Livability Literature Review: Synthesis of Current Practice

In 2009, the U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency collaborated to form the Partnership for Sustainable Communities. The Partnership developed six livability principles to improve access to affordable housing, provide more transportation options, and lower transportation costs, while protecting the environment in communities nationwide. Using the Partnership’s livability principles as guidance, NARC conducted an extensive review of local and regional comprehensive and master plans, reports and policy documents. The literature revealed difficulty in creating livability consensus concepts, livability and sustainability used as interchangeable terms, and ten trending topics used by practitioners to achieve livability goals. While the ten trending topics are not exhaustive, it serves as a starting point to further understand livability tactics and mechanisms that can be replicated on local, state and regional levels. This paper examines each trending topic as it relates to the livability principles to enhance the understanding, knowledge and implementation of livability.