Our pitch:
There are thousands of local governments. Each day these governments and the communities they serve are confronted with a variety of changing circumstances and conditions. These changes affect economic, environmental, and social conditions—all implicating the health and welfare of citizens. Some of these governments, such as Amsterdam, San Francisco, and Copenhagen, have the resources to adapt to these changes as they occur. However, most jurisdictions do not. Further, many jurisdictions are working with local land use codes that are decades old. In many cases, it is the poor and economically depressed communities that have fewer abilities to adapt to changes. The model Sustainable Development Code is designed to address this. It provides governments across the world with the best sustainable development code practices whether they have millions of people or four-hundred people. The Code is designed to give these communities the resources they need to be able to adapt to circumstances as they change. In this way, the Code provides a useful service to thousands of communities and millions of people.
The Code is a broad-based, interdisciplinary effort to move to more sustainable development in diverse communities. Over the past eight months an interdisciplinary group designed the framework for the Code. That framework is founded on quick accessibility, meaning communities can easily utilize the information to adopt new policies, and broad applicability, meaning the Code applies equally to dense urban areas and sparse, rural areas. It also applies to thirty-two primary development areas, including Housing Affordability (chapter 6.1), Pedestrian Mobility (chapter 5.3), and Water Supply Quality and Quantity (chapter 2.4). Governments can select which of these areas are most important to them. Most importantly, the Code is designed to provide quick and concrete information so that governing bodies and staff can utilize the material and implement changes quickly.
Each of the thirty-two chapters provides 35-45 specific action items on that particular topic. For each action item, there is a corresponding brief that is designed to be handed directly to local officials and staff. Each brief consists of: An introduction (what is this proposed ordinance doing); An effects section (how does this proposed ordinance affect the specific topic); Examples (2-3 fleshed out examples of local governments that have adopted these ordinances with citations and links to the actual codes); Additional Examples (4-6 additional examples that consist of links to the specific code sections and a parenthetical explaining the example.
Since establishing this framework, we have been moving forward on three fronts. First and administratively, we now have an inter-disciplinary advisory committee comprised of experts and practitioners from a variety of disciplines. Second, we are building out the content and expanding the collaborative. Third, we are designing a website. We expect to launch the website at the end of the summer or beginning of fall 2019 with 2/3 of the chapters completed.
The dimensions of the Challenge our solution addresses:
Where our solution team is headquartered or located:
Des Moines, Iowa, USAWhat makes our solution innovative:
This effort brings together many disciplines (law, planning, architecture, government, economics, health) to provide a needed resource to thousands of local communities. In addition, the Code strictly addresses local laws, and not policies or broad-based planning. It is designed to be hyper-pragmatic.
How technology is integral to our solution:
The Code must be available to as many communities as possible for free.
Our solution goals over the next 12 months:
Draft 20 of the 30 chapters and launch the website with 2/3 of the chapters drafted. We will draft the remaining 10 chapters in 2020 and update 10 chapters a year, keeping the materials fresh and innovative.
Our vision over the next three to five years to grow and scale our solution to affect the lives of more people:
The 30 chapters act as a menu of challenges facing local communities. In addition to the chapters mentioned earlier, they include Hazard Resilience, Coastal Communities, and Climate Change.
The key characteristics of the populations who will benefit from our solution in the next 12 months:
The regions where we will be operating in the next 12 months:
How we will reach and retain our customers or beneficiaries:
As we launch the website, we hope to open communication with communities so that they can share the local laws they have passed and that others can adopt.
How many people we will be serving with our solution in the 12 months and the next 3 years:
Within the next three years, we expect to be serving dozens of communities representing millions of people.
How our solution team is organized:
Non-ProfitHow many people work on our solution team:
15How many years we have been working on our solution:
1-2 yearsThe skills our solution team has that will enable us to attract the different resources needed to succeed and make an impact:
We have many folks representing a diverse network, including:
Ralph Becker, former Mayor, Salt Lake City, UT, former President, National League of Cities
Michelle Crim, Sustainability Manager, City of Portland, OR
Susan Daggett, Executive Director, Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute, Denver, CO
Christopher Duerksen, Senior Advisor, Clarion Associates, Denver, CO
Laura Graham, Director of Performance & Innovation, City of Des Moines, IA
Gary Hack, former Dean and Professor Emeritus of City & Regional Planning, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Molly Mowery, Founder and President of Wildfire Planning International, Aurora, CO
Our revenue model:
I'm glad to provide a full budget upon request, but our budget is about 110,000 (US dollars) for the first three years as we built out the content. About 40% of that has been procured.
Why we are applying to Solve:
The more exposure the model code has, the more communities will know about it and be better able to change their laws to protect their communities.
The key barriers for our solution:
Letting communities know it exists and having funds to build out the content.
The types of connections and partnerships we would be most interested in if we became Solvers:
Solution Team
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Jonathan Rosenbloom Professor of Law, Drake University School of Law
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Our tagline:
Provides a model sustainable development code to local communities across the globe.