Planners, Meet Science
Credit: alykat
A couple of weeks ago I registered for the 2009 World Town Planning Day Online Conference, with the theme “resilience in a changing climate.” Through the conference I had the opportunity to learn how both developed and developing countries around the world are creating unique planning, scientist and community partnerships to create developments and retrofit structures and spaces to combat and adapt to climate change. Phil Hill, a geologist from Natural Resources Canada, along with other scientists around the world, believes that there is enough evidence to suggest that the climate of our planet is changing and that now is the time to plan for it. During the first session of the World Town Planning Day Online Conference, held in mid-November, Hill spoke to a few dozen attendees about the importance of strengthening the relationship between scientists and planners to shape planning policy to encourage green house gas mitigation and the adaptation of human settlements to climate change.
“Science gives us a range of possible futures, not a prediction,” Hill explained during his presentation. In his virtual presentation, he outlined how climate change models work. There are ranges of assumptions that must be made to create the models, Hill explained, but even in the most optimistic modeling scenarios, where for example humans are able to create carbon-neutral settlements, there are increased global temperatures and sea levels. Hill mentioned that the actual increase in sea levels has been even higher than projected in some models, because the older projections did not take into account what Hill describes as an “elephant in the closet”—the melting ice sheets.
Hill believes that it is time for planners to take over from scientists in advocating climate change policies. Planners, he argued, can play an important role in developing and advocating plans that slow down the effects of green house gases and adapt human settlements to changing climates. Through mitigation, planners can try to limit climate change by promoting efficient land use, low carbon infrastructure and energy strategies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In a second approach, adaptation, planners and policymakers adjust human settlements to weather predicted changes. (A current BBC documentary series entitled Hot Cities highlights how regions around the world have been adapting to climate change.)
Canada has been bringing the science of climate change to planners for a few years now. In 2007, the Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP), with support from various other organizations, developed and launched a Climate Change Program. The CIP has also adopted a climate change policy that outlines how Canadian planners can help “human settlements to adapt.” For example, as the capacity for places to adapt will be unevenly distributed between different regions and populations within Canada (and the world), the policy calls for partnerships to be developed. This is the case in some of the Artic communities of Canada.
Planners by nature deal with ambiguity and potential futures, Hill said, but he said they can “deal with uncertainty through risk management.” He urged planners to “use expert judgment to monitor [the impact of these climate initiative plans] over time.” With the help of planners, he said, scientists can improve and reflect on climate projections and continue to educate others on natural and unnatural climate cycles.
The organizations involved in the 2009 World Town Planning Day Conference Online are the American Planning Association’s International Division, the Commonwealth Association of Planners, the Canadian Institute of Planners, the European Council of Spatial Planners, the International Federation for Housing and Planning, the New Zealand Planning Institute, the Planning Institute of Australia, and the Royal Town Planning Institute of the United Kingdom.
Sticking It to the Car
katienorth in Seattle on Thu, Dec 03, 2009 at 1:16pm
This sounds like a great idea, but how can we really implement it? There’s a department of sustainable development planners in my city and we try to encourage more sustainable development through our Comprehensive Plan & statewide Growth Management Act, but on a day-to-day or even annual basis, what else can we do? Our city can barely scrape together the cash to get data to measure housing affordability. HYow can we really measure carbon emissions or other aspects of climate change and use the land use code and other planning tools to effectively combat them?
James in New York, NY on Fri, Dec 04, 2009 at 12:08pm
I’m a professional planner. The real issue here is the lack of a coherent federal policy. When it comes to an issue this macro, as go the Feds, so goes state and local government. Think of something like Phase II Stormwater regs, in which the mitigation of stormwater runoff by local governments is now an absolute requirement. We are waiting for the US government to lay down some clear cut mandates so that our locally elected officials will be willing to sign on to allowing us to begin implementing some of the measures outlined in this article. We live in a democracy, and it’s never so simple as “planners should do X”. We can and do advocate for these things, but in the end, it is up to the public to make it clear to their elected officials at all levels that this is something that they demand to see implemented, and for the federal government to implement policies that will filter down to the state and local level, becoming best practices. We’re waiting.
Cindy in Modesto, CA on Fri, Dec 04, 2009 at 12:31pm
Yes, a lack of federal policy, a lack of state policy, too. If we have to wait for local elected officials to act on this, we’ll all die of starvation or dehydration on a burnt cinder of a planet.
Federal and state governments like to give local government choices on how to achieve federal and state goals—how’s that air quality conformity thing working out? Our COG always demonstrates conformity with the state plan (and thus with federal policy), but somehow air quality managed to get worse.
No, this issue is far too important and the timing too urgent to leave to local government. Policies must be brought to bear prohibiting funding of new highway capacity and throwing all transportation money at “alternative” modes. Annexations must also be prohibited, except in actual “island” areas.
MOSTAFA ANWAR in Alexandria EGYPT on Fri, Dec 04, 2009 at 4:46pm
VERY GOOG ARTICLE
Douglas McNab in London, UK on Thu, Jan 07, 2010 at 9:01am
This is a great topic, I only wish I hadn’t missed the online conference. Here in Islington, London, we have been making considerable progress in addressing climate change mitigation and adaptation through planning - we do this through a variety of mechanisms, for example through raising awareness through training seminars and good practice guidance, working closely with developers to help them to understand our requirements (e.g. in terms of energy efficiency, renewable energy and climate change adaptation) , ensuring that existing policies are rigourously applied, and developing higher sustainability standards in new policies.
For more information see our Green Planning pages at: http://www.islington.gov.uk/Environment/Planning/PlanningPolicy/GreenPlanning/
We would always be interested in hearing from others involved in similar work.