{"id":176,"date":"2011-07-04T09:22:34","date_gmt":"2011-07-04T15:22:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/interculturalurbanism.wordpress.com\/?p=176"},"modified":"2012-04-19T07:30:36","modified_gmt":"2012-04-19T13:30:36","slug":"researching-urban-hydro-sustainability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.interculturalurbanism.com\/?p=176","title":{"rendered":"Researching Urban Hydro-Sustainability"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m fortunate to be part of a transdisciplinary\u00a0research collaborative<\/a> that\u2019s just received a $10,000 Institute for Enterprise Ethics<\/a> <\/strong>grant from the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business for a project entitled \u201cFront Range Urbanism and Hydro-Sustainability.\u201d\u00a0 It has long been recognized that the key variable affecting the quality of Colorado Front Range urban life and growth is water. Accordingly, any city-building enterprise in the region must be informed by a sustainability ethic that centers on water.\u00a0\u00a0 Our research topic is the water conservation values, policies, strategies and technologies that have been identified by Front Range planners and developers as important for guiding urban growth in the region. We will evaluate the efficacy of current and recommended water utilization policies and practices for supporting sustainable urbanism along the Front Range.<\/p>\n

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Colorado Front Range near Louisville, north of Denver<\/p><\/div>\n

The proposal was stimulated by a series of investigative reports, op-ed pieces, and reader letters that appeared in The Denver Post<\/em> debating the recently approved development of Sterling Ranch<\/a>, a community planned for the Chatfield Basin south of Denver.\u00a0 \u00a0Organized as a clustered arrangement of 7 \u201curban villages\u201d, Sterling Ranch would contain over 12,000 homes and 31,000 people over a 20+ year horizon.\u00a0 It is estimated that the project will generate over 9,000 permanent jobs.\u00a0 Although promoted as a model of high density development having a progressive and praiseworthy water conservation plan, Sterling Ranch has nonetheless raised serious questions about where such planned communities will get their water and whether their water usage will be sustainable over the long haul.<\/p>\n

Our research will seek specific answers to these and other questions about the hydro-sustainability of planned community developments along the Front Range. \u00a0\u00a0The framing questions of the research include:<\/p>\n