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Development Wthout Environmental Compromise
Citation:
HANSEN, V. E. Development Wthout Environmental Compromise. Presented at Senior Design Class at Miami University, Oxford, OH, February 22, 2011.
Impact/Purpose:
To discuss how environmental qualities can be used as criteria in the planning/design process so that it will be possible to plan and develop the built environment to meet human objectives and maintain intact and functioning natural systems, and provide some assurance that humanity will be able to remain and adapt in place.
Description:
Disturbances to environmental structures and functions are among the greatest long term threats to human life. Some of thse disturbances are natural and beyond human control; whereas others are the product of land use change to meet human objectives. Although incrementally these impacts may be small, cumulatively they can compromise the natural systems that sustain human life. Current efforts to address the impacts of development exist in smart growth programs. Programs such as LEED, Green Globes Initiative, New Urbanism, and the Sustainable Sites Initiative ask that our decisions be made so as to minimize environmental impacts. However, disturbances to environmental systems and functional relationships are not considered and these cumulative impacts could severely compromise ecosystem services that sustain human life. Whereas people will not be able to completely avoid any alteration in the natural ecosystem, they can order their activities so as to avoid serious decrease in environmental quality. If we know approximately what these environmental qualities are, these qualities can be used as criteria in the planning/design process making it possible to plan and develop the built environment to meet human objectives and maintain intact and functioning natural systems; and thus provide some assurance that humanity will be able to remain and adapt in place.