Search

Sustainability checklists are designed to provide practical tools (including indicators) that help with planning and measuring sustainability within new developments and redevelopment schemes. Unfortunately, a checklist - due to its very nature - tends to consider elements of sustainability in isolation, narrowing it to a set of individual tick boxes. Successful planning strategies for sustainable utility infrastructure require a more holistic approach that considers elements of water, energy and infrastructure in tandem rather than isolation, therefore suggesting that a checklist approach may not be wholly appropriate. By critically examining the 2007 version of the sustainability checklist for south-east England with respect to 12 questions that relate to sustainable utility infrastructure alone (five for energy, four for water and three for infrastructure provision) this argument is explored further. The thorough examination provided in this paper serves to analyse the framing of the questions used in the checklist and test the validity of the aims and scoring method used (including weightings). This paper also examines whether these questions can jointly form a successful holistic strategy for infrastructure, not least in terms of the ability to ensure that supply meets demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban design and sustainability are critical issues in creating better urban environments. The UK government is endorsing sustainability through its sustainable communities agenda and is urging the public, private and third sectors to emphasise high quality design in their urban development projects. However, with little guidance as to how to design sustainable urban development projects, decision-makers may end up wasting time, money and resources in projects that are unsustainable for themselves, the community and beyond. One option for decision-makers is loosely to follow a generic process for urban design that demonstrates, by way of a series of stages and activities, when to make decisions and to consider sustainability, what tools are needed to make decisions and who should be making decisions. To further the understanding of the use of a process in sustainable urban design decision-making, a baseline model was first created that amalgamates stages and activities from relevant processes found in a variety of disciplines and professions. A case study was then conducted, showing the process for the urban design and development of Brewhouse Yard, Clerkenwell, London. Through analysis of interviews, archival material and site analysis, three distinct periods of the process were discerned. These periods are discussed by way of process stages, decisions, tools and sustainability. The paper then compares this process with the baseline process to understand how the former can help improve the latter as a tool for assisting decision-makers in creating more sustainable urban environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]