A Brief Guide To Sustainable Urban Design

A Brief Guide To Sustainable Urban Design

In simple terms sustainable urban design is about ensuring that an urban landscape is set up in order to be both economically viable but also sustainable in terms of the environment and in terms of preventing social deprivation as well. This can be a difficult balancing act to achieve but the best designers can make it easier for town and city planners to achieve this.

Sustainability refers to a number of aspects. There is the idea of economic sustainability. This is where people are able to pay their rent, businesses can stay open and an area can thrive over a long term period. This is a vital balance of the right businesses and services as well as affordable homes for people to stay in.

Another part of this sustainability is access to other areas. More people are likely to want to move to the area if they can get access to major city centres. Therefore it is vital that designers consider transportation in their designs. Ideally this transportation will be affordable and efficient as this will make it easier for people to travel between local areas.

However a designer should not wait for one off events to provide an opportunity for growth and regeneration. It is about promoting areas. For example if an area is cut off from the main business areas then a sensible planner will recommend building roads connecting these areas in order to allow more people to commute between these areas.

An urban area does not necessarily mean somewhere that is purely concrete. Adding parks, gardens and other features can often make an area more attractive and can make an area feel calmer and more relaxing, as well as providing a practical purpose such as a place for people to take young children or walk their dogs. This in turns means more people are likely to stay there and in turn add to the economy of the local area.

A good design can also help to reduce social problems. Social clubs, skate parks and other facilities for young people can help to reduce youth delinquency. This may not totally wipe out youth crime but more engagement with the community can often help to reduce these problems in the long term.

The local community is also important. For example young people often complain about having nothing to do. This in turn can lead to them not engaging with local issues and more likely to turn to gangs and delinquency. While adding a skate park or a youth club may not wipe out delinquency it can often go a long way to show that planners do care about the young people in their local area.

In short the long term benefits of sustainable urban design can be potentially enormous. If you are someone who is involved it is important to engage with the local community. This will make it easier to create designs that are in keeping with the needs of the people who live in the local area. Use your local search engine to find out more about examples of how design can potentially affect the local area in the long term.