PARENT SESSION
Symposium #19: Cities of Resilience: Integrating Ecology into Urban Planning, Design, Policy, and Management .
Organized by: L Musacchio and J Wu
Wednesday, August 7. 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM. Leo Rich Theatre.
North Sonoran Collaborative: Case study of integrating ecological research with urban development and preservation policy.
QUAY, RAY*,1,2, 1 City of Phoenix, Phoenix, Arizona2 Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
ABSTRACT- In 1985, though Phoenix, Arizona was one of the fastest growing cities in the United States, its far northern Sonoran desert areas remained largely undeveloped. Infrastructure to these areas had been effectively blocked by the regional canal that delivered water to central Arizona. However the growth boom of the early '90s rapidly depleted the inventory of vacant land suitable for development south of this canal, and Phoenix initiated plans to extend infrastructure into the northern desert areas. Earlier in 1987, in response to growing community concern about growth in these desert areas, Phoenix adopted a plan that proposed development sensitive to the desert environment. Unfortunately at the time the plan was developed, very little information about the ecology and natural resources of these desert areas was available. Thus the plan contained only general policy statements. By the mid 90s infrastructure was under construction and development in the area was eminent. Yet detailed planning of this area was proving a problem because of the lack of ecological information needed to define "desert sensitive" development. In 1994 in response to this need, a group of urban and environmental planning professionals and researchers informally formed the North Sonoran Collaborative. The group initiated a series of projects to collect and analyze natural resource and ecological information, engage the public in dialogue about the policy and design implications, develop strategies for development and preservation policy, and explore design policy options. GIS and urban modeling played a key role in these efforts. The results of these projects were used as the basis for a series of successful public policy initiatives that encourage ecologically sensitive development. This paper and presentation chronicles the efforts of the North Sonoran Collaborative, the public policy initiatives, and the impact ecological research has had on public policy.
KEY WORDS: policy, ecology, research, planning