Urban land use policy in an era of climate change and peak oil

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Urban land use policy in an era of climate change
and peak oil

• by j. brush, with TLC Farm ReCode Portland
• Facing climate change and peak oil, we must
• Reduce energy footprint
• Increase food, water, energy security
• Increase habitat function
• But how?

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Energy footprint

• Energy production consumption
• low-carbon renewables and conservation
• Transportation
• decrease overall transit, increase public
• Food production distribution
• local organic small
• Buildings (embodied heating/cooling)
• more efficient designs/materials/reuse
• greater use per square feet

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Food, water, energy security

• Decentralize!
• transmission systems are inefficient vulnerable
• local food, rainwater harvesting
• Build agriculture into urban fabric
• reduce regional burden
• increase city dwellers' appreciation for seasonal
  food
• Increase food biodiversity
• prepare for change!

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Habitat function

• People must recognize interdependence
• education, experience of ecology in cities
• Habitat everywhere!
• both public and private land
• nooks and crannies
• corridors
• Integrate agriculture and habitat
• link food forests with canopy cover, etc.

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Let's rethink density!

• Traditional density assumptions
• Highest and best use big, blocky buildings
• Sacrifice habitat, farms, green space (infill)
• Euclidean single-use zoning
• A permacultural approach
• density of relationships and multiple uses
• integrate human non-human habitat
• decentralized, adaptive, people-powered zoning

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How does this help?

• Multiple, mid-density uses achieve
• higher net density of use
• more complex relationships synergy
• community skills, neighborliness, rootedness
• greater connection with nature, food, etc.
• more responsive to change adaptivity
• mix of uses can change much more quickly
• more human-scale interactions livability
• aesthetic, ecological, and health values improve

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How do we get there?

• Duelling approaches laissez-faire vs.
  prescriptive
• Another role for government facilitate people to
  innovate, assess, and change
• grassroots, community-based decision and action
  builds movement
• transfer power from top to bottom (greater
  capacity)
• engage deeper responsibility

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Process example TLC Farm

• 1000s involved in choice vs. subdivision
• Multiple use lab
• residential
• educational
• agricultural
• ecological
• commercial
• recreational

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Process example ReCode

• Brings grassroots energy into process
• more direct knowledge of on-ground needs
• balances profit-orientation of green industry
• greater capacity to act, long-term focus
• Convenes multiple stakeholders to seek solutions
• Links all aspects
• land use, building codes, waste codes, etc.
• best practices, regulatory RD, lobbying, etc.

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Policy example ecovillage zone

• Incremental step to performance zoning
• (Almost) any use allowed, high sustainability
  performance standard
• Neighborhood is locus of review
• emphasizes community organizing
• increases buy-in, experience, responsibility
• allow option for legwork (review, monitoring,
  etc.) to be done by community organizations
• financially accessible to all

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Policy example food forest habitat easements

• The vast majority of urban land is private
• Habitat agriculture are often seen as exclusive
  of residential/commercial use
• Food forest habitat easements
• city pays for initial permaculture design,
  install and upkeep
• city (trust) receives easement in perpetuity
• owner community receive food and wildlife
  benefits
• builds local food habitat industries

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Policy example efficiency per capita

• Current energy efficiency measures are generally
  per square foot
• prefers new construction (embodied energy
  ignored)
• prefers wealthy, inefficient users
• Measure efficiency by user-hour
• prefers multiple uses
• prefers denser uses
• relatively less preference for new buildings

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Policy example shared housing

• Denser reuse of existing housing is crucial
• older houses were built for larger families
• equity, ecological, economic benefits
• Hard for shared users to get loans
• Density-linked mortgage assistance
• guarantee loans, help with down payments
• both families unrelated adults benefit
• integrate seniors and households
• remodel for more shared, less private space

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Conclusion

• Density should mean polyculture
• Connect people
• with each other
• with nature
• Regulatory review can be
• cheap popular
• decentralized movement-building
• educational experimental
• Liberate the commons!