Suchergebnisse

This paper describes the principles that need to be followed by housing designers and planners to ensure that disabled people are not excluded by design from future housing development. It outlines the demographic drivers and the problem with current housing stock, and then comments on the standards that need to be applied to ensure inclusion for all members of society. If government rhetoric about building sustainable communities in which people want to live is to be matched by action, attention must be paid to the housing needs of everyone who is part of that community, including disabled people.John Grooms Housing Association (JGHA) is a leading specialist provider of wheelchair‐standard housing in England, with more than 1,200 properties.

Planning by the public sector has often been carried out using a "template approach.". This approach takes off from the assumption that all areas being planned for are the same in terms of physical and social qualities. It is, however, important to note that each city is unique and that within each city exist various districts that also differ in function and features. Urban planning, therefore, should factor in the special characteristics that arise out of the district's role in the city and even national affairs. Districts can be categorized under any of the following: The Central business district serves as the hub for the service sector of the economy. Closely associated and oftentimes adjacent to CBD's are Downtowns that serve as the outlets for the manufacturing sector. Institutional districts are distinguished by the concentration of educational, religious, cultural and government buildings. Industrial districts are production centers where efficiency of operations is of prime importance. Tourism districts are defined by the presence of historically significant natural and man-made assets. Usually located on waterfronts, Market districts cater to wholesale trading. Circulation networks, terminals, parking spaces characterize Transport districts. All of these districts are products of organic development and territorial specialization. These are natural processes that arise out of very strong economic and social forces that physical planning must go along with.

Making housing developments 'environmentally sustainable' requires housing developers to be accountable for their 'green' credentials. Accountability is promoted by both the UK government's environmental policy for housing design – the Code for Sustainable Homes – and local councils in their planning criteria. These accountability practices are key to how relationships between housing professionals and local planning authorities influence practices and outcomes of environmental sustainability. In this article, we examine how accountability is performed in housing design and development. We argue that accountability practices involve the management of making environmental sustainability visible through demonstrating the utilisation of sustainable technologies. We contend that these 'visibility' practices are carried out to the detriment of an appreciation of how energy is both provided and consumed. Indeed, visibility practices play a key role in shaping the provision of renewable energy with diverse end-results.

This book directly addresses the major planning debate of our time - the delivery and quality of new housing development. As pressure for new housing development in England increases, a widespread desire to improve the design of the resulting residential environments becomes evermore apparent with increasing condemnation of the standard products of the volume housebuilders.In recent years central government has come to accept the need to deliver higher quality living environments, and the important role of the planning system in helping to raise design standards. Housing Design Quality