Overview: Principles for the Development of the Central Delaware Waterfront
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Sustainability means different things in different contexts. The master plan team used sustainability as an underlying principle for its decisions and recommendations. Specific recommendations address sustainability by taking into account these aims:
■■ Create a waterfront place that will not only economically sustain itself, but that will also contribute positively to the economic development of the city.
■■ Contribute to the sustainability goals set forth in the Greenworks Philadelphia plan. ■■ Utilize best practices in sustainability for architecture, landscape architecture, and city planning to insure that the built environment achieves multiple goals. The system of parks and open space recommended in this plan are designed to function as much more than green spaces or places for active recreation; they will also help manage stormwater, prevent flooding, restore natural ecologies, contribute to the health of the river, reduce the heatisland effect of the city, and restore tree canopy. The type of development planned for the waterfront not only establishes new, vibrant economic development for the city, but also creates dense and walkable communities, reduces vehicular emissions through improved mass transit, incorporates new and emerging green building technologies into building design, and utilizes the existing history and character of the waterfront to inform new development forms.
MASTER PLAN FOR THE CENTRAL DELAWARE
4. INCORPORATE BEST PRACTICES IN SUSTAINABILITY