A new book examined sustainable development policies that had arisen in London across a range of policy areas (including transport, housing, property development, and education), and their impacts and effects.
Source: Rob Imrie and Loretta Lees, Sustainable London? The future of a global city, Policy Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2014-Sep
A report by a committee of MPs examined the government's progress in embedding sustainable development in the Home Office.
Source: Sustainability in the Home Office, Fourth Report (Session 2014–15), HC 222, House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report
Date: 2014-Sep
A report examined the costs and benefits of sustainable buildings. Drawing on a research project that examined three case study developments (a secondary school, an office, and a community healthcare centre), it argued that sustainability strategies added little to the capital costs of building, that operational savings recouped the costs, and that there was a general downward trend in sustainability costs.
Source: Yetunde Abdul and Richard Quartermaine, Delivering Sustainable Buildings: Savings and payback, BRE Press
Links: Abstract
Date: 2014-Aug
The Welsh Government published a Bill designed to: set a framework within which public authorities would seek to ensure the needs of the present were met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (the sustainable development principle); put into place well-being goals (defined in the Bill); set out how the work towards those goals would be demonstrated; put Public Services Boards and local well-being plans on a statutory basis and simplify existing requirements as regards integrated community planning; and establish a Future Generations Commissioner for Wales to advocate for future generations, and to advise and support Welsh public authorities in carrying out their duties under the Bill.
Source: Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Bill, Welsh Government, TSO
Links: Bill | Explanatory notes | Written statement
Date: 2014-Aug
An article examined the sustainability of urban housing in the European Union, outlining key criteria on which this was assessed (including mixed-use developments, higher residential densities, high-quality dwellings and neighbourhoods, affordability, and food production). It said there were significant variations between countries in the sustainability of urban housing and communities, with relative success in urban areas in Austria, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland and significant problems in others that would detract from the quality of life of residents and the sustainability of their cities.
Source: Nessa Winston, 'Sustainable communities? A comparative perspective on urban housing in the European Union', European Planning Studies, Volume 22 Issue 7
Links: Abstract
Date: 2014-Jul
A report examined the building and construction supply chain, and its environmental impact.
Source: Roy Antink, Curt Garrigan, Marco Bonetti, and Richard Westaway, Greening the Building Supply Chain, United Nations Environment Programme
Links: Report | UKGBC press release
Date: 2014-May