A Regional Design Technique for An Urban Fringe Area with Application of Environmental Attractiveness and Vulnerability Models: A Case of the Kingston Ponds Community, Massachusetts, U. S. A.

Abstract

The proposal for Kingston Ponds Community offers a comprehensive arrangement of infrastructure and land uses for leisure and working activities. Jobs, recreation, shopping, community sen ices and a variety of residential styles are interconnected by convenient systems of" pedestrian open spaces, public transportation and local roads. Water, waste disposal and a combination of septic and sewer services will be provided on site. As an independent urban/suburban entity, Kingston Ponds capitalizes on the mutual benefits of compatible integration with existing town of Kingston, the resources of the South Shore, imd the metropolitan area of Boston. Kingston Ponds Community represents a melding of environmental consideration, land use locational criteria, and existing site amenities through a sensitive and innovative design process to ensure an economically, ecologically, visually and functionally sound response to the pressures for urban growth. The proposal reflects a market strategy aimed toward the maximization of investment returns through product quality and "community acceptance. II. Regional Setting The study area under consideration includes the town of Kingston, Massachusetts plus approximately 3,797 acres of the towns of Duxbury, Carver, Plimpton, and Plymouth. The roughly rectangular 17,352 acre tract lies approximately 2.5 miles south of Boston with 38 miles frontage on Kingston Bay. The majority of the area's 5000 residents "are concentrated in and around the historic settlement of Kingston in the northern sector of the site. The sparsely populated morainal topography of the southern region is chara.. cterized by hummocky landforms and ground water lakes.