Open Space & Land Use
To develop a thriving cityscape that connects people to natural spaces, the city of Richmond is thoughtful about plans for
new development, including the location and distribution of different land uses, buildings, housing, parks and recreational
resources and open space resources.
These efforts contribute significantly to the achievement of sustainability goals by reducing the overall energy use of
residents, promoting a healthy lifestyle, and offering a greater choice of housing options.
Goal
Develop a thriving cityscape that connects people to natural spaces
Objectives
- Encourage 24/7 communities with more sustainable and affordable housing options throughout the city
- Increase accessibility, quantity, and quality of public space
- Increase Richmond’s tree canopy
- Protect historic building stock and promote the use of vacant and blighted property
How are we doing?
Objectives
Housing Options
Encourage 24/7 communities with more sustainable and affordable housing options throughout the city
Initiatives
Zoning changes to promote higher density and mixed use
Implement zoning changes that promote higher density and mixed use development
Adopt an energy efficient housing policy
Adopt a policy that new housing be built to green and/or energy efficiency standards
Establish an affordable housing requirement
Require a percentage of new housing developments to be affordable
Public Space
Increase accessibility, quantity, and quality of public space
Initiatives
Riverfront Plan
Create a riverfront plan for open space and recreation
Improve accessibility of bike and pedestrian paths
Improve lighting, safety, and comfort of bike/pedestrian pathways between public spaces
Parks maintenance program
Invest in an expanded parks maintenance program
Tree Canopy
Increase Richmond’s tree canopy
Initiatives
Adopt a tree replacement policy
Implement a one-to-one tree replacement policy
Encourage residents to plant trees in empty tree wells on public property
Encourage residents to utilize the existing policy that permits them to plant trees in empty tree wells on public property
Create and disseminate a tree species list
Develop and disseminate a list of appropriate tree species for planting within the city
Historic Building Preservation
Protect historic building stock and promote the use of vacant and blighted property
Initiatives
Adopt transfer of ownership legislation for vacant property
Adopt legislation that allows transfer of ownership of abandoned/ vacant property
Brownfield Redevelopment
Redevelop contaminated brownfield sites for productive use
Adopt policy to promote redevelopment of vacant property for urban agriculture
Adopt policy/zoning that promotes use of vacant properties for community gardens and urban agriculture
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