Sustainable Cities
If our cities in the future are to be pleasant
and safe place to live we need to solve
problems like…
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Traffic
Pollution
Use of derelict land
Crime
Housing designed with sustainability in mind
Sense of community
Environmental factors
These are all major issues, but let us start to look
at ways we can solve some of them
In order to design or improve an area sustainably we need to
think about..
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Saving water
Saving energy
Insulated houses
Cutting traffic
Recycling material
Attracting wildlife
Building a community
Using technology
One area that is being redeveloped with sustainability in
mind is the Greenwich peninsula in London
Area in 1985
Plan of what
finished area
will look like
So how is this development
sustainable?
Saving Energy
Saving Water
Rain falling on O2 roof is
collected and used to flush
toilets and water plants as is
waste water from the village.
Supermarkets make use of
their own wind and solar
power. They have glass
roofs to reduce the need
for electric light during the
day. They have high
banks of earth around the
sides to increase
insulation and reduce
heating costs.
Houses are well insulated
and fitted with energy
saving appliances. Use
south facing windows to
increase natural light and
heat
Cutting traffic
Have a good bus service
and tube station to give
access into the city.
Network of safe and
pleasant cycle routes.
Have not included may
parking spaces so use of
a car is discourage.
Encourage the use of
internet shopping – again
reducing the need for a
car.
Recycling
All the building materials can be
recycled or used again in the future.
Have organised recycling collections
Attracting Wildlife
They have planted over
12000 trees and made large
areas of parkland with lakes
and ponds.
Building a community
Offer a wide variety of housing to
attract people of different ages.
Have shared lawns and gardens with
neighbours so they get to know each
other
Technology
All houses have
computers, burglar
and fire alarms
linked into local
services
St Mary's Island, Chatham
Another example or the
redevelopment of a
brownfield site that has been
done with sustainability in
mind is this development on
the site of an old navy base
on the river Medway in Kent.
For details of this development
use the link below..
http://ssw.countryside-properties.com/stmarysisland/home.htm
Sustainable transport
http://www.go-fastrack.co.uk/
Fastrack
• Dartford and Gravesham form an area called Kent
Thameside. This has huge development potential,
which will bring up 50,000 new jobs and 30,000 new
homes over the next 20 to 30 years. But this
amount of development cannot happen if everyone
uses a car for local journeys.
So a real alternative is needed, which is why a high
quality, attractive public transport system is essential
as part of the redevelopment of the area.
Fastrack is the new part of the public transport system
in Kent Thameside that will make a real difference.
• Use the link above to discover more.