E nvironmenta l C oncer ns, C odes, a nd Regulati o n s 289

the context of time—past, present, and future. We perceive and use these environments from the past and pass
them on to future generations. Laws, codes, and the enforcement of both help to protect and preserve our envi-
ronments from shortsighted viewpoints. However, these rules must be humanistic, capable of modifications for
the good of all people and the environment.

LAND USE AND DEVELOPMENT

Land use indicates the way people adapt or change the land to suit their everyday functions. Specifically, the term
refers to planning for the best use of the landscape to suit the needs of the individual, society, and the environ-
ment. Today, land use is increasingly based on sustainable or green design principles, as available land is a finite
resource on the planet Earth and must be used more in harmony with the environment. Recycling of land use is
encouraged, as seen in new productive use of grayfields (blighted urban areas) and brownfields (former industrial
facilities or contaminated sites).

The term community refers to groups diverse in size and can mean society in general, a group of people living
together, or people living in a particular district within a city. Cities encompass communities of citizens and are
centers of population larger than towns or villages. Throughout the centuries, cities evolved around people’s ac-
tivities, needs, and wants and around the usable spaces they developed. A city is a complex, living, dynamic organ-
ism made up of many physical and nonphysical intricacies. As occurs in a biological organism, each of these parts
contributes to the whole, even though the specific component may be specialized or seemingly self-supporting.
Smaller units (such as neighborhoods, commercial districts, and industrial areas) interact to produce a pattern and
a character that make that city distinct from others.

Planners speak of a city’s having a “fabric,” which implies the interweaving of physical and nonphysical attributes,
such as a historic district and its cultural makeup, giving it an identity and functioning as a force. Changes in any
of these “filaments” of the fabric can have a direct impact on parts of a city, or the city as a whole. Changes can
be positive, such as the redevelopment of a city’s inner core, which can draw suburbanites back into the heart of
the city to revitalize it (Figure 10.2).

More than half of the population of the United States dwells in urban areas that account for perhaps 1 percent of
the available land. Suburban living has been a response to crowded cities. People moved to tracts of land devel-
oped as small centers or villages within commuting distance of the city centers. Attempts are made in these satellite

Figure 10.2 The redeveloped San Antonio Riverwalk provides a pleasant place to stroll, shop, and eat at the many fine
restaurants.
Jim Cole, Photographer/Alamy