Effective Sustainable Planning
Introduction
Sustainable planning is basically the efficient use of resources, which are human, natural, and technological to sustain current needs of a community as well as ensuring that these resources will continue to be effective to sustain the future needs. Over the past few years, sustainable planning has established support from several national and international organizations. Illinois is one of the states that have implemented programs in sustainable planning to resolve challenges in public transportation, energy conservation, recycling, natural hazard reduction, and other issues. In this essay, we will discuss the challenges that Chicago has dealt with in the past. We will also learn the effective sustainable planning that was implemented to resolve these challenges. In addition, we will learn the importance of each challenge to the urban population and the environment.
Sustainable Planning and Development Challenges
Currently, several communities in Chicago function in spite of the difficult challenges such as disinvestment and population decline. Latest census data for Chicago region shows the continuation of ineffective development pattern that described much of America during the later part of the 20th century. This pattern was defined as the digging out of several core areas surrounding the region and development around suburban ends. De-populated communities are now struggling in providing basic services to the neighborhood. Even new development in areas with stable markets turned out to be poorly planned, inefficient or uncoordinated.
With more than 200,000 citizens lost in the beginning of 2000, Chicago City has trailed its smallest population in 90 years. On the other hand, the most distant collar cities declared the highest increase in numbers in the state. The effects of this apparent migration of residents and resources are most-felt in the city’s low-earning areas, where over ten years of market and government failures have caused devastated land. In several neighborhoods in Chicago, population has dropped down to 70% from the peak era in 1950. These communities struggle with food deserts, foreclosure and the fading of sustaining anchor foundations. Although 284 municipalities in the city have the development ability to produce more sustainable areas, many regional leaders lack the perceptive, resources or conviction for substantive response. This challenge is essential to the urban population of Chicago because the ineffectiveness of this city’s municipal systems affect the quality of life for citizens, the environment’s integrity, and the competitiveness of communities for employment and natural resources.
Displacing of stormwater is another major challenge in Chicago. This region has bigger lots that have bigger buildings, which are unreceptive surfaces to shift stormwater and affects the regular water flow in many areas. These lots are impervious surface to displace solid waste, and lessen farmland for sustaining human needs. This challenge is very important to the sustainable planning in Chicago’s environment because if there is no stable place to carry out natural water flow, this may cause flood and contamination of water in the city. The city of Chicago has far too many places in and around it and still settle for obsolete policy or has no capability or strategic plan to guide and attract investment or remain flexible to social and economic changes. Without 284 sustainable neighborhoods, the city as a whole could become uncompetitive in the global marketplace.
Effective Sustainable Practices
Trust Support is an initiative that is established to pursue three unified outcomes of effective sustainable development, which are a natural environment of clean water, air and land, an accessible and high-quality environment that is built for affordable homes, and locally feasible economies that benefit all citizens. In the past few years, the Trust has carried the Bronzeville Retail Initiative, which helps to restore the formerly vibrant retail region of Chicago’s Bronzeville community. The initiative gives technical assistance to potential commercial investments along primary establishments, assists the beautification of corridors, and promotes land use policy, which aligns with the community’s interests in transportation and various developments.
The Trust also sustained the 606, which is an innovative and locally recognized 2.7 mile municipal park and trail development onto the superior and vacated Canadian Pacific Railway on the northwest side of Chicago. The 606 will provide much essential green space, recreation and bike lanes to its host neighborhood. Furthermore, the City of Blue Island in the south area is using Trust funding to apply the three strategies presented in the City of Blue Island Comprehensive Plan, which will promote economic vitality and transportation mobility in the city’s business district. Accomplished in 2012, the plan summarizes Blue Island’s mutual perception for sustainable development for the next 15-20 years and contains detailed performance actions to assist in achieving that perception.
The Village of Park Forest influenced its continued assistance from the Trust by reinforcing Growing Green, which is the official long-term sustainability agenda for the community. Growing Green produces the policy outline to deliver multimodal transportation to the neighborhood, promote the goal of purchasing the entire community’s electricity from sustainable sources, and engage residents and students in conservation activities such as community gardening. In September of 2013, the Growing Green and the Village of Park Forest won the Illinois Chapter of the U.S. Planning Association’s award in the community sustainability category (cct.org).
Many positive outcomes and awards from these initiatives were reported from various events in the United States. In a report from Building a Sustainable Region: Innovative methods from Metro Chicago’s global corporations, it was exactly stated how businesses in the city of Chicago are helping in making it one of the United States’ greenest cites. A regional report was produced to highlight the region’s unique sustainability management.
Chicago’s municipal mayor, Mayor Emanuel, released the environmental roadmap of Chicago that was named Sustainable Chicago 2015, which summarizes opportunities to make Chicago a more livable, healthier and more prosperous community. The mayor stated that, as Chicago continues to develop and evolve its environmental program, there is a big opportunity to produce quality jobs, improve their communities, and create a higher quality of life for their citizens. Mayor Emanuel also said that, these initiatives allow Chicago to target its environmental efforts on major goals, which will direct to economic development and higher opportunity for Chicago citizens. Since Mayor Emanuel was elected as mayor in 2011, he has accomplished many goals such as pledging that all new municipal buildings would be licensed as green under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or LEED program, assisted in securing development to wastewater treatment programs for the Chicago River, and launched maintenance of 900 miles of water pipes designed for stemming of wastewater strained from Lake Michigan.
Conclusion
Sustainable planning and development in Chicago experienced several challenges in the past years. Two of the major challenges were decrease of population and wastewater management. In order to recover the city’s dynamic community, the local government needed to focus on these challenges. As a result, Chicago successfully reclaimed its livable environment and now has many opportunities for investments, which will help in the city’s economy and will increase population and employment as well (chicagoclimateaction.org).
References
Chicago Climate Action Plan. (n.d.). Events | City of Chicago Climate Action Plan. Retrieved from http://www.chicagoclimateaction.org/pages/news___events/56.php
The Chicago Community Trust. (n.d.). www.cct.org | Our Region's Community Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.cct.org/apply/funding-priorities/sustainability/community-based-sustainable-development
