Changing the Paradigm

We're victims of several decades of irresponsible sprawl patterned development, meaning that we've pushed the boundaries of our cities and towns as far back as possible, guzzling up land without a second though. Placing structures, roads, and the general infrastructure needed to create new settlements without a comprehensive strategy that greatly considers ecological factors has proven to be problematic.

Of course, when it comes to creating a new building, ecological factors are evaluated prior to construction. For instance soil stability, fault lines, wind patterns, noise pollution, amongst many other factors are investigated. But, what about the regional impact of repeated, isolated evaluations?

City planners and civil engineers don't forfeit a vision of what they want the future to look like, their practices consider many potential implications of their development choices and aim to fulfill people's needs to both live and thrive. However, critical loss of functional ecosystem services due to these impacts of urban development can neglect to consider the regional environmental impact. A pattern that is routinely placed over areas, despite its relationship and impact on a broader provincial area, will lead to increased car traffic on arterial roads, greater pollution, increased health problems (exacerbated by car dependency and pollution), and more money coming from the tax payer's pocket, due to the cost of wide expansion. In tandem with land use and other implications of suburban sprawl, the over arching threat of human induced climate change needs to be considered when proposing new developments.

Suburbia may seem like a dream, but when you factor in its alluvial impact on the nearby region it, its cost can be deadly.  Due to a lack of consideration regarding wildlife habitat, species migration, and deforestation, amongst other things, negative ripples in the environment are nothing to take lightly.
Equal consideration needs to be given to both ecological characteristics of an area, as well as the amenities and infrastructure that humans are dependent one.





We need to "degreenify" the environmental movement, we need to make it normal and second nature in how our society functions. 













In an effort to repair some of the detriments of suburban sprawl, the greatest thing that needs to be constructed differently is transportation accessibility. The current layout of these common neighborhoods developments depend solely on cars for access and mobility. Generally there is a city bus system located near the neighborhood's boundary and freeway access, although it can alleviate congestion by decreasing the number of cars on the road, it doesn't do much by means of altering the development pattern. The implementation of light rail transit or a subway system that connect a satellite community to a more dense metropolitan center will reduce traffic, mitigate air pollution, and create greater commuter efficiency. These areas that connect suburban areas to transit will also help create miniature nodes of commercial activity, which will enhance the local economy by creating greater economic development and job opportunities in the area.

While the pattern of suburban growth doesn't fully encompass sustainability, new community guidelines and standards can help people embrace greener criteria for their homes and communities. Creating strict, and well known guidelines around community development in an environmentally friendly way will impact people to see that it isn't impossible to think and act with the Earth in mind.

While ecological sensibility in design of new structures and development plans may seem extravagant, useless, and a waste of time and energy, the longterm cost effectiveness, greater resiliency to environmental turbulence, and benefits to human will likely change peoples' minds. Adherence to Green Community standards will likely play a large role in our ability to adapt to climate change and reduce our impact on future generations.