SEEKING THE MARKET

By Mark Smith   – Fundamental cause missing in sprawl literature – – Fixed assets in changing markets – – Chronic sprawl is in part market inefficiency – – Development processes and techniques contribute to sprawl –  – Solution is pre enabling densification – – Many factors said to cause sprawl might be considered demand generators – – Excessive sprawl is not responsive... Read More

Project Densification Saves How Much Farmland?

By Mark Smith In California’s agricultural San Joaquin Valley, real estate development has an insatiable appetite for … farm land. The American Farmland Trust’s report Saving Farmland, Growing Cities places aggregate population growth and farmland consumption into perspective  The population of the San Joaquin Valley, now roughly 4 million, is expected to more than double by 2050. At the same time, if the Valley keeps developing... Read More

Cowan Paper Published in JOSRE

The Journal of Sustainable Real Estate has published Sustainability for Suburbs by Errol Cowan, PhD. He highlights the need to address unsustainable and declining suburbs. Dr. Cowan  suggests public and private programs to compensate for the diminishing ability of government funded redevelopment.                     Share this:TwitterFacebookEmailLinkedInWhatsApp Read More

Mark Smith Discusses Planned Densification at USD

How can we expect to reduce sprawl if we don’t allow real estate in key locations to coevolve with market demand? Mark Smith recently spoke at the University of San Diego about Planned Densification. In this clip from that talk (5:28), Smith explains asynchrony as an economic cause of sprawl, and as a barrier to coevolution.   The Wedge Markets change–the evolution of market value in key locations is an important reason to pre enable... Read More

IT’S ABOUT TIME !

It’s About Time By Mark Smith Planned Densification LLC releases a video outlining some of our key considerations with Suburban Retrofit and Sprawl Repair–namely ridiculously mismatched timescales in real estate development and how so many things are ‘out of control’ in real estate development, because of the lack of functional control of the development process by developers.  Planned Densification predicts and prepares solutions... Read More

PLANNED DENSIFICATION – SELECTED BENEFITS

By Errol Cowan, PhD Planned densification (PD) was conceived of by Mark Smith in the 1990s and outlined in the June 2009 issue of Urban Land. The concept is simple and makes intuitive sense. As communities grow, their need and demand for accommodating density increases as does market support for it. Integrative long-term public and private planning for intensified future density and infrastructure is prescribed by Smith to capitalize upon this dynamic,... Read More

Dan Slone on “Upgrading Suburbia”

Dan Slone recently presented at the annual Greenprints Conference and Trade Show in Atlanta, in a session titled “Retrofitting and Repairing Suburban Sprawl.” Dan Slone Presents at Greenprints Conference and Trade Show   For several decades, Dan has been a leader in formulating ways to improve buildings, community and municipal plans, building products, and organizations.  At Greenprints, Dan discussed ‘seven steps for suburban upgrades,’... Read More

The Problem of Asynchrony and the Wedge

By Mark Smith Low-density development is often a result of the match between local market conditions and the financial feasibility determination for a building or project. Most instances of new construction occur in what Pario calls low activity, low value markets. Low value markets produce low revenue to developers, and low revenue does not support sufficient density, in key locations, to yield productive urban neighborhoods. This is a primary cause... Read More

Let’s Pre-Enable Density So That We Can Accomplish It

Planned Densification is a process to overcome property-level economic obstacles to accomplishing higher density real estate development. Because of high overall construction costs, decreasing market prices, and troubled municipal finances—higher density development is now getting more difficult to accomplish at a time when density is increasingly important for economic development and environmental preservation.   The Problem: In-Place... Read More

Planned Densification Published in Urban Land

Planned Densification in Urban Land Magazine Mark Rodman Smith’s overview article discussing asynchrony and Planned Densification and some of its applications has been published in Urban Land magazine in June 2009.  Planned Densification originated in the mid 1990s from Pario’s work with financial and market feasibility, eco industrial development, business process redesign, and the context of changing real estate markets.  See a PDF... Read More