Rebecca Retzlaff

The Use of LEED in Planning and Development Regulation: An Exploratory Analysis

Some jurisdictions in the United States have enacted green building policies and incentives that use a building assessment system to rate their sustainability. One such system is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). Using data from a survey of LEED policy administrators and a comparison of LEED policies, this research seeks to understand the status and structure of such policies, their impacts on the built environment, how they work in practice, and the role of planners. The article outlines three types of policies that use the LEED system— government requirements, requirements for private development, and incentives— and finds that LEED policies have been very narrowly applied. Planners have an important role in administering green building polices because they address issues beyond building design and construction and require a holistic and integrative perspective.

Green Buildings and Building Assessment Systems A New Area of Interest for Planners

The purpose of this article is to provide planners with an introduction to the concept of green buildings and building assessment systems and to identify and explore the major themes in the literature as they relate to planning. Six themes are identified: scope, weighting, subjectivity, rigor, adaptation, and life cycle analysis. Planners have begun to develop and implement green building policies and programs, although there is much room for expansion of the role of planning in green building issues. The article concludes by outlining a broad research agenda that can help move the discussion of the role of planning in green building issues forward. Planning needs to take a more assertive role in green buildings to add more comprehensiveness to the issue.

Developing policies for green buildings: what can the United States learn from the Netherlands?

Abstract Political jurisdictions in the United States have begun to develop plans that address green buildings, a topic on which the Netherlands has extensive experience. This article analyzes the literature on Dutch green buildings to look for lessons that might be relevant for the development of polices in the United States. Through a metasynthesis of seventeen studies on green building policies in the Netherlands, the study identifies patterns in the literature and creates a holistic interpretation. These data are compared with the literature on green building policies in the United States. The article concludes that guidance from the federal government―including a stronger research agenda for green building policy issues―could help spur innovation. Reliance on voluntary green building certification has very limited potential and stronger regulations are needed in the United States to minimize the environmental impacts of buildings. A flexible, broad policy system is also required.

A Familiar Ring: A Retrospective on the First National Conference on City Planning (1909)

Congestion. Blight. Affordable housing. The impact of mass transit. The need for enabling legislation. Lessons from abroad. And, of course, zoning. If you closed your eyes while someone recited the themes of the conference to you, you would swear you were at a gathering of planning officials and professional planners in 2009. You would be wrong. Instead, these were the topics covered 100 years ago at the National Conference on City Planning, held in Washington, D.C., from May 21 to 22, 1909—the first assembly of members and advocates of the emerging city planning movement in the United States.

The Illinois Forest Preserve District Act of 1913 and the emergence of metropolitan park system planning in the USA

In 1913, the Illinois Legislature enacted the Forest Preserve District Act. After adoption of the Act by voters in Cook County, the Chicago metropolitan area became among the first in the USA to establish a park system with an outer ring of nature preserves. This article chronicles the story of how the Cook County Forest Preserve District was established, its historical context and its influence on planning practice. It contends that although Chicago was not the originator of the idea of outer parks, it added significantly to development of the concept of comprehensive park system planning. The article contends that the paradigm of park management changed from conservation of the native landscape to multiple use management during the 20‐year struggle to establish the district, and that passage of the Act was largely the result of the efforts of two individuals – Dwight Perkins and Jens Jensen.

The emergence of comprehensive urban design planning in the United States: the case of the San Francisco Urban Design Plan

Abstract The research question addressed in this paper is as follows: how can planners create municipal-scale urban design plans? The authors analyze the San Francisco Urban Design Plan, the first comprehensive urban design plan for a major American city, as a case study to answer this question. Adopted in 1971, the plan focused on design objectives for the city and the social roles of urban design in people’s lives. It was a policy document, and included implementation techniques, but no guidance on architectural design. It was a departure from urban design planning practice at the time, which focused more on guidance for architecture and large-scale master plan models.

Marine Spatial Planning: Exploring the Role of Planning Practice and Research

Marine spatial planning (MSP) is a tool for managing and improving marine environments. The field is dominated by natural scientists and has not been commonly associated with planning. This research analyzes the MSP literature to explore how planners can contribute to MSP research and practice. We organize the literature into eight themes, focusing on how planners may be able to contribute to MSP research and practice: ocean zoning, defining boundaries, planning in dynamic environments, stakeholder involvement, information needs, integrating ocean and land-use management, managing multiple and conflicting uses, and transboundary institutional structures. We conclude that planners have a lot to contribute in these eight areas.

Property rights and coastal protection: the case of Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council

In 1986, David Lucas purchased two oceanfront lots on the Isle of Palms, South Carolina. Before he built on the lots, the South Carolina Legislature passed the Beachfront Management Act, restricting development along the coast. Unable to build a permanent structure on his property, Lucas sued the South Carolina Coastal Council. The case made its way to the US Supreme Court, and became one of the most significant cases in US planning history. This article situates the case in the context of the history of real property rights, chronicles the events leading up to the case, follows the case through the court system, and analyses its impact on planning practice. Although the case had less significant implications for planning than originally anticipated, it does carry important lessons for land-use planning, subdivision regulation, and planning in sensitive environmental areas. It was a defining moment for coastal conservation in the USA, and had a significant impact on implementation of the US Coastal Zone Management Act, which has been used as a model internationally.

President Jimmy Carter’s Urban Policy A Reconstruction and an Appraisal

On March 21, 1977, President Jimmy Carter directed six federal cabinet heads to form an urban and regional policy working group to devise the nation’s first urban policy. The policy-making process ended over a year later, during which federal department officials, public interest groups, big city mayors, and state governors jousted with each other over the focus and extent of the urban policy. The attempt yielded proposals for federally supported regional land-use planning, regional tax-base sharing, neighborhood empowerment, an urban development bank, and “urban impact analysis” of federally supported projects. This article chronicles the formulation of the urban policy, its initiatives, and its eventual implementation, and questions whether a national urban policy for the United States can ever be developed.

The Emergence of Growth Management Planning in the United States: The Case of Golden v. Planning Board of Town of Ramapo and Its Aftermath

The modern growth management movement in the United States solidly emerged with the 1972 decision of the New York Court of Appeals, the states highest court, in Golden v. Planning Board of Town of Ramapo. Here, the court upheld a phased development timing ordinance in which the approval of a special permit for residential development was linked to the provision of public infrastructure in accordance with an 18-year capital improvement program. This article examines how the Ramapo officials proceeded, the circumstances in which they operated, the resulting litigation, and the aftermath. It contends that, despite its influence on planning law and practice, the Ramapo system still had significant problems as an instrument of modern planning policy, creating a sprawling development pattern that is often viewed as exclusionary in places with few development options.