The Car‐City Confluence
Town Planning & Mobility
www.MichelleDrouse.com

Presentation Contents
 Town Planning Overview
 New Urbanism
 Mobility / Circulation
 Environmental Analysis
 Case Study: Orange County Great Park (Calif.)
 Strategic Car Design & Town Planning
 NEV Recommendation
 Communication/Social Networking
 Resources

Town Planning Overview
New Urbanism, Mobility/Circulation & Environmental Analysis

What do town planners want?
Get our ducks in a row Balance Opportunities & Constraints
& create sustainable ‐Political Environment
developments! ‐Physical Environment
‐Regulatory Environment

 Master Planning
What is Town Planning?
 Regeneration/Redevelopment
Shaping the built environment in a strategically
planned manner while considering social,  Environmental Analysis
environmental, and economic sustainability principals.

New Urbanism
"Giving people many choices for living an urban lifestyle in sustainable, convenient and
enjoyable places, while providing the solutions to peak oil, global warming, and climate
change.” – www.newurbanism.org
Renewable Energy + Electric Transportation + Walkable Urbanism
‐Shift from non‐renewable to renewable resources
‐Shift from investing in roads to investing in trains
‐Shift from suburban to dense development
Photos/Information from
www.newurbanism.org

New Urbanism Comparison:
Pedestrian‐Centric vs. Automobile‐Centric Designs
Photos/Information source:
www.newurbanism.org

Mobility/Circulation
ENHANCE CONNECTIVITY: Moving people, goods,
services to facilitate quality of life (live, work, play)
 Public transit: plane, bus, boat/ferry, rail (light, heavy,
underground, at‐grade, elevated)
 Pedestrians, wheelchairs, segways, people movers
 Bicycles
 Equestrian
 Motorcycles, Scooters, Golf Carts, NEVs
 Automobiles

How do planners review projects?
Environmental Public Disclosure:
Using thresholds of significance, determine
project’s cumulative impact after mitigation.
 Traffic: Operational/Capacity
 Air Quality: Various Emissions
 Noise: Decibels
 Water Quality: Stormwater Runoff
 Waste: Hazardous/Recycling
 Climate Change: Greenhouse Gases (GHG)
Environmental Analysis
California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA)

Mitigation Measures (MM),
Development & Engineering Standards
 Safety & traffic calming
 Emergency access
 Number of lanes/signalization
 Road/pavement width reduction
 Alternate transit modes
 Parking (spaces & dimensions)
 Building setbacks from roads Tools:
Environmental Analysis MMs
 Green building standards (LEED) Zoning Codes, Plans & Design Guidelines
Standard Engineering Plans

Case Study
Orange County Great Park & Neighborhoods – Irvine, California, USA
Photo Source:
LATimes.com

Case Study:
Orange County Great Park &
Great Park Neighborhoods
(Irvine, California, USA)
 First Great Metropolitan Park of 21st Century
 40 miles south of Los Angeles, California
 4,700 acres of vacant former military base
 City re‐zoned land to non‐aviation park use
 Navy sold land to developer Lennar Corp. in a
public bid
 Lennar Corp. dedicated 1,300 acres to City of
Irvine for public metropolitan park use & to
contribute $200M to backbone infrastructure.
 GPN Imagine Video – OCGP Video

Great Park
Sustainable Transportation
The Great Park is designed to promote
sustainable means of transportation. The
Park is easily accessible by mass transit via
the Irvine Station near Marine Way. Those
coming by car can park once and spend the
day. Once they arrive, visitors have a
selection of ways to get around that do not
require gasoline or generate pollution. A
non‐polluting shuttle system will take
visitors to major park attractions. They can
also use an orange bike which will be
available at little to no cost. It is easy to bike
because the Park’s bike trails mesh with City
and regional trail networks. Walkers and
hikers have a choice of gentle or challenging
routes. All sections of the park are accessible
to all people, regardless of physical ability.
(Source: www.ocgp.org)

Sustainable Travelways – “Green Streets”
Source: http://www.ci.irvine.ca.us/depts/redevelopment/sustainable_travelways.asp
 Enhanced tree canopy
 Low volume irrigation
 Permeable pavements and road surfaces
 Use of recycled materials
 Integrated runoff treatment
 Conservation oriented planting palettes
 Structured soil preparation
 Reflective color/light values
 Integrated transit or NEV travelways
 Alternative lighting
 Traffic calming features
 Reduced pavement/road widths
Are all elements incorporated in the Master
Plans & Maps?

Strategic Car Design
Relation to Town Planning

Strategic Car Design & Town Planning
 The genesis of ideation
 Opportunities/Constraints
 Economic downturn
 Going Green/Sustainability
 Consider potential impacts & mitigation to
generate new vehicle solutions and
opportunities
 Designing for mass consumption or specific
markets/communities?
 Lincoln C
 Science Museum Japan Cars Exhibition
 Consider partnerships with new master
planned communities and redeveloping
communities (developers, jurisdictions,
planning associations)
 Recommendation: Emerging NEV Market
(Calif.)

Resources
Reports, Links, Key Words/Tags

Resources
• Sustainable Travelways Guidelines (Fuscoe Engineering)
• Outfitting Cities for NEVs (Urban Crossroads)
• NEVs – The Other Way Around Town (Urban Crossroads)
Tags/Key Words: High Density, Mixed Used
Neighborhoods, Innovation, Mobility, Place, Public
Spaces, Space, Sustainable Transport, Transit Oriented
Development, Urban Planning, Urbanization, NEV
Links:
http://thecityfix.com/
http://www.carfree.com/
http://www.carfree.com/link/furp.html
http://www.worldcarfree.net/
http://www.wired.com/autopia/
http://www.rtpi.org.uk/
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/sustainable/
http://www.masdar.ae/en/home/index.aspx
http://www.newurbanism.org/
http://www.ocgp.org
http://www.greatparkneighborhoods.com

The Car‐City Confluence
Town Planning & Mobility
www.MichelleDrouse.com