Conservation Subdivision Design: Perceptions and Reality

Abstract

Rampant residential land development has resulted in major losses of open space and town character at the metropolitan fringe across the country. This study focuses on conservation subdivision design (CSD), an approach that addresses some of these issues through residential design. By conserving a major portion of the buildable land as permanent continuous open space and strategically placing the same number of lots as a conventional development in a more efficient manner, CSDs offer environmental, health, economic, and community benefits. Interviews with six practitioners in the conservation field provided a better understanding of differences between CSD and similar compact neighborhood development methods, such as new urbanism, cluster development, and performance zoning. Interviews with 13 practitioners who are involved in CSD led to an analysis of major factors that help explain why CSD is not more prevalent. The greatest perceived barriers were misinformation, negative perceptions of high density, and reluctance to try something new. Despite these barriers, many communities have successfully implemented conservation subdivision design. The study provides comparative information on 261 CSDs in nine states in the Northeast and Midwest regions of the U.S in terms of six characteristics of CSDs: amount of land preserved, community size, lot size, type of units, common space management, and adjacency or connectivity to other open space. While CSDs have some common characteristics, they also exhibit substantial variability in the amount of land conserved, scale, open space management, and connectivity. Combined with other conservation techniques, CSD can be an effective strategy in preventing sprawl in outlying areas. The study offers suggestions for ways to promote CSD through better monitoring and documentation, facilitation of long-term management of open space, and better marketing.