Sustainable planning
Urban planners that are interested in achieving sustainable development or sustainable cities use various design principles and techniques when designing cities and their infrastructure. These include Smart Growth theory, transportation-oriented development, sustainable urban infrastructure and new urbanization. Smart Growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in the center of a city to avoid urban sprawl; and advocates compact, transit-oriented development, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including mixed-use development with a range of housing choices. Transit-oriented development attempts to maximize access to public transport and thereby reduce the need for private vehicles. Public transport is considered a form of Sustainable urban infrastructure, which is a design approach which promotes protected areas, energy-efficient buildings, wildlife corridors and distributed, rather than centralized, power generation and waste water treatment. New urbanism is more of a social and aesthetic urban design movement than a green one, but it does emphasize diversify of land use and population, as well as walkable communities which inherently reduce the need for automotive travel.
