Need for sustainable architecture on development land in the South-East of England

The intent of this thesis is to discourse and measure the force per unit area on development land in the South- East of England, and how that force per unit area relates to the demand for sustainable architecture. The grounds for there being force per unit area on development land in the South-East of England will be described and analysed, as will any differences with the other parts of Britain. The grounds for puting aside or utilizing the available development land and why sustainable architecture should be adopted in the South-East of England will be to the full evaluated. As will be demonstrated there are assorted and viing factors that seemingly increase the force per unit area to do full usage of all available development land in the South-East of England. The available development land in the South-East of England is in high demand to be used for the building of domestic lodging, every bit good as for commercial, leisure, and industrial edifice programmes. To a big extent cardinal authorities and local governments have attempted to command the building of such new edifice programmes through systems of urban planning, every bit good as edifice ordinances that have applied across the whole of Britain. The grounds why the South-East of England should hold a demand for sustainable architecture will besides be examined in deepness. The instance for doing all the new building undertakings designed around the constructs of sustainable architecture shall besides be examined, to discourse whether more environmentally focussed edifice designs will decrease t he impact of new building programmes, every bit good as cut downing long-run pollution. IntroductionASustainable architecture and the usage of development land are closely linked with the patterns and theories of what form the footing of urban and rural planning, every bit good as thoughts refering the necessity for long-run environmental sustainability. Urban, and to a lesser extent rural planning, became more widespread in their application throughout Britain after 1945, when increased degrees of cardinal authorities intercession were experienced in many societal and economic Fieldss. Planning was deemed to be the best manner of work outing Britain ‘s lodging jobs ( Taylor, 1998 p. 3 ) . Increased degrees of urban and rural planning were justified at the terminal of the Second World War due to the demand for extended post-war Reconstruction. The South-East of England in general, and London in peculiar had suffered from widespread bomb harm, which meant that to the full or partly destroyed houses, mills, and retail units had to be replaced by good planned edifice s which would be an betterment upon the old edifices. In the immediate post-war period it was believed that a systematic usage of town and state planning would be indispensable for the Reconstruction of Britain, with a much higher criterion of edifice to fit higher employment, the public assistance province, and the National Health Service. The intent of these policies and establishments was to prolong life and advance good wellness throughout the whole population ( Meller, 1997 p67 ) . The increased usage of urban and rural planning was non intended to protect the environment in an ecological manner, or so to advance sustainable architecture, instead it was greatly expanded in range to do the most rational usage of scarce development land. However, there would be steps adopted which would conserve big countries of countryside, and give protection despite the demand to re-house 1000000s of households in 1945 ( Southall, 2000 p. 336 ) . There were groups that wished to conserve specific countries that supported rare signifiers of animate being and works life, and even groups that wished to continue old historical edifices, every bit good as edifices distinguished by their architectural manners ( Meller, 1997 p67 ) . When added together such groups did non compare to an ecological anteroom that intended to alter agricultural, architectural, or industrial patterns to protect the environment. These groups nevertheless, were able to to a great extent act upon the determi nation to curtail urbanization taking over the countryside. Post-war Reconstruction was the accelerator for the largest programmes of publically funded building in Britain. Public outgo was needed due to the sheer graduated table of Reconstruction required, with London and the South-East of England being a major donee of those programmes. Architecture and planning were used for these large-scale programmes instead than merely for single edifices. The engagement of cardinal authorities in the promoting and support of large-scale public edifice programmes and the usage of development land was high until the early portion of the 1970s ( Greed, 1996 p. 35 ) . Such wide-ranging edifice programmes were non merely intended to replace the edifices destroyed during the Second World War. The post-war edifice programmes were besides intended to replace the slums in the interior metropoliss of London, Birmingham, Liverpool, every bit good as elsewhere. The building programmes were intended to do the South-East of England a much more hospitable topographic point to populate in, merely as the remainder of Britain was besides intended to be like ( Sheail, 2002 p. 62 ) . New building and redevelopment of bing houses was an imperative, as ‘2 million of them condemned and another 3 million lacking in necessities ‘ ( Southall, 2000 p. 337 ) . The South-East of England besides benefited from the building of new towns such as Milton Keynes and Stevenage that were planned as full towns with purpose built domestic lodging and concern premises. The Atlee authorities was so acute upon the creative activity of new towns to work out the post-war lod ging deficits that it regulated such building through the New Town Act of 1946 ( Sheail, 2002 p. 62 ) . The building of the New Towns was considered to be indispensable for both high economic growing and for work outing the national post-war lodging deficit. The Atlee authorities regarded the new towns as being extremely good to people ‘s wellness as they moved off from major metropoliss and industrial countries to topographic points with cleaner air ( Meller, 1997 p67 ) . In ecological footings such building was harmful to the environment as more land was built upon and it meant a greater sum of pollution from traffic emanations, though of class cipher understood such deductions at that clip. Improvements in conveyance substructure and increasing degrees of auto ownership meant that the new towns were economically feasible, every bit good as leting their dwellers to transpose to the major metropoliss to work in them ( Daniels, Bradshaw, Shaw, & A ; Sidaway, 2005 p. 147 ) . Ur ban planning was therefore considered to be really utile for the advancement and development of London and the South-East of England, which traditionally has been the most thickly settled and comfortable part of Britain. Urban planning was besides intended to increase the prosperity degrees of the other parts in Britain to be every bit high as possible to fit the degrees achieved in the South-East of England ( Southall, 2000 p. 337 ) . Controlled enlargement of urban countries into the new towns was intended to work out the immediate post-war lodging deficit and resuscitate the British economic system, whilst go forthing the great majority of the countryside untouched by new lodging building ( Taylor, 1998 p.3 ) . Previous betterments in agricultural techniques meant that farming became more efficient nationally which had quickened the gait of urbanization in Britain as a whole. Urbanization in Britain had already had a strong impact upon the environment that went beyond the replacing of the countryside with fouling mills and unhealthy slum lodging ( Southall, 2000, p. 335 ) . Higher harvest outputs from less land had the effect that more land in rural countries became available to be used as development land. The greater handiness of former agricultural land meant that is was easier to happen adequate land to build new towns or spread out bing metropoliss across Britain. Urbanization was a procedure that was accelerated by the demand of industrial towns and metropoliss to happen workers to go on their enlargement ( Goudie & A ; Viles, 1997 p. 5 ) . To get down with, the bulk of new places were traditional manner houses that formed big council house estates right across the state, in architectural footings there was really small invention or thought given to doing the new lodging stock architecturally sustainable or environmentally friendly. More attending was alternatively devoted to doing all new houses comfy, clean, and guaranting they were being built to last ( Greed, 1996 p. 35 ) . The new places were intended to be better and larger than the 1s that they had replaced. The bulk of big metropoliss and the new towns in Britain had 1000000s of council houses built in their countries between 1945 and the early 1970s. However, it was much harder to happen equal sums of development land in interior metropolis countries which led to the edifice of high rise tower blocks which allowed a greater figure of people to be housed without increasing the entire country of the development land required ( Sheail, 2002 p. 62 ) . Unfortunately, high rise tower blocks constructed during the 1960s and the 1970s in the South-East of England, every bit good as nationally failed to be an equal signifier of long- term and sustainable architecture that allowed people to be housed in safety or comfort. The failure of many high rise tower blocks to be sustainable signifiers of lodging had the affect of increasing the force per unit area on development land. It has besides meant that tower blocks have had to be refurbished or more often demolished ( Meller, 1997 p. 63 ) . As the image below shows the 1950s and the sixtiess besides witnessed the building of low-rise flat blocks which have proved to be longer enduring than tower blocks built during the same period of clip. The image is of flat flats constructed in Ham Common in Richmond between 1955 and 1958 ( Frampton, 1997 p. 266 ) . Although the sum of new lodging building was considerable non all the available land had been developed or built upon. Land remained set aside for agricultural intents, whilst other land was left un-built upon and non ever used for farming. The land that was left entirely and was set aside and therefore non allowed to be used for domestic lodging or industrial sites were referred to as the green belt. The green belt was created to move as a buffer zone between urban and rural countries as a agency to restrict urbanization ( Greed, 1996 p. 82 ) . Cardinal authorities set aside countries that were designated as green belt zones to continue the countryside nationally every bit good as entirely in the South-East of England. Although, it was possible to construct on green belt land the procedure of deriving be aftering permission from cardinal authorities and the relevant local authorization was a long drawn out one which deterred most belongings developers and building houses from making so. Local involvement groups have frequently being extremely vocal in their resistance to any strategies that have been suggested ( Clapp, 1994 p. 138 ) . Clapp estimated that with national Parkss and designated green belt zones that in England and Wales ‘more than a fifth of the countryside now has stringent protection against development ‘ ( Clapp, 1994 p. 140 ) . Therefore, the majority of available development land was concentrated in urban countries, frequently referred to as brown field sites ( Greed, 1996 p. 82 ) . For cardinal authorities there are advantages for utilizing brown field sites ( Kim & A ; Rigdon, December 1998 p. 5 ) . For case, utilizing such sites allows for economic regeneration, employment creative activity every bit good as less force per unit area to construct on green belt land. Recycling land on brown field sites is a method of continuing rural countries being used as development land ( Clapp, 1994 p.139 ) . The force per unit area to utilize greater sums of development land has arguably increased significantly in recent old ages throughout Britain as a whole. The force per unit area to utilize development land has risen due to a combination of societal, economic, and political factors. For case, in societal footings the demographic alterations to the British population have had important, and it could even be argued, profound effects upon the demand for development for new building programmes. These demographic alterations have occurred as a effect of the British population ripening, the increasing figure of grownups who live on their ain, every bit good as the major addition in the figure of immigrants who have settled in Britain in the past decennary or so. These alterations have meant that more people within Britain are seeking a higher figure of topographic points to populate in. Another ground for the raised degrees of force per unit area upon development land is caused by the poss ible fiscal additions from constructing new houses, every bit good as new retail or industrial composites. The degree of fiscal additions that could be made has been boosted since 1979 by the switching off from the publically funded lodging programmes to a market led attack to finding the rates of new lodging building and the ownership of bing lodging ( Allmendinger and Thomas, 1998 p. 5 ) . Of class even greater Numberss of domestic places and retail premises has a knock on consequence on the sum of substructure such as schools, infirmaries, and roads which are required in Britain as a whole. The edifice of new signifiers of substructure will merely increase the environmental impact of new building programmes ( Kim & A ; Rigdon, December 1998 p. 5 ) . A fuller account and a more comprehensive scrutiny of the increased force per unit areas on the development land in Britain in general will be presented in the specific chapter on development land. The more elaborate rating of the for ce per unit areas upon development in the South-East of England will be presented in the specific chapter about the South-East of England. Not merely has at that place been force per unit area to utilize more development land in Britain by and large and in the South-East of England in peculiar, there has been more force per unit area for new building programmes to utilize edifice techniques and engineering linked with sustainable architecture. Sustainable architecture may hold been a construct, which started in the United States, yet it could be really of import to set its thoughts into action across the Earth ( Kim & A ; Rigdon, December 1998 p. 5 ) . The impression of sustainable architecture is in itself influenced by thoughts about doing or enabling architecture maximize the public-service corporation and the subsequent life span of all new building, whilst understating the sum of resources needed in the initial building and the care of edifices. Sustainable architecture, when possible, uses resources that is renewable, reclaimable, and biodegradable. There are assorted motives for following sustainable architecture when it comes down to the building and the completion of all new edifice programmes. Motivations that include the minimising of development land used, every bit good as doing usage of new engineering to conserve energy, the preservation or recycling of finite resources, every bit good as cut downing the degrees of H2O ingestion. Reducing the degree of pollution and trying to decelerate down the effects of planetary heating are besides factors in the publicity and execution of sustainable architecture ( Kim, Rigdon, & A ; Graves, August 1998 p. 5 ) . Of class, there is the influence of statute law upon the usage of sustainable architecture techniques to cut down the environmental and ecological impact of new building programmes. Property developers and building houses have to follow with steps to protect the environment introduced by the British authorities and the European Union ( Hough, 2004 p. 190 ) . As will be shown in the specific chapter about sustainable architecture the bulk of methods used to better environmental sustainability are comparatively straightforward to integrate into the designs of new edifice programmes, and in some instances into bing edifices. Sustainable architecture could be achieved by utilizing building stuffs that are less detrimental to the environment, or stuffs that have been obtained from recycled and renewable resources. Making edifices as environmentally sustainable as possible during new building undertakings ( as will be examined in greater deepness ) will accomplish the over all aims of those that pattern and argue for the execution of sustainable architecture. It is most practical to put in characteristics or equipment which enhances environmental sustainability during new building undertakings instead than afterwards. The force per unit areas to follow sustainable architecture in many ways are contradictory, yet are besides connected with the force per unit areas to raise the degrees of development land used up for new edifice programmes. Other motives for following sustainable architecture include using steps that are demands for deriving be aftering permission, every bit good as guaranting that all new edifices comply with all the minimal criterions for safeguarding the environment set by the British authorities and besides by the European Union. The British authorities has set criterions for domestic and retail edifices since the 1950s. For case, to free London of its antecedently renowned smog and fog by cut downing smoke emanations from domestic places and mills likewise under the protections of the Clean Air Act. The European Union has taken a greater involvement in advancing environmental sustainability since the 1980s, believing that such actions to protect the natural environment on a regional instead than a national footing would be far more effectual in making so ( Hough, 2004 p. 190 ) . ‘Urban Planning and the British New Right ‘ , by Allmendinger and Thomas was chiefly used as a beginning of mention for the ways in which the Conservative authoritiess between 1979 and 1997 altered lodging and economic policies in Britain. This book besides contained information about the debut of more extended authorities environmental protection policies, which were started during that period of Conservative disposal. The book demonstrates the contradictions between the strong Conservative support for free market economic sciences and the increasing apprehension that cardinal authorities needed to move to protect the environment. Brian Clapp ‘s ‘An Environmental History of Britain from the Industrial Revolution ‘ is a good beginning of information with respect to development land and the impact of the green belt zones on restricting edifice programmes to already urbanized countries. The book provides a utile penetration into the constitution and the continued care of green belt zones in modern Britain. ‘An debut to Human Geography Issues for the twenty-first century ‘ by Daniels, Bradshaw, Shaw, and Sidaway proved a utile beginning of information about development and the environmental impacts of human activity such as building edifices and utilizing fossil fuel in edifices. The book assists in explicating why such impacts on the environment would supply a accelerator for sustainable architecture.‘Modern architecture a critical history ‘ by Kenneth Frampton was used as a beginning of images and mention for information about architectural manners and edifice stuffs. There was besides a brief subdivision refering the planning of the new town constructed at Milton Keynes during the early 1970s.‘The Earth Transformed an debut to Human Impacts on the Environment ‘ by Goudie and Viles was used to obtain information about development land and the impact of unsustainable architecture and edifice techniques upon pollution degrees and planetary heating. Th e book contained information about the harmful effects of planetary urbanization and industrialization. ‘Cities & A ; Natural Process A footing for sustainability ‘ , by Michael Hough was a utile mention book for discoursing development land and issues that relate to heightening environmental sustainability. This book was besides utile because there was a greater focal point upon Britain within it. The book contained suggestions and illustrations of how sustainability could be achieved with the aid of sustainable architecture. ‘Sustainable Architecture: Introduction to Sustainable Design by ‘ Kim and Rigdon is an article which explores the theoretical and practical background to sustainable architecture. It was used to derive information for the chapter, which dealt with sustainable architecture specifically. That information was besides for the chapter refering the demand for any new building programmes in the South-East of England to encompass sustainable architecture. ‘Pollution Prevention in Architecture Introductory Module ‘ by Kim, Rigdon, and Graves provides farther theoretical and practical penetrations into the thoughts contained within the impression of sustainable architecture. This article contained strong statements as to why sustainable architecture should be implemented across the universe and non merely in a individual specific part of one peculiar state. This article proved a sound mention for the chapters refering sustainable architecture and the necessity of its usage in the South-East of England. ‘Towns, programs, and society in modern Britain ‘ by Helen Meller was used to derive background cognition of the constitution of a more vigorous and restrictive planning regulative model brought into operation after the terminal of the Second World War. That information was so included within the debut and the specific chapter covering with the force per unit areas upon the usage of development land.‘Urban and Environmental Planning in the UK ‘ , by Yvonne Rydin provides utile information refering the protection of the environment through planning ordinances and limitations. Provides good mention stuff as to how the British authorities and the European Union have attempted to cut down environmental harm through limitations on development land and edifice or other ordinances to cut pollution and enhance sustainability. ‘A History of Britain 3, End of Empire 1776 2000 ‘ , by Simon Schama was used to derive information as to why the Conservative party did non turn over the drawn-out proviso of council houses introduced by the Atlee authorities until after 1979. The book besides had information about the ideological alterations that Margaret Thatcher brought into Britain and the effects of such alterations. ‘An Environmental History of Twentieth Century Britain ‘ by John Sheail was a book, which discussed the developments within the environment of Britain between 1900 and 2000. Sheail examines how the apprehension of environmental issues in Britain developed in the latter portion of the 20th century. The book was enlightening in relation to the development of policies that were intended to protect the environment and promote sustainability. ‘The City In clip and infinite ‘ by Aidan Southall was a book used to help with the description and rating of the usage every bit good as the limitations placed upon the handiness of development land within Britain. Southall ‘s history in peculiar provided information refering the effectual regeneration of brown field sites within the immediate locality of London besides supplying an penetration into the building of the new towns in the wake of the Second World War. ‘Ecological Architecture: A critical history ‘ by Steele provided some utile practical and theoretical information about the constructs and the designs of sustainable architecture. ‘Life Cycle Analysis for Automobiles ‘ , by Sulivan and Hu was used entirely for the informations refering the sum of energy needed to bring forth aluminum, polyethene, PVC and steel, comparing the ingestion to bring forth the stuffs new with when those merchandises are recycled. ‘Urban Planning Since 1945 ‘ by Nigel Taylor was a extremely utile beginning of information with respect to the development and the continuance of be aftering limitations every bit good as edifice ordinances. The information about the utilizations of town and state planning besides the motives for the constitution and the continuance of green belt land countries was of great usage. Taylor besides included some compendious information about environmental sustainability within this book. Brenda Vale ‘s ‘Green Architecture: Design for a Sustainable Future ‘ is a good debut to the constructs and the designs most strongly linked with sustainable development. Prior to the start of the 20th century there was really small formal or legal ordinance or planning undertaken when it came down to the usage of development land. There was in consequence small to forestall the building of new edifice programmes, allow alone impressions about restricting the size and the range of such programmes to protect the environment or advance ecological sustainability ( Taylor, 1998 p. 3 ) . Cardinal authorities by and big did non step in to forestall persons, concerns of assorted sizes, or so local governments from utilizing development land in any manner that they wished to make so. The cardinal authorities was willing to allow any parties to build new edifices upon such development land, particularly if the party responsible for building such edifices already owned the land, which was been built upon ( Greed, 1996 p. 2 ) . The freedom with which new edifices could be built was demonstrated by the ability of the bulk of landholders to take the manner of arch itecture in the building of their places, mills, or stores. Landowners had the option of doing their edifices every bit expansive as possible or as inexpensive to build as possible ( Kim & A ; Rigdon, December 1998 p. 5 ) . They did non hold to see that their right to construct on their land would be restricted by the location of that land in relation to the nearest metropolis or its topographic point in the countryside. Landowners and their designers did non believe that there was any profound demand to alter what they built or how they built it in order to protect the environment and promote sustainability ( Sheail, 2003 p. 2 ) . Those edifice ordinances that did be were by and large really minimalist in their existent nature, and were normally introduced on an ad hoc footing. Architecture and the development of land were more likely to be influenced by alterations in engineering or betterments in economic development, every bit good as alteration in manner and manners ( Meller, 1997 p. 63 ) . For case, these houses started to hold gas, electricity, and H2O supplies installed. These supplies of public-service corporation services were regulated by the cardinal authorities ( Daniels, Bradshaw, Shaw, & A ; Sidaway, 2005 p.115 ) . Those services were besides supplied to mills and stores, which were progressively capable to wellness, and safety criterions that were intended to forestall accidents, yet paid no attending to the land that they happened to be constructed on ( Sheail, 2003 p. 2 ) . The 19th century witnessed a quantum leap frontward in the sum of land, which was built upon due to a raising population every bit good as increased degrees of industrialization. These factors happened to co-occur with the development of improved substructure such as roads, railroads, sewerage systems, public infirmaries, and schools. The development of such substructure required big measures of land, labor, and resources to be successfully completed, whilst in bend advancing higher degrees of industrialization and the migration of people from the countryside to the spread outing metropoliss. Some metropoliss and parts benefited economically from such industrialization more than others did. In Britain, industrialization benefited the parts environing Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, and Glasgow. Over all though London and the South-East of England retained their place as the most comfortable part within Britain. Industrialization came at a cost, viz. pollution and greater degrees o f societal inequality ( Southall, 2000 p. 335 ) . The development of gas, electricity, and H2O supplies alongside sewerage systems made domestic houses more comfy to populate in and mills more productive due to holding greater efficiency ( Daniels, Bradshaw, Shaw, & A ; Sidaway, 2005 p.115 ) . Before a system of urban and rural planning were introduced there was no specifically set aside development land. Market forces determined the usage of land and what if anything was built upon it. If landholders found that their land was most productively used for agricultural intents so it would stay as agricultural land ( Taylor, 1998 p. 3 ) . If, nevertheless more money could be made from edifice houses, stores, or mills on their land, so that is what normally happened to that land. Landowners could besides be tempted to sell their land to belongings developers, building houses, or industrial endeavors if they were lucky plenty to have land that those other parties felt in pressing demand of developing ( Meller, 1997 p. 62 ) . It was market forces that drove the industrial revolution in Britain every bit good as besides advancing the procedure of urbanization. The procedures of industrialization and urbanization meant that metropoliss such as London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Gl asgow greatly expanded in footings of both their geographical countries and their entire population degrees, which led to shrinkage in the size of rural countries in Britain as a whole ( Southall, 2000 p. 335 ) . It was besides market forces that determined the location, size, and range of lodging, mills, and commercial edifices. There were no restrictions to the size, location or range of such edifices, and perfectly no attending was given to the environmental effects of these edifice programmes ( Sheail, 2003 P 2 ) . The absence of edifice ordinances and limitations on the usage of land meant that there was a great trade of unhealthy and deficient slum lodging, which caused widespread unwellness. Illness occurred besides reflecting the poorness of those people that were unfortunate plenty to hold to populate in such countries ( Daniels, Bradshaw, Shaw, & A ; Sidaway, 2005 p.115 ) . Planing ordinances would hold doubtless improved conditions, for case presenting proper sanitation into the slums or holding deficient lodging replaced by higher quality houses for people to travel into ( Southall, 2000 p. 335 ) . In rural countries frights that heavy industry and unsightly slums would finally over take all the land within their close propinquity prompted the foundation of administrations dedicated to the physical saving of the countryside, the rural manner of life, and its wildlife ( Clapp, 1994 p. 138 ) . The countryside saving administrations would finally hold a strong influence on the constitution of the green belt zones and the restricted handiness of development land in the more preponderantly rural countries of Britain ( Allmendinger and Thomas, 1998 p. 55 ) . It was after the terminal of the First World War that the cardinal authorities and local governments took a greater involvement in the building of lodging and how land was really being used in domestic lodging and industrial or commercial building programmes. The function of the market in make up one's minding how many houses were built and the location of where those houses were constructed was reduced with the development of council houses ( Taylor, 1998 p. 3 ) . The proviso of low-cost lodging built by local governments and subsidised by cardinal authorities support meant that there was increased public engagement in the finding of land use. The usage, maltreatment, or the non-use of land was no longer entirely determined by market forces. The engagement of cardinal authorities and local governments was intended to cut down poorness, sick wellness, and societal exclusion. At no point in the inter-war period were steps taken to present town and state planning with the purpose of pr otecting the environment or advancing sustainability as cipher considered such stairss were necessary. The First World War had merely witnessed really minimum degrees of belongings harm caused by German naval onslaughts and bombing foraies on Britain, so there was no widespread demand for pressing Reconstruction programmes as there would be at the terminal of the Second World War ( Clapp, 1994 p. 138 ) .