I've been spending a lot of time over the past couple of years examining the planning literature on sustainable development. Sustainable development, as a concept, remains vague. For those interested, take a look at my recent article in the journal Property Management.
I've been spending a lot of time over the past couple of years examining the planning literature on sustainable development. Sustainable development, as a concept, remains vague. For those interested, take a look at my recent article in the journal Property Management.
But, does the practice of sustainable development provides real guidance for how we design communities and live? For example, is slowing down the rate of land development really a move toward sustainability? What's the difference if we run out of land in 300 years versus 500 years? At some point, real sustainability means that land must be recycled efficiently and effectively to accomodate future increases in population. Technology will be critical to achieving this, but its role is not necessarily embraced in the sustainability movement.
A case in point is agriculture and food production. The amount of farmland has been falling for decades. Headlines tend to blame sprawl. But, more farmland has been left fallow because of changes in technology than because urban land places a higher economic value on it. (For an analysis of this trend, see my policy brief here.) Improvements in technology have dramatically increased agricultural productivity, reducing the need for land and people to grow food. In short, the "foot print" for agriculture has become smaller. Technology, as a result, has changed very nature of what can be considered sustainable in food production--we're using less land (and other resources) in the U.S. and generating less demand for these resouces because of increases in productivity.
Unfortunately, the sustainable development literature, particularly that written in the environmental tradition, seems to focus on agricultural and food self-sufficiency as the goal of sustainable development policy. yet, self sufficiency, by its nature, implies a bigger environmental footprint and lower oveall productivity. Pursuing a food policy that focuses primarily on "home grown" food products may actually work against sustainability, both in terms of making the environmental footprint for agriculture larger as well as compromising our ability to sustain larger populations.
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
New Park Opens in the Santa Clarita Valley
The City of Santa Clarita just celebrated the grand opening of its 38th park, the 10.5-acre Skyline Ranch Park.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
How Urban Form Impacts Housing Affordability
The way we design cities affects housing costs differently than you might think.
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