Smart Growth is the term used to describe well-planned, well-managed growth that adds new homes and creates new jobs, while preserving open space, farmland, and environmental resources. Smart Growth supports livable neighborhoods with a variety of housing types, price ranges and multi-modal forms of transportation. Smart Growth is an approach to land-use planning that targets the State’s resources and funding in ways that enhance the quality of life for residents in New Jersey.
Smart Growth principles include mixed-use development, walkable town centers and neighborhoods, mass transit accessibility, sustainable economic and social development and preserved green space. Smart Growth can be seen all around us: it is evident in larger cities such as Elizabeth and Jersey City; in smaller towns like Red Bank and Hoboken, and in the rural communities like Chesterfield and Hope.
In New Jersey, Smart Growth supports development and redevelopment in recognized Centers—a compact form of development—as outlined in the State Development and Redevelopment Plan, with existing infrastructure that serves the economy, the community and the environment.