A central theme or concept is always required to willfully create one thing into wholeness for a specific purpose. Most times it is called a parti ñ a single organizing principle.

Such a proposal for a regional plan is seeking all actors, land uses, activities and markets. The overriding objective is to create a plan to create and maintain a well functioning housing sector. This objective can be obtained by one single strategy; enabling all the stakeholders engaged to work in an efficient, equitable and sustainable manner.

These participants come from many distinct fields be they visitors, dwellers, builders, developers, lenders, bankers or non-profit groups, whereby government should facilitate all their actions. This is interpreted into related strategies that bestows property rights, comprehensive development policies, low-income housing, mortgages, incentives, infrastructure, (roads, water, sewerage, power, communication, education, safety, security fire and emergency services) and the incremental codes, regulations and taxes levied, as an integrated program of action.

Housing for human safety is a prime settlement instinct that must be satisfied. This is the cornerstone of wealth building for all nations. With this comes the mobility factor that requires the driving force for all to circulate in ´common space´. This can only be achieved with household quantitative input versus output relationships. Added together with the latent resource energy costs to benefits ratios are the provisions made within the boundary limits of space and time. Always cognizant of relationships to suitable agriculture and Natural lands with appropriately proportioned urban settlement spatial relationships.

The urban design system for a regional plan should therefore be harmoniously arranged so that collective decision makers can embrace its totality while realizing all the details. This is a tall order to fulfill within a physical environmental context and the sequence of changing decision makers for the years to follow.

A worthy quote of note out of: The Tale of the Scale An Odyssey of Invention by Solly Angel pp54 ñ55 suggests the following approach: ´Under the sway of reason, our knowledge must not contain a rhapsody, but must become a system, because thus alone can the essential elements of reason be supported and advanced. By a system I mean the unity of various kinds of knowledge under one idea. This is the concept given by reason of form of the whole, in which concept both the extent of its manifold contents and the place belonging to each part are determined a prioriÖ Thus the whole is articulated (articulatio) not aggregated (coacervatio)´.

Plainly written the part for the whole, the whole for the part.

Looking under the surface of urban design to be found in regional planning we will find there is little evidence of hypothesis toward any integrated scientific method. Quantitative numbers will however have to expose and support all urban growth and change in sustainable cities. The only hope for success in this interdisciplinary field of regional planning is to do lots more ´imagineering´.

This requires a lot of prototype modeling and artistic drawing using layered geographic information systems as a tool for presentation.

Graham Kaye-Eddie

M.U.D. 1/3/09

´We can make our plans, but the final outcome is in Godís hands´ Proverbs 16:1

• Creating a visionary plan must stir citizenís minds and hearts. The plan must involve the nation in structuring a better value of economic exchange for all Californiaís San Joaquin Valley citizens, as well as, Americans at large.

• National transportation visions will form new cities. This new vision must bring into balance both our old and new cities with nature. The advance in mobility is essential for our next generation of citizens.

• Clarity is essential. Vision means a better technological plan must be presented with a set time for accomplishment. All citizens must be touched, energized and motivated for itís attainment.

• Creating such a visionary plan must be seen as structuring a better value based transportation technology for economic exchange and participation from ´head to hand´.

• A National Plan is far more than Federal Government rebate checks or tax credits. The plan must not be a status quo short-term infrastructure fix up. The plan must adopt a new advanced technology such as Evacuated Tube Transport. Such a plan must capture the entrepreneurial spirit of Americans.

• The plan must be forged in this troubled time as a long-term mobility program that will increase the speed of safe travel with a carefully considered design, policy and cost/benefit for economic sustainability.

• Mobility must be supported by a less costly ´infrastructure´ identity to link and connect us all together with comfort and safety. This reality must increase long- term land value and ease of access from ´point to point´ anywhere in America.

• The question is who will lead the transformation into such a new mobility system? The rational and logical truth is our nations citizens must lead our civil servants to accomplish this national transportation plan.

• To achieve this visionary plan however the right Maglev rather than High Speed Rail must be chosen.

• Together we must bring ´space travel on earth´ speedily to satisfy our nations travel needs by moving people and goods to achieve ´JUST AND ON TIME´ distribution to all parts of America.

´When good influence of Godly citizens causes activity to prosperÖÖÖ(we must get over our present apocalyptic financial slump)ÖÖÖbut moral decay of the wicked drives it downhill´. Proverbs 11:11.

Graham Kaye-Eddie

M.U.D.

A recent conference focused on the future of bringing new energy systems for our future was good for those who attended, listened carefully, shared enlightened self interests and at ´breaks´, made self introductions with proffered hand shakes as cultural behavior dictates. The polite exchanging of business cards with mutual hopes of building further relationships followed almost as an accepted ritual.

The informational exchange involved the connections between long-term investments with new ways of generating energy. These interests involved biomass, biogas, biofuels, solar and wind generation. The program targeted farmers to partner with clean energy producers, utilities, policy makers and regulators, project developers/financiers and clean energy advocates.

What was learned from this informational exchange? My belief is that connections are and have made between people at this event will advance the continual creativity and entrepreneurship of American business. This energy was evident between attendees and it is with optimism and hope that project realities will be formed as a result of these interactions.

My focus was to mine the intelligence of the proceedings. Two revelations shall be remembered. The first was the same ´old´ passage of problems from project conception to effective completion. Surprisingly it was not the magnitude of the project costs but the human concerns involved with predevelopment costs. The triad of costs, regulations not anticipating the technologies due to lack of understanding the complexities presented, and the expertise required to educate the transformation of these energy business resources.

The second revelation was my grateful surprise that one farmer and scientist were tackling the worldwide problem of using ´drainage water´ with bad soils to create and recycle crops with specialized plants to produce energy. This reality experiment was all done with an inventive process to responsibly prove emission calculations, as well as, rebuilding soil quality with the return cycle of activity for future yields. Inventiveness, courage and risk were measures of persistence in their exploration. These two men are the true great agricultural leaders in our SJ Valley.

A reminder of my urban planning design came into play when another bio energy production venture was displayed. The process adopted for their project started from laboratory to pilot and thence to commercial production, followed by return to the laboratory for improvement. One wishes that this discipline would be thoroughly applied to city design. This approach to use 100% of the biological molecule alternatives required a continuous stream of feedstock. This long-term bio energy plant location had engaged an interdisciplinary intellectual effort that is commendable.

After experiencing three decades of responding to new city, new community edge community design, the singular lesson learned was that a mix of uses was integrated toward a settlement for people. A misunderstanding of interrelationships between distance, energy, space, environment and time has shortened our focus on the efficiency or the need for long term urban planning. What is observed is the desire of multiple industries to rather focus on their own self-interests. These new investors of energy alternative projects are approaching the great San Joaquin Valley with the same blinders as urban developers.

The volumes of bio feedstock equals the value based on a continuous supply for electricity production. Depending on the size of the technology plants the scaling of land area for operation and maintenance has opened a land rush with the assumption that all farmland becomes a willing partner. These industries are placing their facilities seeking to find the feedstock that varies from ten to twenty to forty mile radiuses dependent upon facility size. The resultant distribution of generated electrical power thus depends on existing agreements with PUC dispensed on utility lines or ´blenders credit´ on gas pipes to end-users — people.

How all these actions will relieve the demand by consumers for electricity in time and sequence of bio-plant competition, remains to be seen. What is most disturbing is the fact that each alternate bio energy plant is looking at the San Joaquin Valley as a playground for finding the best land at a reasonable price. In process offering the farming industry opportunities to serve to be more profitable, yet assuming location based on proximity to either utility corridors or main gas utility pipelines without overview of service area overlap or adjacency to existing or future urban settlements is questionable. Is this ´highest best use´ approach the way to service future urban habitats?

What excellent San Joaquin Valley soil and water served agricultural land reserves are we going to be conserved for corporate and family farming? How does one balance future bio energy land requirements with the populations need to supply food and fibre is going to have to be seriously considered.

Graham Kaye-Eddie
M.U.D. 11/8/08