TCPA/ ASC Eco-towns and housing growth series
TCPA/ ASC Eco-Towns and Housing Growth Series
Regent’s College, London, 14 December 2007
For the first in this series of TCPA events examining the potential of the new CLG Eco-Towns initiative, the large audience included fifty competing development teams and local authorities who are bidding to develop one of the ten first-generation Eco-Towns. Others were anxious to hear what Eco-Towns will mean for existing Growth Areas, towns and cities. Speaking for CLG, Henry Cleary set out the government’s housing and growth dilemma, explaining that Eco-Towns will help to meet growth needs using a ‘clean sheet’ for developing sustainably.
The CLG definition of an Eco-Town is for an exemplary green development of 5,000-20,000 people, with zero-carbon impact as a whole (including transportation), freestanding but linked to other larger settlements, and with an infrastructure-led approach to housing provision. The emphasis is on capturing land values to self-fund otherwise ‘difficult’ issues such as transport improvements, drainage and remediation. The TCPA’s Chair David Lock addressed press reports about Eco-Towns that the long-list of bids includes many that are little more than recycled schemes previously rejected by the planning system. Given the CLG’s short competition timescales, Lock saw this as inevitable, but with teams aware of the need to rethink planning and infrastructure provision to address previous shortcomings.
John Walker explored the Eco-Town opportunity whereby less valuable, undevelopable and undesignated land, would become considerably more valuable with an Eco-Town designation, so that its value is harnessed for comprehensive planning. Robert Shaw described the stringent environmental performance expected of Eco-Towns and what is achievable when looking a town-scale strategies.
Later sessions heard about case studies – Freiburg (pictured), Stockholm and London’s Olympics. Wulf Daseking, Freiberg’s Chief Planner, described Germany’s sunniest city, which having seen off an atomic power station in the 1970s, re-branded itself as an alternative ‘Solar City’ setting sustainable transport targets. These have included limiting development above 12.5m to maintain wind patterns, minimising local pollution and foggy weather. Riesenfeld, one of two developments on redundant edge of town sites, was required to have self-financed schools, roads, and tram infrastructure, car-free housing areas and high environmental performance housing standards. Vauban also provides mixed tenure housing, shared spaces, a CHP plant, mixed use developments with Solar Plus homes, and floodable outdoor spaces. These demonstrated a steadfast approach to transforming a prosperous historic city into an exemplar for contemporary home-building. The next phase of the TCPA’s work will be to study Northstowe, BedZed, Malmö, Kronsberg, Upton, Milton Keynes Energy Park, and Letchworth to inform the development of Eco-Towns.
Finally, Professor Sir Peter Hall quoted the Tym study (2005) identifying a funding gap of at least £8bn in infrastructure provision for the South East, decisively concluding the case for the holistic Eco-Towns initiative.
Louise Thomas
