Smart Neighbourhoods

Sector:

Land Use [1]

Transportation [2]

Tool:

Project [3]

Focus:

Community-wide [4]

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what

A Catalyst for Sustainable Practices

Smart Neighbourhoods are designed to be efficient, healthy and economical places to live, work, shop and play. They help cut GHG emissions primarily through a reduction in car trips – up to 40 % less compared to a typical suburban neighbourhood. [1] Additional benefits are that Smart Neighbourhoods increase residents’ health and quality of life. A successful Smart Neighbourhood can act as a catalyst for community support for further widespread adoption of more sustainable practices.

Building Smart Neighborhoods is not new in British Columbia, and many communities have retained complete, compact pedestrian-friendly neighbourhoods, such as in Nelson, Fernie, Revelstoke and Ladysmith, as well as a number of neighborhoods in Metro Vancouver and Greater Victoria. For much of the last 50 years, however, we have moved away from creating compact neighbourhoods. Smart Neighborhoods incorporate “neo-traditional” neighbourhood design elements, along with new ones that take advantage of energy and environmental innovations.

Smart Neighbourhoods exhibit all or some of the following characteristics, including:

Compact and complete, characterized by higher densities and a mix of uses
Central location, with clustering of employment, retail, residential, and other activities and uses
Accessible, multimodal transportation, allowing people to get around easily on foot, bicycle and transit
Green networks, integrating landscaping, green roofs, street boulevards, parks, and environmentally sensitive areas
Green buildings
Reduced energy and resource use, based on district energy and efficient infrastructure
Diverse housing options, accommodating people of all ages and walks of life
Economic viability, ensuring the long-term resilience of developer, town, and residents

[Use the tab above to learn HOW to reduce emissions with this tool.]

[1] Ewing, R., K. Bartholomew, S. Winkelman, J. Walters, and D. Chen, 2008. Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change. Urban Land Institute, 4.

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how

How to Foster Smart Neighbourhood Development in your Community

Smart Neighbourhoods may be encouraged at a number of scales and locations:

New neighbourhood developments: Encourage sustainable practices, e.g. through the use of the LEED ND standard, development checklists, and/or local government-led OCP sub-area planning processes.
Greyfield and brownfield redevelopment: Redevelopment of malls and ex-industrial sites.
Infill and redevelopment: Encouragement of small-scale, lot-by-lot development, either by filling in empty spaces or by redevelopment of existing buildings.

Fostering Smart Neighbourhoods involves overcoming a number of barriers. Key strategies include:

Working with the development community to facilitate financing for redevelopment in desired locations and with a mix of uses;
Engaging openly with the public to explore the benefits of Smart Neighbourhoods, as well as the potential pitfalls, and to identify where and how the community wishes to proceed; and
Removing regulations that prohibit appropriate mixes of uses, pedestrian-friendly street design, etc.

Typical tools include:

OCP policies [6]
Zoning [7], parking and landscaping regulations
Development Permit Area Guidelines [8]; and
Subdivision, Development & Servicing Bylaws and Standards.

Examples of actions include:

OCP amendments to encourage redevelopment of greyfield sites, e.g. through density bonus provisions [9]
Revise zoning to allow small-scale redevelopment and intensification of use along and near main streets
Revise development standards to allow and/or encourage narrow streets, mews and shared streets, and to support Complete Streets principles
Implement parking strategies
Develop green network plans that integrate public parks, street design, and private landscaping regulations and voluntary programs to enrich the landscape

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