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Designing green towns of the future

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT News Release (201) issued by The Government News Network on 30 October 2007

Housing and Planning Minister Yvette Cooper today confirmed that an ideas competition would be run to develop and set the design standards for ten new eco-towns. She wants to engage the leading creative thinkers on architecture, urban and landscape design and transport planning on proposals for the new developments of up to 20,000 homes.

The Government's adviser on architecture and urban design CABE, with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment, will assist the Government in the competition and establish a judging panel to assess the entries. The competition will focus both on the practical design ideas and the design and development process. A prize will be made available for the overall winner of the competition, as well as awards for specialist areas.

There will also be an opportunity for public involvement to judge eco-towns designs through a citizens' panel. At the end of the competition, the best of the ideas and lessons learned will be drawn together in an exhibition and eco-towns "compendium", which will help inform the thinking of local authorities and developers taking forward eco-town proposals.

Yvette Cooper said:

"We need to deliver the best eco-towns for the sake of the planet and the next generation. However, we don't want each town to be the same, but to instead reflect the history, aspirations and character of each local area. This is why it is crucial that we involve local people and citizen juries are a great way of doing just that."

The aims of the competition are to gather ideas:

* from the best national and international thinkers in the fields of town planning, urban design, architecture, landscape design, transport and environmental planning;

* on what an eco-town could and should try to achieve, and how the design and development process can support positive outcomes;

* on the key design features that should be considered when designing an eco-town, eg regional and local identity;

* on the design layout of eco-towns and how they tie in with existing transport links and the natural landscape; and

* on housing layouts and sustainability features.

Responding to the outline for the competition, CABE, RIBA and The Prince's Foundation said:

"The design of the ten eco-towns will present new challenges to local authorities, developers and designers. This international competition will ensure that the best new thinking on how to create exemplary sustainable towns will feed directly into the real projects that follow. Together CABE, the RIBA and The Prince's Foundation have the expertise to think at all the spatial scales required to create a successful eco-town, from the scale of the settlement and its place in the landscape and transport infrastructure, to the layout of neighbourhoods and the architecture of individual houses and streets. CABE, the RIBA and The Prince's Foundation look forward to seeing the best thinkers and designers bring their creative ideas and solutions to the challenge of creating eco-towns."

Notes to Editors

1. Yvette Cooper announced plans for five eco-towns in March and published the Eco-towns Prospectus as part of the Housing Green Paper on 23 July. The Prime Minister announced on 24 September that the number would be doubled to ten. In total, eco-towns could provide 200,000 additional homes by 2020 to help increase housing supply and tackle affordability as set out in the Housing Green Paper.
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/ecotownsprospectus

2. The Housing Green Paper set out the new target of delivering 240,000 homes a year by 2016 to achieve a total of three million homes by 2020. These will be delivered through existing Regional Spatial Strategies and Local Area Plans.
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/homesforfuture

3. Expressions of interest by councils and developers for eco-towns should be made by the end of October. The Government expects to announce schemes which will be supported through the planning process in the first half of 2008.

4. The Government's vision for eco-towns:

* well-designed, attractive places to live, with jobs and services, but also with good links to existing nearby towns and cities;

* large-scale free-standing new settlements;

* exemplars of sustainable building and living, with the opportunity to design low- and zero-carbon technology from the start; and

* each of the new towns, which will be based across the country, should have its own strong identity reflecting local character and appeal.

5. Eco-towns will provide a major contribution to housing supply and increasing affordability, with affordable housing making up between 30 to 50 per cent of the housing.

6. CABE is the Government's advisor on architecture, urban design and public space. As a public body, they encourage policymakers to create places that work for people. They help local planners apply national design policy and offer expert advice to developers and architects. They show public sector clients how to commission buildings that meet the needs of their users. And they seek to inspire the public to demand more from their buildings and spaces.
http://www.cabe.org.uk

7. The Royal Institute of British Architects is the UK body for architecture and the architectural profession. They provide support for their 40,500 members worldwide in the form of training, technical services, publications and events, and set standards for the education of architects, both in the UK and overseas.
http://www.architecture.com

8. The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment is an educational charity which seeks to improve the quality of people's lives by teaching and practicing timeless and ecological ways of planning, designing and building.
http://www.princes-foundation.org

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Email: press.office@communities.gsi.gov.uk
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