Today's fringe development may be tomorrow's infill

Many outlying rings of urban areas where most development activity will continue to occur are headed down a land-consumptive, sprawling course that must be changed to preserve the economic, social and environmental well-being of these communities, according to industry experts assembled by the Urban Land Institute.

ULI recently held a series of events, including a forum for public officials and a separate workshop, both in Washington, D.C., and a conference in La Jolla, Calif., to examine development in the greenfields and solutions for better growth in the suburbs.

Suburban smart growth is a priority for ULI Chairman Harry H. Frampton III and a major thrust in ULI's ongoing advocacy of more efficient land development patterns throughout urban regions.

While several downtowns experienced population increases over the past decade, U.S. Census Bureau data indicates that more than 60 percent of urban population growth occurred in the outer-ring neighborhoods, compared to just 11 percent in the inner-core neighborhoods.

At each of the events exploring ways to accommodate this outer-ring growth, participants discussed the need for a fundamental shift in fringe development, which typically is characterized by low-density, isolated land uses and auto-dependent design. To combat such problems as traffic gridlock and loss of open space resulting from this design, more choices are needed in live-work-play environments in the outlying areas, participants said.

Such alternative development, they said, should result in communities designed to connect land uses, rather than divide; promote inclusivity and socializing, rather than exclusivity and seclusion; and provide more mixed-use, mixed-income designs that reduce auto dependency and less segregated-use, auto-oriented designs.

While "large-home, large-lot" developments still dominate fringe development, there are a growing number of communities, specifically master-planned communities, that provide clusters of mixed-use development, including a variety of housing styles in a walkable design while preserving substantial open space.

Such development often called smart growth is in response to market demand for alternatives to traditional designs built for cars rather than people, participants noted. "We don't do things that the market does not ask for," said forum participant Randolph Lyon Jr. of The Ginn Company in Celebration, Fla. Development that incorporates smart growth concepts is "an articulation of the frustration in the marketplace with what has been developed. The market is looking for better, and they are looking for it now," he said.

Public officials forum participant Carol Marinovich, mayor of Kansas City, Kan., said that the needs of urban and suburban communities are seldom planned in tandem.

"Too often, planning occurs in isolation," she said. A well-organized, detailed plan to raise awareness among public officials and the public of the consequences of unfettered growth is critical to reshaping growth in a sustainable way, she added.

At the smart growth solutions workshop, participants noted that improving growth in a consistent manner entails cooperation among different jurisdictions that might perceive themselves as competitors for new development.

"The edge is a complicated political and demographic terrain. The newly built places that were yesterday's edge now have a ring of just-developing places encircling them, and the newly built worry that the exurbs will offer themselves as a cheaper alternative. If smart growth at the edge is to work, both (of) these places must buy into the process," said workshop participant Robert E. Lang, director of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Technical Institute in Alexandria, Va.

Workshop chairman Daniel C. Van Epp, president of the Howard Hughes Corporation in Las Vegas, said that the "how" of building better at the edge might be the most important component, taking higher priority than what to build or where to build it.

The group drafted several principles for improving fringe growth patterns, which will be used in the preparation of an upcoming ULI publication as part of its "Ten Principles" series for reshaping communities. Suggestions for principles include:

1. Join forces to create a vision for the future and stick to the vision;

2. Make it happen, don't let it happen (channel the market, understand the quantity and nature of demand for growth);

3. Green infrastructure leads to efficient land use;

4. Protect environmental systems and conserve resources;

5. Provide diverse housing types and housing opportunities;

6. Build centers of concentrated mixed use;

7. Think long term about a variety of transportation alternatives;

8. Use multiple connections to enhance mobility and circulation;

9. Foster the culture of the community (protect and enhance cultural identity of the area, use vernacular architecture, and focus on historic preservation);

10. Make it easy to do the right thing (build community support).