America needs to plan its cities more sustainably and cooperatively, and recent federal funding to promote regional planning efforts is an important step toward that goal, said Adolfo Carrion, director of the White House Office on Urban Affairs, speaking Tuesday afternoon at the American Planning Association's national conference. Carrion referred specifically to $100 million in the 2010 budget to...
America needs to plan its cities more sustainably and cooperatively, and recent federal funding to promote regional planning efforts is an important step toward that goal, said Adolfo Carrion, director of the White House Office on Urban Affairs, speaking Tuesday afternoon at the American Planning Association's national conference.
Adolfo Carrion, director of the White House Office on Urban Affairs, spoke Tuesday in New Orleans.Carrion referred specifically to $100 million in the 2010 budget to finance the Sustainable Communities Planning Grant Program through the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The grant program will help regional HUD offices conduct integrated planning efforts across cities and metropolitan areas in order to identify regional economic and infrastructural development goals.
For too long, states and municipalities have made land use and infrastructure decisions in "silos," disconnected from the shared needs and goals of their neighbors, Carrion said. With the $100 million program, which stands to receive $710 million next year under the proposed 2011 budget, cities, states and regions will receive federal assistance in implementing so-called smart growth principals that look holistically at the institutions and systems that make up quality of life.
"What we are talking about here is creating a responsible, regional infrastructure platforms in these metro areas around the country and ensuring the alignment of transportation with land use ... you've been been talking about it for 100 years," Carrion said, addressing the standing room-only crowd of urban planners at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. "It's really about assets, building on the assets of regions.
"For the first time in a long time, we're going beyond just talking about these ideals and these principals," Carrion said. "For the first time, there is an offering of funding for planning, and I think that's critical. There is funding for regional economic strategies, for regions of the country to develop regional business plans."