While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:Urban planners employ different strategies when developing sustainable city neighbo...
GMAT Expression of Ideas : (Expression) Questions
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- Urban planners employ different strategies when developing sustainable city neighborhoods.
- Green infrastructure initiatives focus on incorporating natural systems like rain gardens, permeable pavements, and urban forests to manage stormwater and improve air quality.
- Community engagement programs emphasize involving residents in planning decisions through public meetings, surveys, and collaborative design workshops.
- Mixed-use development policies encourage combining residential, commercial, and office spaces within the same area to reduce transportation needs and create walkable neighborhoods.
- Successful sustainable development projects typically integrate multiple strategies rather than relying on a single approach.
The student wants to emphasize how different urban planning strategies work together in sustainable development. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Urban planners use green infrastructure, community engagement, and mixed-use development when creating sustainable neighborhoods.
Green infrastructure manages environmental concerns, while community engagement involves residents in planning decisions.
Effective sustainable development combines green infrastructure's environmental benefits with community engagement's participatory approach and mixed-use policies' walkability features.
Mixed-use development policies encourage combining residential, commercial, and office spaces to reduce transportation needs.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Urban planners employ different strategies when developing sustainable city neighborhoods.' |
|
| 'Green infrastructure initiatives focus on incorporating natural systems like rain gardens, permeable pavements, and urban forests to manage stormwater and improve air quality.' |
|
| 'Community engagement programs emphasize involving residents in planning decisions through public meetings, surveys, and collaborative design workshops.' |
|
| 'Mixed-use development policies encourage combining residential, commercial, and office spaces within the same area to reduce transportation needs and create walkable neighborhoods.' |
|
| 'Successful sustainable development projects typically integrate multiple strategies rather than relying on a single approach.' |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Successful sustainable urban development requires integrating multiple planning strategies rather than using just one approach.
Argument Flow: The passage introduces sustainable urban planning as using different strategies, then systematically presents three distinct approaches (green infrastructure for environmental benefits, community engagement for resident participation, and mixed-use development for transportation efficiency). It concludes by emphasizing that successful projects combine these strategies rather than relying on any single approach.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
What's being asked? We need to find the choice that most effectively emphasizes how different urban planning strategies work together in sustainable development.
What type of answer do we need? A statement that shows the collaborative or integrative nature of the strategies, not just their individual functions.
Any limiting keywords? The key phrase is 'work together' - this means we need to show integration, collaboration, or combined effects rather than separate descriptions.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The correct answer must show integration rather than separation. Based on our analysis, it should:
- Include multiple strategies (ideally all three: green infrastructure, community engagement, mixed-use development)
- Show how they combine or complement each other
- Demonstrate the 'working together' concept that the student wants to emphasize
- Reflect the passage's key insight that successful projects integrate multiple approaches
Urban planners use green infrastructure, community engagement, and mixed-use development when creating sustainable neighborhoods.
✗ Incorrect
- Simply lists the three strategies without showing connection
- Uses 'when creating' which suggests they happen simultaneously but doesn't show how they work together
- Misses the integration aspect
Green infrastructure manages environmental concerns, while community engagement involves residents in planning decisions.
✗ Incorrect
- Only mentions two of the three strategies
- Uses 'while' which creates contrast rather than integration
- Doesn't show how the strategies complement each other
Effective sustainable development combines green infrastructure's environmental benefits with community engagement's participatory approach and mixed-use policies' walkability features.
✓ Correct
- Combines all three strategies with their specific benefits
- Shows integration through 'combines...with...and' structure
- Demonstrates how each strategy contributes distinct value to the unified approach
- Perfectly matches the student's goal to emphasize working together
Mixed-use development policies encourage combining residential, commercial, and office spaces to reduce transportation needs.
✗ Incorrect
- Focuses only on mixed-use development
- Completely ignores the other strategies and the integration concept