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Greening America's Communities: Advancing Sustainable Design Strategies. Birmingham, Alabama
Citation:
Bernagros, J., R. Moura, M. Maffeo, J. Gemmell, S. Goins, AND L. Havard. Greening America's Communities: Advancing Sustainable Design Strategies. Birmingham, Alabama. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-20/324, 2020.
Impact/Purpose:
The city of Birmingham requested assistance from EPA’s Office of Community Revitalization’s Greening America’s Communities program to assist in developing a concept master plan for a neighborhood park and community green space that incorporates solutions for green stormwater infrastructure and heat island mitigation. The concept master plan will be a building block for the City to provide an open space amenity that expands accessible outdoor recreation amenities, celebrates the civil rights heritage and community identity, addresses environmental challenges with innovative design solutions, and reverses the trend of disinvestment in the Collegeville Neighborhood. The overarching goals for designing the master plan included: 1) incorporating green infrastructure and 2) mitigating the urban heat island effect.
Description:
Greening America’s Communities is an EPA program, offered by the Office of Community Revitalization to help cities and towns develop an implementable vision of environmentally friendly neighborhoods that incorporate innovative green infrastructure and other sustainable design strategies. EPA provides design and technical assistance to help support sustainable communities that protect the environment, economy, and public health and to inspire local and state leaders to expand this work elsewhere. Greening America’s Communities helps communities consider ways to incorporate sustainable design strategies into their planning and development to create and enhance interesting, distinctive neighborhoods that have multiple social, economic, and environmental benefits. Birmingham, Alabama, was chosen in 2019 as one of four communities to receive this assistance along with Fort Hall, Idaho; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Bernalillo County, New Mexico. The city of Birmingham requested assistance from EPA’s Office of Community Revitalization’s Greening America’s Communities program to assist in developing a concept master plan for a neighborhood park and community green space that incorporates solutions for green stormwater infrastructure and heat island mitigation. The concept master plan will be a building block for the City to provide an open space amenity that expands accessible outdoor recreation amenities, celebrates the civil rights heritage and community identity, addresses environmental challenges with innovative design solutions, and reverses the trend of disinvestment in the Collegeville Neighborhood. The overarching goals for designing the master plan included: 1) incorporating green infrastructure and 2) mitigating the urban heat island effect.