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Smart Growth Planning for Climate Protection

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  • Elisa Barbour
  • Elizabeth Deakin

Abstract

Problem: To help achieve climate policy goals, California recently adopted measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by promoting more efficient development. One policy, Senate Bill (SB) 375, gained widespread attention as “the nation's first law to combat greenhouse gas emissions by reducing sprawl” (Office of the Governor of California, 2008). What does experience to date indicate about the effectiveness of California's institutional model for achieving GHG reductions from transportation and land use? Purpose: SB 375, adopted in 2008, requires California's urban regions to achieve mandated GHG reductions through coordinated transportation and land use. After its passage, the California Air Resources Board moderated a lively, contentious negotiation process with the state's 18 Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) to define potential GHG reductions and assign the mandated targets. We evaluate progress toward achieving SB 375 goals, analyzing the target-setting process and local government engagement. We assess the viability of California's largely voluntary model for achieving climate goals through smart growth. Methods: We consider the two-year-long SB 375 target-setting process as an exercise in institution building, creating new planning requirements that build on existing regional processes but also require the development of new techniques for systematically evaluating policy options and assigning regional responsibility. We evaluate MPO data on the potential of various smart growth policy options for reducing GHGs, and consider the activities and perspective of local planners by incorporating findings from surveys and interviews. Results and conclusions: SB 375 demonstrates that regional smart growth climate policy can be built on existing planning processes, particularly for transportation and associated air quality requirements. However, regional and local planners express concerns about inadequate resources for implementation. Without strong state or federal mandates or incentives that favor the policy outcomes envisioned in SB 375, the law expects more from MPOs than they can easily accomplish. As executed so far, SB 375 adds only a modest contribution to state efforts to reduce GHGs by 2020. At the local level, we document a sharp rise in climate policymaking, but also gaps between regional and local assessment and mitigation strategies. Takeaway for practice: It is possible to systematize collaborative climate goal setting for development planning across regions, but negotiating fair share responsibilities is inherently political and requires strong institutions in order to succeed. Effective smart growth climate planning requires matching responsibility and authority with incentives that integrate state, regional, and local needs and responsibilities; tough performance mandates and/or strong incentives are needed to bridge the traditional regional–local divide. To reinforce climate policy through local environmental review, requirements must be linked to regional plans; otherwise, project-by-project mitigation may work at cross-purposes with wider strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Elisa Barbour & Elizabeth Deakin, 2012. "Smart Growth Planning for Climate Protection," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 78(1), pages 70-86.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:rjpaxx:v:78:y:2012:i:1:p:70-86
    DOI: 10.1080/01944363.2011.645272
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    Cited by:

    1. Kim, Jae Hong & Li, Xiangyu, 2021. "Building more housing near transit: A spatial analysis of residential densification dynamics," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 15-24.
    2. Su, Rongxiang & Xiao, Jingyi & McBride, Elizabeth C. & Goulias, Konstadinos G., 2021. "Understanding senior's daily mobility patterns in California using human mobility motifs," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    3. Steven Spears & Marlon G Boarnet & Douglas Houston, 2017. "Driving reduction after the introduction of light rail transit: Evidence from an experimental-control group evaluation of the Los Angeles Expo Line," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(12), pages 2780-2799, September.
    4. Soyoung Kim & Woo-Je Kim & Richard Clark Feiock, 2021. "An Item Response Theory Model of Inter-Regional Collaboration for Transportation Planning in the United States," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-15, September.
    5. Douglas Houston & Marlon G Boarnet & Gavin Ferguson & Steven Spears, 2015. "Can compact rail transit corridors transform the automobile city? Planning for more sustainable travel in Los Angeles," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 52(5), pages 938-959, April.
    6. Andrew McMillan & Sugie Lee, 2017. "Smart growth characteristics and the spatial pattern of multifamily housing in US metropolitan areas," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(15), pages 3500-3523, November.
    7. Marsden, Greg & Mullen, Caroline & Bache, Ian & Bartle, Ian & Flinders, Matt, 2014. "Carbon reduction and travel behaviour: Discourses, disputes and contradictions in governance," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 71-78.
    8. John H. Armstrong & Sheldon Kamieniecki, 2017. "Strategic Adaptive Governance and Climate Change: Policymaking during Extreme Political Upheaval," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-19, July.
    9. Shorna B. Allred & Allison M. Chatrchyan & Giorgi Tsintsadze, 2022. "Local municipal capacity for climate change action in New York State: Exploring the urban–rural divide," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 39(5), pages 570-601, September.
    10. Gabbe, C.J., 2019. "Local regulatory responses during a regional housing shortage: An analysis of rezonings in Silicon Valley," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 79-87.
    11. Bev Wilson & Arnab Chakraborty, 2013. "The Environmental Impacts of Sprawl: Emergent Themes from the Past Decade of Planning Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(8), pages 1-26, August.
    12. Volker, Jamey M B, 2020. "Exploring the Changing Faces of Housing Development and Demand in California: Millennials, Casitas, and Reducing VMT," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt6p94s5mc, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    13. Sciara , Gian-Claudia & Handy, Susan, 2013. "Cultivating Cooperation without Control: A Study of California’s MPO-Driven Smart Growth Programs," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt1xq050ts, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    14. Karner, Alex, 2016. "Planning for transportation equity in small regions: Towards meaningful performance assessment," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 46-54.
    15. David G Proffitt & Keith Bartholomew & Reid Ewing & Harvey J Miller, 2019. "Accessibility planning in American metropolitan areas: Are we there yet?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(1), pages 167-192, January.
    16. Karen Trapenberg Frick & David Weinzimmer & Paul Waddell, 2015. "The politics of sustainable development opposition: State legislative efforts to stop the United Nation’s Agenda 21 in the United States," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 52(2), pages 209-232, February.
    17. Heyer, Johanna & Palm, Matthew & Niemeier, Deb, 2020. "Are we keeping up? Accessibility, equity and air quality in regional planning," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    18. Sciara, Gian-Claudia & Strand, Sarah, 2017. "When Do Local Governments Regulate Land Use to Serve Regional Goals? Results of a Survey Tracking Land Use Changes that Support Sustainable Mobility," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt0qr4350c, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.

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