Around the world, towns and cities are experiencing massive change. Some places are facing decline whilst others are facing huge pressures for growth with all the attendant problems of housing shortage and traffic congestion. These changes are complicated by issues of sustainability and there is growing pressure to make urban development more sustainable.

What’s to be done? How can we best manage shrinkage in some places and growth in others? And how can we plan our communities so as to live more sustainably and burn less carbon?

CAR has devised an approach to reviewing and assessing the sustainability of settlements. In a similar way to post occupancy evaluation of buildings we analyse existing places to see if they perform as intended and how they might be improved. This review covers a wide range of issues, including size and location, built form and architectural quality, open space and green area, environmental performance, people and community, social mix, schools and services, employment and transport and the planning and development process. Our review produces a sustainability assessment and a set of recommendations.

Projects/Publications

• Lessons from Cambourne A study evaluating the new settlement of 4,000 homes ten miles west of Cambridge against Terry Farrell’s original master plan objectives and drawing lessons for similar new settlements in the region. Client: InspireEast, 2007. [Read more »] [Download (PDF, 1.8Mb) »]

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