LAND USE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

The Land Use Management function works to ensure that all land and properties in Cape Town are used only according to their permitted land-use or zoning rights. It considers applications for new developments by property owners and developers to change permitted land uses, zoning rights and their accompanying restrictions, which are in turn specified in a zoning scheme. This responsibility is exercised in line with the City's commitment to sustainable and equitable development.

Typical land-use or zoning categories in a zoning scheme include:

Residential zones
- single residential dwellings - group housing schemes - blocks of flats)

Open space zones

- public open spaces - parks - sports fields - cemeteries - private open spaces)

Business commercial zones

- shops - office blocks

Community use facility zones

- schools - clinics - places of worship

Industrial zones
- factories - motor repair garages - warehouses

Utility zones
- electricity substations - water treatment plants

Transport zones
- public roads - railway lines - public transport interchanges

In addition to the spatial development frameworks and structure plans drawn up by spatial planning officials, zoning schemes and related regulations and policies are primary tools for land-use and development management. Spatial development frameworks and structure plans stipulate where development may or may not happen in future and provide an overview of land use in the city.

All decisions on development applications must be consistent with these controls, as must the guidelines and requirements found in the Land Use Planning Ordinance (15 of 1985) and other applicable planning laws, as well as with Council's related operational policies and requirements. Collectively, these controls are known as the City's Land Use Management System. The Land Use Management function is currently rationalizing the City's existing separate local zoning schemes into a single standard integrated zoning scheme for the entire city.Land use management services in Cape Town are delivered through a network of local district offices that offer the following services: Pre-application advice to residents, consultants and developers about land use management issues and application procedures for the submission of development applicationsProcessing and facilitating applications for rezoning, subdivision, zoning scheme departures and amendments, removal of title deed restrictions,Enforcement of planning and land use management related legislation and zoning scheme regulations Issuing of property zoning certificates Investigating and resolving land-use management complaints and illegal land use, and prosecuting contraventions Land use can be seen as the human modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements, agriculture or pasture. By defining new functions to the land, also in term of changing the functionality of land, the human is transforming his environment consequently. The land structure resulting from this use of land has to be considered as the result and the mirror of his society and his culture, resulting of the action of different actors, mobile and immobile. As management is the human activity meaning the action of people working together in the aim to accomplish desired goals, land use management is a process of managing use and development of land, in which spatial, sector-oriented and temporary aspects of urban policy are coordinated. Resources of land are used for different purposes, which may produce conflicts and competitions, and land use management has to see those purposes in an integrated way. Therefore, land management covers the debate about norms and visions driving the policymaking, sector-based planning both in the strategic and more operative time spans, spatial integration of sectoral issues, decision-making, budgeting, implementation of plans and decisions and the monitoring of results and evaluation of impacts. The Management System includes all

processes, methods and tools used for organising, operating and supervising the urban environment including the factors influencing it. Management systems cover all phases from the visions behind the preparation of plans and decisions to their implementation and the monitoring of impacts. Planning practices, decision making processes and procedures, implementation and monitoring mechanisms and methods and tools used in the above-mentioned phases are all elements of management systems. In general, land use management is driven by various decisions taken at different levels of administration. Often, short-term orientation is conflicting the long-term ones. Therefore, a sustainable land use management will improve coordination of urban policy as well as public-public investments and public-private investments, and involves inhabitants and local stakeholders in common visions.

EFFECTIVENESS OF A VARIOUS LAND AND TRANSPORTATION

A common transportation goal of urbanized areas is to reduce traffic congestion during a.m. and p.m. weekday peak hours. Programs that apply transportation demand management strategies to individual employment work sites are one potentially effective response that has been used in urban areas throughout the United States over the last 25 years. Participating employers have offered programs and incentives to employees of work sites located in congested areas and who commute during times of peak traffic congestion. The programs are designed to persuade commuting employees to switch to a different travel mode other than single occupant vehicle, or to change travel time to outside the peak period, telecommute, decrease trip making, or decrease distance traveled.Transportation professionals, program funding agencies, and employers want to know the level of effectiveness of these programs. TDM marketing specialists charged with promoting the creation of TDM programs need reliable information about how successful programs can be duplicated at other work sites and what factors contribute to TDM program success. While numerous programs exist across the nation, the most abundant information includes traffic problem characterizations and simple descriptions of efforts undertaken. Many programs have not collected baseline information about prior commuting characteristics to compare against travel behavior after program implementation. Many programs have not measured program results or adequately tracked progress over time but instead provide only a snapshot write up of program characteristics for one point in time. Often there is an inadequate demonstration of the causal link between the program and the results. Other programs may track data that are inadequate indicators of program effectiveness.There are many preconceived notions that arise from anecdotal information, not based upon any sound evidence, about what conditions are ideal for successful programs. For example, common guidance calls for establishing a work-site commuter choice program administered from the human resources department. This advice originated from observations about what many organizations have already done in the past rather than any evidence that human resources departments have special qualities for directing commuter choice programs. Another commonly held belief is that employee transportation coordinators with charismatic personalities will be able to persuade commuters to alter their travel behavior. In addition to the limited usefulness of anecdotal information, the good quality program information that does exist is usually not shared but archived separately at each program source. The data are not gathered in one known place where they can be easily accessed and used by others.The availability of properly documented TDM program results is critical to knowing what strategies work effectively and how to improve existing programs. Positive results provide justification for TDM program funding and can convince other employers to start programs of their own. Transportation systems and land use patterns influence air quality. Roads, transit, and other transportation elements shape land development, while the distribution and types of land uses

affect travel patterns and transportation facilities. A dispersed pattern of low-density development relies almost exclusively on cars as the primary mode for transportation. Alternatively, denser and more mixed use urban development can combine different land uses in closer proximity, encouraging walking, biking, transit and other non-motorized travel. The type of development is sometimes referred to as smart growth or sustainable development. The link between transportation, land use and air quality can be complex. Incorporationg elements of smart growth that offer a choice of transportation options can have a positive impact on air quality, energy use and people's health. In addition, Transportation Demand Management (TDM) strategies can improve travel through the more efficient use of our existing transportation system rather than buidling new roads or widening existing ones. Strategies include increasing the use of public transit, carpooling, vanpooling, biking, walking and telecommuting. The links below are connected to agencies, organizations and programs that play important roles in the local and regional connection between land use, transportation and air quality:

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LAND TRANSPORTATION AND LAND USES

Land use and transportation interaction is a dynamic process that involves changes over spatial and temporal dimensions between the two systems. Changes in land use systems can modify the travel demand patterns and induce changes in transportation systems. Transportation system evolution, on the other hand, creates new accessibility levels that encourage changes in land use patterns. There have been many studies to identify interaction between the two systems in terms of a time lag, the magnitude of impact, and the spatial relationship. Property value change has been popularly used in the regression model as an indication of land use change as well as increased development. In this study, a framework for identifying the spatial and temporal interactions between transportation and land use was developed based on statistical analysis of time series. The results of the time-series analysis showed that transportation improvements impacted land uses at varying rates and intensities. Cumulated impact was also measured with time series techniques. To provide temporal variables for land use and transportation, historical land use and transportation data were collected and converted to GIS data. Historical data collected was timestamped.

Program that was capable of handling and manipulating spatiotemporal data was used and a framework for identifying the spatial and temporal interactions between transportation and land use was developed.Avenue scripts was capable of storing temporal spatial data and extracting useful information to support the visualization and analysis of transportation and land interactions. This study was able to account for interactions spatially and temporally at smaller geographic scales. Much has been written about the desperate need to seek alternative solutions to the urban traffic congestion problems we face today. To manage these problems, three main streams of intervention have evolved from supply, demand and land-use management paradigms. Whilst their underlying measures all have the ability to reduce traffic congestion one way or another, little has been done to integrate the measures of each stream using a qualitative decision framework or process that enables the selection of site-specific measures appropriate to local traffic and transport conditions. To this end the study reports the results of an empirical investigation by which a Multi-Criteria Analysis based Dynamic Adaptive Decision Framework (D.A.D.F.) was developed. This screens selected measures, and identifies those that have the potential to alleviate site-specific road-based traffic congestion. The product of the screening process is a set of sustainable measures transposed into an integrated strategy tailored to address local traffic congestion issues. Once the D.A.D.F. was developed, its usefulness and workability was tested by applying it to a case study. The case study results demonstrated that the D.A.D.F. is capable of producing integrated strategies with the ability to manage traffic congestion, encourage sustainable development and alleviate some site-specific development challenges within the context of the study areas. Going beyond developing the decision framework, the study recommends positioning the D.A.D.F. within the South African planning system as part of a Traffic Congestion Management Plan (T.C.M.P.) setting out its likely components within the local context. It is concluded that the main innovation of the study is the development of the D.A.D.F, the T.C.M.P., the recommendations to situate both in the planning system and the comprehensive, but still transparent, approach undertaken to create integrated strategies for specific local conditions consisting of elements that work together to produce cumulative short- to long-term effects that attain a balanced set of environmental, social and economic goals - all imperative for sustainable development. Both land use and transportation are part of a dynamic system that is subject to external influences. Each component of the system is constantly evolving due to changes in technology, policy, economics, demographics and even culture or values. As a result, the interactions between land use and transportation are played out as the outcome of the many decisions made by residents, businesses and governments. The field of urban dynamics has expended the scope of conventional land use models, which tended to be descriptive, by trying to consider relationships behind the evolution of the urban spatial structure. This has led to a complex

modeling framework including a wide variety of components. Among the concepts supporting urban dynamics representations are retroactions, whereby one component changes it influences others. The changes will influence the initial component back, either positively or negatively. The most significant components of urban dynamics are: Land use. This is the most stable component of urban dynamics, as changes are likely to modify the land use structure over a rather long period of time. This comes as little surprise since most real estate is built to last at least several decades. The main impact of land use on urban dynamics is its function of a generator and attractor of movements. Transport network. This is also considered to be a rather stable component of urban dynamics, as transport infrastructures are built for the long term. This is particularly the case for large transport terminals and subway systems that can operate for a very long period of time. For instance, many railway stations are more than one hundred years old. The main contribution of the transport network to urban dynamics is the provision of accessibility. Changes in the transport network will impact accessibility and movements. Movements. The most dynamic component of the system since movements of passengers or freight reflect almost immediately changes. Movements thus tend more to be an outcome of urban dynamics than a factor shaping them. Employment and workplaces. They account for significant inducement effects over urban dynamics since many models often consider employment as an exogenous factor. This is specifically the case for employment that is categorized as basic, or export oriented, which is linked with specific economic sectors such as manufacturing. Commuting is a direct outcome of the number of jobs and the location of workplaces. Population and housing. They act as the generators of movements, because residential areas are the sources of commuting. Since there are a wide array of incomes, standards of living, preferences and ethnicity, this diversity is reflected in the urban spatial structure.

Effects of Transportation on Land Development

State DOTs influence land development through providing infrastructure and, to a lesser extent, through transportation-related regulations. These influences are seldom part of a projects goal and are usually not intentional. State transportation projects are normally planned to improve safety, decrease travel time by alleviating congestion, and achieve other mobility-related goals.Transportations most significant impact on land development occurs when access is provided to land. Increased access to land raises its potential for development, and more development generates additional travel. Once access has been provided, land patterns begin to change over a period of time. The results of these changes are, for the most part, irreversible. Transportation investment can be an important factor in influencing economic growth. Highway facilities can attract economic growth by increasing access to new areas, which in turn may provide access to skilled labor markets and inexpensive land for new businesses. Many state DOTs have recognized and addressed the interaction between transportation and economic development.This section summarizes the basic concepts that can be used to analyze the economic development impact of new highways.Transportation is only one of many factors that affect economic development. It is clear that actions taken by local or state transportation agencies affect economic activity in a variety of ways. As transportation systems change,increased accessibility to new areas will make them attractive for development.Although most state statutes delegate economic development planning to local municipal or county governmental bodies, there are a variety of ways for a state DOT to influence the decisions made locally. Land and economic impacts of transportation must be understood in their geographic context. The increased access to land provided by new or upgraded transportation facilities can either induce new development or change existing development patterns.The extent of the impact depends upon the geographic scope of the analysis. A small impact area can show an increase in economic activity, but when a larger area is defined the impact will appear as a shift in development within the region or local jurisdiction. The gains to one location are matched by losses at another location.For example, in the drawing above the shift of activity across the county line would be viewed as either a positive impact or a transfer, depending upon how the area boundaries are chosen. A new highway interchange can cause development patterns to shift from one area to another. This shift causes a localized gain for one county with a loss to the other. However, the net result is zero. These are called transfer effects. Economic benefits resulting from roadway improvements or initial construction vary depending on the viewpoint of the analyst. Benefits observed at the local level or surrounding the highway interchange may not be realized when observed at a statewide level.If the regional economy is growing, transportation improvements are likely to have a big effect on land development

patterns. If the economy is stagnant,transportation system improvements are less likely to induce new land development, but rather cause it to shift from one location to another. When considering the potential impact of transportation projects it is important to recognize that there are many other factors, locally, regionally and nationally, that influence where land development occurs.Investment in highway infrastructure has typically been looked at as a means of supporting economic development. Studies have shown that while highway investments result in cost savings to travelers by providing easier access to outlying areas, the local economic development benefits may be derived from a shift of activity to an area of increased accessibility from a region of lesser accessibility. Therefore, highway investment decisions that have a goal of economic development, should not be made based on transfer effects, that is,when there is no net gain in economic activity when looked at on a regional or statewide or national scale.

URBAN SPRAWL AND SMART GROWTH

Urban sprawl or suburban sprawl is a multifaceted concept centered around the expansion of auto-oriented, low-density development. Topics range from the outward spreading of a city and its suburbs to its logical limits, to low-density and auto-dependent development on rural land, examination of impact of high segregation between residential and commercial uses, and analysis of various design features to determine which may encourage car dependency.The meaning of the urban sprawl associated with the phrase. For example, some commentators measure sprawl only with the average number of residential units per acre in a given area. But others associate it with decentralization spread of population without a well-defined centre, discontinuity ,developmentas, segregation of uses, and so forth. The term urban sprawl generally has negative connotations due to the health, environmental and cultural issues associated with the phrase.Residents of sprawling neighbourhoods tend to emit more pollution per person and suffer more traffic fatalities.Sprawl is controversial, with supporters claiming that consumers prefer lower density neighborhoods and that sprawl does not necessarily increase traffic.Sprawl is characterized by several land use patterns that usually occur in unison. Cities can be thought of as the absence of physical space between people and firms. As such, they exist to eliminate transportation costs for goods, people and ideas and transportation technologies dictate urban form.Sprawl is ubiquitous and that it is continuing to expand.Sprawl is not the result of explicit government policies or bad urban planning, but rather the inexorable product of car-based living. Sprawl has been associated with significant improvements in quality of living, and the environmental impacts of sprawl have been offset by technological change.

Single-use zoning This refers to a situation where commercial, residential, institutional and industrial areas are separated from one another. Consequently, large tracts of land are devoted to a single use and are segregated from one another by open space, infrastructure, or other barriers. As a result, the places where people live, work, shop, and recreate are far from one another, usually to the extent that walking, transit use and bicycling are impractical, so all these activities generally require an automobile.

Low-density zoning Sprawl consumes much more land per-capita than traditional urban developments because zoning laws generally require that new developments are of low density. The exact definition of "low density" is arguable, but a common example is that of single family homes on large lots, with four or fewer units per net acre. Buildings usually have fewer stories and are spaced farther apart, separated by lawns, landscaping, roads or parking lots. Lot sizes are larger, and because more automobiles are used much more land is designated for parking. The impact of low density development in many communities is that developed or "urbanized" land is increasing at a faster rate than the population is growing.Overall density is often lowered by "leapfrog development". This term refers to the relationship, or lack thereof, between subdivisions. Such developments are typically separated by large green belts, i.e. tracts of undeveloped land, resulting in an average density far lower even than the low density described in the previous paragraph. This is a 20th and 21st century phenomenon generated by the current custom of requiring a developer to provide subdivision infrastructure as a condition of development.Usually, the developer is required to set aside a certain percentage of the developed land for public use, including roads, parks and schools. In the past, when a local government built all the streets in a given location, the town could expand without interruption and with a coherent circulation system, because it had condemnation power. Private developers generally do not have such power and often choose to develop on the tracts that happen to be for sale at the time they want to build, rather than pay extra or wait for a more appropriate location. Areas of urban sprawl are also characterized as highly dependent on automobiles for transportation, a condition known as automobile dependency. Most activities, such as shopping and commuting to work, require the use of a car as a result of both the area's isolation from the city and the isolation the area's residential zones have from its industrial and commercial zones. Walking and other methods of transit are not practical; therefore, many of these areas have few or no sidewalks. In many suburban communities, stores and activities that are in close proximity "as the crow flies" require automobiles, because the different areas are separated by fences, walls, and drainage ditches. Some critics argue that excessive parking requirements exacerbate car dependency.

Job sprawl and spatial mismatch

Job Sprawl is another land use symptom of urban sprawl and car-dependent communities. It is defined as low-density, geographically spread-out patterns of employment, where the majority of jobs in a given metropolitan area are located outside of the main city's Central Business District (CBD), and increasingly in the suburban periphery. It is often the result of urban disinvestment, the geographic freedom of employment location allowed by predominantly car-dependent commuting patterns of many American suburbs, and many companies' desire to locate in lowdensity areas that are often more affordable and offer potential for expansion. Spatial mismatch is related to job sprawl and economic Environmental Justice. Spatial Mismatch is defined as the situation where poor urban, predominantly minority citizens are left without easy access to entrylevel jobs, as a result of increasing job sprawl and limited transportation options to facilitate a reverse commute to the suburbs.Job sprawl has been documented and measured in various ways. Other ways of measuring the concept with more detailed rings around the CBD.In terms of measurement, spatial mismatch can be thought of as the percentage of people who would have to move in order to be distributed in the same way as jobs.

Conversion of agricultural land to residential

Land for expansion of suburban housing is usually purchased from farmers or ranchers.Avoid tax on profit by using a tax break exempting like-kind exchanges from capital gains tax; proceeds from the sale are used to purchase cheap agricultural land elsewhere and the transaction is treated as a "swap" or trade of like assets and no tax is due. Thus urban sprawl is subsidized by the tax code.

Developments characteristic of sprawl

Housing subdivisions
Housing subdivisions are large tracts of land consisting entirely of newly built residences.They are also referred to as developments.Subdivisions often incorporate curved roads.Such subdivisions may offer only a few places to enter and exit the development, causing traffic to use high volume collector streets. All trips, no matter how short, must enter the collector road in a suburban system.

Shopping malls
Another prominent form of retail development in areas characterized by "sprawl" is the shopping mall. Unlike the strip mall, this is usually composed of a single building surrounded by a parking lot that contains multiple shops, usually "anchored" by one or more department stores.The function and size is also distinct from the strip mall. The focus is almost exclusively on recreational shopping rather than daily goods. Shopping malls also tend to serve a wider public and require higher-order infrastructure such as highway access and can have floorspaces in excess of a million square feet.Shopping malls are often detrimental to downtown shopping centres of nearby cities since the shopping malls act as a surrogate for the city centre.Some downtowns have responded to this challenge by building shopping centres of their own.

Urban sprawl and automobile dependency

Whether urban sprawl does increase problems of automobile dependency and whether conversely, policies of smart growth can reduce them have been fiercely contested issues over several decades.Within cities, studies from across many countries have shown that denser urban areas with greater mixture of land use and better public transport tend to have lower car use than less dense suburban and ex-urban residential areas. This usually holds true even after controlling for socio-economic factors such as differences in household composition and income.This does not necessarily imply that suburban sprawl causes high car use, however. One confounding factor, which has been the subject of many studies, is residential self-selection people who prefer to drive tend to move towards low density suburbs, whereas people who prefer to walk, cycle or use transit tend to move towards higher density urban areas, better served by public transport. Some studies have found that, when self-selection is controlled for, the built environment has no significant effect on travel behaviour.More recent studies using more sophisticated methodologies have generally refuted these findings: density, land use and public transport accessibility can influence travel behaviour, although social and economic factors, particularly household income, usually exert a stronger influence.

Urban Sprawls Negative Impact

Urban sprawl has a negative impact on the quality of life in many ways.As suburbs grow, more commuter traffic strains the infrastructure.Infrastructure consists of the basic facilities, services, and machinery needed for a community to function. For example, roads and bridges need maintenance. More cars on the road for more time adds to air pollution.Also, sources of water, such as rivers or underground aquifers (layers of water-holding rock or soil), become depleted. Urban sprawl also has other costs.The cost of providing streets, utilities,and other public facilities to suburban communities is often at least 25 per cent higher than for high-density residences in a city. Urban sprawl also separates classes of people. When those in upper-income brackets choose to live in outlying areas, lower-income residents oftenbecome isolated in innercity areas.

CAUSES OF URBAN SPRAWL

Sprawl occurs in metropolitan areas that allow unrestricted growth or that have no plans to contain it. Other factors include the widespread use of automobiles and the building of expressways. Autos and relatively cheap gasoline enable Americans to drive many miles to and from their jobs. Despite clogged highways and long commutes, Americans prefer their cars to mass transit. Expressways provide the means for continued reliance on the automobile.Yet, despite sprawl, there are many reasons why Americans have moved to suburbs. Some people want open spaces or better schools and housing. Still others want to try to recapture the sense of community they experienced while growing up. They want their children to know their neighbors and have a backyard in which to play. Only recently have urban planners started to design big-city neighborhoods to give a sense of community, hoping to slow the flight to the suburbs

SMART GROWTH
Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in compact walkable urban centers to avoid sprawl. It also advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood schools, complete streets, and mixed-use development with a range of housing choices.'Compact City' or 'urban intensification' have often been used to describe similar concepts, which have influenced government planning policies in the UK, the Netherlands and several other European countries.Smart growth values long-range, regional considerations of sustainability over a short-term focus. Its goals are to achieve a unique sense of community and place; expand the range of transportation, employment, and housing choices; equitably distribute the costs and benefits of development; preserve and enhance natural and cultural resources; and promote public health. The concept of "Smart Growth" has emerged in the last 1020 years driven by "new guard" urban planners, innovative architects, visionary developers, community activists, and historic preservationists. Smart Growth is a term which has become codified in Federal and State regulations. It has various flavors, but the basic principles are generally similar being variations of the same concept with different emphasis. Perhaps the most descriptive term to characterize this concept is Traditional Neighborhood Development which recognizes that Smart Growth and related concepts are not "new" but fundamental development practices that have been employed for centuries. Many favor the term New Urbanism which invokes a new, but traditional way of looking at urban planning. The most general term characterizing this concept is likely Sustainable Development, or more simply just "Resource Stewardship" or "Best Practices." There are a range of "best practices" associated with "Smart Growth" these include: supporting existing communities, placing a value on communities and neighborhoods. redeveloping underutilized sites, enhancing economic competitiveness, providing more transportation choices, developing livability measures and tools, promoting equitable and affordable housing, providing a vision for sustainable growth, enhancing integrated planning and investment, aligning, coordinating, and leveraging government polices, redefining housing affordability and making it transparent. There are many goals of Smarth Growth and they include: making the community more competitive for new businesses, providing alternative places to shop, work, and play, creating a better "Sense of Place," providing jobs for residents, increasing property values, improving quality of life, expanding the tax base, preserving open space, controlling growth, and improving safety. Smart Growth principles are directed at developing sustainable communities that are good places to live, to do business, to work, and to raise families. Some of the fundamental aims for the benefits of residents and the communities are to increase family income and wealth, improving

access to quality education, fostering livable, safe and healthy places, stimulating economic activity (both locally and regionally), and developing, preserving and investing in physical resources. One needs to distinguish between Smart Growth "principles" and Smart Growth "regulations" the former are concepts and the latter their implmentation that is, how federal, state, and municipal governments choose to fulfill Smart Growth principles. Many critics of Smart Growth point to deficiences in Smart Growth regulations it is hard to criticize principles that promote "best practices," "stewardship," and "quality of life."

Compact neighborhoods
Compact, livable urban neighborhoods attract more people and business. Creating such neighborhoods is a critical element of reducing urban sprawl and protecting the climate. Such a tactic includes adopting redevelopment strategies and zoning policies that channel housing and job growth into urban centers and neighborhood business districts, to create compact, walkable, and bike- and transit-friendly hubs. This sometimes requires local governmental bodies to implement code changes that allow increased height and density downtown and regulations that not only eliminate minimum parking requirements for new development but establish a maximum number of allowed spaces. Other topics fall under this concept: mixed-use development inclusion of affordable housing restrictions or limitations on suburban design forms inclusion of parks and recreation areas

Transit-oriented development
Transit-oriented development (TOD) is a residential or commercial area designed to maximize access to public transport, and mixed-use/compact neighborhoods tend to use transit at all times of the day. Many cities striving to implement better TOD strategies seek to secure funding to create new public transportation infrastructure and improve existing services. Other measures might include regional cooperation to increase efficiency and expand services, and moving buses and trains more frequently through high-use areas. Other topics fall under this concept: Transportation Demand Management measures road pricing system (tolling) commercial parking taxes

Pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly design

Biking and walking instead of driving can reduce emissions, save money on fuel and maintenance, and foster a healthier population. Pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly improvements include bike lanes on main streets, an urban bike-trail system, bike parking, pedestrian crossings, and associated master plans. The most pedestrian- and bike-friendly variant of smart growth and New Urbanism is New Pedestrianism because motor vehicles are on a separate grid.

Environmental impact assessments

One popular approach to assist in smart growth in democratic countries is for law-makers to require prospective developers to prepare environmental impact assessments of their plans as a condition for state and/or local governments to give them permission to build their buildings. These reports often indicate how significant impacts generated by the development will be mitigated, the cost of which is usually paid by the developer. These assessments are frequently controversial. Conservationists, neighborhood advocacy groups are often skeptical about such impact reports, even when they are prepared by independent agencies and subsequently approved by the decision makers rather than the promoters. Conversely, developers will sometimes strongly resist being required to implement the mitigation measures required by the local government as they may be quite costly. In communities practicing these smart growth policies, developers comply with local codes and requirements. Consequently, developer compliance builds communal trust because it demonstrates a genuine interest in the environmental quality of the community.

OBJECTIONS TO SMART GROWTH

Although smart growth appears to be a promising alternative to urban sprawl that could benefit public health and the environment, it has met with stiff resistance in some communities.The following are five of the most frequently voiced objections to smart-growth philosophies and policies: Smart growth can decrease property values.Property values may be adversely affected when high-density housing units are built in an area where low-density housing prevails because the increase in population density may exacerbate local traffic, congestion, and crime, which reduces property values. Property values may also be negatively affected by commercial development in a residential area, because commercial development can increase traffic and crime. Crime may also increase when mass transit connects a residential area to a location where crime is more prevalent, such as the inner city. Smart growth can decrease the availability of affordable housing.Requiring developers to build planned communities with mixed uses, sidewalks, recreation areas, and bike paths may increase the cost of housing. Also, setting aside large undeveloped spaces can limit land available for development, which drives up the price of housing. Smart growth restricts property owners use of their land.Suburbanites have complained that laws requiring residential areas to have sidewalks and bike paths deprive them of lawn space. Farmers have protested against laws that prevent development of large portions of agricultural and forest land because this interferes with their rights to sell the land. Smart growth can disrupt existing communities.Low-density, quiet, noncommercial living areas may become high-density, noisy, and commercial. Historically low-income minority communities may be displaced to make room for high-rise, smart-growth housing complexes and upscale commercial development. Smart growth may increase sprawl instead of decreasing it.Some opponents of smart growth have argued that it often fails to achieve its intended effect and can actually exacerbate sprawl, traffic, congestion, pollution, and other urban problems.

Smart Growth strategically directs financial resources toward programs and policies that support:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

development focused on existing communities a range of housing choices walkable neighborhoods attractive communities with a sense of place mixed land uses preservation of farmland and natural areas multiple transportation choices compact building design

Sprawl is a post-World War II land development pattern supported by policies and institutions that promote:

1. new low density development 2. preference for undeveloped land over upgrading or renovating older buildings and infrastructure 3. widespread strip commercial development along roads with extensive visible parking 4. segregated housing 5. segregated land uses 6. new wide roads 7. utility expansion/extension 8. automobile dependency 9. large fiscal disparities between localities 10. lack of coordinated planning