1. Lee County SDAT
October 2013

2. THE VISION
“A Livable, Economically Diverse Hub for Sustainable Business”
Our Charge
•Assess the feasibility of the Diamond Concept
•How and what it should be
• What the public and private sectors can do to make
it happen

3. 3
3

7. What We Heard
What We Heard
7
7

8. • What does the Diamond boundary
mean?
• How can we be competitive nationally?
• We want to diversify the economy through
innovative research and sustainable
industries
• Is this a marketing exercise?
8

9. • Skyplex adjacency to the airport is
a competitive advantage.
• Potential synergy with the University.
• Some DRGR and lands bordering on
mines poses challenge for development.

10. • Effective public-private partnerships
are essential.
• A concern planning won’t bear fruit
• People need to be patient. It will take time
to achieve the vision.
• We don’t want “more of the same”

11. WE HEARD YOU WANT
•
A complete community to attract families
•
Walkable, comfortable setting with
Transportation Choices
•
Attract and retain FGCU faculty and
students
•
Distinctive architecture and landscape
•
Cool things to do

13. 13
13

14. 14
14

15. 1. When Work
Changes, the City is
Transformed

16. When major change happened: Agriculture & Crafts
to Factories – “Industrialization v.1”
The prosperity machine of early industrialization grew cities and
towns to a never-before-seen scale
© Freedman Tung + Sasaki 2013

17. Industrialization v.2:
City Pattern re-organized using
Industrial Principles
Business park
Shopping Center
“City as Machine” (CIAM 1933)
•
•
•
•
Economy Focused on Making & Moving Goods
Synchronized routines
Segregated land uses linked by vehicle “conveyor belts”
Mass consumption
© Freedman Tung + Sasaki 2013
Housing Subdivision

18. Industrialization v.2: The Mid-20th Century Suburban
Ideal
• When the nature of Work changes, the City is entirely transformed
• (The Business Park was ushered in by a small group of business leaders)
© Freedman Tung + Sasaki 2012

19. New Technologies:
• Cars
• Interstate Highways
• Electrification
• Air Conditioning
The Experiment FIT with the new
industrial economy of the Era.
Taylorism (Fordism):
• Central Control
• Mass Production
• Mass Consumption
Demographics:
• Uniform H/H Structure
Cheap energy
Abundant accessible land
Massive subsidies
© Freedman Tung + Sasaki 2013
It became our culture’s development
“consensus” on how to build.

20. Foundations of the Recent “Consensus” 1950 - 2007
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The Open Road
Demographics – uniform household structure
Cheap energy
Abundant, available and accessible land
Massive government subsidies - home mortgages, strip
construction, highway construction & maintenance
6. Fordist model of national economic development –
based on consuming homes, cars, and home
appliances.
7. Nostalgia - New generations of Americans learned to
associate sprawl with America

21. Foundations of the Emerging Consensus 2008 - ?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The Open Road
Demographics – uniform household structure
Cheap energy
Abundant, available and accessible land
Massive government subsidies - home mortgages, strip
construction, highway construction & maintenance
6. Fordist model of national economic development –
based on consuming homes, cars, and home
appliances.
7. Nostalgia - New generations of Americans learned to
associate sprawl with America

22. Does the Mid-20th Century
“Consensus” and its City format
still fit the needs of today’s
economic activity?

23. Beginning in the 1980s: Wide-spread Digitalization
© Freedman Tung + Sasaki 2013

24. At first, many thought it was just a change in tools.
But digitalization has led to
Fundamental changes in work activity

25. This process of combining ideas
to create new possibilities…
+
+
© Freedman Tung + Sasaki 2013
=
=

26. …is called Innovation and it has
become the primary wealthgenerator in the new economy.
© Freedman Tung + Sasaki 2013

27. Saskia Sassen: the heightened
importance of rapid creative
invention has effected all industries
– from mining and agriculture to
electronics.

28. Innovation is a social process
Research has shown that
innovation comes
from:
• Group collaboration
rather than individual
solitary effort.
Source: analytics20.org
• Interaction between
people with different
specializations,
experiences, and
perspectives.

29. Essential Principal: Innovation is fostered by
providing settings that bring people together to
collaborate and exchange ideas
• In the office and the lab
• In the conference room
• In cafes, bars and
restaurants
• During breaks, recreation
and leisure
• Especially while socializing

30. We are still designing
our cities to meet the
needs of the old
industrial economy

32. 2. Reshaping the City

33. Leading cities (of all sizes) are beginning to
understand:
To Attract, Build, and Serve
the Businesses of Tomorrow, we must
Physically re-shape cities
to attract and accommodate the needs of
innovators

34. The Innovation Ecosystem: Dense Collaborative
Network of Partners, Suppliers, Customers

35. The Innovation Ecosystem: Composed of Companies
at Different Stages in their Life-cycle

36. Emerging: A Dynamic Mix of Uses
(instead of the old habit of separating uses)
Offices
Hotel
Offices
Studios
Small-medium
sized businesses
University of Salford
& iTV
BBC
Housing
BBC
BBC
HDTV
Entertainment
MediaCity – Manchester UK

37. Emerging: A Range of Building & Workspace Types
Mixture of space costs, sizes, and configurations to
match the needs of different work activity in close proximity
Quality Medium Sized Space
Creative rehab – lower cost spaces
New lower cost, small scale space
Established Corporate Space

38. The U.S. General Services Administration has embraced these
ideas in planning and managing its properties:
Source: GSA Public Buildings Service White Paper, Leveraging Mobility, Managing Place (2010)

39. Reshape the City:
Connectivity

40. Segregated land uses + arterial roadway system
– failing as a habitat
Forces Undermining the Viability of the “Modernist” City:
•Poor Accessibility
•Rapid Consumption of Farmland, Natural Resources
•Acceleration of Climate Change
•Wasteful of Diminishing Fossil Fuel Reserves
•Increasingly expensive for families

41. Emerging: Transit-Connected Hubs of Activity
• Multi-Nucleated
Patterns of
walkable, bikeable,
mixed-use, denser
development
• Integrated with a
Transit Network
offering modern,
frequent service

42. Reshape the City:
Activity

43. The Workplace District remains out of sync
No activity focus or center

44. Activity-generating retail is one of the
most precious city building
commodities. Urban vitality drives
innovation and attracts “talent.”
The most important and most difficult decision in the
design of the (suburban) metro area is where (and how)
to strategically build the retail.

45. To foster creativity & innovation
cities must provide “Vital Centers” with clustering,
density, mix, and settings for interaction
Centerless Workplace
“Vital Center”
Classifying and locating these centers
is a critical strategic decision cities must make

46. ULI Emerging Trends 2011: Commercial real
estate needs to cope with “Era of Less”
“Most areas need less retail,
not more. Endless strip
construction is over. …. [we
must] rethink how we
deliver retail in better
transportation-linked urban
centers, moving away from
car-dependent models”

47. Reshape the City:
Amenity & Image

48. The Workplace District remains out of sync
Plenty of Open Space but no “Public” Space

49. The Emerging 21st Century Workplace District Model:
Settings for Convenience, Interaction, Activity
SOMA near South Park, San Francisco

50. To Attract Innovators:
Promote “business livability” – developments and
districts that respond to 3 scales of activity:
Quick Breaks
•
Immediately outside the building
Lunchtime Activity
•
Evenly distributed within 3 minute walk;
activated by food & drink businesses
After Work Activity
•
© Freedman Tung + Sasaki 2012
A central cluster within 10-15 minute
walk, bike, drive or transit ride;
activated by restaurants, bars, fitness,
convenience retail

51. Part 3:
New Formats of
Development in
the Innovation
Economy

52. PREVIOUS ERA:
Economic Value
Created by large corporate firms
•
•
•
•
•
Attracting Talent
Training
Compensation packages
Services
Infrastructure/Building
Investment

53. PREVIOUS ERA:
Economic Development
Tap into the “Big-Firm Ecosystem” by attracting large firms
• Transportation access
• Infrastructure
improvements
• Financial incentives
(tax incentives, land
write-downs, etc.)

54. Change: The scale & complexity of business
operations has increased dramatically
Wrigley
© Freedman Tung + Sasaki 2012

55. Change: Work is distributed among a
highly connected network of
specialized, collaborating partners

56. To be successful in this transformed
economic landscape, Cities need to:
1. Attract and accommodate small and
medium sized firms along with large
ones.
2. Attract, produce and retain a pool
of Knowledge Workers.

57. CEOs for Cities survey of
25 – 34 year old college graduates:
• Almost 64 percent of them
reported they pick where they
want to live before launching a
job search.
• They are about 90% more likely
to live in close-in urban
neighborhoods

58. The “creative class”
craves vital centers
Transit
Streetlife
Public Spaces

59. Attracting, Building, and Serving
the Businesses of Tomorrow requires
a new approach to Economic Development
Industrial Economy
Focus Exclusively on
Attracting Big, Vertically
Integrated Firms
Innovation Economy
Physically re-shape cities
to attract and accommodate the
needs of innovators
+
Assemble knowledge districts
that foster innovation and
produce innovators

60. The emerging “Business District”
ecosystem:
• City and Regional Centers
(Downtowns)
• Workplace-focused districts
• Revitalized Business Parks
• Redeveloped Industrial Districts
• Institution-anchored districts
• Educational Campuses
• Medical Districts
© Freedman Tung + Sasaki 2012

61. Smaller cities and
towns are
remaking
themselves as
hubs for the
knowledge
economy.
Livable cities draw creative
people, and creative people
spawn jobs. Some places
you’d never expect—small
cities not dominated by a
university—are learning how
to lure knowledge workers,
entrepreneurs, and other
imaginative types at levels
that track or exceed the US
average (30 percent of
workers)
“Small Cities Feed the Knowledge
Economy,” WIRED Magazine –
May 31, 2012
61

62. Build on Local Strengths
1. Studies have shown that up to 80 percent of
job growth is from existing businesses
2. In the new era of specialized, networked
businesses, proximity matters
3. Focus on strengthening existing workplace
districts / industry clusters
4. Target those industries related to existing
City assets

63. • When Work Changes, the
City is Transformed
• The City will be Reshaped
• New Formats of
Development in the
Innovation Economy

64. Stability Areas and Change Areas
Treeline Blvd
I-75
Daniels Pkwy
RSW
Terminal Acc Rd
Alico Rd
FGCU
LEGEND
Stable Area
Estero Pkwy
Change Area
Institutional Area
Natural Preserve
Co
c
rks
rew
Rd

65. Current Economic
Conditions
• Very large area to absorb
• Glut of vacant space across
all commercial and
industrial
– Low rents, marketwide
• Markets rebounding in
2013, but a long ways to go

66. Two paths
• Wait for market trends to develop the area
• Go after what you want

67. Waiting for market trends
• Will likely result in
– Low density, low cost development patterns
– Scattered absorption
– Little cohesive identity

68. Stability Areas and Change Areas
Treeline Blvd
I-75
Daniels Pkwy
RSW
Terminal Acc Rd
Alico Rd
FGCU
LEGEND
Stable Area
Estero Pkwy
Change Area
Institutional Area
Natural Preserve
Co
c
rks
rew
Rd

69. Daniels Pkwy
I-75
Institutional
Treeline Blvd
Potential Development
Pattern
RSW
Innovation Cluster
Tradeport/Industrial
Terminal Acc Rd
Commercial Strip
Alico Rd
Commercial Retail
Hospitality & Services
Residential
FGCU
Natural Area
Estero Pkwy
Entertainment
r
Co
rew
ksc
Rd

70. Potential Development
Pattern
Daniels Pkwy
Institutional
Treeline Blvd
Innovation Cluster
Commercial Strip
RSW
I-75
Tradeport/Industrial
Commercial Retail
Hospitality & Services
Terminal Acc Rd
Residential
Natural Area
Entertainment
Alico Rd

71. Potential Development
Pattern
Alico Rd
I-75
Innovation Cluster
Treeline Blvd
Institutional
Tradeport/Industrial
Commercial Strip
FGCU
Commercial Retail
Hospitality & Services
Estero Pkwy
Residential
Natural Area
Entertainment
rks
Co
w
cre
Rd

72. Daniels Pkwy
Potential Development
Pattern
I-75
Innovation Cluster
Treeline Blvd
RSW
Institutional
Tradeport/Industrial
Terminal Acc Rd
Commercial Strip
Commercial Retail
Hospitality & Services
Alico Rd
Residential
Natural Area
Entertainment

102. Implementation
• Economic Development
Approach
• Policies
• Capital Improvement Projects

103. Encourage development will
require addressing
• Innovation
• Infrastructure
• Quality places
• Human capital
•
•
•
•
through
Investment
Encouragement
Recruitment
Focus

104. Innovation
108

105. Human Capital

106. Infrastructure

107. Place

108. Target industries
• Aerospace
• Clean technology
– Biomass, renewable fuel sources
• Life sciences
• Information technology
• Health care
• Medical devices
• Freight and logistics
• Travel and tourism

109. Investment

110. Encouragement
• Business retention
– Airport related
– FGCU
• Focus on human capital
• Foster entrepreneurship
• Education

111. Recruitment
• Long odds game
• Requires focus, clarity
• Customer service, capacity
• Central points of contact,
role clarity

112. Focus
• Consistent messaging
• Leadership
• Patience
• Long-term payoffs

113. Policy
• CURRENT: County General Plan Update
– Ensure that the Research and Enterprise Diamond
vision is emphatically articulated in the Update.
– Define the resulting supportive regulations and
catalytic capital investments
• CONCURRENT/FUTURE: Zoning & Regs Update
– Where new formats critical, revise development
regulations to provide greater investment reliability
(i.e. form-based) for both investors and neighbors
– The Land Development Code’s Compact
Communities Regulations is an example and
template.

114. Industrialization v.2:
City Pattern re-organized using
Industrial Principles
Business park
Shopping Center
“City as Machine” (CIAM 1933)
•
•
•
•
Economy Focused on Making & Moving Goods
Synchronized routines
Segregated land uses linked by vehicle “conveyor belts”
Mass consumption
© Freedman Tung + Sasaki 2013
Housing Subdivision

115. Conventional Zoning
1. Very Restrictive Use Control (Use
Separation)
2. Very Specific Density & FAR Control
3. Not Enough Building Scale, Type, Form, &
Character Control
Hard to envision and predict physical
outcomes

116. TOOL –
District/Form Based Regulations:
• Regulations that shape physical characteristics of
buildings for compatibility, such as orientation,
volume, relationship to the street, and
architecture/massing.
• Regulations that are more flexible about adjacent
uses that are compatible with each other (e.g.
housing, workplaces, services)
• These provide greater investment security by
insuring that new (or renovated) buildings will be
located near others of similar type.

117. “Sense of place”
• Understand the “pieces of city” (neighborhoods,
subdistricts) whose in-common physical and
performance characteristics of development tell you
where you are.
• Each “piece of city” has to have developments of
physical coherence and regularity to make them
recognizable, valuable and secure for investing.
< < < OUTSKIRTS < < <
The “Urban Transect” (from the Smart Code, v.7)
> > > CENTERS > > >

118. Code Focused on Physical Outcomes
1. District Zones / Standards
2. Corridor Frontages / Standards.

119. Land Use Zones
District Zones
Define the Places for Incubators, Accelerators, Training Organizations,
Technical Assistance, NGOs, Institutions, Regulators…

120. Capital Improvements
• Priority Catalyst Projects
– Multi-modal street improvements
– Transit links for highest-priority destinations
– Boulevard Street Tree Plantings (ensure that Lee
County’s natural image remains visible along entry
corridors)
• Public-private partnerships to enable highspeed internet connectivity opportunities
(dark fiber activation, etc.)

121. The Public Agency Role:
1. Lead (or support) the vision
2. Provide a reliable policy
context for investment at
different scales
3. Ensure the emergence of
critical physical elements
(especially the infrastructure +
public pieces)

122. Thanks!
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
AIA Florida Southwest
Lee County Port Authority
Florida Gulf Coast University
Lee County Metropolitan Planning Organization
Real Estate Investment Society
Estero Council of Community Leaders
Horizon Council
Lee County Community Sustainability Advisory Committee
Alliance for the Arts
Lee County Board of County Commissioners
Lee County Departments: Community Development, GIS,
Transportation, Parks & Recreation, Visitor & Convention Bureau,
Economic Development, Administration, Office of Sustainability

123. www.aia.org/liv_sdat