Continuing the theme of a Zero Carbon residential urban extension, this blog will explore how such a development can be designed in masterplan terms to aspire to a healthy and greener lifestyle to complement the green homes. The use of the green space within the masterplan is key to this. A strong masterplan needs to be functional and encourage the new community to embrace the outdoors. Having strategically positioned footpaths and cycle paths through the green space that efficiently connect the residential areas of the development to the non residential functions, such as shops or schools or employment areas, can make it attractive and easy for shoppers and children and workers respectively to walk or cycle to these services. This is evidenced with the Bicester Eco Town masterplan carried out by Farrells architects in the UK (*), where the road network within the proposed residential areas was deliberately designed to be more inconvenient in terms of traveling by car to the other uses across the masterplan. Also, having formal or informal areas for sport within the development which negates to need to travel by car to other facilities within the area is very important. This, along with cutting our car trips to the schools and shops and employment areas mentioned above, reduce the use of the car and therefore reduces the fuel needed and the pollutants associated with driving. Encouraging walking and cycling and sport also has a big indirect benefit to people's overall health, and therefore a lesser economic burden on local health services. At Bicester in the UK lots of allotment space has been designed into the masterplan, as this clearly encourages local food growth either for individual occupiers or if the individual occupiers decide to form a local Management Organisation where they can produce food collectively and either consume themselves or sell at local markets. To conclude, well designed landscape space greatly complements the ethos of building zero carbon homes and takes the thinking further to engender other facets within the overall concept for a new community (*) www.farrells.com/projects/bicester-eco-town
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AuthorGerald Walker. BA Hons Economics and Studying for a Masters at UNSW in Property and Development Archives
June 2017
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