Client: Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities Brief: Guidance document outlining the relationship between dense development Status: Completed
Planning seeks to guide the way our places and countryside develop through local plan-making and decisions. It can influence where, what, and how buildings, open spaces and infrastructure are built, to reduce energy use and carbon intensity, clean energy supply, and reduce the impacts of climate change. We have an imperative to build at higher densities, but this must go hand in hand with achieving walkable, healthy neighbourhoods and optimising the benefits of investment in infrastructure.
A report was produced that draws on the existing evidence base that can guide environmental design considerations at the urban neighbourhood scale. This report articulates how passive urban design is impacted by higher density development, which and how environmental factors create challenges, often ultimately around decarbonisation. It also provides examples of digital tools that can help us test and monitor the impact and mitigation of environmental factors and potentially assist in the planning process.
Ten environmental factors were identified and interrogated that were considered those that have the greatest effect on both the macro and micro scales: the neighbourhood and the planet. The report describes their impact and mitigation and highlights the inherent tensions or trade-offs that may result in the need to make challenging decisions.
