黑洞社区

The development of sustainable communities should be shifted away from the government鈥檚 10 proposed eco-towns on greenfield sites towards extensions of existing conurbations, according to a report published last week.

The report, Beyond Eco-towns, was compiled by regeneration consultant URBED and housing design watchdog Design for Homes, along with architect PRP. It draws lessons from six urban developments in Germany, Sweden, Ireland and the Netherlands.

As well as proposing that new communities should be 鈥渃losely linked to thriving urban conurbations鈥�, the report鈥檚 six recommendations include creating balanced communities through a mix of housing types and tenures.

Development should be undertaken by local authorities 鈥渨ith active civic leadership鈥� rather than rely on 鈥渢he adversarial and legalistic approach to development that has marred many developments in England鈥�. Infrastructure should be provided upfront and funded by low-cost public finance.

The report was partly compiled by architect PRP, whose chairman, Andy von Bradsky, is lobbying the Homes and Communities Agency and the communities department to heed the findings. 鈥淲e hope they will convene a gathering to discuss the report,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd although we have no guarantee that they will adopt our recommendations, we hope they will filter through into the whole development system.鈥�