Page 555 - Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

524 Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

vision and incorporated four cornerstones of sustainable community
development:

l Inclusion: Creation of a Guidance Team (steering committee) that broadly
represented the community; discovering the community’s shared vision
through an inclusionary visioning process
l Long-term: Using a planning window of two generations, or 50 years
l Balancing and linking social, environmental, and economic aspirations of
the community in an intentional way
l Multidimensional: Creating multidimensional goals that would insure
sustainable outcomes
Under this model, the role of residents/citizens was to identify their shared,
desired future (vision); the role of elected and appointed officials then became
to help the community achieve their vision though targeted planning efforts
and the allocation of resources. The process was “grass roots, bottom-up,”
and resulted in greater ownership and buy-in from community residents who
could see their place in the development and implementation of the plan.
Examples of linkages, which are so critical to understanding and implementing
sustainability, are depicted in the Fig. 26.1
In 2002 Kent began the creation of the Kent Bicentennial Plan based on
the principles of sustainability (http://kentohio.org/reports/bicentennial.pdf).

Social/Environmental Environmental/Economic
Environmental Equity & Justice Energy Efficiency
Natural Resource Stewardship Environmental Renewable Energy
Environmental Literacy Natural & Built Subsidies & Incentives for Use of
Natural Resources Natural Resources
Environmental Management Green Infrastructure
Pollution Prevention Alternative Transportation
Biodiversity
Infrastructure
Transportation
SUSTAINABILITY
SWEET SPOT
Triple Bottom Line
Interconnected &
Balanced
Social Economic
Education Multidimensional
Profitability
Skills Entrepreneurship
Equal Opportunity Economic Growth
Civic Engagement Research &
Diversity Development
Volunteerism Full Employment
Vibrant Community Expanded Tax Base
Financial Capital
Economic/Social
Living Wage
Ethical Enterprise
Social Entrepreneurship
Philanthropy
Workers’ Rights
FIGURE 26.1 The three spheres of sustainability. Adapted from U.S. EPA Framework.