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WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY AT ST. LOUIS
PLANNING SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES
U19 SUST 319
MARK ABBOTT
FALL 2013
COURSE SYLLABUS
Course Time: Wednesday 5:30—8:00 PM
Classroom: Eads 103
Phone: (314) 779-9606
Email: [email protected]
I.
Course Description
This course explores definitions, dimensions, and specific approaches for achieving sustainability. The
primary goal of the course is to introduce students to the process of producing a sustainability strategic
plan for a neighborhood, city, or region. Students will learn how to prepare a baseline sustainability
analysis, generate community sustainability goals, formulate sustainability implementation tactics, and
devise assessment measures. We will examine best practices in planning for sustainability from around
the country and around the world, using St. Louis as a specific case study in analyzing current techniques
and theories in planning for sustainability.
II.
Course Texts
1) Stephen M. Wheeler and Timothy Beatley, ed. (2009). The Sustainable Urban
Development Reader (2nd ed.). Routledge.
2) Peter Calthrope (2013). Urbanism in the Age of Climate Change. Island Press.
3) Sidney Brower (2011). Neighbors and Neighborhoods: Elements of Successful
Community Design. APA Press.
III.
Course Schedule
Week Date Topic
1
8/28
2
9/4
3
9/11
Course Introduction: Planning and
Sustainability
Origins of the Sustainability Concept
Theoretical Foundations of Sustainable
Planning
Reading
E: #1
Howard,
Mumford, &
Jacobs
E: #2
Leopold, McHarg,
Meadows, Daly,
Wednesday
Assignment
Walking Tour:
Sunday,
September 7
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4
9/18
Land Use and Urban Design
5
9/25
Transportation
6
10/2
Urban Ecology and Restoration
7
10/9
Energy and materials use
8
10/16
Environmental justice and social equity
9
10/23
Economic Development
10
10/30
Green Architecture and building
11
11/6
Tools for Sustainability Planning
12
11/13
Sustainable Urban Development
Internationally
13
11/20
Visions of the Sustainable Community
14
15
11/27
12/4
16
12/11
NO CLASS: THANKSGIVING BREAK
Planning and Implementing Sustainable
Communities
Neighborhood Plan Presentation
17
12/18
Exam II Due via Email: No Class
World
Commission &
McKibben
E: #2-3
Calthrope and
Wheeler +
Urbanism in the
Age of Climate
Change
Cervero, Newman,
and Pucher
Spirn, Beatley, and
Riley
E: #12
Girardet, Lyle, and
Pacala
Bullard, Hayden,
and Perlman
Pearce, Hawken,
Korten, Shuman,
and Roseland
E: #9
McDonough, Vale,
Eisenberg, and the
U.S. Green
Building Council
Maclaren,
Wachernagel,
Lerner, and de
Montis
E: #5-6
Rabinovitch,
Beatley, Hsiao,
Lam, and Honey
Callenbach, Guin,
and Wheeler
Neighbors and
Neighborhoods
Book Review I
Sustainability Plan
Proposals
Exam I
Plan Progress
Reports
Book Review II
Neighborhood
Plans
Exam II
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IV.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
All students are required to complete the following:
1. Two take home exams: Students will complete two take home exams where they will reflect on
the assigned readings in Wheeler and Beatley.
2 X 100 = 200 points
2. Two book reviews: Students will write a 3-5 page review of both Urbanism in the Age of
Climate Change and Neighbors and Neighborhoods.
2 X 100 = 200 points
3. Neighborhood Sustainability Plan: Students will work as a group to prepare a Sustainability
Plan for a section of Martin Luther King Drive and adjacent neighborhoods in North St. Louis.
The plan will be presented to the community.
2 Prep Assignments (2 X 50 points)
Final Draft (200 points)
Presentation (100 points)
400 points
4. Actively participate in class: This class is intended to be primarily seminar in nature. Therefore,
it is imperative that students regularly attend, come prepared, and actively participate.
200 points
TOTAL
1000 POINTS
COURSE GRADING SCALE
B+=870
C+=770
D+=670
A =930
B =830
C =730
D =630
A-=900
B-=800
C-=700
D-=600
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