Introduction & Overview of Site Planning Flashcards
Addresses the sustainability imperative
and design strategies to create healthier,
resilient, and more livable built
environments.
“Shaping the Built
Environment”
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
No Poverty
Zero Hunger
Good Health and Well- Being
Quality Education
Gender Equality
Clean Water and Sanitation
Affordable and Clean Energy
Decent Work and Economic Growth
Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
etc.
According to United Nations (2010)
50% of the planet’s 7
billion inhabitants not
live in urbanized areas
A global challenge requiring context-specific changes
in the structure and function of our built environments.
Sustainability
Production (Ecosystem Services)
Oxygen, Water, food and fiber, fuel and energy, Medical Resources
Regulation (Ecosystem Services)
Storage and recycling of organic matter
Decomposition and recycling oh human waste
Regulation of local and global climate
Carrier (Ecosystem Services)
Space for settlements
Space for agriculture
Space for recreation
Information (Ecosystem Services)
Aesthetic resources
Historic Information
Scientific and educational info.
seeks to meet the needs and aspirations of the present without compromising the ability of those to meet those of the future.”
Sustainable development
Seeks to understand the complex dynamics of
interconnected human and environmental systems.
Sustainability Science
Sample application of Sustainability Science
-actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (climate mitigation)
-increase resilience to extreme weather events
(climate adaption); and,
-“integrative task of managing particular places where multiple efforts to meet multiple human needs interact with multiple life-support systems in highly complex and often unexpected ways” (Clark, 2007).
Three Related Development Paradigms (that focus attention on the physical configuration, or design, of the built environment)
-Smart Growth
-New Urbanism
-Sustainable Design
diverse housing, shops, workplaces, schools, parks, and civic facilities encompassing interconnected indoor and outdoor environments
Mixed and Integrated Uses
architecture that enriches public open spaces, especially streetscapes, and creates neighborhoods and urban districts with a strong sense of place
Clustered, Compact Buildings
connected natural areas and other outdoor places that provide linear recreational opportunities
Open Space Systems
integrated systems safely serving pedestrians, bicycle
riders, public transit, and automobiles
Transportation networks
Example of Local sustainability efforts on integrated approaches to achieving multiple social, economic, and environmental goals
Ottawa’s (Canada) Official Plan (“A Vision for Ottawa”)
Natural and cultural resources that should be assessed at the community level (Arendt, 1999)
- Wetlands and wetland buffers
- Floodways and floodplains
- Groundwater resources and aquifer
recharge areas - Woodlands
- Moderate and steep slopes
- Significant wildlife habitats
- Historic, archaeological, and cultural
features - Productive farmland
- Scenic viewsheds from public roads
Opinions (from mayors, real estate developers, and others) about the quality of design in the built environment
- “Good design promotes public health, safety, and welfare.”
- “Good design attracts people to a city, and those people help pay
for essentials that help instill pride and satisfaction in what citizens get for their taxes.” - “Well-designed [real estate] products will succeed in tight markets where poorly designed products will not.”
Society ( Benefits of context-sensitive site planning and design)
Enhances pedestrian/bicyclist mobility and safety
Creates opportunities for active living
Promotes a sense of community
Creates attractive surroundings
Increases neighborhood safety
Improves access to public services
Minimizes negative impacts on surrounding properties
Protects cultural and historic resources
Economy( Benefits of context-sensitive site planning and design)
Attracts visitors, tourists, and investment
Increases property value
Creates marketable “experiences”
Speeds real estate sales and rentals in tight markets
Attracts high-skilled employees and employers
Reduces commuting times
Uses land efficiently
Environment ( Benefits of context-sensitive site planning and design)
Conserves energy
Protects biodiversity
Reduces air and water pollution
Protects ecosystem processes and reduces urban heat islands
May diminish visual quality and reduce native plant and wildlife biodiversity (Development of unsuitable sites)
On-site impacts
may include traffic congestion, flooding, or pollution of
local surface waters (Development of unsuitable sites)
Off-site impacts
A measure of the type and intensity of development that can
be supported without imposing detrimental effects on society, the economy, or the
environment
Site’s carrying capacity
- The capacity to graphically communicate design problems, relevant contextual information, and potential solutions.
- Is an essential skill in the planning and design professions.
- The ability to integrate ideas from different disciplines into a coherent whole and to communicate that information to others is also an important leadership skill. (Grander, 2006)
Visual Literacy
Reveal relevant spatial and temporal patterns among interconnected natural and human systems.
Analytical Tools:
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Three-Dimensional (3D) Modeling
Five significant milestones in this transformative process
- Smart Growth
- Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
- LEED for Neighborhood Development (ND)
- SITES TM
- STAR Community Index
Making the built environment more sustainable and livable – through smarter land use planning and policymaking – creates more transportation options, more housing choices, and more
walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods.
Smart Growth
(SMART GROWTH) Goals for shaping – and reshaping – the built environment are:
- Preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty, and critical environmental areas by directing development toward existing communities.
- Foster distinctive, attractive communities with a mix of land uses, compact building design, and a strong sense of place.
- Create a range of housing opportunities and choices in walkable neighborhoods that provide a variety of transportation choices.
- Make development decisions predictable, fair, and cost-effective, and encourage community and stakeholder collaboration in development decisions.
Rating System provides benchmarks for the design, construction, and operation of green buildings and related site development
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
Promotes sustainability by focusing on building and site performance in five areas affecting human and environmental health:
- Sustainable site development
- Water savings
- Energy efficiency
- Materials selection
- Indoor environmental quality
-Created through a collaboration of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the Congress for the New Urbanism, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
-This neighborhood rating system integrates the principles of Smart Growth, traditional neighborhood design, and green building design.
LEED for Neighborhood Development (ND)
Credits encourage developers to build homes away from environmentally sensitive places and to locate them instead in previously developed and other preferable sites.
Location and Linkages
Discourages development on previously undeveloped land, minimizes a building’s impact on ecosystems and waterways, and encourages regionally appropriate landscaping.
Sustainable Sites
Set of voluntary guidelines and performance benchmarks recently
developed for site design, construction, and maintenance practices.
SITES TM (Sustainable Sites Initiative)
(21 possible points) Select locations to preserve existing resources and repair damaged systems.
Site Selection
(4 possible points) Plan for sustainability from the beginning of the project.
Predesign Assessment and Planning
(44 possible points) Protect and restore processes and systems associated with the site’s hydrology.
Site Design – Water
(51 possible points)Protect and restore processes and systems associated with the site’s soil and vegetation.
Site Design – Soil and Vegetation
(36 possible points) Reuse/recycle existing materials and support
sustainable production practices.
Site Design – Materials Selection
(32 possible points) Build strong communities and foster a
strong sense of stewardship.
Site Design – Human Health and Well-being
(21 possible points) Minimize effects of construction-related activities.
Construction
(23 possible points) Maintain the site for long-term sustainability.
Operations and Maintenance
(18 possible points) Reward exceptional performance and improve the body of knowledge on long-term sustainability.
Monitoring and Innovation
- A certification system that focuses on the community scale launched in 2012.
- Developed through a partnership between ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability (formerly the “International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives”), the USGBC, and the Center for American Progress (CAP).
- Consensus-based rating system for community sustainability.
STAR Community Index
the art of arranging the external physical environment to support human behavior. It lies along the boundaries of architecture, engineering, landscape architecture, and city planning, and it is practiced by members of all these professions. Site plans locate structures and activities in three-dimensional space and, when appropriate, in time. – Kevin Lynch (1971)
Site planning
Three Categories of Site Planning Projects:
- Projects with no buildings
- Projects with one building
*Projects with two or more buildings
Choosing a firm:
- It has worked with in the past
- Its reputation from prior completed projects
- Its proximity to the client and/or the site
- Its specializations in the types of projects and services provide
- If it is a government agency, request for bidding.
the process of mapping the site’s relevant physical, biological, and
cultural attributes – is not a site analysis.
SITE INVENTORY
Assess whether environmental remediation Is needed, what action should be taken to protect adjacent properties from
contamination, and what buildings and infrastructures can be used or recycled (Platt and Curran, 2003).
SITE ANALYSIS
Flows directly from the site analysis, this is the process of adapting the program to the unique features of the site.
CONCEPTUAL DESIGN
The process of converting a design vision into a real built environment.
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
(horizontal control): locates buildings, streets, and parking areas,
walkways, utility lines, and other site elements in relation to the site’s boundaries and other existing built and natural elements.
Layout Plan
(vertical control): locates existing contours (dashed lines), proposed contours (solid lines), and proposed spot elevations at high and low points, and locates pavement corners in relation to local elevation benchmark. Drainage swales and storm drain systems are also included.
Grading Plan
(subsurface and surface utilities): locates sanitary sewer systems, on-site wastewater disposal and treatment systems, drinking water distribution lines, electrical supply lines, lighting, and telecommunication cables. Typically, the utility plan specifies type (for example, sanitary sewer) and size or capacity (for example, pipe diameter).
Utilities Plan
(trees, shrubs, vines, and groundcover): locates existing and new vegetation, including the desired spacing between new plantings. Plant quantities, sizes, and root conditions are included in a table or schedule.
Planting Plan
(site preparation): for infill sites especially, identifies the buildings, utility structures, and other site elements that will be either removed, protected, or retrofitted.
Demolition Plan
locates the site irrigation system, although sustainable site design minimizes the need for supplementary irrigation by specifying well-adapted native and naturalized plant materials.
Irrigation Plan
in some jurisdictions, an ESC must be submitted before development permits can be issued, typically, includes a description of predominant soil types and provisions for preserving topsoil and limiting soil disturbance.
Erosion and Sediment Control Plan (ESC)
Supplement the construction drawings and include information that is typically conveyed in report from rather than on the
construction drawings.
CONSTRUCTION SECIFICATIONS
cover bidding requirements, required insurance and bonding, as well as incentives for completing construction before the final
completion date.
General Specifications
written descriptions of the procedures and materials required to build the project. They include information about the quality of materials, construction methods and standards, and work safety requirements.
Technical Specifications
Construction supervisions is the responsibility of the general contractor and the various subcontractors building the project.
CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION
Land development controls needed to control against poor design resulting in assorted social, economic, and environmental impacts.
PERMITTING AND APPROVALS
