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Task 7: Determine Issue Areas
Assemble base site information
Base information facilitates the creation of a baseline model of the project site. The information includes existing reports, plans and studies from the project sponsor, the municipality and other levels of government, local planning agencies and universities, and possibly community advocacy groups. Extensive site information can be obtained from Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping which provides a comprehensive picture of the history and existing state of the proposed project area and the surrounding community. Two analysis areas involving the municipality are of particular importance to sustainable neighbourhood development — regulatory and sustainable living.
Regulatory: Potential regulatory benefits and issue areas are determined by analyzing existing policies and regulations. This investigation includes a review of municipal plans, policies and regulations as they apply to a particular site. Typically, many of these documents have content that relates to sustainable neighbourhood development or similar values. The emphasis of this task is to build upon decisions and to show how these concepts can be made operational.
Sustainable living: Community mapping of local facilities, amenities and programs, assist in identifying strategies, initiatives and activities that enable and foster sustainable living in each of the sustainable neighbourhood themes. A gap analysis of this information identifies sustainable living issue areas that need to be addressed.
Conduct an opportunities and constraints analysis
The sustainability consultant conducts a detailed investigation and analysis of the opportunities and constraints presented by the development site and the surrounding community. The analysis identifies issue areas that require greater attention and investigation; opportunities, strengths and assets that can be optimized through the project; and research gaps that need to be addressed. Sustainable neighbourhood themes determined in Task 2 and the project complexity analysis carried out in Task 3 help determine areas to be analyzed and the extent of the background research required.
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Informing Tools |
Opportunities and Constraints Analysis |
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Additional Support |
NCI Charrette Handbook: 1.3.2 SWOT Analysis |
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EHUV Case Study |
Opportunities and Constraints Reports Fostering Sustainable Living – SuN Guidelines Theme Modules, last page of each theme module |
Conduct targeted research
The sustainability consultant identifies particularly complex or high priority issues or opportunities that may benefit from additional research. Issue specific investigations are conducted using informing tools such as specialized kinds of diagrams, charts, case study analyses, or other customized ways of representing information and data. For example, consumption of energy and water resources on site may be a high priority issue for which additional, tailored information is important to stakeholders. Illustrative tools such as Sankey diagrams and building energy profiles could be used to present this information.
Detailed technical or feasibility studies are required to address essential questions and research needs that will be helpful to charrette participants. The intent of these investigations is to ensure that by the time the design charrette is held, much of the key background information is available.
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Informing Tools |
Targeted Research Reports |
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EHUV Case Study |
Initiate foundation research bulletins
Foundation research bulletins are targeted research papers prepared by the sustainability consultant or other relevant experts for each sustainable neighbourhood theme. They draw from opportunities and constraints analyses, issue specific research and case studies. They provide background information and direction to designers and stakeholders in terms of how each theme can be approached in the context of the sustainable neighbourhood project. Research bulletins provide a sense of what has been achieved elsewhere and serve as important reference material during target-setting exercises and the charrette design.
At this stage, the foundation research bulletins compile mostly secondary research and serve as a high level introduction to each theme. Updated with more detailed information as the Explore step progresses, they present current concerns and thinking by addressing questions such as:
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Why is this theme important?
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Why is this theme important to this specific project?
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How can this project impact on this theme?
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What strategies and actions are relevant for this project?
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Additional Support |
Smart Growth on the Ground - www.sgog.bc.ca |
