THREE CRITICAL QUESTIONS TO ASK ...when designing new spaces
It is a great responsibility to build a community from the ground up. With land resources becoming scarcer and the continued push for compacting growth and minimizing sprawl, every decision that goes into community planning can mean the difference between a prized project and one that is never built.
When deciding where to place new development and how to design new spaces, it is important to ask three critical questions...
1) Is the plan creative ?
To be creative, design professionals need to recognize, embrace, and enhance the unique fabric of the land. Creative planning and design does not happen in isolation on a drafting table or on a computer screen. It cannot occur by carbon-copying a successful project from another town. Instead, creativity can only happen by understanding how the project will fit into the world around it, sit on the land, relate to its human users, and serve the lifestyle needs of the 21st century and beyond. The creative concept for every land development project is inherently different because each piece of land is special and unique.
2) Is the plan pragmatic? Once the creative concept is devised, it must be balanced with pragmatism. This includes complying with governmental policies, environmental regulations, and meeting financial goals and requirements. Some community planners and designers can make the mistake of sacrificing creativity for strict pragmatism, which often results in uninspired communities that lack a sense of place. Incorporating creative ideas into practical, financially-sound application is essential for any plan's ultimate success. 3) Is the plan buildable? The number of projects that were designed but never built are too numerous to count. The reasons vary, but the most frustrating answer we hear as planners is "the plan wasn't buildable." Design professionals and community planners must understand how projects are financed and constructed and what factors are considered by investors that move projects forward from paper to real life.
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