In the eight years between 2002 and 2010 15,000 square miles of open space were developed and paved over in the US. That is more than the entire State of Maryland (12, 000 sqm) or 2,842 acres of forests, farms or other open space every single day. That is twice the land area that has burned in the California fires this year to date. Unlike forests that burn, land that was developed usually doesn't come back. Given the magnitude of this land consumption, one would expect that utmost attention is given to how the land slated for development is treated. 

There are plenty of professionals for the built environment who are environmentally conscious, socially aware, and oriented on sustainability principles; who try to work with whatever assets they are given and use them as value added. 

These are the folks who design rain gardens, pervious surfaces, green roofs and energy reduction of buildings. 

But before any of those designs can even be considered, the land they deal with may have been already devastated. 

Devastated by a scorched earth attitude that decimates everything that could be in the way in order to create a blank canvas for new development. This is the same approach that once dominated urban planning when entire parts of cities were turned into rubble during the heights of urban renewal. The urban planning tabula rasa approach has long been abandoned in favor of infill, rehabilitation, adaptive reuse and the preservation of historic structures and patterns that give cities their charm.  But tabula rasa is...
READ FULL ARTICLE