Special Topics in Public AdministrationPAD 6600/7600
Smart Growth and the New Urbanism:
Solving Urban Sprawl
Instructor:Peter J. Park, AICP
Associate Professor Adjunct
Denver Manager of Community Planning and Development
Office Hours: By appointment
Class Time:Thursday 7:00 PM-9:45 PM
Room:North (NC) 1204
DEscription
This course will examine urban sprawl and solutions to sprawl found in principles of Smart Growth and the New Urbanism. A broad spectrum of issues ranging from general planning practice to specific architectural solutions will be explored. The course will focus on policies that shape the built environment, especially therelationship between land use and transportation policies and the physical, social and economicinfluence such policies have on communities.
The course is organized in two parts. In Part I, we will define and establish a common understanding of urban sprawl. Beginning with the fundamentals of planning, zoning and the legal context of land use, we will examine various components of urban sprawl in terms of community character, transportation, the environment,and the unintended consequences of government and private sector actions that contribute to sprawl. In Part II, we will examine the core principles of Smart Growth and the New Urbanism and evaluate their potential as solutions to sprawl. We will examine solutions ranging from regional scale to building scale.
Course Objectives
The objectives of this course are to give the student:
- an awareness of the complexity of the urban environment and the dynamic social, political and economic forces that shape it;
- ageneral understanding of current planning and land use practices;
- an appreciation of the values essential to create quality in the built environment;
- a understanding of the components of urban growth and urban sprawl;
- exposure to a variety of successful solutions to urban sprawl.
coursework/Grading
The course will follow a lecture-seminar format with an emphasis on group discussion. Students are to be prepared for discussions of weekly readings and assignments. Regular attendance and participation are vital to the progress of the class and will be a significant component of final grades.
Three assignments will be given in the semester. One will be a team project. Individual grades on team projects will be subject to faculty evaluation of the team product and peer evaluations.
Coursework is weighted as follows:
Attendance/Participation/Weekly News Issue20%
Assignment #1: Visual Inventory20%
Assignment #2: Policy Assessment20%
Assignment #3: Team Case Study40%
TOTAL100%
Assignments will be described in separate hand-outs.
Required TEXT/READINGS
- Leccese, Michael and Kathleen McCormick, Eds. Charter of the New Urbanism. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000
- ICMA and Smart Growth Network, Getting to Smart Growth: 100 Policies for Implementation
- ICMA and Smart Growth Network, Getting to Smart Growth II: 100 More Policies for Implementation
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Our Built and Natural Environments: A Technical Review of the Interactions between Land Use, Transportation and Environmental Quality, Publication: EPA 231-R-00-005, November 2000
For additional required readings, see schedule. The reading list will be augmented as the semester progresses.
SCHEDULE
PART I Defining Urban Sprawl
WeekDateTask
18.25Introduction
29.1Historical Perspective of American Planning
“The City” Video
39.8Fundamentals of Planning, Land Use and Regulation
READING:
- “Land Use Planning in Colorado” Handout
- “What is Planning and Why Should a Community Plan?” Handout
- “Master Plan Primer” Handout
Assign Visual Inventory
49.15Sprawl and Community Character
Visual Inventory assignment due beginning of class
READING:
- “Conduct a Visual Assessment of Your Community” Handout
- “Home from Nowhere”
59.22Sprawl and the Environment
READING:
- EPA Publication, Introduction, Chapter 1 & 2
- “Paving Paradise: Sprawl and the Environment”
- “Creating a Healthy Environment: The Impact of the Built Environment on Public Health”
- “Unwelcome (Human) Neighbors: the Impacts of Sprawl on Wildlife”
69.29Sprawl and Transportation
Assign Policy Assessment assignment
READING:
- EPA Publication, Chapter 3
- “Smart Growth and FHWA: What does Smart Growth mean to the Federal Highway Administration?”
- “Why Traffic Congestion is Here to Stay and Will Get Worse”
- “Reaping the Benefits of Public Transit Trough Balanced Investments”
- “Driven to Spend: Sprawl Makes Transportation Expensive”
PART IIExploring Solutions: Smart Growth and New Urbanism
WeekDateTask
710.7Smart Growth Defined
“Growing Smart” Video
READING:
- Both ICMA documents
- “What Does Smart Growth Really Mean?”
810.14The Congress for the New Urbanism
Policy Assessment assignment due
READING:
Leccese, Michael and Kathleen McCormick, Eds. Charter of the New Urbanism. Foreward, What’s New About the New Urbanism? (pp. 1-11)
910.21The Region
READING:
Leccese, Michael and Kathleen McCormick, Eds. Charter of the New Urbanism. Ch.1-9 (pp. 13-69)
1010.28The Neighborhood, District and Corridor
READING:
Leccese, Michael and Kathleen McCormick, Eds. Charter of the New Urbanism. Ch.10-18 (pp. 71-119)
1111.3 The Street, Block and Building
READING:
Leccese, Michael and Kathleen McCormick, Eds. Charter of the New Urbanism. Ch.19-27 (Pgs. 121-165)
Global Strategic Real Estate Research Group. “Greyfield Regional Mall Study” January 2001
1211.10Case Study Presentations
1311.17Case Study Presentations
1411.24Fall Break
1512.1Case Study Presentations
1612.8Toward an Integrated Approach
READING:
Leccese, Michael and Kathleen McCormick, Eds. Charter of the New Urbanism.
Afterward and Postscript (pp. 177-185)
Banerjee, Tridib et al. “The Coming Demand”
Global Strategic Real Estate Research Group. “Greyfield Regional Mall Study” January 2001