A Guide for Sustainable Urban Development of the 21st Century

Delivering Effective Urban ManagementOne aim might be to provide multi-modal mobility options and easily accessible activities thatenhance the quality of life. Land use planning should include zoning for mixed uses includinglight industrial (where appropriate), residential, commercial, educational, recreation and otheruses. These should also be oriented toward public transit, cycling, walking and organized or citysponsoredautomobile sharing services. “Transportation-oriented development” incorporatingeconomic, social and environmental considerations in the design stage reduces greenhouse gasescompared to automobile-dominated development. Transit-oriented design also enables citizensand businesses to reduce automobile ownership costs.When making a sustainable urban land use plan, be sure that the built environment not onlyincludes parks and open space but also accommodates and leverages natural systems that provideeconomically valuable ecosystem services. When properly leveraged, these natural systems canhelp to clean polluted water and air and prevent urban flooding through natural biological andhydrological processes. 9Urban management systems should include the ability to plan and model whole systems thatoptimize transportation and the built environment, resources including energy and water, andnatural systems. This comprehensive approach will reduce resource use within cities, metroareas and regions, particularly “mega-regions.” (“Mega-regions” are continuous denselypopulated regions spanning more than 100 kilometers with as many as 100 million inhabitants. 10 )Increasingly, as metro areas expand in developing countries, greater regional management andcoordination will be necessary in order to prevent or mitigate unregulated land uses includingslum settlements and automobile-dependent sprawl.Though planning higher-density metro areas is overall an effective strategy for reducing carbonemissions (higher densities with transit oriented development reduces operational greenhouse gasproduction), this approach can have its disadvantages. When higher metro area densities areplanned and developed improperly, for instance, urbanization may destroy or reduce thefunctionality of ecosystem services and inhibit resident access to parks and greenways. Dense9“Ecosystem Services: A guide for decision makers,” Janet Ranganathan and others, World Resources Institute,2008: http://pdf.wri.org/ecosystem_services_guide_for_decisionmakers.pdf10“UN Report: world’s biggest cities merging into ‘mega-regions’,” John Vidal, The Guardian, 22 March, 2010:http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/22/un-cities-mega-regions4