In an interview with Builder Magazine, Andrés Duany says that citizen participation in one of the biggest roadblocks to smart growth, because people don't understand the benefits yet.
"BUILDER: Proponents say that smart growth can't happen effectively without regional-scale planning because so much of it is about connectivity. How do you reconcile citizens' rights to have a say in their communities with the need for big-picture thinking and decision-making?
DUANY: There is a theory of subsidiarity that considers at what level a decision is properly made. Most of today's planning decisions--large and small--are made at the wrong level. Take transit. You do not ask the neighbor next to a 16-mile bikeway whether they want a bikeway in their back yard because they will say no. That's a decision that needs to be made at the regional level."
FULL STORY: Andres Duany on Smart Growth
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Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
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