Building Quality Public Facilities For A Sustainable Development Of Healthy Communities

This report will consist of the effects of urban growth and suburbanisation in Blacktown and the implications for future government planning to aid these issues.

When a neighborhood is gentrified it will not only change the image of it, but also the services available there (Al-Kodmany 2011, 62-63). In other words, gentrification does not only have an impact on the physical aspect of the land, but also the resources that lie there. During the 90s, the Near West Side neighborhood located near Loop, an up-scale neighborhood, sought drastic changes within the area. The changes in racial demographics in the Near West Side indicated that the health risks that affected minorities dropped in the past decade (1992-2002) (Al-Kodmany 2011,

The importance of conserving the initial attraction that gave people a reason to visit the area is critical to its identity. Whether it is a run-down factory or abandoned home, the fact that a structure plays a meaningful role in supporting individuals in their times of hardship gives its standing a more compelling value. Nonetheless, the alternative means to improve a community would be to repurpose neglected buildings, by merely restoring them and giving them back to the community, where everybody could use them. An instance of spaces given back to a neighborhood is the use of urban farms in run-down Chicago neighborhoods. The purpose of an urban farm is to allow the community to work collaboratively and produce agriculture, which is also beneficial in providing a source of food for those in need. Additionally, the urban farms serve the purpose of allowing youths to voluntarily keep themselves busy planting fruits and vegetables, while also avoiding the violence that takes place on the

This image shows the development as of 2011. There is a significant amount of development, with a retirement village, residential area, roads, a display village and a biodiversity pond, making it multi-faceted compared to what it was before.

“Not in my back yard” (NIMBY) has reached a point in some communities where it’s difficult to put community facilities anywhere. Some cities are responding by encouraging nursing home construction in specific residential areas based upon density bonuses. Density bonuses are granted for projects in which the developer agrees to include a certain number of affordable housing units. For every one unit of affordable housing a developer agrees to build, there’s a greater number of market rate units. Density bonuses vary from project to project.

The growth of the County is detailed through several planning elements: demographics, population needs, housing, economic development, environment, community character, parks and recreation, public facilities, transportation, land use. Many goals include, a focus to establish a sustainable long-term supply of water systems, an improvement of infrastructure, facilities, and simultaneously modernize with technological systems. Other initiatives include the establishment of mixed-use development, and several land-use surveys for future schools road projects. The economic development goal is to expand and diversify the economy by making the County more business-friendly. Another goal is the concern for the overall aesthetics of the County such as tree standards, open space development, and redevelopment of underutilized property. Other population needs include the modernization of public services including parks, sport complexes, but also services to the elderly, disabled, and low income citizens (James City County,

In the communities I grew up in, there were frequent changing circumstances that actually left my family not really as part of the community. From dingy, cheap and tiny places for rent, there has been significant points brought to the attention of the reader in this book that could attribute to the failure and success of neighborhoods. In Suburban Nation, the opening pages give a lot of insight on the issues that can come from these big and fancy, new housing developments.

Baltimore is no different than any other metropolitan city trying to close the gap between its resources and meeting the needs of the city. In past years the city’s major source of resources came from state and federal funding to finance projects such as road improvements. Because the increasing economic stress has begun to diminish the

A junior in Brownsboro High School, Ashley Dixon was asked an important question, “What improvement would you like to see in Brownsboro/Chandler.” In receiving this question, Dixon pondered for a while and gave her response : “ I would like to see more places to eat, more areas of entertainment, and new schools hopefully soon.” However, she added, “the only issue is that they would have to raise the taxes, and find some investors, but overall, it would make the lifestyle here more entertaining. We would also expand the area and hopefully attract more people into town.” Altogether, Dixon just wants the best for her hometown, her family and her peers.

Communities that are becoming more gentrified have already seen an improvement of life, and positive lasting changes in those communities. Patrick Gillespie

While the plan appears to be thorough and complete, this very characteristic may also prove to be a weakness. As sustainable technologies and even planning methodologies improve, a plan as cohesive as the current Portland Plan may leave little breathing room to accommodate the integration of future improvements without large investments and comprehensive re-planning. In addition, plans as comprehensive as this one is tend to leave less room for the creative expression, which adds diversity and charm to the cities neighborhoods. In terms of raw efficiency, the choice to make this plan a joint effort between the city government and the citizens themselves, though a noble cause, can cause each step to take much longer, and even the delay of the project in its entirety due to the volatility of entire populations. One final risk of the plan, is the risk associated with time. As any program needs money to continue on, people must continue to vote for the Portland Plan’s various programs over the years in order for them to maintain funding, so that they may continue bringing about the sustainable Portland as exists within the plan. The plan is to take place over 25-years, over the course of which any number of variables may change. The issue is things may change over the course of those 25-years, that could cause people to lose support for the plans various programs. Likewise, over

In today’s society, it may seem that gentrification can eliminate poverty and increase neighborhood opportunities. Low-income residents and property owners will be the first to be altered by gentrification. In an email to the editor at the Atlantic, Freeman, the director of the Urban Planning program at Columbia states “ Gentrification brings new amenities and services that benefit not only the newcomers but long term residents too. Full service

A sustainable city is when harmony is reached between the environment, economy and society. Environmentally, sustainable cities are ecologically friendly by using alternative sources of energy such as solar or wind power. Economically, governments should share a similar decision-making process with institutions and with the public by having a common belief in what should be done by improving sustainability. Sorensen, Marcotullio, and Grant (2004), find that a good decision making process consists of planning and control at the municipal and national political levels which would allow local level functions to become reinforced. Socially, sustainable cities are classless, meaning that there are no social divisions which serve as limits; leading to a more equal society. One of the many ideas would be using mixed housing to remove the class divisions between people. Also, city streets would be walkable, with businesses and services located at close proximity to promote a healthier lifestyle and serve as an alternative to using cars for transportation. The writers differ in their analysis when examining the approaches to improving sustainability in cities. This section will analyze four important ideas on how cities can become more sustainable.

Perhaps the most definitive example of New Urbanism has been DPZ's project, Kentlands, a 352-acre community in Gaithersburg, Maryland begun in 1990. An oasis of good planning in a sea of suburbia, it is not only a model of Traditional Neighborhood Design (TND) but also the predecessor to many other such neighborhoods developed within CSD areas. In Kentlands, much like Seaside, the Citizens' Assembly runs a recreation center and provides for common maintenance of public areas. Civic buildings and shopping in mixed-use buildings are within walking distance of the development's six architecturally distinct neighborhoods. This compact design reduces auto traffic significantly, allows children to go about their daily business without requiring a mother chauffeur and puts workplaces near their employees.5

This topic is very significant because over the past several decades, urban and neighborhood planners have strayed away from green spaces throughout their projects. Green spaces encourage interaction among citizens as well as improving the environment in the vicinity. In this divisive political climate, it is almost necessary to provide areas where families and individuals can come together and enjoy a less stressful environment.