48 Planning land
of planning, doubtless these regions will noticeably gain from the pioneering
urban-ecology studies.Major environmental components of plans
Aparticularly interesting example of ecologically focused regional plan-
ning is theMultiple Species Conservation Plan(MSCP) for San Diego County, which is
roughly the San Diego (California) region (adjacent to the Tijuana, Mexico region)
(Color Figure32). A single environmental goal, protecting biodiversity, was
thefocus. Three groups, ecological, development/financial, and governmental
(federal, state, and local), planned jointly (Beatley1994,Babbitt2005,DiGregoria
et al.2006). In essence, the results were an agreed-upon map and strategy to pro-
tect a system of large greenspaces and connecting corridors, and thereby essen-
tially remove ecological constraints on development elsewhere in the region
(Figure2.3). Ecologists concluded that the greenspace network would sustain
the bulkof(butprobablynot all) the region’s biodiversity, and developers were
able to invest and build in areas outside the network with fewer uncertainties
and time delays. Government played honest broker, also protecting both of the
other parties in case new information convincingly showed that the map needed
adjustment in spots. Significantly, government put money on the table to help
with land acquisition and management.
About a third of the greenspace was protected when the plan was developed.
Adecade later about two-thirds of the areas were protected. Not surprisingly,
most of the difficult protection projects remained for the final third. Even at
thetwo-thirds point though, the MSCP plan is a remarkable success story and
model for other urban regions. Also, the network of connected large natural
patches (Chapter1)used for San Diego’s biodiversity corresponds closely with
theemerald network integrated into a multiple-objective land-mosaic plan for
theGreater Barcelona Region (Forman 2004a).
Only one environmental dimension,air pollution, requires regional planningin
all large US cities. For air quality, a major project in an urban region, such
as a new highway or industrial park, must be evaluated in a rather lengthy
data-collecting and modeling process before approval and construction (Forman
et al.2003).The proposer must provide convincing evidence that regional air
quality will not significantly decline. Urban impacts on coastal areas also require
regional evaluation and planning.
This basic regional-planning concept, using somewhat different models,
would apply nicely to other environmental dimensions. Hydrologic flows/
flooding and biodiversity are two obvious areas where urban regional evaluation
and planning would be of significant benefit to society. Other key environmen-
tal dimensions such as wildlife movement, water pollution, and fish migration
might be regionally planned, individually or in some combination. Providing