Designing on the edge: sustainable community design for Belvedere - Calgary's new edge community
Date
2008
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Similar to other North American cities, Calgary's urban development has been based primarily on the suburban model, with a rapidly expanding urban area over the past twenty years. Since 1981 Calgary's developed area has increased by fifty percent with a forty percent population increase. With such rapid population expansion , it is crucial for Calgary's development to become more sustainable in order to reduce growth pressures and outward land consumption. The purpose of this Masters Degree Project is to explore, compare and contrast different approaches of sustainable community design to develop recommendations for Belvedere, Calgary's new edge community. First, the paper explores and compares sustainable planning approaches. Second, recognized sustainable North American communities are explored to demonstrate examples of best practices and precedents of community planning. Third, Calgary's current planning documents, density objectives and vision of creating sustainable communities will be reviewed as they pertain to new greenfield developments. Based upon the research conducted, several planning policies are recommended for sustainable neighbourhood development was formulated as set of comprehensive guidelines for community development in Belvedere. The importance of considering urban development holistically is crucial in developing affective and efficient neighbourhoods. The recommendations recognize that the relationship between land use, transportation and urban design should be addressed at the community level within planning policies. With the creation of comprehensive recommendations for Belvedere, Calgary has the opportunity to develop in a more sustainable manner. emergence of various sustainable community planning policies including: Smart Growth, New Urbanism, Urban Villages and Green Development. Several communities across North America have incorporated sustainability policies using principles found within these approaches. Each community has their own unique characteristics demonstrating the evolution of principles over time imparts unique innovations, best practices and precedents for sustainable community design. The importance of considering urban development holistically is crucial in developing affective and efficient communities. With the creation of comprehensive recommendations for new greenfield edge communities, Calgary has the opportunity to develop in a more sustainable manner with features including higher density mixed-use developments, a range of housing types, transportation options and environmental preservation.
Description
Bibliography: p. 135-140
Some pages are in colour.
Some pages are in colour.
Keywords
Citation
Marcan, S. (2008). Designing on the edge: sustainable community design for Belvedere - Calgary's new edge community (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/2887