Designing Innovative Sustainable Neighborhoods

Avi Friedman

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN: 9781000588095
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Urban Planning & Landscaping

This book covers fundamental aspects of neighborhood planning and architecture along sustainable principles. Written by a designer and instructor, the book's fully illustrated chapters provide detailed insights into contemporary strategies that architects, planners and builders are integrating into their thought processes and residential design practices.

Past approaches to planning and design modes of dwellings and neighborhoods can no longer sustain new demands and require innovative thinking. This book explores new outlooks on neighborhood design, which are propelled by fundamental changes that touch upon environmental, economic and social aspects. It presents contemporary well-designed and illustrated examples of communities and detailed analysis of topics including the depletion of non-renewable natural resources, elevated levels of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. It also explores the increasing costs of material, labor, land and infrastructure, which pose economic challenges; as well as social challenges including the need for walkable communities and the increase in live-work environments.

The need to think innovatively about neighborhoods is at the core of this book, which will be useful to students and practitioners of urban design, urban planning, geography and urban systems; and to architecture studios focused on sustainable residential development.

Acknowledgements

Sustainable homes and communities have been the subject of my academic work and practice for many years. These have included collaboration with and contributions by numerous colleagues, assistants and students who directly and indirectly inspired my work. My apology if I have mistakenly omitted the name of anyone who contributed to this book. I will do my best to correct such omission in future editions.

This book could not have been written without contributions to the background research, compiling information and writing by highly dedicated assistants. They include my outstanding former students Genessa Bates and Michelle Wang. Their dedication, hard work, talent and punctuality are most appreciated. The collation, organization and editing of this book were coordinated by Genessa Bates. I truly appreciate Genessa's hard work, dedication and insistence on clarity and accuracy.

Special thanks are extended to my team members—Charles Grégoire, Elisa Costa, Jeff Jerome, Zhong Cai, Diana Nigmatullina, Josie White, Juan Mesa, Jing Han (Jay), David Auerdach, Isabella Rubial, Rainier Silva, JJ Zhao, Xiong Wu Fa, Amelie Lessard, Nyd Garavito-Bruhn, Na Zhang, Lucy Zhang, Vladena Mikulchik, Sorel Friedman, Ehsan Hatami, Thomas King, Clara Shipman, Giacomo Valzania, Michelle Cote and Jing Yan Liu—who drew the illustrations. Thanks also to John Vaccaro for proofreading the text and verifying the quality of the illustrations. Their talent and insistence on achieving excellence are truly appreciated and admired.

Many thanks are also extended to the elected officials and administrators of the cities that invited me to consult them and are featured in the book. My appreciation goes to my design team members for their utmost dedication.

Thanks to Kathryn Schell, Senior Editor at Routledge/Taylor & Francis, for suggesting the idea of writing a book on sustainable neighborhoods and ushering in its publication; to Editorial Assistant Megha Patel for administering the submission process; and to Carolyn Boyle for her meticulous copyediting and clarification of the text.

My appreciation also to McGill University School of Architecture, where many of the ideas that were expressed here were born.

Finally, my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to my wife, Sorel Friedman, Ph.D., and to Paloma and Ben for their love and support.

Chapter 1 Designing Sustainable Environments

DOI: 10.4324/9781003203025-1

Abstract: The sustainability of a neighborhood is vital to the health of the environment and its inhabitants. Throughout the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, there has been a growing interest in prioritizing sustainability in all facets of life. Therefore, understanding what sustainability is and how it can impact our communities is essential. This chapter—like the book at large—investigates the origin and importance of sustainability in neighborhoods. The history and evolution of the sustainability movement will be explored in relation to neighborhood design. Negative aspects such as car dependency, traffic congestion, urban sprawl and environmental degradation will be looked at as elements to be rethought. The pillars and principles of sustainability will be explained and measuring indexes of the environmental impact will be introduced. Finally, in-depth plans for a new sustainable neighborhood in Middlesex, Ontario, Canada will be illustrated, demonstrating the application of the abovementioned principles.

1.1 The Origin of Sustainable Thinking

Post-World War II developments have contributed to the depletion of natural resources and environmental degradation. By studying the past and learning from previous mistakes, future innovations can be developed, introduced and implemented. This section outlines the roots of traditional development and the origins of sustainability, and explores the premise of green neighborhood thinking.

1.1.1 The Genesis and Evolution of Suburban Planning

The Industrial Revolution—a period characterized by rapid growth and technological innovation—saw an influx of people into cities. As urban jobs became readily available, the populations of cities increased rapidly and often resulted in overcrowded neighborhoods. The mechanization of production chains and dependence on coal as a source of power also led to highly polluted cities; while poor housing and sanitary conditions facilitated the spread of various diseases and illnesses. To offer an alternative to the industrial model and make cities healthier places to live, Ebenezer Howard—an employee of a British company that transcribed parliamentary records—developed a Garden City model, outlined in his seminal work To-Morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform (1898) (later renamed Garden Cities of Tomorrow). He argued for the population's withdrawal from overcrowded industrialized cities to their outskirts through the creation of communities that combined the social conveniences of towns with the healthier, more peaceful

Figure 1.1Howard divided his Garden City diagram into six identical wards, each housing 5,000 people. At the heart of each ward, he proposed a school

aspects of rural life (Howard, 1946). To give residents access to clean air, industry and housing would be relegated to different areas of the city, creating suburbs far from central business districts and industries (Figure 1.1).The innovations of twentieth century planners offered city dwellers a new alternative form of community living where each family enjoyed a house and a yard of its own. Yet these benefits were not without their disadvantages. As hindsight can attest, this new form of living and lifestyle came at a costly price, by way of rampant consumerism, long commutes, social segregation, social isolation, high levels of pollution and the exhaustion of natural resources.

Suburban planning practices have spurred almost a century of car-dependent suburbs, isolating residents from city centers and accelerating climate change. For example, as of 2017 in the US, there was an average of 1.88 cars per household (Wagner, 2020). Daily commutes have also become longer, resulting in greater dependence on fossil fuels. In Canada, data shows that on average, people who drive to work spend at least one hour in their car each day (Statistics Canada, 2017).The same is demonstrated in the US, where residents living in communities with higher densities tend to drive three times less than those living in neighborhoods with single-family homes (Figure 1.2). Traditional sprawling neighborhoods with large houses and fewer people contribute to the increased use of, and need for, fossil fuel-powered cars, as the expansion of public transit into those areas can be too costly and inefficient. In addition, vast amounts of agricultural land have been taken over and extensive natural resources extracted to build and maintain infrastructure for these car-dependent lifestyles. On the environmental front, the degradation of soil, groundwater and natural habitats has endangered species and destroyed intricate ecosystems at a rapid rate.

Figure 1.2Residents living in US communities with higher densities tend to drive three times less than those living in neighborhoods with single-family homes

The environmental cost of contemporary urban planning is accompanied by extensive social, physical and psychological consequences. Urban sprawl and cardependent neighborhoods, coinciding with increasingly stationary jobs and long commutes to work and essential services, encourage a sedentary lifestyle in which physical activity is limited and chronic illnesses are more likely to manifest. Cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and strokes caused by inactivity, poor diet and obesity are the leading cause of deaths worldwide (World Health Organization, 2017). Such lifestyles became more common during the COVID-19 pandemic, when people began to work remotely for prolonged periods of time. Ironically, the pandemic temporarily helped reduce driving and its negative environmental impacts.

Given the above worrisome signs, it has become clear that post-World War II planning and design practices are facing challenges of both philosophy and form. Past approaches can no longer sustain contemporary demands and require innovative new thinking. Propelled by fundamental changes that touch upon environmental, economic, cultural and social aspects, this book will present a new outlook for the planning and dwelling design of neighborhoods.

1.1.2 The Genesis of the Contemporary Sustainable Framework

The term "sustainability" originated in the mid-twentieth century and was developed through a series of United Nations (UN) meetings. The first, in 1972, was the UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, at which concerns about the carrying capacity of the Earth were discussed (Fletcher Marsden, Smolders & Tomich, 2000).The World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), later renamed the Brundtland Commission, was formed by the UN to study global sustainability. In 1987, the WCED released its report Our Common Future, in which the term "sustainable development" was defined as "development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (Brundtland, 1987, p. 41).This has become the commonly used definition of "sustainability."

Even though the ideology was accepted in the late twentieth century, the social and institutional transitions needed to create a sustainable global society still have not fully materialized decades later. Throughout the twenty-first century, the concept of sustainability has become increasingly commonplace and is an issue many governments and people are concerned with. Protests have been organized around the globe by citizens to demonstrate their support for the adoption of sustainable environmental policies and practices by governments and industry alike. Generally, the goal is to shift industry away from non-renewable fossil fuels and other environmentally harmful industrial practices. In 2019, over 4,500 climate protests were organized in 150 countries around the week of the UN Climate Summit and continuing throughout the rest of the year (Milman, 2019). The protests demonstrated that the need for sustainable development was an issue of global importance, particularly among the youth; and that concrete plans of action must involve those in power—whether leaders in government and/or industry—whose decisions will have a considerable impact on how people live in this century and beyond.

Figure 1.3Key features to consider in the preparation of a sustainable master plan

Sprawling suburban neighborhoods are inherently unsustainable. The amount of land allocated to each house is significantly larger than a city dwelling. Thus, more land needs to be cleared per housing unit, disrupting ecosystems on a larger scale and resulting in a greater loss of natural habitats and biodiversity. While it has become more common to use energy-saving appliances in homes, it is not sufficient to offset the environmental damage associated with traditional developments. Alternative building methods and materials must be utilized to make significant changes, which will be explored further in this book and illustrated by case studies. Figure 1.3 illustrates key planning features of a sustainable community.

1.1.3 The Essence of Green Neighborhoods

Sustainable development is often centered on single buildings, or a series of specific development sites. In recent years, environmentally concerned architects and planners have begun designing places in accordance with the Leadership In Energy and Environme...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Bibliography
• Bibliography for Case Studies
• Projects Teams
• Illustrations and Case Studies Credits
• Index