Developing Sustainable Communities in Edinburgh's South East Wedge

Urban sustainability is the idea that an urban area can be organised without excessive reliance on the surrounding countryside and be able to power itself with renewable sources of energy. The aim of this is to create the smallest possible environmental footprint and to produce the lowest quantity of pollution possible, to efficiently use land, compost used materials, recycle it or convert waste-to-energy, and to make the urban area overall contribution to climate change minimal. Therefore allowing the next generations and future generations to have the required resources without compromising them. However sustainably needs to focus also on other issues such as crime and economic factors.

The research question I have chosen to investigate is “In what ways can we agree that the town of Brentwood, England, is a sustainable area?”

Urban regeneration is defined as improving an area that has been experiencing a period of decline due to a variety of reasons, such as lack of employment, lack of investment in the CBD, suburbanisation etc. Ways that this can be resolved include property led regeneration, prestige project developments and partnership development schemes. These have all been carried out in the UK recently due to urban decline in some areas, and some have been more successful in others, in terms of its effectiveness on the location, effectiveness on problems that existed beforehand and the effect on the local community. Most importantly, the

GREENER - Improve Scotland's natural and built environment and the sustainable use and enjoyment of it.” Scottish government (2007)

The indefinite growth of the human population, has monumental impacts on the natural environment, not only in the UK, but around the globe. Architecturally, the entire process of designing and constructing a building, both domestic and not, can lead to the rapid exhaustion of natural resources across the planet. Building with environmental design strategies in mind not only combats the impact we as humans have on the natural environment, but also has considerable economic benefits, due to lower running costs of buildings and advanced occupant productivity. There are also many social benefits, such as improved air quality which resultantly leads too enhanced health of a buildings occupants.

Checker makes use of critical studies of urban sustainability, projects whose aim is to build more “green” areas, and the opposing views of local residents to highlight the contradictions between the stated goals of a plan and the final results.

There are many who suggest the solution to the decline of the suburbs is to urbanize the area by densifying and overall making the suburbs more similar to a city. Laura Vaughan argues that the development of a spatial layout similar to that of a city would help the suburbs to become more efficient socially and economically. However, this approach directly contrasts the purpose of the suburbs, which was originally meant to provide a private, quiet environment for single family homes away from loud and busy city life. In his book, “Sprawl: A Compact History,” Robert Bruegmann explains that suburbia is not a bad thing but possesses “benefits that urban planners fail to recognize” and is a natural process of the growth of urbanism. While the suburban landscape does possess much potential, those who support the continued existence of the suburbs as they exist are naive and fail to recognize the environmental, social, and economical impact that the suburbs impose. The suburbs possess many social and political issues that need to be addressed. There is no doubt that there is massive potential in the suburban

Furthermore, the Town House (O) is a sustainable environmental design project illustrating the relationship between human well-being, the welfare of the future generations and the natural world, through regeneration, the

Urban sprawl is quite commonplace in most suburban communities and usually make way for many problems alongside it. With residents come needs of the people such as work spaces, commercial centres and institutions. While although the community of Morningside Heights may be abundant in many things such as institutions and industrial land, the focus on dealing with urban sprawl has led to the lack of focus on other needs of a community. Here, a large influx of people coming into the community without enough residential area to sustain a rapidly growing population. As much as the community has been expanding into the area which was once a golf club, there is not enough land, or money to build housing to sustain the number of people coming in. In addition there is the problem of the environmental impact; habitats being destroyed for the sake of this housing.

The viewers were given an overview of the existing issues and shown some examples of projects aimed at solving these issues in various cities across America. One issue profiled was the change in ethnic composition of suburban residents which was discussed as visits to Muslim-American, Latino and Asian-American communities took place. Showing various aspects of these communities in real time and comparing them to the beliefs about these same communities which were clearly untrue or changed has made the case for why suburban developments as intended are not a sustainable plan going forward. That set the stage for the final message as the need to revise the vision for new development and redevelopment with an emphasis on defining a sustainable vision which is both economically viable and incorporates the changes witnessed since the developments were built. Then the film showcased some regional best management practices that have addressed and solved a few of the developmental and infrastructure problems back in 2008, and also profiled Long Island as the first modern suburban

Urban regeneration is at the forefront of government policies, and is the subject of much polemic. There are numerous examples of this in the UK such as Glasgow, Bristol and Liverpool; there are clearly advantages for these cities in terms of improved resources, but this has also depersonalised certain communities. Some of the areas cleared for redevelopment were homes to large numbers of people and the places they were attached to; “the over-writing of historical and cultural identities will alienate and marginalise embedded social groups” (Zukin, cited in Scheffler). Communities are also being dismantled/displaced in the countryside: there is much discussion for example of the proposed HS2 train link which could lead to compulsory purchases and destruction of local habitats. More and more city dwellers are eager to escape the stresses of the urban environment and buy up holiday homes in villages, thus making it increasingly difficult for

What do sustainable cities and communities look like? They are economically, environmentally, socially healthy and resilient. It should meet its challenges through integrated solutions rather than through disintegrated approaches that meets a goal at the expense of others. A sustainable city or community takes long-term perspectives that are focused on both the present and future and lasts well beyond the next budget or election cycle. It manages

Campbell (1996), argues that it is necessary to focus on three major points, being the environment, economy and society when planning a sustainable city. He constructs a prism which holds each of these features at a

Perhaps the most definitive example of New Urbanism has been DPZ's project, Kentlands, a 352-acre community in Gaithersburg, Maryland begun in 1990. An oasis of good planning in a sea of suburbia, it is not only a model of Traditional Neighborhood Design (TND) but also the predecessor to many other such neighborhoods developed within CSD areas. In Kentlands, much like Seaside, the Citizens' Assembly runs a recreation center and provides for common maintenance of public areas. Civic buildings and shopping in mixed-use buildings are within walking distance of the development's six architecturally distinct neighborhoods. This compact design reduces auto traffic significantly, allows children to go about their daily business without requiring a mother chauffeur and puts workplaces near their employees.5

Urban planning in Australia has a significant role to play in ensuring the future sustainability of Australian cities.