Case study: Daybreak

6. Case study: Daybreak

A pioneering approach to avoiding car-based sprawl

6.1 Headlines

Location

Daybreak, Utah, USA, North America

Key dates

2005-present

Key features

Large scale ‘traditional neighbourhood development’ comprising a range of dwelling types alongside commercial and mixed land use, built in accord with ‘New Urbanist’ principles of compact, mixed use, green space and transport oriented placemaking[145].

Key lessons

• Experience from Daybreak illustrate the importance of long-term commitment and a vision that is then implemented in stages over a sustained period.
• In order to achieve the scale of development that Daybreak now comprises, a programme of land remediation was initially needed. This ‘brownfield first’ approach required significant investment. This underscores the value of a delivery agency with adequate resources and a long-term vision.
• New Urbanist placemaking principles have produced a new town development that is popular and resilient in sustainability terms by challenging regional development norms that produce car dependent sprawl. Daybreak demonstrates the potential for high quality placemaking.

Key recommendations:

• Maintaining affordability is a challenge for successful new town developments especially in a solely market based housing context. Full consideration of the blend of dwelling types and tenures is needed if mixed communities are the goal. New Urbanist new town development works best when making use of typologies that have been identified to provide a range of smaller, more affordable housing types[146].
• Recognise that engaging a significant landowner/corporate organisation is essential in some circumstances to achieve wholesale redevelopment. This may be particularly the case where a former industrial site has high remediation costs which cannot otherwise be met.

A development such as Daybreak raises important questions about how uplift in value can be shared including to provide affordable housing and infrastructure. Explore ways to return to the community the uplift in land values resulting from the consent to develop, in the form of public goods.

6.2 Overview

Daybreak is located in South Jordan, Utah, approximately 30 minutes’ drive time from downtown Salt Lake City and is the largest master-planned community in Utah’s history.  Based on a masterplan by leading New Urbanist Peter Calthorpe, Daybreak is developed on part of a former mining site. Its transport and nature oriented development approach follows New Urbanist placemaking principles of sustainable, human scaled, compact, walkable, mixed use design.

6.3 Planning frameworks

As with the rest of the federal United States, Utah’s land use planning system is zonal in character. There is extensive use of local plebiscites to guarantee an important moment of democratic control in the planning process. Although not unique to the US, this is an unusual approach to planning decision-making.

Another contextual feature that distinguishes Utah even from the other states of the US is the strong association between the state and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (henceforth LDS church).  As of 2020, over 60 percent of Utahns identify as members of the LDS church. Accurate estimates are not available at small area geographies but it is widely reported that around half the population of Daybreak identifies as members of the LDS church. 

This cultural feature of Utah is important in understanding some aspects of the development, but it also makes it very specific. For example, it would be unlikely that a new town in some other settings would exist in a context where such a significant proportion of the population identify with one particular religious or cultural grouping.

A hugely important feature of Daybreak’s development has been the principle of urban sustainability. This includes walkable neighbourhoods, a 50-mile nature trail system (“the loop”), and the 67-acre constructed Oquirrh lake (Figure 5.1) which acts as a central focal point for the development as a whole. Daybreak includes “an extensive parks and open space system that integrates stormwater management, water conservation, habitat creation and local food production” [147].

Daybreak has also taken a sustainable approach to transport, walkability and its urban centre. A light rail line of the Utah Transit Authority’s TRAX network (Figure 5.2) connects Daybreak to the University of Utah and downtown Salt Lake City. Daygreak’s downtown area is being developed as a compact, mixed use centre developed through extensive community consultation, Envision Utah, that looked at scenarios for growth:

“Participants preferred the future of mixed-use, compact development connected by light rail over the business-as-usual scenario of unmitigated sprawl and more highways (126 square miles versus 409 square miles of new development)”[148].

Daybreak’s walkability is a very significant feature of the development’s masterplanning.  A corresponding increase in outdoor physical activity, particularly amongst children, has been recorded in Daybreak relative to other more ‘typical’ forms of development[149]. 

These features of Daybreak mark it out as different to many new developments in the western United States. More usually low-density housing and car-dependence provide the overarching context which explains suburban sprawl and neighbourhoods of indeterminate character.  By contrast, the population of South Jordan has increased from just over 50,000 in 2010 to just over 80,000 in 2022, principally as a result of the expansion of Daybreak.

6.4 Governance structures

Originally developed by Kennecott Land, a subsidiary of multinational mining company Rio Tinto, the development is based in the buffer zone for the Bingham Canyon mine, an area that has historically been a centre for minerals and metals extraction, principally copper. The development was taken over by Larry H Miller developments in 2021. Originally envisioned as comprising 13,500 dwellings, a second phase for Daybreak was subsequently negotiated with the city of South Jordan (the relevant local planning authority). This will result in Daybreak growing to 20,000 residential units alongside a downtown area comprising around 9 million square feet of retail and commercial space, including a baseball park to accommodate the relocation of the Salt Lake Bees. 

The development as a whole is repeatedly described as of ‘high quality’ in the secondary literature. This is indicated by its walkable, transport oriented, New Urbanist ethos and masterplan by Peter Calthorpe, one of the founders of the Congress for the New Urbanism, who also led the Envision Utah process[150]. High quality is also reflected in homes built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards - the first elementary school and community centre were built to LEED Silver standard.

6.5 Thematic discussion

New towns as sites of experimentation

Daybreak is an experimental project in at least two important ways.

Firstly, it is a redevelopment project: the land that Daybreak occupies is the original buffer zone that separated the Bingham Canyon mine from all other land uses. In this sense the new town represents a very clear example of the aspiration for ‘brownfield first’ development.

Secondly, Daybreak’s character marks it out as experimental in the context of the western United States. Some of the original masterplanning features of the development – walkable neighbourhoods, light rail transit, a compact, mixed use downtown, higher than average development densities, and a strong connection to nature and outdoors pursuits – marks Daybreak out as different to other significant developments in the rest of Utah and comparable states in the western US. Looking at several of these features in turn serves to illustrate important lessons that could be very meaningful for policy makers.

At 4,126 acres (1,670 hectares) Daybreak covers a significant area of land. However, it is important to note that this is part of a broader area comprising over 40,000 acres that separated the activities of Kennecott Utah Copper, a subsidiary of the multinational mining conglomerate Rio Tinto, at Bingham Canyon mine. The status of this buffer zone is in large effect related to the scale of the extractive industry to which it relates: Bingham Canyon is reputed to be the largest human constructed excavation on the planet covering an area of approximately 2.75 miles wide and one mile deep.

In the early 2000s as the environmental impacts of primary extractive industries became more well known and politically relevant, a new subsidiary of Kennecott Utah Copper was created, Kennecott Land. This had the specific mission of remediating part of the buffer zone and delivering a high-quality real estate project. To understand the broader context for this it is important to understand the position of the parent company, Rio Tinto, when work on Daybreak began in 2003.  This point was clearly made by one of our interviewees:

“Daybreak was a postcard for Rio Tinto when they went to other places around the world seeking mining licences. Daybreak was their postcard to say, ‘this is what we did with the land after we went away’”.

From this perspective some of the specific characteristics of Daybreak and the quality of the development itself can be understood as a form of experimentation driven by a desire to showcase corporate social and environmental responsibility. This observation may have been important in understanding the freedom that was given to the original masterplanning agency, Calthorpe and Associates, to deviate from some of the policy and design principles that would have been considered the norm in other contexts both in Utah and neighbouring states.

This second point, the character of Daybreak’s development as a form of experimentation, can be seen in some of the features of the masterplanning.  For example, the location of educational premises was determined on the principle that all households should be within walking distance of suitable schooling. This is a mainstream New Urbanist principle but should be understood as highly experimental in the western US where school commutes can be lengthy and are often undertaken by bus or, most commonly, by car.

Delivering a development that includes this principle of walkable neighbourhoods in turn required greater densities than would typically be the case in comparable situations. Daybreak’s masterplan uses a tripartite typology of ‘neighbourhood’, ‘village’ and ‘town’ to provide a mix of dwelling types[151]. These contrast markedly with other semi-rural contexts in Utah and comparable development situations in other states. The densities range from around five units per acre in ‘neighbourhoods’ (which would be typical in Utah) to 18-25 dwellings per acre in the ‘village’ settings and over 25 dwellings per acre in the ‘town’ contexts (Figure 5.3).

These densities have resulted in urban design features which further mark Daybreak out as atypical and ‘experimental’ in the context of the western USA. For example, in the most densely developed parts of Daybreak residents parking is housed in parking garages that are sensitively hidden, typically at the rear of dwellings to remove cars from property’s frontages.

For one interviewee these aspects of the development clearly mark Daybreak out as quite different to what might typically be the case in other comparable contexts:

“The scale and density of development is remarkable for Utah – particularly in the town houses where parking has been handled so sensitively”.

New Towns as political and ideological projects

The strong association between the state of Utah and the LDS church is well-known and has inevitably had an impact on Daybreak’s development. A report by the Urban Land Institute clearly makes this point:

“Market studies conducted through the 1990s established that 65 percent of Salt Lake Valley residents were Mormons, a market that, on the whole, places a high value on homeownership and education”[152].

Whilst there is no explicit association between the LDS church and Daybreak there are some connections that point to the relevance of this feature of Utah’s specific culture. For example, the Oquirrh Mountain Temple (Figure 5.4) was built on land at the edge of Daybreak which was donated by Kennecott Land to the LDS church.

The general connection between some of the features that have been important in the development of Daybreak and some of the characteristics that have sometimes been attributed to the LDS church were well made by one interviewee:

“A big thing for Utahns is that we love our access to the outdoors. Family-orientated community is also important to many people. People want their kids to be outside and safe and know where they are. It draws a lot of families to the Daybreak area. Lots for the kids to do in the neighbourhood – different to an urban setting where there is an opportunity for kids to get into trouble.”

Features of Daybreak’s character - dwelling types and tenure, the connection to the natural environment, walkable, safe neighbourhoods and good quality schooling – all speak directly to priorities that are consistent with Utah’s specific demographic features. These are elements that are core to a New Urbanist placemaking approach.

6.6 Adaptability and flexibility: Levers and barriers

Two overarching contextual features help to judge the success of the development.

Remediation of brownfield land

The extent of the contamination present at the core of the site is well-described by the Urban Land Institute case study published early in Daybreak’s development. This noted much of the land had originally been used for farming. It was then a site for evaporation ponds associated with mining in Bingham Canyon. The soil where the ponds were located also had elevated levels of heavy metals that needed to be remediated. The site developer, Kennecott Land, decided to go beyond standard industry practice and spent tens of millions of dollars to remove the remaining pond sediment from the site in order to develop an 85-acre (34-hectare) lake and housing on the east side of Daybreak[153].

In many societies the political goal of encouraging new housing to be delivered on brownfield sites finds a telling obstacle in the economics of the private development industry. The extra costs of cleanup in brownfield settings make them far less attractive than greenfield contexts, which are generally more straightforward and, usually, more profitable.  It is a significant success of Daybreak that an area which for decades was the buffer zone for such an enormous copper mining operation has been transformed over a twenty-year period into a large community, sensitively incorporated into the spectacular local environment and supported by relevant infrastructure, including schools, public transport, and recreation facilities. 

Affordability

Perhaps the most significant downside to Daybreak is the common issue that frequently accompanies the creation of desirable new places: unaffordability.  According to Redfin.com as of June 2025 the median price of a dwelling in Daybreak was $594,088, up 3.6 percent year on year, compared to a state-wide median average of $523,000. As one interviewee noted, there is a clear market premium to Daybreak’s real estate because of its housing and landscape design quality:

“You can get the same square footage of home just outside Daybreak for around 10 percent less. But the architecture of the homes and the landscape architecture creates that emotional response that you are getting something special. That is what makes Daybreak different”.

Unlike many contexts where housing affordability is an issue, in many states of the US there is not always a mandatory policy of requiring developers to provide a proportion of dwellings on an affordable tenure. The result is that Daybreak comprises only market housing. The ‘developer’s contribution’ that would often materialise as a fraction of affordable dwellings in other contexts has been realised in other forms of infrastructure such as new school premises and three stations on the red line of the Utah Transit Authority’s TRAX public transport network. The result is a large-scale new community that is well served by services and infrastructure but characterised by a mono-tenure market housing offering.

It is unlikely that many new towns in other contexts would proceed purely via a market-based approach. The delivery of homes on an affordable tenure is politically and culturally a priority in many settings. Indeed, there is evidence that the issue of affordability has risen up the political agenda in Utah[154] with it potentially becoming more likely that developments may be required to include a proportion of affordable homes in the future. For example, of the 2817 new dwellings consented at Terraine in the Utah’s ‘West Bench’ area 350 dwellings will be reserved for rental[155].

Despite this overarching issue, there are also examples of more affordable housing schemes and house types in Daybreak. This fits into the ‘missing middle’ approach to housing. This focuses on affordable housing types that meet a variety of housing needs that are discouraged by conventional development. Missing middle types includes a range of smaller, more affordable options such as ‘accessory dwelling units’ often above garages, cottages and tiny homes, mews houses and town centre apartments above commercial and retail spaces[156]. In Daybreak, the development Daybreak Mews is an example of more affordable town homes below the median price in the new town because of their smaller size[157].

However, it is important to note that there are trade-offs and those features of Daybreak that can be considered a success are to some extent built upon the profitability of the development supporting investment in community benefits other than affordable housing. Compromising the market-orientated nature of the development would inevitably have an impact on the scale of investment available for public goods. This raises an important question for any future generation of new towns: how the uplift in land values resulting from consent to develop at such as scale is materialised in public goods.

6.7 Key lessons for policy makers and others

In some respects, there are features of Daybreak that make it almost unique. It is located on very large area of land which is solely in the ownership of a hugely significant multi-national corporation. The goal of creating a community of a substantial scale and high quality is part of a broader goal of illustrating Rio Tinto’s commitment to social and environmental corporate social responsibility. The quality of the built environment and the supporting infrastructure stems from this foundational goal of creating what one interviewee referred to as a ‘postcard’ for these exemplary actions. Nevertheless, there are three ways in which Daybreak serves to provide lessons for policy makers in other settings.