Current Housing Provision
2.4 Planning
such as place, health and happiness, equity, and beauty. Unlike other standards, the Living Building Challenge aims to be a regenerative per- formance, requiring the building to do more than just meet net-zero. For example, the Living Building Challenge requires dwellings to meet 105%
of their energy needs through renewable sources. It also goes beyond the technical focus of the building to include how the building adds value to the occupants and surroundings. These voluntary tools have had varying success but are increasing in popularity around the world, especially regarding shifting the focus to improving health and well-being for occupants.
creates area-wide policy plans that map general policy districts such as conservation, rural, or urban areas. It also creates communitywide land use design plans and is responsible for small-area plans such as transpor- tation corridors, business districts, and neighbourhoods. Statutory plan- ning is responsible for land use regulations, zoning, density, residential growth boundaries, and planning approvals and permits. There are sev- eral mechanisms employed by governments and urban planning depart- ments to control land use. These include zoning, development controls, design guidelines, and building codes, among others.
Zoning is a system for developing various geographic areas that are restricted to certain uses and development. It is a tool for governments and urban planning departments to guide future developments and to protect areas and people. While the exact terms differ around the world, common zones include industrial, commercial (retail and office), agricul- tural, residential, mixed use, parks, and schools. Within each category of zones, each city will provide further definitions and restrictions. For example, in the City of Vancouver, housing can occur in several different zoning districts such as multiple dwelling districts, two-family dwelling districts, one-family districts, as well as in other areas such as comprehen- sive development districts, historic area districts, and light industrial dis- tricts. In addition to zoning, other approaches include subdivision regulations, which are used to convert land for greenfield suburban devel- opments; tax and fee systems, including development contributions, which are employed to generate revenues needed to provide certain ser- vices or for infrastructure improvements; geographic restraints (growth boundaries) that control growth and limit development in specific geo- graphic areas; and official mapping which provides the public with maps of proposed future facilities and their locations.
Architectural or urban design reviews are another method to control land use and the type and appearance of developments. Some jurisdic- tions have an urban design panel made of design professionals who advise the local government about development proposals or policies, including major development applications, rezoning applications, and other proj- ects of public interest. Another instrument is design guidelines which are illustrated design rules and requirements that provide either prescriptions or strategies on the physical development of an area. Design guidelines
have been successful in delivering a range of benefits, for instance, ‘qual- ity, certainty, coordination, land and property values’ [88, p. 276]. These design guidelines go beyond the performance and design requirements found within building code requirements.
Planning operates within a multi-level governance context. In Canada, planning is a provincial matter but provinces defer their responsibilities to local governments. Provincial governments provide legislation and frameworks for how planning and associated activities must be carried out, as well as the structures for voluntary agreements with local govern- ments. Whereas, in Australia, the state governments retain more control over planning with local governments responsible for implementing poli- cies. In the USA, planning is mostly a local government exercise with literately thousands of different planning systems across the country.
These governance contexts are even more complex with the addition of different systems such as building codes. For example, buildings codes fall under provincial/state jurisdiction in Canada and the USA, but national jurisdiction in Australia.
In different jurisdictions, the planning system has been used to inter- vene at the provincial/state and local level due to the limited ability to improve sustainability through the building code. In the state of Victoria (Australia), a number of local governments have had the Local Planning Policy Clause 22.05 Environmentally Sustainable Design incorporated into their planning scheme with approval from the state government. This clause allows local government to embed sustainability requirements into local planning policies. Most local governments have required planning applications be accompanied by a Built Environment Sustainability Scorecard which was designed to support the Sustainable Design Assessment in the Planning Process.
In British Columbia (Canada), the provincial government launched the B.C. Climate Action Charter in 2007; since then, the majority of local governments have signed on. Under the Charter, signatories com- mit to becoming carbon neutral in their cooperate operations; measuring and reporting their community’s greenhouse gas emissions; and creating complete, compact, and more energy efficient communities. Local gov- ernments and planning departments use their Official Community Plans (strategic planning document) and tools such as Development Permit
Areas for Climate Action, which are designated areas for the purposes of supporting climate action through energy or water conservation and greenhouse gas emissions reductions, to ensure that planning decisions lead to more sustainable housing outcomes. Building examples include improved siting of building to capture solar energy, the provision of deep overhangs for shade, and the inclusion of rainwater collection systems or geothermal systems.
What can be seen from these examples is that the planning system in many jurisdictions can play a critical role in the provision of sustainable housing (new and existing), and where building codes fall short, plan- ning requirements can push for improved outcomes. The planning sys- tem is especially important for addressing sustainability beyond the individual dwelling level, which is typically not considered within build- ing codes, or by individual dwelling owners. Given the challenge in tran- sitioning to a low carbon future, improvements will need to come at different scales, which will be discussed further in Chap. 3.