2015

News from Rio — The New UN Agenda for Sustainable Development

What are the implications for Planning, and for your community’s sustainability planning initiatives, now that the world’s nations have reached a “Historic UN Agreement on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development?” “This is the first time in human history that the entirety of humanity . . . has come together in agreement on a set of

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The Biophilic Value “Thickens”

Urban metabolism is one new emerging arena of urban planning and design. It complements two other more traditional arenas: the growth dynamic or the urban built environment, real estate development, land economics, and demographics, and (2) health and quality of life (QoL). <<cite forthcoming>> In this tripartite scheme, biodiversity, biophilia, and integrating nature, or “habitat”

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Integrating Nature Into the Built Environment – Impressive Practice and Resources

The Challenge of integrating nature into our buildings and cities has been forever changed by the biophilia hypothesis.  Such integration would nurture that elusive and shy direct connection to our essential human nature. We dearly need that connection on a daily basis for our development and on-going well being. A Biophilic approach also creates a

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Getting to High Performance Districts, Cities, Regions & Sustainability

Charles Kelley, of ZGF Architects, presented his leading-edge approach and tools for designing high-performance districts to a core group of sustainability planners at SF Planning in late July. The idea arose from a conversation at a reception hosted by ZGF for the EcoDistrict Incubator program held in Portland this past spring. Charles and ZGF, along with

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September 2015

Tracing the Urban Transportation Revolution, Sandy Smith, Next City. Advocates bring pedestrian- and bike-friendly practices and designs that are taking hold in today’s cities. Page 1 Opinion: Whither Bay Area planning? Dan Marks, AICP. An effort led by MTC to defund the regional planning function at ABAG and consolidate it under MTC is troubling. Page 3 Dispatch from Shenzhen, Riad

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July/August 2015

Good news and bad for SF housing and commercial markets. Nina J. Gruen. The City’s amenities attract boomers and highly skilled millennials, but housing supply and availability woefully lag demand. Page 1 Adeline Corridor pop-up event highlights public participation. Kim Ngoc Le. Workshops and tours identified issues important to residents. Page 6 Collaborative spatial problem solving for diverse

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APA California Conference 2015 Sustainability Sessions

The following is a selection of the main sustainability sessions at the Oakland Conference, including an informal pre-conference Sustainability Planning Meet-Up hosted by the Northern Section Sustainability Committee (Friday, Oct 2nd; see details below). FRI OCT 2 Sustainable Neighborhoods Pre-conference Meet-Up (5:30-8:30pm) hosted by the Northern Section Sustainability Committee and the Sustainable Communities Division Champion (http://bit.ly/1dtKarQ)

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Nature in the City — Recent Biophilic Planning Waves and the Deeper River

A recent post in the APA Sustainable Communities Division Newsletter (http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=0a196b8525f96edf44a4b3f53&id=50187e3c1b, e-Bulletin for 05/21/2015) included the following snippets of recent nature-in-the-city resources and events.   The larger movement these snippets represent is that of biophilic city planning and design being pioneered by, among others, the Biophilic Cities Network (launched October 2013, as the culmination of an

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