Briefing: holistic assessment of sustainable urban development

Introducing the SUE-MoT (metrics, models and toolkits for whole-life sustainable urban development) series, this paper highlights some of the barriers that need to be addressed if the vision for holistic assessment is to be realised. The complexities of sustainability assessment raised in this paper will be further discussed in detail in the SUE-MoT series of papers that will be published in forthcoming issues of this journal. This paper highlights the priorities to address when assessment tools are presented to decision makers of urban development projects. This discussion is limited to the issues, values and solutions in the UK context

Lessons learned practices in the UK construction sector: current practice and proposed improvements

Many construction companies in the UK engage in formal and informal lessons learned practices. However, such lessons learned are not always used to the best advantage to improve future projects; there is a disjoint in the effort spent obtaining lessons learned and their dissemination and use. This paper reports on research aimed at improving lessons learned practices in construction organizations. The paper investigates the gaps in current construction contractors' practices for recording and disseminating lessons learned. A questionnaire survey of top UK construction contractors was conducted to understand current lessons learned practices; this included what the processes were, why they were used and how they were carried out. The research also investigated lessons learned content, its usefulness and the perceived barriers to dissemination. The main findings were: (1) organizations need to collectively identify the lessons needed and target those to specific audiences; (2) the content and format of the lessons learned dictate the way in which the lessons should be captured, stored and disseminated; (3) there is a gap between the tools used for obtaining lessons learned and those found to be useful; and (4) the type of lessons required changes with the context, e.g. organizational priorities and external pressures on the construction environment. The next stage of the research will be to develop these outputs to create a roadmap for the improved dissemination and use of lessons learned in construction organizations

Urban design and social capital: lessons from a case study in Braunstone, Leicester

A valuable asset in sustainable regeneration is the ‘community’ with their developed networks, bonds and ties or in other words its social capital which is a useful resource. Braunstone in Leicester is typical of many disadvantaged areas in the UK, with persistent socio-economic problems exacerbated by a poor physical setting. With a large regeneration programme funded by the New Deal for Communities coming to a close, we conducted a case study to explore the impact of improved local facilities and the effect of walkability on social capital. The lessons learnt suggests that responding to needs at a finer grain is vital in developing neighbourhoods for social capital such as responding to the needs of different user groups, responding to local patterns of use and needs of micro localities, and improving the perceptions of neighbourhoods. Local facilities and neighbourhood walkablity provides incentives for longer term residency, and facilitates interaction which helps social capital to grow. Accessing services by walking and using public transport proves vital to engage in social activities, while a poor physical environment, lack of accessible services and public transport negatively affects participation in social and leisure activities. Facilities and buildings provide a mediating role in developing social capital in a community, providing opportunity for social interaction which encourages people to reside in an area for longer. Improving connections beyond the neighbourhood is important to help retain people for longer term residency to develop social capital

Investigating the physical determinants of social capital and their implications for sustainable urban development

The concept of social capital is gaining increasing recognition as a concomitant for social and economic development. Robert Putnam’s (2000) exposition of the crucial correspondence between the decline of social capital on one hand and the economic lives of American people on the other received wide acclaim at home and abroad. Contemporary literature on development studies is equally replete with references to the World Bank’s subscription to the value of social capital as an important factor in fostering sustainable development. The relationship between social capital and environmental action has equally been acknowledged. There is also an increasing realisation that the design and form of cities, neighbourhoods and individual buildings have significant implications on social capital as they can affect the way people interact and bond with each other and the sense of community among individuals (Dannenberg et al, 2003; Lindström et al, 2003). The fundamental premise is that some urban designs encourage social ties and informal contact among residents while others violate the evolutionary pattern of civicness within the urban setting. With all these acclaimed contributions of the design of the urban environment, it is imperative that its role in encouraging social and fostering sustainable development is given greater articulation and understanding. Currently, much of the work focuses on what individuals and groups can do, rather than what the physical environment should be, in order to encourage social ties and civicness. Thus, the aim of this paper is to identify and examine the key physical determinants of social capital within an urban development context. The methods used include critical analysis of scholarly work supplemented by results of a survey carried out by the authors in the United Kingdom. The paper argues that social capital is a subject of self-organisation, whose evolution to higher levels can be catalysed by the prevalence of a critical balance in the design of the physical urban environment

Impact of urban design on social capital: lessons from a case study in Braunstone

Many urban centres are still blighted by crime and poverty; poorly designed development can have negative effects on the health, welfare and economic prospects of communities. The design, scale, quality and distribution of structures within the built environment are key determinants of the environmental, social and economic wellbeing of urban areas and the quality of life of their inhabitants. Sustainable urban development requires a new way of doing things: a way which reduces environmental impact while at the same time promote widespread economic and social progress. Fundamental to social progress and wellbeing is the social capital of a community, referred to as the social bonds and norms or the 'glue that holds societies together'. The design and form of cities, neighbourhoods and individual buildings have significant implications on social capital as they can affect the way people interact and bond with each other and the sense of community