Sustainable Cities

Our cities and suburban areas are the places that will absorb future human populations more than any other landscape. These population increases present both opportunities and challenges for urban centers. Opportunities exist because cities have the critical mass to support the infrastructure improvements necessary to reduce carbon and ecological footprints, create social cohesiveness and foster economic growth. The challenge is how transform urban buildings and infrastructure consistent with sustainability goals without significantly disrupting regional economies, the community’s fabric and the integrity of urban open spaces. SIG offers services and resources that can aid urban planners in overcoming challenges and creating sustainable cities by offering the following services.

• Development or assistance with sustainable community plans or “green plans”
• Low-emission transportation corridor strategy development and planning
• Existing conditions assessments and land use scenario modeling
• Research summary and synthesis
• Stakeholder engagement, plan visioning and workshop support

• High-resolution imagery processing to extract canopy data
• Precisely map tree locations, individual tree characterization and canopy extent
• Quantify benefits of urban forests
• Identify opportunities and locations for enhancing urban forests and open spaces

• Quantifying and modeling wildfire hazards and risks
• Optimization of fuels treatments in the urban-wildland interface
• Development of community wildfire protection plans, including assessing the return on investment for hazard mitigation

• Hydrographic modeling and mapping
• Identification of green infrastructure opportunities
• Creation of stormwater best management practices
• Strategies for “low impact development” (LID) from bioswales and rain gardens to riparian restoration and reduction of non-point source pollution

• High resolution mapping and ranking of renewable energy locations
• Estimation of cost and payback period for solar and other renewable energy infrastructure
• Emissions and energy use tracking, modeling and accounting for municipalities
• Strategic planning to reduce energy/carbon footprint through targeted infrastructure improvements
• Project constraints and opportunities mapping
  Internet/broadband level of service mapping

• Creation of mitigation/conservation banking programs to offset the impacts of development
• Performance monitoring of ecosystem conservation programs or restoration projects
• Restoration prioritization