Sustainable Communities

Sustainable development: what it is and
what you can do

by the Green Ministers Committee
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A Sustainable Future for the South West - The Regional Sustainable Development Framework
for the South West of England
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Building a sustainable future - Homes for an autonomous community
The concept of sustainable communities is gaining popularity, but just what does it mean? This guide provides two examples and explores not just the energy performance of individual buildings, but also planning, green spaces and transport issues.
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20% in the Red

The US National Academy of Sciences has confirmed what most people knew already - that humanity has been living beyond its means for a few decades. Resource consumption is now at about 120% of its replenishment rate. As recently as the 1960s we were 'in the black' at 70%. We're now the wrong side of the so-called point zero of sustainability.

'It is often said that sustainability rests on three equal pillars: environmental, economic and social. However, designers often ignore the social and cultural aspects. Ecodesign, especially when practiced by engineering designers, is taken as a technical problem.'

Professor Matthew Simon and Andrew Dixon, Sheffield Hallam University, Opportunities for Sustainability Messages in Product Services Systems.

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Housing and the local environment are vitally important. But communities are more than just housing. They have many requirements. Investing in housing alone, paying no

attention to the other needs of communities, risks wasting money – as past experience has shown.

The way our communities develop, economically, socially and environmentally, must respect the needs of future generations as well as succeeding now. This is the key to lasting solutions that create communities that can stand on their own feet and adapt to the changing demands of modern life.

What makes a sustainable community?

Some of the key requirements of sustainable communities are:

A flourishing local economy to provide jobs and wealth
Strong leadership to respond positively to change
Effective engagement and participation by local people, groups and businesses, especially in the planning, design and long-term stewardship of their community, and an active voluntary and community sector
A safe and healthy local environment with well-designed public and green space;
Sufficient size, scale and density, and the right layout to support basic amenities in the neighbourhood and minimise use of resources (including land)
Good public transport and other transport infrastructure both within the community and linking it to urban, rural and regional centres
Buildings - both individually and collectively - that can meet different needs over time, and that minimise the use of resources
A well-integrated mix of decent homes of different types and tenures to support a range of household sizes, ages and incomes
Good quality local public services, including education and training opportunities, health care and community within it
A "sense of place"
The right links with the wider regional, national and international community.

What are the problems?

Access to decent affordable housing in decent surroundings is one place to start. It is widely known throughout the UK that there are still too many people that do not have access to such housing. Across the country there are still homes in poor condition

occupied by vulnerable people.

There is also a shortage of housing. Homes are unaffordable for people on moderate incomes, including many of the key workers on whom our public services depend. Yet new house building has been in decline for decades. In particular private house building has not responded to increased demand for home ownership. At the other end bad housing design has forgotten about creating communities and decent homes.

Over many years we have been too wasteful of precious greenfield land. New developments have often taken far more land than they need, and the full potential of previously developed land has not been exploited. The way land is used needs to be adapted to constantly changing demands. Yet our planning system is unresponsive and slow.

People have moved out of our cities to seek a better life in suburbs, creating urban sprawl. There has been inadequate long-term planning of communities. Too much of what we have built has been poorly designed. The regeneration of our cities needs sustained effort to make them again preferred places to live.