership to plan a development program,” says Marsha Kaiser, Managing Principal of PB’s PlaceMaking group. “The goal was to use this plan to focus the region on transit as a means to encourage economic development and to provide an active center that could be served by reverse commuting, rather than having trains always heading into Washington, D.C., full of commuters and returning empty.” PB helped assess development opportunities and constraints and worked with community stakeholders to create The transit-oriented development at West Hyattsville, Maryland, is viewed as a model for achieving sustainable urban regeneration though sensitive integration of environmental, transportation and socioeconomic considerations. Transit-Oriented Development: Creating a Sense of Place PB is at the TOD forefront, planning transit-centered communities with a sense of place where people can live, work and play without being completely dependent on their automobiles. TODs have been successfully integrated into corridor investment plans as well as at under-used stations in places with possibilities for compact mixed-use development that will increase transit use. In either case, TOD provides the community with a greater return on its investment in public transportation. “PB’s strength is listening to the community and using its global experience and expertise to help clients obtain the results they desire—working with them on every stage of development, from design charettes to meeting regulatory requirements, obtaining financing and ultimately getting the project built,” says David Earley, PB’s Director of Strategic Consulting Services in the Americas. GB Arrington, Principal Practice Leader for PB’s PlaceMaking group, has helped lead transit-oriented development initiatives for almost a generation, beginning with the land use component of the first light rail line in Portland, Oregon, in 1978. “That one component turned into new land use plans for every station and was the start of TOD in Portland,” says Arrington. TOD has since entered the realm of smart growth and innovative public policy and has been incorporated into the U.S. federal government transit project evaluation process. “It’s been proven that the pattern of development around a rail project materially affects how many people will use it,” says Arrington. “That’s why a rail project plan has to address land use 2 • Notes © 2008 david sailors planning to get federal funding today. If the land use planning is done well, it can increase the community’s funding prospects.” Many cities and towns have also adopted TOD as a desirable development outcome and have changed their zoning codes to make TOD possible. “PB offers new solutions that maximize public investment and regenerate communities in ways they may never have considered.” –David Earley © 2004 david sailors three alternative development scenarios that were eventually combined into a single strategy. PB also explored how Prince George’s County could attract private investment to this and other potential TOD locations. Ideas from West Hyattsville have spurred plans for TOD around many of the 14 other Metrorail stations in Prince George’s County. The West Hyattsville plan covers an 11-hectare (27-acre) area surrounding the station and envisions 3,700 new residential units, 93,000 square meters (1 million square feet) of commercial space, landscaped boulevards defining the neighborhood, and a network of parks and open spaces. A planned street and circulation network emphasizes walking distance from the station to commercial and residential development. With assistance from PB, the county rewrote the zoning code and development design standards to focus on sustainable development. “It’s been proven that the pattern of development around a rail project materially affects how many people will use it. If the land use planning is done well, it can increase the community’s funding prospects.” Additionally, a parking management plan cuts parking space requirements by a third. The plan also emphasizes low-impact development and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) building technologies for flood plain remediation and storm water management, which earned the project a 2004 National Smart Growth Award from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. “With this project we managed to get developers to consider focused TOD around a station that they previously hadn’t felt was marketable,” says Kaiser, who points out that the area has older development and some underutilized retail. “We proved that we could cast the net a little wider and bring the TOD concept to areas that are not on the typical developer’s radar.” –GB Arrington Marsha Kaiser © 2006 david sailors Notes • 3
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Sep 2009 - Parsons Brinckerhoff

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