To further our vision of a sustainable Bay Area — one with a healthy environment, equitable community, and strong local economy — Urban Ecology created the Progressive Development Network. The Network was established to link developers with cities and community organizations seeking to build the kinds of projects that the Bay Area most needs. We aim to support developers’ positive endeavors, educate other developers, local governments and the general public.
In April 2000 we published a groundbreaking Infill Developers Portfolio. Every developer in this portfolio builds “infill” — development in existing developed areas, rather than in open space and “greenfields.” Ideal urban infill buildings are compact, mixed-used, transit-oriented, pedestrian and bicycle friendly, and affordable. Some outstanding projects also reuse buildings, integrate nature in their design, or incorporate ecological design.
Our Portfolio has been distributed to planning directors, City Councilmembers, and land use and development professionals around the region and California.
Urban Ecology’s Progressive Development Network is a groundbreaking effort to bridge the traditional divide between developers and environmentalists. The members of the Progressive Development Network have proved that they can incorporate social and environmental values in projects that are also financially successful. Their projects incorporate land use and planning principles that Urban Ecology supports, and that Bay Area cities desperately need: Restoring and reusing abandoned buildings, working closely with the local community, including both affordable and market-rate units, designing buildings with reduced parking, and incorporating environmentally friendly elements, such as alternative heating and cooling systems and recycled materials.
