Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Suitable Housing Placement: A GIS-Based Approach

  • Published:
Environmental Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The intent of this paper is to operationalize some aspects of local sustainability in a suitable development scenario and to compare its energy-use and environmental impacts to trend development. After a discussion of suburban sprawl, local sustainability, and the current state of the Pennypack Creek Watershed in the Philadelphia metro region, these residential location scenarios are presented. The latter were created using geographic information systems software and are based on projections from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. The impacts of the scenarios on energy use, air emissions, greenhouse gas emissions, water quality, and biological integrity were estimated with very few data, and the effect on the value of generic ecosystem services was assessed. The suitable development scenario was 29% better in terms of energy use and air and greenhouse gas emissions, 2.4% worse on water quality, and 2.6% better with respect to biological integrity. Given its net beneficial results, recommendations for policies to engender suitable development are made, and an outline of an implementation plan is proposed. Thoughts regarding refinements of the present work and the applicability of the methods used here to other watersheds conclude the work.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Acevedo W, Taylor JL, Hester DJ, Mladinich CS, Glavac S (eds) (2006) Rates, trends, causes, and consequences of urban land-use change in the United States. Professional Paper 1726. U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior, Reston, VA

  • Agarwal C, Green GM, Grove JM, Evans TP, Schweik C (2002) A review and assessment of land-use change models: dynamics of space, time, and human choice. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-297. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station, Newtown Square, PA

    Google Scholar 

  • APA (American Planning Association) (2002a) Planning for smart growth: 2002 state of the states. Available at: http://www.planning.org. Accessed May 25, 2006

  • APA (American Planning Association) (2002b) Policy guide on smart growth. Available at: http://www.planning.org/policyguides/pdf/SmartGrowth.pdf. Accessed July 27, 2007

  • Barnett AP, Okoruwa AA (1993) Application of geographic information systems in site selection and location analysis. Appraisal Journal 61(2):245–253

    Google Scholar 

  • Batty M, Xie Y (2005) Urban growth using cellular automata models. In: Maguire DJ, Batty M, Goodchild M (eds) GIS, spatial analysis, and modeling. ESRI Press, Redlands, CA, pp 151–172

    Google Scholar 

  • Berke PR (2002) Does sustainable development offer a new direction for planning? Challenges for the twenty-first century. Journal of Planning Literature 17(1):21–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berke P, Manta-Conroy M (2000) Are we planning for sustainable development? An evaluation of 30 comprehensive plans. Journal of the American Planning Association 66(1):21–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Besussi E, Chin N (2003) Identifying and measuring urban sprawl. In: Longley P, Batty M (eds) Advanced spatial analysis: the CASA book of GIS. ESRI Press, Redlands, CA, pp 109–128

  • Bordalo AA, Teixeira R, Wiebe WJ (2006) A water quality index applied to an international shared river basin: the case of the Douro River. Environmental Management 38:910–920

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown RM, McClelland NI, Deininger RA, Tozer RG (1970) A water quality index—Do we dare? In: Proceedings of the National Symposium on Data and Instrumentation for Water Quality Management, Conference of State Sanitary Engineers and Wisconsin University, Madison, July 21–23, pp 364–383

  • Bruegmann R (2005) Sprawl: a compact history. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Bucks County News (2007) Bucks county commissioners support moratorium during municipal plan updates. Available at: http://www.buckscounty.org/news/2007/2007-10-15-BushMunicipalCode.aspx. Accessed February 26, 2008

  • Burchell R et al (1998) Costs of sprawl revisited: the evidence of sprawl’s negative and positive impacts. Transit Cooperative Research Program, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC

  • Burchell RW, Downs A, McCann B, Mukherji S (2005) Sprawl costs: economic impact of unchecked development. Island Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Burchfield M, Overman HG, Puga D, Turner MA (2006) Causes of sprawl: a portrait from space. Quarterly Journal of Economics 121(2):587–633

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conway TM, Lathrop RG Jr (2005) Modeling the ecological consequences of land-use policies in an urbanizing region. Environmental Management 35(3):278–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cruz, J (2008) Pennypack 2002–2003 data. Personal communication. Philadelphia Water Department. February 6

  • CWP (Center for Watershed Protection) (2008) Smart watershed benchmarking tool. Available at: http://www.cwp.org/index.html. Accessed February 26, 2008

  • Dale VH, Brown S, Haeuber RA, Hobbs NT, Huntly N, Naiman RJ, Riebsame WE, Turner MG, Valone TJ (2000) Ecological principles and guidelines for managing the use of land. Ecological Applications 10:639–670

    Google Scholar 

  • de Groot RS, Wilson MA, Boumans RMJ (2002) A typology for the classification, description and valuation of ecosystem functions, goods and services. Ecological Economics 41(3):393–408

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Devuyst D, Hens L, DeLannoy W (eds) (2001) How green is the city? Columbia University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • DVRPC (Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission) (2005) Destination 2030: the year 2030 plan for the Delaware Valley. Available at: http://www.dvrpc.org/LongRange.htm. Accessed December 29, 2006

  • DVSGA (Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance) (2008) Available at: http://www.delawarevalleysmartgrowth.org. Accessed February 25, 2008

  • ESRI (Environmental Science and Research Institute) (2006) ArcGIS 9.2. Available at: http://www.esri.com

  • Evans AW (2004) Economics and land use planning. Blackwell, Malden, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans S, Steadman P (2003) Interfacing land-use transport models with GIS: the Inverness model. In: Longley P, Batty M (eds) Advanced spatial analysis: the CASA book of GIS. ESRI Press, Redlands, CA, pp 289–308

    Google Scholar 

  • Ewing R (1996) Best development practices. Planners Press, American Planning Association, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Ewing R (1997) Is Los Angeles-style sprawl desirable? Journal of the American Planning Association 63(1):107–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ewing R, Pendall R, Chen D (2002) Measuring sprawl and its impact. Available at: http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/sprawlindex/MeasuringSprawlTechnical.pdf. Accessed August 2, 2007

  • Featherstone J (2008) Personal communication. Director, Center for Sustainable Communities, Temple University Ambler. February 26

  • Galster G, Hanson R, Ratcliffe MR, Wolman H, Coleman S, Freihage J (2001) Wrestling sprawl to the ground: defining and measuring an elusive concept. Housing Policy Debate 12(4):681–717. (Reprinted in part in Acevedo and others 2006.)

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodchild M (2005) GIS, spatial analysis, and modeling overview. In: Maguire DJ, Batty M, Goodchild M (eds) GIS, spatial analysis, and modeling. ESRI Press, Redlands, CA, pp 1–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Hitchings B (1998) A typology of regional growth management system. The Regionalist 3(1/2):1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Hu PS, Reuscher T, Schmoyer RL (2007) Transferring 2001 National Household Travel Survey. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN. Available at: http://www.fmip.ornl.gov/nhts/TransferabilityReport.pdf. Accessed January 12, 2008.

  • ICLEI Global (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives) (2008a) Local Agenda 21 (LA21). Available at: http://www.iclei.org/index.php?id=798and0=. Accessed February 26, 2008

  • ICLEI Global (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives) (2008b) Conducting a sustainability inventory. Available at: http://www6.iclei.org/us/sustainabilityinventory/conducting_sust_inv.htm. Accessed February 26, 2008

  • Johnston RJ, Swallow SK (eds) (2006) Economics and contemporary land use policy: development and conservation at the rural-urban fringe. RFF Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Landis JD (2001) CUF, CUR II, and CURBA: a family of spatially explicit urban growth and land-use policy simulation models. In: Brail R, Klosterman R (eds) Planning support systems: integrating geographic information systems, models, and visualization tools. ESRI Press, Redlands, CA, pp 157–200

    Google Scholar 

  • Landis J (2006) Growth management revisited: efficacy, price effects, and displacement. Journal of the American Planning Association 72(4):411–430

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li H, Yu L, Cheng EWL (2005) A GIS-based site selection system for real estate projects. Construction Innovation 5:231–241

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Longley P, Batty M (eds) (2003) Advanced spatial analysis: the CASA book of GIS. ESRI Press, Redlands, CA

    Google Scholar 

  • Maclaren VW (1996) Urban sustainability reporting. Journal of the American Planning Association 62(2):184–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meadows D (1998) Indicators and information systems for sustainable development. Sustainability Institute. Available at: http://www.sustainabilityinstitute.org/pubs/IndicatorsandInformation.pdf. Accessed May 30, 2006

  • Meenar MR (ed) (2006) Pennypack creek watershed study. Center for Sustainable Communities, Temple University, for the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency

  • Meenar MR (2008) GIS-based simulation and visualization of urban landuse change. In: Liu L, Eck J (eds) Artificial crime analysis systems: using computer simulations and geographic information systems. Idea Group, Hershey, PA

    Google Scholar 

  • Mullen C (2007) 2006 National Impact Fee Survey. Unpublished paper. Duncan Associates. Available at: http://www.impactfees.com/surveys.htm. Accessed February 25, 2008

  • Niezgoda SL, Johnson PA (2005) Improving the urban stream restoration effort: identifying critical form and processes relationships. Environmental Management 35(5):579–592

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paparov A, Hambright KD (2007) Composite water quality: evaluaton and management feedbacks. Water Quality Research Journal of Canada 42(1):20–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Paulsen K (2007) Land use futures—Pennypack. In: Sorrentino JA, Featherstone J, Meenar MR (eds) Applying the EPA’s Regional Vulnerability Assessment (ReVA) approach to the Pennypack Creek Watershed. Final Report. Office of Science Policy, Office of Research and Development, U.S. EPA, Reston VA

  • PA DEP (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection) (2006) Keystone principles for growth, investment and resource conservation. Available at: http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/subject/advcoun/czac/2006/Keystone%20Principles.doc

  • PCIEP (Pennsylvania Consortium for Interdisciplinary Environmental Policy) (2004) The state of the commonwealth: is Pennsylvania moving toward a sustainable future? Available at: http://www.paconsortium.state.pa.us/StateoftheCommonwealth.pdf. Accessed May 30, 2006

  • PCPC (Philadelphia City Planning Commission) (2005) Sustainable planning and development. Available at: http://www.philaplanning.org/plans/sustain.pdf. Accessed February 26, 2008

  • PWD (Philadelphia Water Department) (2003) Baseline assessment of Pennypack Creek Watershed (2002–2003). Office of Watersheds

  • Placeways LLC (2007) CommunityViz version 3.3. Placeways, Boulder, CO

    Google Scholar 

  • Preuss I, Vemuri AW (2004) “Smart growth” and dynamic modeling: implications for quality of life in Montgomery County, Maryland. Ecological Modelling 171:415–432

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riddell R (2004) Sustainable urban planning. Blackwell, Malden, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Salkin PE (2002) Land use. In: Dernbach JC (ed) Stumbling toward sustainability. Environmental Law Institute, Washington, DC, pp 369–400

    Google Scholar 

  • SDD (Scottish Development Department) (1976) Development of a water quality index. Report ARD3. SDD, Edinburgh

  • SGN (Smart Growth Network) (2007) Available at: http://www.smartgrowth.org/about/principles/default.asp. Accessed August 19, 2007

  • Sherry J (2005) Sustainability indicators for the Pennypack Creek Watershed. Master’s thesis. Department of Community and Regional Planning, Temple University Ambler

  • Sitarz D (1998) Sustainable America: America’s environment, economy and society in the 21st century. EarthPress, Carbondale, IL

    Google Scholar 

  • Sleavin WJ et al (2000) Measuring impervious surfaces for non-point source pollution modeling. Available at: http://www.nemo.uconn.edu/impervious_surfaces/pdfs/Sleavin_etal_2000.pdf. Accessed June 13, 2006

  • Snyder K, Bird L (1998) Paying the costs of sprawl: using fair-share costing to control sprawl. Smart Communities Network. Available at: http://www.smartcommunities.ncat.org/articles/sprawl.pdf. Accessed June 6, 2006

  • Sorrentino JA, Featherstone J, Meenar MR (eds) (2007) Applying the EPA’s Regional Vulnerability Assessment (ReVA) approach to the Pennypack Creek Watershed. Final Report. Office of Science Policy. Office of Research and Development. U.S. EPA, Reston, VA

  • SPFSP (Southeast Pennsylvania First Suburbs Project) (2008) 10,000 friends of Pennsylvania. Available at: http://www.10000friends.org/sepa/firstsuburbs. Accessed March 10, 2008

  • Szold TS, Carbonnell A (2002) Smart growth: forms and consequences. Lincoln Institute for Land Policy, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Tu J, Zong-Guo X, Clarke KC, Frei A (2007) Impact of urban sprawl on water quality in eastern Massachusetts, USA. Environmental Management. 40:183–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UN CED (Conference on Environment and Development) (1992) Agenda 21. Available at: http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/agenda21/english/Agenda21.pdf. Accessed May 26, 2006

  • UN CSD (Commission on Sustainable Development) (2001) National information, theme indicator framework. Available at: http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/natlinfo/indicators/isdms2001/table_4.htm. Accessed May 27, 2006

  • UN WCED (United Nations World Commission on Environment, Development) (1987) Our common future. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • UN WSSD (World Summit on Sustainable Development) (2002) Available at: http://www.johannesburgsummit.org/. Accessed May 26, 2006

  • Urban Ecology Coalition (1999) Neighborhood sustainability indicators guidebook. Available at: http://www.moea.state.mn.us/sc/neighborhoodguidebook.cfm. Accessed May 28, 2006

  • US Census Bureau (2008) United States census 2000. Available at: http://www.census.gov/main/www/cen2000.html. Accessed March 2, 2008

  • US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) (2000) Projecting land-use change: a summary of models for assessing the effects of community growth and change on land-use patterns. EPA/600/R-00/098. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Cincinnati, OH.

  • US EPA (2008a) Green communities. Available at: http://www.epa.gov/greenkit/index.htm. Accessed February 26, 2008

  • US EPA (2008b) Smart growth. Available at: http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/. Accessed February 26, 2008

  • US SDI (Interagency Working Group on Sustainable Development Indicators) (1999) Sustainable development in the United States, an experimental set of indicators. Available at: http://www.sdi.gov. Accessed March 27, 2007

  • von Hoffman A, Felkner J (2006) Cultural and demographic factors in urban decentralization in the United States—a historical overview. In: Acevedo W, Taylor JL, Hester DJ, Mladinich CS, Glavac S (eds) Rates, trends, causes, and consequences of urban land-use change in the United States. Professional Paper 1726. U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior, Reston, VA

  • Waddell P (2001) Between politics and planning: UrbanSim as a decision-support system for metropolitan planning. In: Brail R, Klosterman R (eds) Planning support systems: integrating geographic information systems, models, and visualization tools. ESRI Press, Redlands, CA, pp 201–228

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang M (2007) Greenhouse gases, regulated emissions, and energy use in transportation (GREET 1.8a). Systems Assessment Section, Center for Transportation Research, Argonne National Laboratory, DuPage County, IL

    Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler SM (2000) Planning for metropolitan sustainability. Journal of Planning Education and Research 20:133–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolman H, Galster G, Hanson R, Ratliffe M, Furdell K, Sarzynski A (2005) The Fundamental challenge in measuring sprawl: which land should be considered? Professional Geographer 57(1):94–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Zimmermann U, Morçöl G, Stich B (2003) From sprawl to smart growth: the case of Atlanta. In: Lindstrom MJ, Bartling H (eds) Suburban sprawl: culture, theory and politics. Rowman and Littlefield, Boulder, CO

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was performed under Grant CR-83084001-1 from the Office of Science Policy, Office of Research and Development, US Environmental Protection Agency, through the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to the Center for Sustainable Communities (CSC) at Temple University Ambler. The authors would like to thank Ms. Anita Street (EPA), Project Officer, Mr. Donald Brown (DEP), PA liaison, and Dr. Jeffrey Featherstone, Director of the CSC, for resources and guidance. The authors also thank Ms. Alice Walters, research assistant at the CSC, for her work on the CommunityViz build-out analyses. The three reviewers provided invaluable insights into what the final product should be, and we are indebted to them.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Economics Department, School of Business and Management, Temple University Ambler, 580 Meetinghouse Road, Ambler, PA, 19002, USA

    John A. Sorrentino

  2. Center for Sustainable Communities, Temple University Ambler, 580 Meetinghouse Road, Ambler, PA, 19002, USA

    John A. Sorrentino & Md Mahbubur R. Meenar

  3. Community and Regional Planning Department, Temple University Ambler, 580 Meetinghouse Road, Ambler, PA, 19002, USA

    Md Mahbubur R. Meenar & Bradley J. Flamm

Authors
  1. John A. Sorrentino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Md Mahbubur R. Meenar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Bradley J. Flamm
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to John A. Sorrentino.

Appendix

Appendix

Tables and report the basic parameters of the GREET 1.8 model for the representative spark-ignition, conventional, and reformulated fuel auto.

Table A1 Fuel economy and emissions rates of baseline vehicles
Full size table
 Table A2 Energy use by and emissions from a typical automobile: gasoline spark-ignition engine, conventional and reformulated gasoline
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sorrentino, J.A., Meenar, M.M.R. & Flamm, B.J. Suitable Housing Placement: A GIS-Based Approach. Environmental Management 42, 803–820 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-008-9177-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-008-9177-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation