Policy and regulations: Many dimensions of a neighborhood are rooted in local government policies, processes and regulations. These often need to be reshaped to support a green neighborhood. Therefore, initiatives to encourage green neighborhoods will typically involve policy and regulatory review and refinement.
Aligning large- and small-scale plans: Alignment of neighborhood-scale policies and programs with those in a comprehensive plan is one such task in adopting green neighborhoods. For example, Grand Rapids adopted a Master Plan in 2002 built around principles of smart growth, traditional neighborhood development, and new urbanism – Plan Grand Rapids.
Neighborhood form is the result of a collection of policies and regulations that need to be alligned with sustaiability goals.
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An estimated 7% of regional and sub-regional malls in the U.S. are grayfields and that a further 12% are approaching grayfield status. (Congress for the New Urbanism, 2002)
