Sustainable Development Strategy

8/7/2019 Sustainable Development Strategy

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/sustainable-development-strategy 1/18

Sustainable UrbanDevelopment at city

level

Sustainable Strategies

Shabari Shaily

MSc Advanced Sustainability of Built Environment

4/25/2011





P a g e | 2

INTRODUCTION

The past few decades have seen a major transformation in our cities

and way of living as never witnessed before. With the advent of

technology, knowledge base and human advancements, we have

explored boundless possibilities to reshape our surroundings and the

space we live in. However, this revolution to change the built formsparked back in 19th century. Ebenezer Howards’s Garden city

movement played a remarkable role in shaping our civilizations and the

thought process that backed up the planning policies. The town-

country magnet concept was a considerate way to redevelop the urban

environment and maintain a balance between city and country. It has

been quoted in Wheeler and Beatley (2004) that, “Howard’s search for

a balance between city and country life is still central to the task of creating more sustainable

communities, but the emphasis has shifted .”

At the turn of 19th century, the issues concerning our habitat changed majorly. As opposed to high-

density city regions of the past with poor infrastructure and insufficient basic amenities, we now

have low-density automobile dependent suburbs infiltrated with a different set of issues (Howard

1898). Therefore, various researchers opine that there is a need to redevelop garden city concept to

find the solutions for the high-density industrialised towns with urban sprawl altogether (Wheeler

and Beatley 2004). Such an urban transformation process termed as Sustainable development

attempts to survive the growing societal needs for generations to come. The late 20th

century ideas

like Ecotopia, gained much popularity later when envisioning of sustainable community came into

being. However, there have been much opposition to its Utopian framework, which is believed to be

all but impossible to achieve (Callenbach 1975).

The ideation of environmentalism, feminism, civil rights and various other awareness levels, led to a

conscious attempt and belief that there is a possibility to change human actions with public

participation (Miller and Roo 2004). This enthusiasm to modify our actions for a better future is what

replicated in the Brundtland commission report ‘Our Common Future’. It endeavours to establish an

understanding within planning society to set certain goals concerning intergenerational and intra

generation equity while formulating policies to develop our cities and urban spaces (Elkin, McLaren

and Hillman 1991).

Interpretation

Amidst the vagueness of the terminology ‘Sustainable development’, different enterprises interpret

it to suit their own goals and opportunities. Adams (1990) cites Illich advocating that development is

the means by which certain establishments try to follow a methodology that they are accustomed to

and well aware of its expertise to gain profit by working in an institution that they have power to

control and sustainability is one such tool. It has also been suggested in various texts that

sustainable development is intensively vulnerable and flexible due to the ease it inherits to attach

varied definitions to it by different stakeholders (Adams 1990).

However, there is an underlined idea that is grafted in each of these definitions to establish keyconcern in terms of social, economic, and environmental equity. Friberg and Hettne(1990) suggest

that moving beyond the primary definition of development, the four basic principles of sustainable

development are culturally defined community, self-reliance, social justice, and ecological balance.



P a g e | 3

These principles thoroughly wrap the indispensable idea of sustainability, which is further

demonstrated in two case studies based in Mexico and United Kingdom.

Another level of interpretation takes to political podium of capitalism and socialism, where a conflict

between the blue and red strategy encourages finding a common ground of green strategy, which

explicitly discourages capitalism but follows a micro-revolution approach by developing small

neighbourhoods and gradually transforming larger regions. This concept is suggested in Adams

(1990), that implies a new dimension to sustainable development that is to formulate strategies and

framework to create sustainable ‘communities’ enriched with social justice and economic stability

while maintaining a harmless character for the environment.

VISION

To take the sustainable development movement forward, a substantial and rooted vision is essential

to define our policies and steps vital to achieve the goals. Various influential texts have envisaged

the vision to develop sustainability as an indicator to assist designers, planners, architects and

developers to be able to analyse the urban environments, understand the historical trends and thus

conceive future possibilities (Maclaren 1996). To achieve this, it is emphasised that a constructive

politics can lead to intergenerational equity in terms of human and ecological needs.

‘Our Common Future’ encouraged a similar idea that we must design new approaches to manage

our environmental resources that in turn will ensure secured human development. It also stated that

since environmental stress is a result of ever-growing human needs and decreasing resources, there

is a need to balance the two sides of the coin (Wheeler and Beatley 2004). The economic growth is

intertwined with the network that humans form with the environment and all three components

shall be taken into consideration while forming any policy that may influence our society extensively.

Briefly, the report released by Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland in 1987summarised the much widely used definition of Sustainable Development as follows (The

Brundtland Commission 1987):

“It contains within it two key concepts:

1. the concept of ‘needs’, in particular the essential needs of the world’s poor, to which

overriding priority should be given; and

2. the idea of limitations imposed by the state if technology and social organisation on the

environment’s ability to meet present and future needs.”

Further to Rio declaration was Agenda 21, which initiated the Human settlement programme thataimed to achieve Sustainable Urban Development . The programme laid following objectives in its

chapter 7 that took upon the crisis case of industrialisation and consumerism affecting our habitat

and leading to housing poverty in many countries (United Nations 1992):

Providing adequate shelter for all

Improvising human settlement management

Promoting sustainable land-use planning and management

Promoting the integrated provision of environmental infrastructure: water, sanitation

drainage and solid-waste management

Promoting sustainable energy and transport systems in human settlement

Promoting human settlement planning and management in disaster prone areas

Promoting sustainable construction industry activities

Promoting human resource development and capacity building for human settlement

development.



P a g e | 4

The UN Conference on human settlements in Istanbul, Turkey had its main agenda to establish

strategies to ensure settlements and urban living spaces that are safer , healthier, equitable, liveable,

sustainable and productive. The conference document also encouraged the idea of public

participation as one of the key strategies to attain a democratic and significant approach towards

sustainable development. This further led to the concept of ‘communities or neighbourhoods’.

Through the Sustainable Communities Plan issued by Deputy Prime minister of England, a novice

plan of action was introduced to form objectives by the government to develop sustainable

neighbourhoods that improve the quality of life while catering to housing shortage and basic

facilities that enhance human living conditions (CABE 2004). The highlight was to augment the

construction techniques and professional skills to implement the ideas on ground level.

Sustainable community development implies different forms of transformation and restoration of an

existing space or a new establishment designed on an ecological perception (Elkin et al 1991). The

holistic approach is necessary to achieve the structured vision for sustainable urban development. In

various projects around the world, planning authorities, organisations and social groups havederived varied strategies to transform or restore existing towns and regions permeated with urban

issues like traffic congestion, pollution and increasing population ousting existing public open spaces

and built form (Calthorpe 1993). These towns support both urban economic activities and human

consumption, which lead to the critical issues that need to be resolved through sound planning and

strategies intend to rehabilitate and rejuvenate these towns by establishing a positive character that

will add avenues to the usability of the space while providing a healthy environment to sustain

human life (Franke 1996).

Such process is denoted in various texts as ‘ecological neighbourhood renewal’ (Miller and Roo

2004). It is defined as the implementation of responsive measures in a physical neighbourhood as asolution to breathing economic, social and environmental pressures that negatively affect the spatial

qualities. This is the point of difference between the old school concept of garden city and post

modernistic sustainability. The neighbourhood renewal scheme took shape during post-war town

planning initiatives that mainly concerned quantity such as in Dutch Planning Policies. Later the

emphasis gradually shifted to quality when the quantity was achieved (Miller and Roo 2004). Since,

sustainable development encourages resourceful land use design; the existing outdated structures

were restored to state that is more efficient.

STRATEGIES

Most of the present sustainable community development projects take their cue from the strategy

proposed for post-war town renewal scheme. It differentiates between the two ideologies where

environmental factor finds a significant place in one of the frameworks. The research on

neighbourhood renewal projects have also surfaced the participation factor specifying that to

identify region specific problems and possibilities, the local authorities must engage natives and local

institutions in the decision making (CABE 2003). This is considered an essential feature of any

sustainable development scheme.

Nonetheless, apart from public engagement another major factor is ecology that shall govern the

strategy formulation throughout the process. Although, the traditional approach focuses upon the

social and economics of urban spaces and eliminates the environmental dynamic, which is merged

within planning policies in the recent decades under the terminology of sustainable development.



P a g e | 5

However, this difference of approach can have major implications on the outcome of a design

process considering the present scenario.

The following chart reproduced from Miller and Roo (2004) illustrate the difference between the

traditional and ecological approach for neighbourhood renewal process.

The schematic of ecological approach is largely employed presently in various sustainable

community schemes, which is a positive way forward to improvise upon traditional practice. Further

to this understanding of the strategic context of sustainability, there are two case studies discussed

in the paper. One of the development initiatives is Casas Que Cantan (meaning ‘Houses that Sing’):

Community building in Mexico projecting a balanced character and potentially successful in

achieving social, environmental and economical equity. The CiBoGa Groningen based in The

Netherlands highlights the possibilities that subsist within a more technologically advanced setting

and sound planning administration.

It is significant to examine the two projects since both have a similar vision to attain sustainability in

an urban space but have different approaches. In addition to this, to analyse the strengths and

weaknesses of the strategy followed, the same is evaluated against a proposed guideline essential

for thriving accomplishment of sustainable goals.

Implementation of Sustainability

Bus (2004) proposes a holistic methodology in order to implement the design measures on groundto achieve ecological community development. It poses eight major questions at four different

stages that define the execution plan. The Mexico case study effectively follows the schematics

however, due to certain unavoidable inconsistencies and political reasons; the outcome does not

strictly adhere to the vision of sustainable development.

ExistingNeighbourhood

Living

Working

Recreation

Traffic

PROBLEMS

Social

Economical

Physical

Environmental

Degradation

Local and Global

Expected Trends and

Developments

Demographic

Economic

Technical

Cultural

Knowledge about the

effects of spatial

principles on

environmental aspects

Neighbourhood

Renewal

Ecological

Neighbourhood

Renewal



P a g e | 6

The following chart illustrates the cited ecological methodology specifying posed questions at every

stage and the performance efficiency of the case study projects as per these guidelines are further

elaborated.

The researchers of ecological methodology stress upon the social aspect of planning process. In

addition to this, the researchers also emphasise upon the ubiquitous role of local administrationnevertheless, they pose the question if local government shall be the initiator for any urban renewal

project in all cases (Bus 2004).

CASAS QUE CANTAN, Mexico: Straw bale Community Building

Taking the initiative

Fundacion de Apoyo Infantil (FAI, Save the Children) in consultancy with a US-based NGO ‘The

Canelo Project’ initiated this community-building project on the outskirts of Cuidad, Obregon in 1995

to demonstrate the ‘ecological principles and employ local craftsmanship to build their own houses.

The consultants acted as a catalyst and injected the process with technical expertise but allowed the

local groups to act for themselves. One of the houses built in the vicinity with straw bale, inspired

this project located in an informal settlement called Xochitl, which efficiently provided a healthy and

liveable environment (Kennedy 2004).

As a first step forward, the local women groups

approached the local authorities but failed to

obtain any response and therefore found their

respite in the consultancy support of Bill and

Athena Steen’s ‘The Canela Project’ . To

contribute, local builders, experts and

stakeholders shared knowledge, performedtrainings, and explored the region for

possibilities. The NGO raised the finances to

support the building project through fundraiser campaigns however; the goal was to achieve a

labour intensive building technology instead of capital-intensive.

•Who is taking the initiative and which parties need to be involved?

Taking the Initiative

•Which themes need to be addressed to realise ecological neighbourhood

renewal?

•Which environmental indicators will be used?

Integral Analysis

•Which strategies and targets are seen as solutions for the neighbourhood?

•Which scenarios are realistic for the neighbourhood?•Which ecological meaasures contribute to the selected strategies?

•What are the pros and cons of these measures compared to normalmeasures?

Designing the Plan

•How are the responsibilities divided?

Execution of the Plan



P a g e | 7

Hence, the budget was affordable and promoted learning within the inhabitants through organised

workshops to teach straw bale building techniques and other construction methods essential for

that region.

Integral Analysis

The texts suggest that in order to cover the environmental dynamic in a broader sense of a

sustainable development project, then knowledge and resource sharing by every stakeholder is the

key. Moreover, underpinning of the issues to be addressed under the initiative and the indicators

that will direct the progress of the same is also essential. In the studied project of Mexico, shared

responsibility to build the houses was one of the main face values. Considering the assessment of

problems to derive the responsive solution, the local group of woman realised the housing poverty

in the region and wanted to find an affordable solution. The funding raised accommodated $500 per

house and delivered a sufficiently habitable space covering 5000 sq.ft. over a period of two years.

The key goals were:

Defining an experiment to prove the viability

of sustainable and environment conscious

shelter design

Educating local inhabitants in effective

building technologies

Encouraging community participation to

build their own habitat

Utilising best of vernacularism of a region in

terms of material and workmanship

Since the motive of the project was to demonstrate

the eco-friendly solutions and efficient utilization of local building materials particularly straw bale in

building houses for the under privileged, the focus

was also defined by the same motive. Nonetheless,

as research advocates that to assess the potential of

measures take in order to improve the

environmental quality the existing quality shall be analysed first, so that the scale of enrichment can

be outlined. However, this was a point of failure in the Mexico project since there were no set

standards rather a single straw bale house contemplated to provide a healthier living space.

Additionally, since there was no involvement of local authorities the management aspect was

faltered. Even though, the local capacity building and self-reliance aspect was a positive step in thisregard, the process still required a makeshift in terms of supervision.

Another negative aspect was that the zoning ordinances were not considered. Although the project

was a success eventually it is vital that building regulations must be taken into consideration in the



P a g e | 8

design process because the posed constraints are likely to exist in most planning projects and thus

develop an understanding to work within challenging environment.

The indicators for the project were societal and

based on the relationships established by the NGO

with local inhabitants of the village. The

networking transformed into a long-term trusted

partnership and encouraged various other projects

afterwards. However, there was no technique-

based indicator except for the fact that on-site

decisions were largely encouraged and considered

the best solutions. Various on ground events

reflected this ideation. The project was an

experimentation and platform for innovation. The

local reed carrizo was used as the building

material, which was manufactured in-situ. The

building material choice was based on various

indicators and the high relevance of every building

material’s social, economic, environmental and

cultural context in the vernacular building process

was prioritized. The indicators defined for material

choice were durability, cost, construction ease,

and availability. As straw bale clay blocks were cheaper to cast in-situ and the raw material was

locally available without consuming resources to large extent thus remaining within sustainable

boundaries, it was a beneficial technique for affordable ecological housing.

Dependency issueThe Casas Que Cantan project encountered an impending dependency issue on resources and

funding. In the case of intermittent supply of funds or technical expertise frequently witnessed, the

building work would face a sudden unexpected halt that largely affected the overall performance.

Therefore, Bill Steen of ‘The Canela Project’ strived to overcome this issue and find a competent

solution. The continuity in the community efforts were much appreciable and were further

enhanced through a church instituted with a separate branch for development in foreign countries

that provided finances to avail necessary tools, machinery and transport. This support further

evolved into Casas Que Cantan Cooperative formed by 15-20 local builders as a legal entity to

enhance the prospects to avail funds and assistance. The learning process and knowledge gained by

the locals and proved reliability of good construction details reflected the squeeze of the project

success.

Designing the Plan

For the revitalisation of the community and attaining holistic sustainability in the built form, the

outcomes of integral analysis need to be laid down in the form of structured plan of action defining

different measures in detail with involved resources and timeframe. The key goals discussed earlier

play a vital role in designing the plan since there shall not be any diversion from the aims and

objectives shall strictly adhere to what is to be attained in terms of sustainable development. In such

a scenario, there is minimum wastage of resources and time thus leading to near to complete

accomplishment of sustainability principles.

The Casas Que Cantan emphasised upon cost effective construction techniques with community

participation to improve spatial quality of the existing ad newly built housing stock.



P a g e | 9

Nevertheless, since in a case of widespread involvement of different stakeholders in a single project,

diversified opinions have their own implications. Therefore, reaching consensus to formulate final

strategy is important. Moreover, as public engagement is a key to sustainable community

transformation, appeasing every opinion is significant too. As suggested in various texts, intensive

dialogue is indispensable between different parties including designers, local inhabitants, builders,

consultants and financiers.

The categories of spatial planning solutions as advocated by researchers and implemented in this

project are illustrated in the table below. The measures taken under planning policy are divided into

3 categories: Implemented, invented but not implemented, and new (Bus 2004).

SPATIAL PLANNING

SOLUTIONS

IMPLEMENTED INVENTED BUT NOT

IMPLEMENTED

NEW

Spatial design - - -

Housing stock Straw clay blocks

Modification of

traditional building

techniques

Stone foundationsto survive natural

calamities

Utilization of

abundant

agricultural and

labour resources

- Nopal cactus juices to

improve adhesion

property and

durability of lime

plasters. Cast in-situ blocks

Enhanced thermal

insulation measures

management Primary organisation

and decision making

entrusted to the

woman groups

Educationalworkshops and local

capacity building.

- Policies implied by

networking between

US and Mexico to

surpass the political,

social and economicboundaries between

the two states.


Due to lack of representation for environmental reasons in most of the projects, a full-proof result is

hard to achieve. It is similar in Mexico Project as well. If the local authorities assisted the building

process then there was possibility to raise the quality and attain a holistic sustainability in the

community unlike the present condition where improper support from government panel has led to

incompetent results. In addition to this, an integrated bottom-up approach is necessary that

encourages initiatives taken at local level and thereafter mounting to cover a larger enterprise.Potential aspects

The Mexico project fails to approach the overall

spatial quality instead focuses on individual

housing units and enclosed habitable space.

Nevertheless, the strategy adopted to find the

best possible solutions to the existing issue of

degraded housing quality is well driven through a

conscious attempt of tagging the social dynamics

of sustainable development. Human relations

formed through the course of time working in acollaborative manner and cross-cultural experiences are considered vital for the project

development. The cooperative and joint contribution of both the support team and other

stakeholders led to efficient, diversified, and cross-disciplinary exploration through various means to

achieve the outcome.



P a g e | 10

CiBoGa Site Groningen: Environmental Quality in Urban Sprawl

THE

NETHERLANDS

CIRCUS

GASWORKS SITE

DISTRIBUTION SITE



P a g e | 11

Introduction

Groningen is a municipal province in the Netherlands and with a population of 1, 90,000 it is by far

the largest city in Northern part of the country. The Groningen city plan significantly focuses on

CiBoGa site. The high density and uncontrolled urban sprawl issues permeate the urban spaces. The

local authority has laid down the goal to promote sustainable urban development in the city region

and due to the CiBoGa site’s critical location, the structure plan Stad van Straks also strives to

formulate strategies for optimum use of available spaces while encouraging high quality urban

culture that marks the city character (Maare and Zinger 2004).

The city however lacked a central public space

to maintain urban city culture. Due to constant

political, social and economical reasons, the city

was abstained from any sort of development of

renewal process. Therefore, considering this

scenario, the local authority chose the CiBoGa

site as the most favourable location for a

regeneration project to promote a major

transformation in the region with respect to its

connectivity and environmental up gradation

potential. The site encompassed Circusterrein,

Bodenterrein and Gasfabrieksterriein (circus,

distribution and Dutch gasworks site) that had caused major soil pollution over the years of land

usage. The local authority failed to acquire finance to employ soil remediation; however, they

believed that through an overall infrastructure development initiative all the stakeholders could

achieve their goals and as an outcome extensively regenerate the deadlock region of CiBoGa. As

stated in the study, the aim was to achieve “a sustainable, liveable and ecological urban area with a

high physical planning quality” .

Taking the Initiative

The CiBoGa project went through an open planning process. As advocated by various texts and

discussed earlier, sustainability should initiate at the local level and local government shall always be

the main actor in the process. This project adhered to this factor from the very foundation at the

inventory analysis stage. The local authority performed soil quality checks to assess the level and

category of soil pollution and its implications. Further to the inventory report and city plans, the

local authority put forward the project proposal to the government and got the approval with a

comprehensible agreement.

After the approval by the State, the market parties were invited to play the financier role and

suggest the investment plans with possible benefits. This enabled the engagement of consultation

engineers to carry out the soil remediation process. The project manager took the lead within the

consultation bodies to implement the formulated strategy and keep a balance between different

policies and development divisions. One of the major challenges was to attain the support of existing

companies and enterprises on the site, which was successfully acquired through sound financial

policy, framed in collaborative manner with different stakeholders and thus reach a win-win

situation. Various other stakeholders from academia to practise were involved and consulted at

different levels to find solutions to certain issues.

Integral Analysis

At this stage, the development and design team strived to define the theme of the project goal and

indicators to show the progress toward the accomplishment of goals. To lay out the same it is

necessary to understand the site potential and forces inherited by its immediate surroundings.



P a g e | 12

The CiBoGa site has following site

features in terms of location:

10 Hac site centrally located

between existing city centre and

residential areas that appear

from early expansions.

Two main ring roads Boterdiep

and Diepenring intersect at the

south-west corner of the site

Site offers space for 1000 homes

and range of urban amenities

Peripheral shopping streets with

dilapidated infrastructure predominantly vacant with extreme disuse

Large area of open space mainly utilised for parking provision for university and other office

buildings in the vicinity that adds to the existing pollution levels.

The plan area covers the demolished fortification where some sections of the wall transformedinto public buildings.

With respect to the island formation between the old residential suburbs and urban services, there

is a physical connectivity but not spatially. The CiBoGa project aims to define this link through

conscious design process and implementing spatial design strategies that merge with the urban

setting but simultaneously resolve the underlying issues. The local authority identified following

issues in the Groningen region through an intensive research:

Social security : Due to absence of a proper link between the residential and public

infrastructure, the daily commute route was considered unsafe and hence comprehended as a

major driving factor to frame planning policy.

Traffic congestion: It is another major problem in Groningen due to its high auto mobility

growth. Moreover, excessive numbers of cars are bound to drive through bottleneck routes

that lead to congestion and unmanageable traffic.

Housing typologies: The local structure plan aimed to construct 40% of housing stock in existing

urban area by 2010 to direct the migration inward instead of outward sprawl.

Ecological issues: excessive soil contamination with PAH, cyanide chromium etc. due to gas

works and other chemical companies that existed on site in the past. Additionally, air and water

quality required monitoring as well since soil contamination by the underground water tanks

affected the water quality too; and huge parking spaces with improper exhaust and ventilationsystem led to elevated pollution levels. The project framework also emphasised upon bio-

diversity through different policies that thrived to provide better opportunities for birds and

bats that subsist in the local ecosystem.

Land use: Because of constant neglect of the site, an unplanned growth occurred over the

years. Therefore, it was essential to frame a feasible urban land use plan that can carry the

proposed infrastructure.

Integration: considering the local environmental policy, smooth merger of environmental

regulations within the regeneration plan is always significant. Even a slight conflict may lead to

major complexities and project failure. Therefore, for the Groningen local authority,

implementing environmental standards in a densely populated urban region was critical and

hence it was stressed upon throughout the design process.



P a g e | 13

High density : While developing a populated urban region was the goal of the project, other

crucial issues of odour, noise, soil and dust accompanied high-density spaces. Therefore, the

defined policies must direct the expertise to balance between the two sides of the coin of a city

neighbourhood development.

Designing the Plan

The planning framework as a solution to the themes discussed above encompassed following

proposals. Briefly, these strategies collectively aim to achieve sustainable development in Groningen

region through urban regeneration:

Small-scale social and cultural functions with work premises combined with 1000 homes.

Over 1300 parking spaces with only 500 for residents with .5 parking space/dwelling as

parking standard

8000m2 retail area on Circus site and a development along Boterdiep car park

20,000m2 of business/offices premises with business amenities.

The structure plan adopted a careful balance between

building in and around the city. To tackle the issue of traffic, it has a progressive traffic and transport policy.

A threshold limit was set to 30% to restrict the

automobile dependency. In order to reduce

environmental pollution through car dependencies,

pedestrians and cycle routes were proposed to

encourage sustainable means of transport. To ensure

car free zones within city centre, huge car parks along

the exterior ring road provide the accessibility while ensuring safe pedestrian movement too. The

proposal strived to achieve low traffic density development in a high-density region, which was a

challenging benchmark.

The ground level contamination was eradicated through remediation process and was replaced with

underground car parking. However, due to excessive car smoke accumulation underground

mechanical air extractors were installed with an outlet at a suitable location on site. To reduce on

ground parking, residents are charged along with car-pooling facility that reflects in their future

behaviours. A close-knit network is formed with special attention to cyclists.

The government played a significant role in the success

of this project through ‘City & Environment’ project

initiated by Ministry of Housing, RegionalDevelopment and the Environment (VROM). It offered

20 local authorities to experiment over a period of 5

years in a city region with the city and environment

approach as a part of national environmental policy

plan. The same approach was instituted in Groningen.

It provided obvious benefits of energy and space

efficiency, and strengthened infrastructure.

The approach also enhance the opportunities to achieve urban quality life through informed

decision making processed through various steps: integrating environmental dynamics into thephysical planning, analysing the existing legislations and regulations to find possibilities offered by

them at all levels and lastly, if feasible and utterly necessary then slight deviation from this

regulations to attain environmental goals is acceptable.



P a g e | 14

After the urban district park was completed, a green space was left isolated from other hard

landscape areas. Therefore, another proposal was put forward to design an ecological corridor

between the city centre and public gardens that will eliminate the possibility of disturbed ecosystem

and hence assist the movement of birds and bats through the region. The housing stock is designed

to comply with energy standards and a combined heat and power system for a neighbourhood

potentially contributes to maintain sustainable character of the overall renewal project. Both

present and future technological and social changes are taken into consideration for the housing

typology design for sustainable means. Waste collection points, water consumption, and building

materials also reflected the vision established in the very beginning of the initiative.

The consultation team in collaboration with local authority did further research in housing stocks to

develop better energy efficient alternatives such as bio-mass energy and explicit research on ecology

through urban form that entailed extensive knowledge database for future references and to take

this vision of sustainability forward in other parts of The Netherlands.


The plan went through a series of dialogue between a panel

of residents, business enterprise, local authority and

consultants. This communication was constantly maintained

in order to overcome any discrepancies that may occur at

any stage of implementation. The authority facilitated

meeting premises and a secretary and president to supervise

the stakeholder dialogues and arbitrate when required.

The project is an incessant process evolving with time

resolving issues that surface with the social, economic and

environmental changes taking shape of sustainable urban

development. However, the project will face challenges in

terms of its vicinity neighbourhoods. It is likely that while

restricting traffic movements in the CiBoGa site to ensure

low traffic density character, the adjoining neighbourhoods

will have to encumber the issues of noise, pollution and

uncontrolled growth resolved in the other sector.

CONCLUSIONFrom its introduction to the world forum in the 1972 in an excerpt from the book ‘ Limits to growth’ ,

sustainable development has travelled across nations through varied document, declarations and

summits like Agenda21 and Rio conference, aspiring to amalgamate social, environmental and

economical dynamics of the system into a sound policy driven progress that attempts absolute

equality. Human civilisations are the focus of the sustainable development agenda (Adams 1990). As

a responsive strategy to climate change issues and degrading human conditions in terms of basic

amenities and shelter, there is an urgent need to re-evaluate our planning policies, execute vital

alterations, and explore potential imperatives.

Diversified researches surface the fundamental concern that our cities and towns are inevitably

growing in area and population but fail to cater the proportionately increasing demands. The

imbalance in development across continents where the developed countries have unrestricted

mounting consumption, the developing world is still struggling to feed their 70% population. Despite

the conflict over the depleting resources, and more stress upon renewable energy alternatives,

there is an inequity of resource distribution amongst different countries (Elkin et al 1991).



P a g e | 15

With these piling issues, there is a serious concern being raised in various governmental and non-

governmental panels. Economists have to strive towards integration of environmental aspect in their

work (Pearce and barbier 2000). The idea of late 19th and early 20th century is reiterated and policy

frameworks across the nations are adapting themselves to promote sustainability in every aspect

from food to shelter. In such scenario, initiatives like Casas Que Cantan, Mexico and CiBoGa

Groningen are lessons to be learnt by the planners and other stakeholders involved in the system

that have the authority to influence our strategies in every possible way. Although, it is believed that

there are contextual variations between countries there are certain fundamental strategies that are

likely to prove beneficial in every region and any context (Gehl 1980). In the process of attaining

sustainability in communities, the need to stimulate the physical environmental is essential.

Both the projects discussed in this paper had different issues and hence employed diverging

approaches. While in Mexico, the social character was dominant, spatial design was more or less

underrated, with aggravated interest in individual shelter design. Contradictorily, environmental and

economic forces drove Groningen Local authority and public participation played a trivial role in the

process as apparent. In the CiBoGa site, there were conflicts within different standards and policies,

which were a challenge, and at certain instances, the project failed to overcome the same. For

example, the traffic noise is already crossing the threshold limits of the Noise Nuisance act and with

the redevelopment plan that will involve planned parking garages, it is expected that the traffic will

increase two-folds that will result in increased traffic noise levels and anticipated to cross the

defined 5dB(A) standards (Maare and Zinger 2004). Therefore, even though the project thrives to

attain low traffic density region on site, the project development itself will lead to standard

violation. To eliminate this matter, planning policy will have to incorporate efficient noise barriers

between the residential and urban areas.

On the other hand, the Mexico project had no involvement of government, which resulted in a more

challenging environment especially to acquire finances. Their motive was to depart from charity-

based developments to self-reliance and hence the strategies adopted to engage local inhabitants

were constructive (Kennedy 1992). The project had the potential to grow more viably in presence of

local authority’s support that was regrettably lacking.

Overall, the four pillars of sustainable urban development defined by Elkin et al. (1991) as futurity,

environment, equity and participation are meticulously approached in both the projects. The

solicitous stance of developers, city planners and policy makers is constantly supporting the political,economic and social systems to perform better for civilisations to come.



P a g e | 16

ReferencesAdams, W.M. (1990): Green Development: Environment and sustainability in the Third World . New

York: Routledge.

Bus, A. (2004): "Ecological Renewal of Post-war Neighbourhoods: Problems and Solutions" in Miller,

Donald and Roo, Gert de (eds): Integrating city planning and environmental improvement:

practicable strategies for sustainable urban development . Hants: Ashgate (2004), pp. 175-190.

Callenbach, Ernest (1975): "The streets of Ecotopia’s capital and Car-less living in Ecotopia’s New

Towns" in Wheeler, Stephen M. and Beatley, Timothy (eds): The sustainable urban development

Reader . New York: Routledge (2004), pp. 282-287.

Calthorpe, Peter (1993): "The Next American Metropolis" in Wheeler, Stephen M. and Beatley,

Timothy (eds):The sustainable urban development Reader . New York: Routledge (2004), pp. 73-80.

CABE (2003): Building sustainable communities: Developing the skills we need . [online] Available

from:

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110118095356/http://www.cabe.org.uk/publications/building-sustainable-communities [Accessed 10 April 2011]

CABE (2004): Local leadership for better public places. [online] Available from:

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110118095356/http://www.cabe.org.uk/publications/

local-leadership-for-better-public-places [Accessed 8 April 2011]

Elkin, Tim, McLaren, Duncan and Hillman, Mayer (1991): Reviving the City . London: Friends of the

Earth.

Frank, Tim T. (1996): "Making future landscapes: Defining a path to qualified sustainability",

Landscape and Urban Planning [online], 35, pp. 241-246. Available from:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V91-3VWNJ2H-

G&_user=7293375&_coverDate=09%2F30%2F1996&_alid=1722657127&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig

=search&_origin=search&_zone=rslt_list_item&_cdi=5885&_sort=r&_st=13&_docanchor=&view=c&

_ct=113&_acct=C000054131&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=7293375&md5=a284e37ffecde7c

61c3873554bc7a12f&searchtype=a [Accessed 15 April 2011].

Gehl, Jan (1980): "Outdoor Space and Outdoor Activities" in Wheeler, Stephen M. and Beatley,

Timothy (eds):The sustainable urban development Reader . New York: Routledge (2004), pp. 81-85.

Howard, Ebenezer (1898): "The Three Magnets" in Wheeler, Stephen M. and Beatley, Timothy(eds):The sustainable urban development Reader . New York: Routledge (2004), pp. 11-14.

Maare, M. de and Zinger, E. (2004): "CiBoGa site Groningen: A breakthrough in Environmental

Quality in the densely populated city" in Miller, Donald and Roo, Gert de (eds): Integrating city

planning and environmental improvement: practicable strategies for sustainable urban development .

Hants: Ashgate (2004), pp. 191-203.

Maclaren, Virginia W. (1996): "Urban Sustainability Reporting" in Wheeler, Stephen M. and Beatley,

Timothy (eds): The sustainable urban development Reader . New York: Routledge (2004), pp. 203-

210.

Miller, Donald and Roo, Gert de (2004): Integrating city planning and environmental improvement:

practicable strategies for sustainable urban development . Hants: Ashgate.

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110118095356/http:/www.cabe.org.uk/publications/building-sustainable-communities



http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110118095356/http:/www.cabe.org.uk/publications/local-leadership-for-better-public-places



http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V91-3VWNJ2H-G&_user=7293375&_coverDate=09%2F30%2F1996&_alid=1722657127&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_zone=rslt_list_item&_cdi=5885&_sort=r&_st=13&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=113&_acct=C000054131&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=7293375&md5=a284e37ffecde7c61c3873554bc7a12f&searchtype=a

















P a g e | 17

Pearce, david and Barbier, Edward B. (2000): "The Economic System and Natural Environment" in

Wheeler, Stephen M. and Beatley, Timothy (eds):The sustainable urban development Reader . New

York: Routledge (2004), pp. 159-161.

The Brundtland Commission (nd.): "Towards Sustainable Development" in Wheeler, Stephen M. and

Beatley, Timothy (eds):The sustainable urban development Reader . New York: Routledge (2004), pp.

53-57.

United Nations (1992): "The Rio declaration on Environment and Development , Introduction to

Chapter 7 from Agenda 21 and the Istanbul Declaration on Human Settlements" in Wheeler, Stephen

M. and Beatley, Timothy (eds):The sustainable urban development Reader . New York: Routledge

(2004), pp. 58-65.

Documents

Sustainable Development Strategy