This is a massive and comprehensive handbook that is remarkable in a couple of ways. First, it is a family affair: the authors are apparently married (yes, to each other), and their son Ethan did many of the graphics for the book. Second, it is a refreshing and useful piece of work at a time when it seems like there is relatively little good news in this field coming out of the US.
Published by the American Planning Association, this handbook is intended for public sector planners, private planning consultants, developers, politicians, environmentalists, concerned citizens, and students. It is divided into six parts: the environmental planning process, planning for sustainable public health, planning for natural areas, planning for working landscapes, planning for the built environment, and environmental planning challenges at home (i.e., the US) and abroad. Within these sections are 20 chapters dealing with the usual array of local environmental concerns, e.g., water supply and quality, air quality, waste management, wildlife habitat, wetlands, coastal zones, natural hazards and disasters, farmland and ranchland, forestry, mining, transportation, energy, and the built environment.
This is a tremendously useful sourcebook if you are working in the US or need to understand environmental planning issues in a US context. Chapter 2 in particular explains the legal, economic, ethical and ecological foundations of US environmental planning, e.g., how the 5th, 10th and 14th Amendments to the US Constitution form the legal framework for environmental and land use laws.
The authors contend that traditional comprehensive land use planning does not adequately address many environmental issues. Their hope is that sustainability can become a guiding principle for communities and regions as they undertake environmental planning.
From a non-US perspective, the book is most interesting toward the end when the authors address "positive trends and urgent needs" for sustainable environmental planning. While the positive trends they cite are familiar and relatively well accepted (e.g., investing in green infrastructure), some of the urgent needs are more controversial, starting with limits on population growth: "does the right to free travel [i.e., the 14th Amendment right of Americans to travel freely] give us the right to exceed carrying capacity?" They then go on to advocate a national population policy. Regarding regional planning, they argue that special districts and authorities and the land use planning activities of local governments should ideally be combined into a single, democratically elected regional government (e.g., Metro Portland, Oregon).
The authors also argue for reforming or eliminating the property tax to fund education and local government, since a progressive, state-wide income tax combined with user fees (e.g., on garbage collection, sewer, and water supply) could significantly reduce the pressures on local governments to approve inappropriate developments. Federally, the US mortgage interest deduction encourages low-density sprawl since people buy as much house as possible to maximize the deduction, so a cap on that deduction would tend to encourage more compact development. A national returnable container bill would be a quick, uniform and fair way to encourage Americans to recycle more than the 25% of their trash they do now (the percentage varies considerably from state to state).
In concluding, the authors maintain that sustainability is a balance between economic growth, environmental protection, and social harmony, and this balance requires cooperation among five main interests: 1) landowners must be committed to the stewardship of their land and its productive and environmentally sound use; 2) developers must be committed to building well-designed projects in the right locations, according to adopted planning standards; 3) lending institutions must finance well-designed and properly located commercial and residential developments, especially mixed-use; 4) elected officials must have the political will to support the comprehensive planning process, implement ordinances, and make strategic investments in both traditional and "green" infrastructure; and 5) the public must participate in the planning process and be committed to electing officials who support sustainable growth and environmental protection.
Available only in hardcover at US $74.95, The Environmental Planning Handbook may be a bit pricey for many personal libraries, but is a welcome reference for institutional and community libraries and for those working in US environmental planning.
Reviewed by Mark Roseland, Director, Centre for Sustainable Community Development and Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada
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