Broad thoughts on the
Comprehensive plan: SDGs,
Sustaining Places and the HUL
Jeffrey Soule, FAICP
AN URGENT ISSUE
Asia alone will add 800,000,000
Urban residents over the next 15 years
Global Forces Demand Comprehensive
Planning
• Speed of urbanization.
• Rich and poor gap
• Environmental
degradation
• Resilience
• Energy conservation
• Quality of life
Star-Architecture is Popular but
not humanistic or sustainable
SouthAfrica
Zimbabwe
Switzerland
Mexico
Bangladesh
Slovenia
Oman
Saudi Arabia
• What is “Sustainable”?
• What do traditional
patterns tell us?
• Development requires
a strategy, a plan and
implementation
• Public education and
engagement on cultural
and natural conservation
Cultural Identity= Sustainability
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Preservation is often seen as technical
Focused on object conservation
Individual buildings or small groups
Need a comprehensive approach-Including context, economic and social
• Telling the story of the whole area
• Avoiding fake themes and
developments—focus on authenticity
• Tangible and intangible create the place
SUSTAINING PLACES: BEST PRACTICES FOR COMPREHENSIVE PLANS
.
Principles are normative statements of
intent that underlie a plan’s overall strategy,
including its goals, objectives, policies,
maps, and other content. An example of a
best practice for meeting the Interwoven
Equity Principle is to provide affordable
and workforce housing.
• Attributes are plan-making design
standards that shape the content and
characteristics of comprehensive plans.
For example, the plan should contain a
consistent set of visions, goals, policies,
objectives, and actions that are based
upon evidence about community
conditions.
• Processes are planning activities that
take place during the preparation of a
comprehensive plan and define how it will
be carried out—public participation and
plan implementation
• Best Practices are the planning action
tools employed by communities represent
the best thinking of the planning profession
on how to carry out the visions and goals
of their plans.
SUSTAINING PLACES: BEST PRACTICES FOR COMPREHENSIVE PLANS
REQUIRED PRINCIPLES
The six principles that must be recognized
in the plan were derived from a review of
leading comprehensive plans by the APA
Sustaining Places Task Force. As outlined
in Sustaining Places: The Role of the
Comprehensive Plan (Godschalk and
Anderson 2012), the principles are the
following:
Livable Built Environment
Harmony with Nature
Resilient Economy
Interwoven Equity
Healthy Community
Responsible Regionalism
REQUIRED PROCESSES
The following two processes for involving
the public and for carrying out plan
objectives and proposals are key
requirements for developing and
implementing comprehensive plans for
sustaining places:
Authentic Participation
Accountable Implementation
REQUIRED ATTRIBUTES
To be effective, plans must be coherent
and well presented, while articulating
persuasive visions and clearly
communicating goals and ideas. The
following two attributes embody these
traits:
Consistent Content
Coordinated Characteristics
Example of evaluation matrix
2. HARMONY WITH NATURE—Ensure that the contributions of natural resources to human
well-being are explicitly recognized and valued and that maintaining their health is a primary
objective.
2.1. Restore, connect, and protect natural habitats and sensitive lands.
2.2. Plan for the provision and protection of green infrastructure.
2.3. Encourage development that respects natural topography.
2.4. Enact policies to reduce carbon footprints.
2.5. Comply with state and local air quality standards.
2.6. Encourage climate change adaptation.
2.7. Provide for renewable energy use.
2.8. Provide for solid waste reduction.
2.9. Encourage water conservation and plan for a lasting water supply.
2.10. Protect and manage streams, watersheds, and floodplains.
SUSTAINING PLACES: BEST PRACTICES FOR COMPREHENSIVE PLANS
Values driven: The plan addresses the
issues and manifests the values expressed
by the community.
• Collaborative: The planning process
meaningfully engages citizens,
organizations, businesses, and other
community stakeholders.
• Thematic based: The plan is organized
into cross-cutting themes rather than
discrete elements.
• Linking process and outcome: The
plan connects community values to a
clearly defined action agenda.
• Regional in focus: The plan addresses
issues that are regional in scope.
• Beyond paper: The plan uses digital
technology, visualizations, and other
techniques that transcend the traditional
limitations of written documents.
OAS Study
Historic cities’ sustainable
characteristics
Identify transferable
elements esp. walkability
Suggest a planning,
regulatory and incentive
framework to use those
elements in development
and redevelopment
Go beyond traditional
“preservation” idea to the
HUL Approach
Issues in common among the 4
ECPA-OAS Sites
• Public not engaged in decisions on projects
• Lack of support for comprehensive planning—
”planning as architecture”
• Tax and financial policies favor “modern”
unsustainable development patterns and projects
• Auto-oriented vs. human scale and historic fabric
• Lack of technical expertise in traditional building
knowledge and comprehensive planning
• Poor Intergovernmental coordination
• Sustainability seen as technology not spatial
patterns
The historic urban landscape approach
1. Assess natural, cultural and human resources;
2. Engage the community and stakeholders consultations;
Cultural mapping
3. Determine vulnerability of urban heritage to socio-economic
pressures
4. Integrate urban heritage values and their vulnerability
concerns into a city wide plan and regulations framework
5. Prioritize policies and actions for conservation and
development,
6. Establish the appropriate partnerships and local
management frameworks;
7. Coordinate the activities among different actors.
Cities revealed at night, NASA Earth
Cities revealed at night, NASA Earth
Focus on Urban
Patterns
• Reduce transportation
through land use
• Enhance Cultural
Identity vs. globalization
• Unique resources in
every city
• Compact settlements
improve quality of life
• Density provides cost
savings in services
• A relationship to Place
City Design
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Reading the city
Reflects cultural layers
Human perspective
Citizen participation
Urban design requires
intimate to city wide scale
• View the city from the
civic and personal
perspective
• Reinforce the good
elements
Reading a City
Customs
History
Climate
Visual elements
Scale
Architecture
Landscape
City Image vs Character？
YES
NO
Character
Copied from elsewhere
Culture
Too Aggressive
History
Too Boring
Details
Recreated
Unique qualities
Mechanical
Basic Framework for Success
• Regularly updated plan that is tied to
the budget
• Civic engagement—a “planning
culture”
• Use the Sustaining Places Guide
• Regulatory tools and incentives:
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Building codes that are energy efficient
Focus on redevelopment and infill
Urban Design Guidelines
Capital improvement plan
Financial incentives and Disincentives
More Framework
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Youth participation
through activity
Historic Preservation
Districts/Overlays
Environmental standards
Energy standards
Disaster resilience and
safety
Water management and
Green Infrastructure
Climate Action Plan
Recommendations
• Use the HUL approach in
planning and strategy
• Develop Collaborative
Framework for
Implementation
• Link heritage and urban
form to development
objectives and capital
budget
• Benchmark goals and
objectives—measure
and report results
• Emphasize economic
and job benefits of
sustainability measures
• Emphasize the
importance of settlement
patterns in energy
saving
• Reuse buildings and
infill vacant land
• Provide incentives for
residents and
businesses
• Examine the lessons
from historic cities
• Elevate the global
dialogue on culture,
planning, and design
Blackstone Neighborhood Association Omaha, Nebraska
September 22 ·
“Let's bring back the street car!”