The Sustainable Megalopolis

It is beyond debate that America's metropolitan regions must successfully develop urban infill and transit-oriented mixed-use projects (TOD), despite the difficulties of "retrofitting" cities that have evolved without adequate public transit. MVE & Partners has a proud track record in designing urban TOD's, extending from Fruitvale Village and the McArthur BART stop in the Bay Area to Comm 22 in San Diego, and we look forward to the prospect of designing many more.

Yet, while quality urban development is imperative, the sheer magnitude of growth that America is anticipating makes it unlikely that infill development alone can accommodate the projected huge increases in population. The State of California Department of Finance estimates that the state's population will grow by six million in the next ten years. If all of these new residents want to live in city centers, infill development could neither be accomplished fast enough nor on an adequate scale to accommodate growth. The real world trials of infill development-land assembly, aging infrastructure, parking requirements, higher land development costs, regulatory constraints and comparatively weak school systems-are too daunting. Though out of favor today, building on the urban fringe is the only real world recourse.

In previous epochs, "building on the edges" earned a bad reputation. This was due, in part, to ineffectual regional and urban planning, and a mass production approach to meeting housing demand. Sprawl has produced environmental degradation, regional commuter misery and anomie, having developed endless homogenous housing tracts devoid of a strong sense of community. And yet, the affordable and more easily developed land still generally lies on the metropolitan edges.

Thus, we are compelled to develop along our urban fringe, but we must reverse the mistakes of the past. We are called to create livable, compact new mixed-use edge villages which are self-sufficient and sustainable, and have access to both open space and transit. We must continue to help job-creating enterprises to move into edge villages, so that commuting is reduced. We must master plan edge villages with diverse amenities and compelling "places" so that a sense of community flourishes.

To more fully establish distinct identities and a sense of self-determination, it may be that edge villages need to be recognized as a new or different type of political district. Ultimately, it will be the consumer and voter who determine the fate of regional development, and here the news is interesting: Lifestyle preference research suggests that a majority of people prefer life in a village, or even suburbia, to infill or TOD living - after all, the postwar exodus to the suburbs from central cores was largely volitional. Despite its numerous drawbacks, suburbia still resonates with family life.

As architects, planners, developers and builders, we must continually reaffirm that wherever people live, it is both good planning and good business to create vital mixed-use communities. We should make all development sustainable, from city TOD to edge village. Properly designed, responsibly built edge villages that provide a framework for transportation mobility, green infrastructure, and a range of lifestyle choices may offer a healthy solution to metropolitan regions that must accommodate dramatic growth demands, while improving the quality of life.