Fall 2007

Green Community Resources

By Sarah J. Lutz, AICP

Start big or small, but start planning a sustainable future for your community.

APA Policy Guides

Policy Guide on Planning for Sustainability (2000)
Planning for sustainability is not anti-development. Instead, it promotes responsible development. It requires a democratic process of planning to achieve the greatest common good for all segments of our population, to protect the health of the environment, and to assure future generations of the resources they will need to survive and progress. www.planning.org/policyguides/sustainability.htm

Policy Guide on Energy (2004)
The most effective energy policy recommendations that planners develop will be those that guide and facilitate progressive citizen-level actions, decisions, regulations, and land-use policies that lead to energy market shifts toward competitive, healthy, and safe energy alternatives. www.planning.org/policyguides/energy.htm

APA Publications

Are We Planning for Sustainable Development? An Evaluation of 30 Comprehensive Plans.
Philip Berke and Maria Manta Conroy Journal of the American Planning Association, January 2000.
This article evaluates a sample of 30 comprehensive plans to determine how well their policies support sustainable development with respect to six principles that define and implement the concept of sustainable development.

Eco-Cities: the Next Swedish Export
Sarah James Planning, May 2002.
Green planning from Sweden offers some ideas to create environmentally friendly towns in the U.S. Umea, Sweden, is one of 60 cities that has adopted a “Natural Step” sustainability framework to guide development.

Building Green: Onus or Bonus
Rebecca Retzlaff, AICP Zoning Practice, April 2005.
Green buildings help to reduce harmful environmental impacts. In several American cities, the zoning code is the new frontier for cities striving for sustainability. Using detailed zoning examples from communities with track records of successful implementation, this article discusses how a growing number of them use zoning incentives and requirements to promote green development.

APA’s PlanningBooks.com

Planners Guide to Sustainable Development (PAS 467), 1996 Kevin Krizek and Joe Power
This report urges planners to incorporate sustainable development objectives into their everyday work. It proposes strategies to help planners become more actively involved in local sustainable development programs. Includes case studies of sustainable development initiatives in five communities.

Stumbling Toward Sustainability, 2002 John DernbachEnvironmental Law Institute

Toward Sustainable Communities: Resources for Citizens and Their Governments, 2005 Daniel Mazmanian and Michael KraftNew Society Publishers

Web Resources

Green Communities
www.greencommunitiesonline.org

Green Infrastructure
www.greeninfrastructure.net

Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute
Sustainable Community Development Code Reform Project
www.law.du.edu/rmlui/Programs/Advisory%20Service.htm

The Natural Step
www.naturalstep.org/com/nyStart/

United Nations
World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future: The Brundtland Commission Report, 1987
www.un-documents.net/wced-ocf.htm

Agenda 21
Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Sustainable Development
www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/agenda21/index.htm

U.S. EPA
Green Communities Toolkit
www.epa.gov/greenkit

U.S. Green Building Council
LEED for Neighborhood Development
www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=148

Other Resources

Measuring the Health Effects of Sprawl: A National Analysis of Physical Activity, Obesity, and Disease, September 2003
Reid Ewing and Barbara McCann Smart Growth America and Surface Transportation Policy Project. Washington, D.C.