Decision Making and Sustainability in Built Environments

Abstract

Sustainability in the built environment is the result of choices make by those who plan, build, own, and use our urban spaces. This chapter seeks to detail how human choice shapes our built environment, as well as tools that can be used to create more sustainable urban futures. These tools include: (1) analytical forecasting models that are based upon urban economic theory and data provided by geo-technologies such as geographic information systems and remote sensing; (2) traditional zoning and other local land use policies that focus on protecting human health and property values that have resulted in an urban system that favors the private automobile as the dominate form of transportation and limits the viability of other forms of transportation such as mass transit, walking, and biking; (3) alternatives to traditional zoning such as mixed use and Form Based zoning practices that seek to improve quality of life and the sustainability of the built environment; and (4) the role that our individual and collective decisions play in the sustainability of our built environment. The concentration of people in urban areas places a strain on resources, both natural and built, that must be evaluated and balanced in order to maintain a sustainable habitat that not only provides all basic human necessities but respects the natural environment as well. Ultimately, the degree to which our built environment is sustainable has been and will continue to be the result of our individual and collective decisions that we make.