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Abundant open space is a defining characteristic of the United States. It has affected the nations history and cultural identity, and, during the last decade, managing urban sprawl and protecting open space has become a major public policy challenge. Today, many state and local initiatives are attempting to answer an extraordinarily complex question: How can communities accommodate new residents and businesses without sacrificing the important historic, cultural, ecological, and social values within the built and natural environments that are so essential to quality of life?In this report, conducted by the LBJ School and the Community and Regional Planning Program of the UT Austin School of Architecture for the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the findings from 32 case studies in 15 states are presented. The initiatives are evaluated in terms of issues addressed, approach adopted, nature of intergovernmental relations and partnerships, scale, and role of the federal government. Characteristics of effective cases are identified as well as future challenges and opportunities. This report is the second of a two-part research project for the CRS. The first report, State Growth Management and Open Space Preservation Policies (see http://www.utexas.edu/lbj/pubs/books/prp_143.html), identified and categorized state government initiatives concerning growth management and open space preservation enacted since 1990. This inventory revealed the national scope of such initiatives and identified the most active states, from which the 32 case studies in the second year of the project were drawn.
Since the earliest days of our nation, new communications and transportation networks have enabled vast changes in how and where Americans live and work. Transcontinental railroads and telegraphs helped to open the West; mass media and interstate highways paved the way for suburban migration. In our own day, the internet and advanced logistics networks are enabling new changes on the landscape, with both positive and negative impacts on our efforts to conserve land and biodiversity. Emerging technologies have led to tremendous innovations in conservation science and resource management as well as education and advocacy efforts. At the same time, new networks have been powerful enablers of decentralization, facilitating sprawling development into previously undesirable or inaccessible areas. Conservation in the Internet Age offers an innovative, cross-disciplinary perspective on critical changes on the land and in the field of conservation. The book: provides a general overview of the impact of new technologies and networks explores the potentially disruptive impacts of the new networks on open space and biodiversity presents case studies of innovative ways that conservation organizations are using the new networks to pursue their missions considers how rapid change in the Internet Age offers the potential for landmark conservation initiatives Conservation in the Internet Age is the first book to examine the links among land use, technology, and conservation from multiple perspectives, and to suggest areas and initiatives that merit further investigation. It offers unique and valuable insight into the challenges facing the land and biodiversity conservation community in the early twenty-first century, and represents an important new work for policymakers, conservation professionals, and academics in planning, design, conservation and resource management, policy, and related fields.
Many states have been actively addressing the closely-related issues of sprawl and loss of open space in recent years by working to manage growth and protect remaining open spaces. The mix of issues and levels of activity vary widely from state to state. Federal polices and programs have impacts on these issues, both direct and indirect, and both positive and negative. Federal policies and programs with an impact include transportation, housing, the environment, and agriculture, among others, and others have important but less direct effects, such as the federal tax code. Some federal programs provide positive assistance to states that are trying to address these issues, while others may support incompatible activities. This book identifies and compares the recent state efforts and presents some of the reasons for a resurgent interest in addressing this suite of topics in many states. It also discusses the effectiveness of these efforts where evaluations or analyses could be found.
Challenge of the Land: Open Space Preservation at the Local Level deals with the challenge of the land at the municipal level and how it can be addressed using proven techniques of open space preservation. Focusing primarily on the New York metropolitan region, this book describes actions that a municipal government can take to help control rampant urbanization and discusses the benefits of open space preservation. This book is comprised of eight chapters and opens with an overview of how municipal officials and civic leaders have had to come to grips with urbanization throughout the United States. The economic implications of population growth and the function of suburbia are considered. The next chapter outlines the benefits of open space preservation, including the establishment of recreational opportunity; the establishment of attractive community design and a visually pleasant landscape; and the maintenance of natural processes (that is, conservation). The following chapters explore the reconciliation of subdivision and open space; the use of basic acquisition techniques having to do with purchase, green space development, and the donation of land in fee or easement; and the approaches used by municipalities to preserve open space. The economic consequences of preserved open space are also considered, along with how the municipal government copes with the increasing forces of urbanization. This monograph will be a useful resource for everyone in or out of government, including county and municipal officials, as well as civic leaders concerned with the use of open spaces.
Over the past three decades, governments at the local, state, and federal levels have undertaken a wide range of bold innovations, often in partnership with nongovernmental organizations and communities, to try to address their environmental and natural resource management tasks. Many of these efforts have failed. Innovations, by definition, are transitory. How, then, can we establish new practices that endure? Toddi A. Steelman argues that the key to successful and long-lasting innovation must be a realistic understanding of the challenges that face it. She examines three case studies—land management in Colorado, watershed management in West Virginia, and timber management in New Mexico—and reveals specific patterns of implementation success and failure. Steelman challenges conventional wisdom about the role of individual entrepreneurs in innovative practice. She highlights the institutional obstacles that impede innovation and its longer term implementation, while offering practical insight in how enduring change might be achieved.
This book introduces, synthesizes, and evaluates spatial planning for growth management in the contemporary USA. It discusses the neglected relationship between the actual environmental results of various state growth management systems and the geographically diverse politics of discontent with these various systems.
Americans are committing 'country-cide', says Rick Pruetz, FAICP, converting farms into suburban yards and channeling streams that once provided flood control, water purification, habitats, and recreational opportunities. But rather than rail against overdevelopment, this book celebrates communities succeeding in preservation. For ten years Pruetz explored communities that excel in saving their natural environment. In twenty-four illustrated vignettes, he captures the character of places from the volcanic range near downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Minneapolis’s Grand Rounds park system, to farmland improbably preserved on Long Island. As the longtime city planner of Burbank, California, Pruetz offers more than an appreciation of these communities. He brings a planner’s-eye view of the practices behind their achievements. His detailed reports of creative preservation solutions mark the trail for planners, commissioners, and citizens who seek to preserve the green legacy in their own backyards.
This timely Research Handbook examines the evolution of smart growth over the past three decades, mapping the trajectory from its original principles to its position as an important paradigm in urban planning today. Critically analysing the original concept of smart growth and how it has been embedded in state and local plans, contributions from top scholars in the field illustrate what smart growth has accomplished since its conception, as well as to what extent it has achieved its goals.