Basing Cluster Techniques on Development Densities Appropriate to the Area

Abstract

This paper argues that clustering is a valuable planning tool in almost every kind of residential development situation, although some of the ways it has been applied have given rise to valid criticisms. Some recent critics of rural clustering miss their mark, however, by confusing the clustering pattern with the overall densities at which some outlying developments have been zoned and built. After acknowledging the uncontested superiority of certain other planning approaches aimed at resource conservation (such as density transfers and urban growth limits), this paper discusses the advantages offered by “open space zoning” in areas where those more effective land conservation approaches are not currently feasible. The problems posed by suburban zoning densities in rural or metro-fringe areas are then discussed, and proposals are presented for protecting farmland and water quality in such areas. The paper ends with a description of an integrated approach used by the Natural Lands Trust to link open space planning, zoning, and subdivision design standards in the Philadelphia region, so that new development will be located and designed in a way that fosters interconnected networks of conservation land with a variety of uses in the communities where the Trust works.