Open Space as Forethought: Utilizing the Four-Step Design Process to Protect Natural Lands
Breakthroughs Media
July 23, 2010
With a huge proportion of the Americans involved in the design and construction industries, one would think our population would be familiar with how things get built and how communities develop, but the opposite is in fact true. Because we break the process down by specialization, most practitioners focus solely on their own task: securing approvals or financing, laying out of roads, designing buildings. Actions are incremental and are seemingly made in a vacuum. But a very clear pattern is followed; one which adheres to the rules of economics-profit margins and who pays for what, and one decision drives the next.
Typical development starts with infrastructure plans first. Talk of a new freeway interchange or expansion of a sewer system spur speculation by developers to buy in these areas where an "urbanized" project can be easily placed and approved. Projects are then planned and designed around these improvements, often with little regard to the appropriateness of such location or the capability of that site to handle intense building. The developer acquires land from willing sellers and his project takes on the odd boundaries of their acquisition-again, whether or no it is an ideal shape and size for the use. The project is designed to maximize the site, and very often "leftover" areas of unusable space that donīt fit into the program or areas that are deemed unbuildable because of slope or wet soils, are left open. As afterthoughts, these open spaces often do not function up to their potential, are useless to people, and are not integrated into the rest of the project.
Careful analysis can identify the right site for a certain development, or place a development on a designated site to take advantage of its inherent qualities. This first step is critical, and importantly reveals what lands should be left as open space. With this established, development can be sited on the remainder of the land, the second step. And finally, infrastructure can be run to the project, tying it to the services and transportation it requires. In this process, open space is considered first, and not as an afterthought.
This simple, straightforward process includes the following steps:
1. Identifying valued open lands.
2. Locating houses to take advantage of the open space.
3. Aligning streets and trails.
4. Drawing in the lot lines.
You can find a short informational slideshow on the 4-Step Design Process for Green Infrastructure Conservation by Clicking Here
The sequence of the four steps in the Conservation Subdivision Design process is critical. The first step is the identification of the community held valued open space features. In identifying these features this design approach seeks to accommodate those special places both existing and planned for the future, that make each community a distinctive and attractive place. Green Space Design with its CEDAR analysis is well suited to implementing both the intent and the spirit of the Cityīs objectives for open space preservation.
In the second step, once the natural assets, or CEDAR elements, have been identified, house sites are located so as to maximize views of, and often direct access to, the preserved open space, enhancing the house sitesī desirability and value. The goal is that at least 80% of the house lots be contiguous to preserved open space. Sitting the homes in this manner provides the developers with a strong marketing advantage compared with layouts where homes are boxed in on all sides by other house lots.
The third step, aligning streets and trails, is almost a matter of "connecting the dots" for vehicular and pedestrian access. In village mixed use-commercial areas, frequently there will be instances where civic nodes have been identified for future use. In such cases it is essential that the street-and-trail-planning step provide for joint planning among neighboring parcels.
The fourth and final step of drawing in the lot lines involves little more than marking boundaries midway between house locations or, in the case of nonresidential development, filling in commercial lot lines and site design details.
Following this four-step sequence creates a foolproof design guideline. Conservation Subdivision Design with the four-step approach has been institutionalized in City Ordinances, providing the community with a reliable tool to help build its Green Infrastructure Network even when parcels cannot be protected in their entirety.
Itīs that simple. The above policy nicely outlines how conservation is to be achieved during the development design process, while alerting developers to unique application content and procedures.
To learn more about conservation subdivisions and how green infrastructure planning can help you, please contact us or visit our website www.greeninfrastructuredesign.org or contact us at (801)483-2100.
The Center for Green Infrastructure Design
311 S 900 E Suite 201
Salt Lake City UT 84102
801-483-2100
info@greeninfrastructuredesign.org
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