Planning an Ecological Innovation District

Overview

The City of Sunnyvale incorporated urban ecology and sea-level rise adaptation into the Moffett Park Specific Plan to create an ecological innovation district. The Plan was awarded the 2024 “Award of Excellence in the Comprehensive Plan – Large Jurisdiction” from the American Planning Association California Northern Section.

The project was supported by many local non-profit organizations including the Sierra Club San Francisco Bay Chapter, Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, and Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge.

SFEI’s Role and Contributions

Raimi + Associates led the Plan’s development with a large consultant team. SFEI collaborated closely with Raimi + Associates, CMG Landscape Architecture, and Environmental Science Associates (ESA) to integrate the latest science to promote biodiversity, resilience, and sustainable urban design.

We applied the Making Nature's City Urban Biodiversity Framework to identify opportunities, develop strategies, and offer ecological guidance for making a biodiversity-friendly district. 

We integrated feedback from ecology-focused workshops into an Urban Ecology Technical Report, showcasing how incorporating a network of nature can improve health outcomes, build resilience, support biodiversity, enhance human experience, and establish a unique sense of place. We also contributed to the Flood Hazard & Sea-level Rise Adaptation Strategy prepared by ESA.

These concepts and strategies were ultimately woven into the Specific Plan. SFEI contributed to:

• Strategies related to climate resilience, urban ecology, and connecting open space and urban ecology
• Development standards including
  • Bird safe design
  • Green roofs
• Open space and urban ecology standards and guidelines
  • Urban forest
  • Landscape soils
  • Landscape design, including plant palette
  • Irrigation systems
  • Exterior lighting
• Infrastructure and utilities standards
  • Stormwater
  • Flood resilience
  • Groundwater 

Products

• Moffett Park Specific Plan Urban Ecology Technical Report, prepared by SFEI
• Sunnyvale Flood Hazard & Sea-level Rise Adaptation Strategy, prepared by ESA with support from SFEI
• Moffett Park Specific Plan, prepared by RAIMI + Associates