Measuring the Sustainability of Urban Areas
Presentation of a tool that can be used to establish systematically how urban areas can be transformed to become sustainable
Date: Tuesday, 6 November 2007
Time: 12.00-14.00 hrs
Venue: Lecture Theatre G4, Architecture Department, 131 Rottenrow, Glasgow G4 0NG
Programme
12.00 Registration and buffet lunch
12.30 Welcome
12.35 Presentation
13.35 Questions and answers
14.00 Close
Event Summary
Research framework and key objective
The development of an approach to, and a tool for, measuring levels of sustainability of urban areas is the output of the research project “Urbanising Suburbia” carried out within the framework of the City Form (Sustainable Urban Form) Consortium under the umbrella of the EPSRC Sustainable Urban Environment Programme. Its specific task was the investigation as to how (sub)urban areas – considered to be unsustainable as long as they are dependent on services and facilities elsewhere and necessitate the use of the car to get to them – can be transformed into sustainable urban neighbourhoods.
Research approach
The research team reviewed current practice of urban regeneration and concluded that regeneration programmes need to be based on a clear understanding of the key characteristics and values of sustainable urban areas and clear guidelines as well as threshold and target values against which existing characteristics and the resulting level of (un)sustainability of urban areas can be measured. Without such guidelines and values the outcome of urban regeneration is at least uncertain, at worst counterproductive. The output of the project is a best practice handbook for all local authority departments involved in urban regeneration, for planners, urban designers and architects in private practice, and for communities and local stakeholders. The handbook focuses on the key criteria of sustainability that have to be addressed at the planning and conception stage of strategic urban regeneration decisions; references to publications focusing on the design stage are included. The handbook will be made available as downloadable PDF file on the Research Team’s website.
Development and application of values for sustainable urban quarters
The presentation will first explain how target and threshold values of sustainable urban quarters have been established and will then show how these values can be used to develop regeneration programmes. It will become clear that regarding the achievement of urban form values (population size, development density, accessibility to amenities etc.) the key to success is the pursuit of sustainability targets, strategic thinking and the coordination of individual regeneration projects as no sustainable urban area on its own will make a sustainable city. To achieve social and economic targets, specifically social inclusion, requires a review of current approaches, practices and responsibilities which are largely pigeonholed and uncoordinated. The presentation ends with a case study of urban areas in Govan and how a strict pursuit of targets and threshold values can potentially lead to interconnected sustainable urban neighbourhoods and their integration with development at the River Clyde.
Speaker
Hildebrand Frey, Strathclyde University
Dr Hildebrand Frey is a retired senior lecturer of the Department of Architecture, University of Strathclyde. He came to the department from architectural, urban design and urban planning practice in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Australia and the USA. He was the founder and Director of the Urban Design Studies Unit and the postgraduate urban design course at the department. For many years he investigated the morphology or cities and city regions, their macro- and micro-structure, their land use patterns, infrastructure and transport networks as well as the socio-economic profiles and environmental conditions and methods of stakeholder and community involvement in urban planning and design. He is author of many publications that focused on the link between research and research application and has studied the challenges of sustainable urban development and form for many years. He is currently co-investigator of the City Form (Sustainable Urban Form) Consortium financed by EPSRC and responsible for the search of ways in which (sub)urban neighbourhood areas can be transformed into sustainable communities. While dealing with issues of sustainability he became convinced that the usual interpretation was far too narrow and needed a scientific approach. This, and very fruitful discussions with Dr Yaneske in the same department gave rise to the writing of this monograph.
Booking
To book a place please book online, or phone CBE on 0141 273 1411, or send a message to cbeinfo@gcal.ac.uk. You can also fax us on 0141 273 1418. When booking, please provide contact details (e.g. title, name, surname, organisation, address, town/city, postcode, telephone, fax, e-mail).
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