Smart Growth

Principles of Smart Growth

Ten principles guide Smart Growth planning. These tenets are interrelated and intended to foster thriving communities. The preeminent principle advocates mixing land uses within neighborhoods. Smart Growth advocates consider the strict segregation of land uses widely adopted by U.S. cities in the postwar period as a major contributor to urban sprawl and the subsequent reliance on automobiles. This view is validated by data collected by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration for the 1990 Personal Transportation Survey, which attributed the majority of the growth in vehicle miles traveled between 1983 and 1990 to land use patterns, rather than to demographic changes.

A second principle calls for the use of compact building designs, which reduces both the spatial footprint of the community and the environmental footprint, as less land and infrastructure are required per structure. A third principle advocates developing neighborhoods in which homes, schools, parks, offices, services, and shops are located within walking distance of one another along streets that intersect at distances convenient for pedestrians. The primary objective is to reduce the need for automobiles by increasing walkability, but in the process it is also intended to correct for other social, public health, and environmental side effects associated with automobile-oriented development. Accessibility is further addressed by the fourth principle, planning for a full range of transportation modes, including sidewalks for pedestrians, corridors and facilities for cyclists, and enhanced public transportation options. Automobile access is also included, but the planning focus is shifted from accommodating private vehicles to providing better accessibility for people, whatever their chosen mode of travel. In highly urbanized areas and suburban bedroom communities, transit-oriented development is closely associated with Smart Growth.

A fifth principle advocates including a range of housing types at a variety of price points within each neighborhood as a way of building strong, cohesive communities in which people can remain even as their life stages and housing needs change. Apartments, smaller homes, and shared residences accommodate singles, newlyweds, and the elderly, and larger residences of various configurations house growing families or those preferring or requiring larger spaces. A sixth principle focuses on architectural design, calling for [Page 398]standards that ensure neighborhoods are at once attractive and distinctive—places in which residents feel “at home.”

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