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Community design is the way we place the building blocks of our built environment - the buildings, roads, sidewalks, parking lots and public spaces - relative to each other and within the context of the natural environment - the streams, wetlands, lakes and hills. There are many different ways of arranging these building blocks, and some work better than others. Community design affects both how our communities look and how they function.
Community design also determines the scale and character of our communities and, perhaps most importantly, how the scale and character are perceived by the general public. At a time of heightened public sensitivity over issues affecting land development - such as density - good community design plays an increasingly important role in shaping places that are embraced as welcome additions to our communities.
How does community design relate to smart growth?
First, good community design makes for places that function better. Places that are well designed make more money, handle traffic better, pollute less, stay warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer, are more people-friendly, are better for business, and adapt better to change.
Second, good community design makes for places that look better. While not every place needs to make our hearts beat faster, appearances and first impressions do matter. Communities - like people - should put on their best face. While some places are memorable for the sheer chaos and visual cacophony, most poorly designed places are simply banal and do not leave an impression. Communities that do not captivate will have trouble retaining and attracting residents and businesses.
Third, good community design inspires community pride, which leads to increased commitment to place and increased willingness to invest. Do we want to create communities our children will want to live in when they become adults? Through community design we can create places that have a distinct identity and personality, that captivate and amuse and perk our interest and for which we feel personally responsible. Good design helps turn residents and businesses into stewards of their community.
There are design implications to virtually every aspect of smart growth that impacts the physical environment, from transportation to housing to environmental protection to historic preservation. Community design provides the underlying foundation for these various aspects of smart growth to work together harmoniously, not at cross-purposes.
How does community design relate to planning?
There is a close relationship between planning and design. Community design takes often-abstract planning objectives - for example, to provide more affordable housing, or to preserve rural character - and provides planners with meaningful tools and techniques to achieve these objectives. We establish - through planning - the broader framework of values and objectives; then use community design to bring these down to earth and apply them to specific places and circumstances.
This section of the Smart Growth Gateway is possible thanks to Carlos Rodrigues and the Rutgers University Department of Landscape Architecture. Visit its website at la56.rutgers.edu/rula/.