Reducing Livability: How Sustainability Planning Threatens the American Dream

This report posits that sustainability plans are infringing on people's rights and preventing them from securing the type of housing they desire

Churchill Sustainability Planning Framework (CSPF)

Report: Xiii, 159 pp.; ill., digital file.e current report is the Churchill Sustainability Planning Framework (CSPF) which sets out the Vision, Values and Priorities for making Churchill a more sustainable community, and provides a “toolkit” for moving these priorities into action. It addresses the environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainability, and makes speciD c recommendations for the updated Community Plans and Urban Design. In order to direct town of Churchill’s resources toward achieving the community’s vision, the current framework is oriented to six interrelated priority areas which may be summarized as: Food Security, Economic Development, Youth Education, Training and Recreation, Waste Management, Housing, and Built Environment.OmniTrax inc

Strategies and Resources for Integrated Community Sustainability Planning in St. Paul’s, NL

Under the Federal Gas Tax Agreement, Canadian municipalities are required to complete an Integrated Community Sustainability Plan (ICSP) by March, 2010. Integration and sustainability are two key concepts that have become the foundation of recent models for community planning. The purpose of such planning is to provide a broad, long‐term plan for a community that will help it maximize economic and social benefits, without depleting the environmental resources upon which community members depend. Like many coastal communities in Newfoundland and Labrador, St. Paul’s is currently facing many challenges to future sustainability. The town also has opportunities to develop linkages between its many assets in order to build a stronger community. This document discusses some of these challenges and opportunities in the context of integrated community sustainability planning. The document also includes strategies and resources that St. Paul’s, and other, similar coastal communities can use to develop linkages between community assets

Sustainability Planning as Paradigm Change

The theme of the next issue of Urban Planning will be Paradigm Shifts. To make the link between “sustainability” and “paradigm change,” the following commentary analyzes the former concept as a main example of the latter. Although it is often applied to rather modest planning initiatives, “sustainability” can be seen as requiring shifts in cognitive paradigm that are transformational, radical, and not yet fully appreciated by most of those who use the term. Specifically, this term implies a proactive, results-oriented approach (e.g. initiatives to actually meet GHG reduction targets), a long-term viewpoint (e.g. planning for 50 or 100+ years in the future), and a holistic or ecological mindset able to understand dynamic, evolving systems. This last change is the most difficult and requires thinking across scales of action, across time frames, across issue areas and goals (e.g. the “Three E’s” of environment, economy, and social equity), and across communities. It also means integrating different types of actions into a broader program of social change. Though challenging, these cognitive shifts can lead to radically different outcomes than past urban planning

CareerAdvance® Implementation Study Findings through FY 2018

This report examines the implementation of the third year of HPOG II services in a five-year grant cycle, including post-HPOG sustainability planning for CareerAdvance®. This report focuses on how and why the program has changed and adjusted to meet the requirements of HPOG II, while responding to the needs of the participants being served, the local job market, and the partners working together to implement and sustain the program. First, this report briefly describes the organizations partnering to implement the HPOG II version of CareerAdvance®. It then examines changes made to the program components, including the eligibility requirements, recruitment, assessment, and selection process, support services, training options, and other program elements. Also, it describes the HPOG II FY 2018 (September 1, 2017-August 31, 2018) cohorts enrolled in training, including assessment scores and detailed demographic information on the participants and their families, as well as program completion and certification attainment of all HPOG II participants (April 2016-August 31, 2018). A final section addresses CareerAdvance® sustainability planning issues, options and opportunities. This report draws from previous CareerAdvance® reports, information on the HPOG II program participants and their families, and interviews with CAP, Tulsa Tech, Family and Children Services, and Tulsa Community WorkAdvance leadership and staff.Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human ServicesRay Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resource

How Racially Equitable are the Outcomes of Sustainability Planning?

Sustainability planning embodies ideals of how cities should be planning for a tomorrow that the entire world will share, and it places a third of its theorized emphasis on the importance of equity. This essay explores the tenets of sustainability planning, urban form values, and how to achieve a sustainable city. A framework of sustainability planning and urban form over time was applied to the City of Tacoma through an investigation of the One Tacoma Plan and historical documents with special emphasis on equity. This research shows that Tacoma has followed the urban form values through time and that although it has many tenets of sustainability, it is still lacking in the equity category – one of the “Three E’s” of sustainability planning (made up of environment, economy, equity). This investigation finds that the Hilltop Neighborhood in Tacoma is susceptible to gentrification and that increased focus on policy measures need to be implemented to protect residents of this historic neighborhood from displacement

Overcoming the legal impediments to urban planning for sustainability in the Sydney Greater Metropolitan Region

University of Technology, Sydney. Institute for Sustainable Futures.Urban sustainability is a desired future. The problem investigated in this thesis is how to achieve it, in the context of planning law which applies to residential development and infrastructure in Sydney. Two questions are addressed. First, what is urban planning for sustainability? Second, how can the legal impediments to urban planning for sustainability in Sydney be identified and overcome? The second of these is the research question considered by the thesis, which aims to make a valuable contribution to knowledge about the design of planning processes to facilitate the transition from the unsustainable city, to the sustainable city. The thesis commences with a discussion of the recent international urban sustainability literature. It is argued that planning focussed on protecting amenity or changing density (whether higher or lower), is insufficient for achieving urban planning for sustainability, which is defined as planning intended to reduce the ecological footprint and improve the liveability of the city. An original theoretical framework, comprising a set of eight criteria which form a sustainability planning process, is proposed as a checklist for identifying the legal impediments to sustainability. These criteria are termed Sustainability Planning Elements. The general discussion in the early chapters gives way to particular practical applications of the theory in the latter chapters. Legal research methods and analysis were used to investigate the presence or absence of the Sustainability Planning Elements in the planning laws which apply in Sydney. Any planning instrument, statute or court decision which does not contain the elements is identified as an impediment to sustainability. Conversely, where the elements are present, the law can be regarded as facilitating sustainability. The research findings contained m the thesis are intended to demonstrate how the impediments could be overcome by incorporating sustainability planning processes in planning law. The findings propose methods which include: • modifying the exercise of discretion in the consideration of development proposals; • imposing positive sustainability planning duties; • making planning decisions conditional on an application of the sustainability planning elements; • placing the onus on the proponent to satisfy the decision maker that development approval ought to be granted; • making sustainability a fundamental or primary planning objective

Towards sustainability in South Africa : a study of local government sustainability planning in the Cape Metropolitan Area

Includes bibliography.The popular use of the term sustainability represents a consensus around the fact that society must change its path towards ecological destruction and the consequent decline in human's quality of life. Sustainability facilitates the integration of environmental issues, previously seen as radical and disruptive, into mainstream political, social and economic discourse. The term therefore represents a transitional tool which will lead society from its current non-sustainable phase to greater sustainability. At present the most successful action for change is being initiated from the local level through local sustainability planning. Sustainability planning represents an alternative approach to local government decision-making based on the principles of sustainability. Many countries are experiencing success with local sustainability planning initiatives such as Healthy Cities and Local Agenda 21. These initiatives represent generic approaches to sustainability planning. This thesis contends that a more successful approach could be gained through tailoring strategic planning to local contexts. The challenge is to design a framework that meets the needs of the specific socio-economic, legislative and institutional contexts of a given area. South Africa's discriminatory socio-political history has resulted in major social and environmental legacies, especially amongst the marginalised and poor sectors of society. These legacies must be understood and addressed in order to carry-out successful sustainability planning processes. Since 1994 sustainability in South Africa has received significant attention in the legislation which has emanated from the democratic government. The legal framework for sustainability is provided by a progressive Constitution [Act 108 of 1996]. The Constitution provides clear objectives for environmental management. Furthering the framework for environmental management set out in the Constitution is the National Environmental Management Act [Act 107 of 1998] (NEMA). NEMA is a key piece of legislation which has far-reaching implications for sustainability. It establishes general principles which act as a framework within which environmental management in the country will be carried out. The Constitution [Act 108 of 1996] also sets out clear objectives for local governance. Local government in the CMA, as in the rest of South Africa, is suffering from the effects of the (re)current restructuring period following the country's transition to democracy. This sphere of government is experiencing significant financial and capacity constraints. The situation has been compounded by a lack of civil-sector consultation during this protracted period of change. Mechanisms for addressing sustainability and incorporating environmental issues within local government planning and decision-making are absent from national legislation. Local government sustainability planning represents such a mechanism. This study researches the current status and future prospects for local government sustainability planning using the Cape Metropolitan Area (CMA) in South Africa as a case study. A framework for local government sustainability planning is developed based on the current national and local contexts. The proposed framework places the fundamental principles of sustainability at the highest strategic level in the authority. Alongside these principles are key operational themes of sustainability. Each of these should be used to guide and inform decisions and activities carried out within the local government authority. As we enter the new millennium local government in South Africa has an increasing responsibility to achieve local sustainability and in so doing to elevate its citizens quality of life. A bold response to local sustainability planning is required if this is to be achieved