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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Perspective from Portland and the Pacific Northwest: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18704.
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PATHWAYS TO
URBAN
SUSTAINABILITY

PERSPECTIVE FROM PORTLAND AND
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

Summary of a Workshop

Dominic A. Brose, Rapporteur

Committee on Regional Approaches to Urban Sustainability:
A Focus on Portland

Science and Technology for Sustainability Program

Policy and Global Affairs

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
                          OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS

Washington, D.C.

www.nap.edu

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Perspective from Portland and the Pacific Northwest: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18704.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS    500 Fifth Street, NW    Washington, DC 20001

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This summary report and the workshop on which it was based were supported by the Portland State University and the George and Cynthia Mitchell Endowment for Sustainability Science. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsor that provided support for the project.

International Standard Book Number 13: 978-0-309-30081-0
International Standard Book Number 10: 0-309-30081-9

Additional copies of this report are available from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Keck 360, Washington, DC 20001; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313; http://www.nap.edu.

Copyright 2014 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Perspective from Portland and the Pacific Northwest: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18704.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.

www.national-academies.org

 

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Perspective from Portland and the Pacific Northwest: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18704.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Perspective from Portland and the Pacific Northwest: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18704.
×

COMMITTEE ON REGIONAL APPROACHES TO URBAN SUSTAINABILITY: A FOCUS ON PORTLAND

Robert Bennett (Chair), Executive Director, EcoDistricts

Susan Anderson, Director, Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability

John Cleveland, President, Innovation Network for Communities

Glen T. Daigger, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, CH2M Hill, Inc.

Jonathan H. Fink, Vice President for Research & Strategic Partnerships, Portland State University

Jim Lester, President, Houston Advanced Research Center

Colin Sears, Vice President of Business Development, Greater Portland, Inc.

Lillian M. Shirley, Director, Multnomah County Health Department

Staff

Marina Moses, Director, Science and Technology for Sustainability Program

Dominic Brose, Program Officer, Science and Technology for Sustainability Program

Jennifer Saunders, Program Officer, Science and Technology for Sustainability Program

Emi Kameyama, Program Associate, Science and Technology for Sustainability Program

Dylan Richmond, Research Assistant, Science and Technology for Sustainability Program

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Perspective from Portland and the Pacific Northwest: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18704.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Perspective from Portland and the Pacific Northwest: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18704.
×

Preface and Acknowledgments

For more than 40 years, the Portland Metropolitan Region has been a national leader in urban policies and investments intended to revitalize the central city and adjacent neighborhoods, preserve the environment, improve equity, and make the city more economically competitive and livable. Portland has been both emulated as path breaking and discounted as overly idiosyncratic. Among the elements contributing to Portland’s success have been strong public-private partnerships, a culture of planning, and a willingness to implement diverse ideas generated by federal, state, and local agencies, academics, and the private sector. Regionally, Portland benefits from its location in the middle of the progressive Cascadia Corridor, stretching from Vancouver, British Columbia, to San Francisco, California. In May 2013, the National Research Council’s Science and Technology for Sustainability Program held a workshop organized by the Committee on Regional Approaches to Urban Sustainability: A Focus on Portland to examine issues relating to sustainability and human-environment interactions in the Portland metropolitan region. Topics addressed included the role of land-use restrictions on development, transportation innovations, and economic and social challenges. The speakers at the workshop used examples from Portland and the greater Pacific Northwest region to explore critical questions in finding pathways to urban sustainability.

This report has been prepared by the workshop rapporteur as a factual summary of what occurred at the workshop. The statements made are those of the rapporteur and do not necessarily represent positions of the workshop participants as a whole, the planning committee, the Science and Technology for Sustainability program, or the National Academies. This workshop summary is the result of substantial effort and collaboration among several organizations and

Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Perspective from Portland and the Pacific Northwest: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18704.
×

individuals. We wish to extend a sincere thanks to each member of the planning committee for their contributions in scoping, developing, and carrying out this project. The project would not have been possible without financial support from Portland State University and the George and Cynthia Mitchell Endowment for Sustainability Science.

This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Academies’ Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for quality and objectivity. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report: Michael Armstrong, Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability; Christopher Hendrickson, Carnegie Mellon University; Douglas Kelbaugh, University of Michigan; Herminia Palacio, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; and Amanda Pitre-Hayes, City of Vancouver. Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the content of the report, nor did they see the final draft before its release. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the rapporteur and the institution.

Dominic A. Brose
Rapporteur

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Perspective from Portland and the Pacific Northwest: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18704.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Perspective from Portland and the Pacific Northwest: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18704.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Perspective from Portland and the Pacific Northwest: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18704.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Perspective from Portland and the Pacific Northwest: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18704.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Perspective from Portland and the Pacific Northwest: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18704.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Perspective from Portland and the Pacific Northwest: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18704.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Perspective from Portland and the Pacific Northwest: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18704.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Perspective from Portland and the Pacific Northwest: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18704.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Perspective from Portland and the Pacific Northwest: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18704.
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Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Perspective from Portland and the Pacific Northwest: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18704.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Perspective from Portland and the Pacific Northwest: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18704.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Perspective from Portland and the Pacific Northwest: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18704.
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Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Perspective from Portland and the Pacific Northwest is the summary of a workshop convened by the National Research Council's Science and Technology for Sustainability Program in May 2013 to examine issues relating to sustainability and human-environment interactions in the Portland metropolitan region. Topics addressed included the role of land-use restrictions on development, transportation innovations, and economic and social challenges. The speakers at the workshop used examples from Portland and the greater Pacific Northwest region to explore critical questions in finding pathways to urban sustainability. This was the third and final of a series of three place-based urban sustainability workshops - the other two workshops focused on Atlanta, Georgia and Houston, Texas. These public workshops gathered local, state, and federal officials, academics, and key stakeholders to examine how challenges due to continued growth in the regions can be addressed within the context of sustainability.

For more than 40 years, the Portland Metropolitan Region has been a national leader in urban policies and investments intended to revitalize the central city and adjacent neighborhoods, preserve the environment, improve equity, and make the city more economically competitive and livable. Portland has been both emulated as path breaking and discounted as overly idiosyncratic. Among the elements contributing to Portland's success have been strong public-private partnerships, a culture of planning, and a willingness to implement diverse ideas generated by federal, state, and local agencies, academics, and the private sector. Regionally, Portland benefits from its location in the middle of the progressive Cascadia Corridor, stretching from Vancouver, British Columbia, to San Francisco, California.

This report uses examples from Portland and the Northwest U.S./S.W. Canada region to explore critical questions about the future of urban sustainability. The report provides background about Portland and Cascadia, emphasizing policy innovations and lessons that are potentially transferable elsewhere; focuses on ways to leverage local success through partnerships with state and federal agencies, companies, and nongovernment organizations; examines academic and corporate scientific and engineering research that could help cities to become more sustainable; and addresses the challenging question of how resource-constrained cities can become agents for achieving broader societal goals not directly linked to their operational mandates, such as climate change mitigation, energy independence, and improvement in human health, particularly in low-income communities.

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