Sustainable Urban Development? Exploring the Locational Attributes of LEED-ND Projects in the United States through a GIS Analysis of Light Intensity and Land Use

Russell M. Smith and Bradley Bereitschaft
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Russell M. Smith: Department of History, Politics and Social Justice, Winston-Salem State University, Winston-Salem, NC 27110, USA
Bradley Bereitschaft: Department of Geography and Geology, University of Nebraska Omaha, Omaha, NE 68182, USA

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 8, issue 6, 1-19

Abstract: LEED ® -ND™ is the latest attempt to develop more sustainable urban environs in the United States. The LEED ® -ND™ program was created to provide a green rating system that would improve the quality of life for all people through the inclusion of sustainable development practices. To achieve this, a premium is placed on the locational attributes of proposed projects under the “Smart Location and Linkages” credit category. The purpose of this paper is to explore the locational attributes of LEED ® -ND™ projects in the United States to determine if projects are being located in areas that will result in achieving the program’s stated objectives. Specifically, this paper will examine two locational variables ( i.e. , night-time light intensity and land use cover) through the use of GIS to determine the effectiveness of these criteria.

Keywords: urban sustainability; sustainable land use; sustainable urban development; LEED ® -ND™; neighborhood sustainability assessment; VIIRS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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