The Evolution of Places

How do we plan for communities on land that would obviously be considered rural or a T2-T3 zone in a sustainable and economically realistic way?  One potential method is by considering and encouraging the evolution of a place.

It seems that most places that exhibit a high degree of quality (from a well rounded range of perspectives) experienced various stages of  built form.  With the exception of the last decade or so when the real estate boom allowed visionaries and investors to plop down very affluent and economically successful "new towns" in a matter of years, historically speaking a natural progression from rural farms to small hamlets to villages and then towns and cities took place.  And as places evolved their various forms were not totally revised, but added to instead.  This is why a complete wilderness or T1 zone transformed into a place with zones ranging from T1-T7.  Obviously the center of the community usually revolved around some type of economic enterprise that offered jobs and the need for other goods and services to grow.  Using history as an example once more, the most common natural predecessor to other economic enterprises was agriculture.  As the place evolved over time the agricultural enterprise continued to serve a purpose despite the addition of other enterprises.

With this in mind and after researching various sources that have come to our attention during a time when Urban Agriculture and the Farm to Table movement are on the rise, WJK proposes revisiting this sustainable pattern for developing communities.  Unfortunately our ability and desire to draw plans for how this pattern may be implemented successfully will not be enough to make it happen.  A return to common sense and responsible stewardship well be required for regulators, developers and consumers alike.