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Top Planning Issues of 2007

31 December 2007 - 5:00am

Over the course of the year, the Planetizen staff editors review and post summaries of hundreds of articles, reports, books, studies, and editorials related to planning and urban development. Now, we take a look back at 2007 and the trends and issues that defined the year in urban planning.

Listen to or download a podcast of this summary above, or read the expanded version below.

The podcast version of this summary originally aired on the nationally-syndicated radio program Smart City, which is broadcast in cities across the U.S. Learn more about Smart City and listen to archived shows.

Congestion Pricing and Road Tolling

This year, more than any before it, the discussion about traffic congestion moved beyond the traditional debate of roads versus transit towards a comparatively modern solution: congestion pricing.

The idea is that by levying a charge on drivers entering certain parts of cities or roads, fewer people will be willing to pay a fee to get to that part of the city or drive on that portion of road and congestion will be reduced. London‘s congestion pricing system is cited as one of the world’s most successful examples, and it made such a big impression on New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg when he visited the city that he announced plans to create a congestion pricing system in New York.

Bloomberg’s plan has caused much controversy in New York, but has also set off a string of congestion pricing plans in cities across America. From Seattle to San Francisco to Dallas to Miami, many cities are thinking about instituting the pay-to-drive systems.

The move to curb congestion was further fueled by a nationwide competition through the U.S. Department of Transportation that called on cities to propose the best ideas for solving their traffic woes.

Each of the winning cities included plans for some sort of road pricing system, indicating not only the willingness of cities to propose somewhat radical ideas, but also the willingness of the federal government to fund those radical ideas.

Light Rail/Streetcar Surge

Charging drivers is not the only way cities are trying to relieve congestion, though. Many cities are moving forward with plans to build light rail and streetcar lines. This year was an especially active one for light rail and streetcar planning, with a number of high-profile systems opening or re-opening. Light rail lines opened this year in cities like Charlotte, North Carolina, and San Francisco, and many others have announced plans to create their own.

In addition to light rail, more and more cities are taking a step back in time and revising and reopening streetcar lines. The historic transit systems that were built in many urban areas in the early part of the twentieth century are experiencing a renewed sense of interest from local transit planners, and politicians.

Planners are citing the potential for transit-oriented development around these rail projects as a way to excite the local populations and development communities. And for streetcars, the systems are being promoted not so much for their transit capabilities, but rather for their ability to revive shopping districts. Whatever the reason for cities looking at rail, this nationwide trend towards building light rail and streetcar systems shows little sign of slowing down.

Drought Planning

Suburban growth, climate change and virtually unchecked overuse have severely diminished the global supply of our most precious natural resource. Water is becoming increasingly hard to come by, especially for the arid regions of the country. Southwestern states like California, Arizona, and New Mexico are dry to begin with, but increasing development in desert areas is creating a demand that the supply just can’t keep up with.

But it’s not just geography that’s to blame. Over-development is stressing aquifers and water tables all over the country, not just those in the drier regions. Much of the Southeast has experienced record lows in rainfall, creating one of the worst droughts in the region’s history. Government officials in states like Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and North Carolina have been forced to lay down tight usage restrictions to help the area manage what little water is left in its reservoirs.

As a result, many lawns in the southeast and southwest are not quite as green as they once were. But feeding thirsty front yards is not the biggest problem facing planners and officials in these parched areas. The real challenge will be finding a way to slow or control growth and encourage more sensible use of water to ensure the long-term sustainability of our urbanized areas.

Cities Taking Lead on Environment

Climate change has become a problem no one can ignore. And though everyone seems to recognize that it’s an issue, the federal government has been reluctant to address it through any major proposals. But where the federal government has come up short, local governments are taking the lead.

City governments across the United States have instituted broad and sometimes ambitious measures to improve their energy efficiency and reduce their impact on the environment. When the Kyoto Protocol became law in more than 140 countries in 2005, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels launched a drive to get the mayors of cities to voluntarily sign on in compliance. This effort has picked up steam over the last few years, and by the end of 2007, more than 700 U.S. mayors have signed on. These mayors have made a variety of environmentally-conscious promises – from reducing the amount of trash that ends up in landfills to increasing investment in alternative energy production.

These local efforts are also beginning to spread out from the big cities to smaller and more rural areas, showing that leadership at the federal level is not necessary to start creating a greener country.

Crumbling Infrastructure

Infrastructure has been a major concern in recent years. From the levee failures in New Orleans to the increasingly over-stressed federal highway system, America’s infrastructure is a huge problem that seems too overwhelming to tackle.

This sense of despair was brought back during the summer after the tragic collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis. The deaths and injuries resulting from this structural failure prompted city and state officials to make quick action on identifying and updating their older bridges and potentially dangerous public works projects.

In response to the devastation in Minneapolis, politicians in the U.S. Senate introduced the National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2007, a bill to create a federal funding source intended specifically for the large and expensive infrastructure projects that the country needs most. Though not yet approved, the bill could stand to ease the renovation of the aging bridges that have caused such concern in recent months, and may also serve to aid the water starved areas in the southeast and southwest.

Bikeability

Amsterdam, Portland, and Copenhagen have long been recognized as the world’s most bike-friendly cities. Add to that list Paris, as the city recently achieved worldwide bike fame when it implemented an expansive bike rental system throughout the city. Called Vélib', the system has placed thousands of bikes at rental stations all over the city where people can rent and use a bike for only one euro. Since its debut this summer, the Vélib' system has been extremely popular in the city, and local politicians are crediting it with reducing congestion in the central city.

The popularity of the Vélib' system has caught the eye of many other cities. Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Vancouver, Montreal, and Beijing are considering bike rental systems.

Many cyclists and environmentalists hope the excitement fueled by the Paris Vélib' system will sustain itself and translate into increased biking and bike awareness in our urban areas.

Fall of Citywide Wi-Fi

In recent years, the idea of providing free or fee-based wireless Internet access in cities seemed like a no-brainer. The world has been changing at a rapid pace since the advent of the Internet, and many cities recognized that getting connected was in the best interest of their people and their economies. Numerous big city mayors announced plans for citywide Wi-Fi systems enabling wireless Internet access throughout the city. The people were excited, the local business community was anticipating a flood of pedestrians and laptops web browsers to frequent their shops, and the wireless industry was biting at the opportunity to get these cities connected.

But 2007 showed that creating these citywide Wi-Fi networks is not as easy as it sounds. Cities like Chicago, San Francisco, St. Louis, and Houston have been forced to abandon their plans for citywide networks, mainly due to the unanticipatedly high costs of implementing the systems. Some fault the private firms charged with building the infrastructure for underestimating the costs; others blame the cities for naively discounting the fact that supplying the Internet for free wouldn't actually be free.

But while the big city Wi-Fi networks have faltered and flopped, smaller and more rural communities are building their own small-scale wireless networks with great success, leading some civic leaders to reconsider their grand schemes for citywide projects in favor of smaller, targetted pockets of accessibility.

Subprime Meltdown Fallout

The subprime mortgage meltdown of 2006 laid the foundation for a bleak real estate market in 2007. Falling prices and property values have created a very cool market, especially in comparison to recent years.

The most significant effect of the subprime meltdown of 2006 was the high rate of foreclosures seen in 2007. As thousands of homes foreclose across the country, communities are trying desperately to counteract the drain on their economies. Some are tapping city coffers to buy up the foreclosed properties that now blight their towns and lower their property values. Other cities are even giving away foreclosed properties to local residents in an effort to halt the downward slide of their economies.

As thousands of families lose their most valuable investments, many local leaders and politicians are pushing for a moratorium on foreclosures. Others lay the blame not on the predatory lenders and mortgage companies, but rather on the Federal Reserve for keeping interest rates too low and artificially inflating the housing market. But no matter where the blame lies, many Americans will continue to lose their homes to foreclosures. As these losses continue and the housing market struggles to rebound in 2008, these issues are sure to be on the minds of politicians and voters across the country in the months leading up to the November general elections.

Top Planning Issues of Past Years

Take a look back at the top issues from past years and compare with this year's list to see the most pervasive trends in urban planning.

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“
There is lots of theory, and lots of wonderful mathematics, and even lots of dealmaking. But the financial engineers are not real engineers who take responsibility for the bridges that fall down. They have no notion of a safety factor.
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