Creating sustainable cities one building at a time: Towards an integrated urban design framework

Abstract

One of the tenets of urban sustainability is that more compact urban forms that are more densely occupied are more efficient in their overall use of space and of energy. In many designs this has been translates into high-rise buildings with a focus on energy management at their outer envelopes. However, pursuing this building focused approach alone means that buildings are treated as standalone entities with minimal consideration to their impact on the surrounding urban landscape and vice versa. Where urban density is high, individual buildings interact with each other, reducing access to sunshine and daylight, obstructing airflow and raising outdoor air temperature. If/when each building pursues its own sustainability agenda without regard to its urban context, the result will diminish the natural energy resources available to nearby buildings and worsen the outdoor environment generally. This paper examines some of these urban impacts using examples from the City of London where rapid transformation is taking place as very tall buildings with exceptional energy credentials are being inserted into a low-rise city without a plan for the overall impact of urban form. The focus of the paper is on access to sunshine and wind and the wider implications of sustainable strategies that that focuses on individual buildings to the exclusion of the surrounding urban landscape. The work highlights the need for a framework that accounts for the synergistic outcomes that result from the mutual interactions of buildings in urban spaces.

City Light or Star Bright: A Review of Urban Light Pollution, Impacts, and Planning Implications

“…Twenty-nine outlets produced no result from a search of “light pollution” and associated key words described previously. In many papers that do surface in key word searches, light pollution is simply mentioned—without much, if any, discussion—in a listing of indicators related to sustainability, livability, energy, public safety, environmental, or building performance (e.g., Garde and Kim 2017; Varma and Palaniappan 2019; Skalicky and Cerpes 2019; Futcher et al 2017; Wang et al 2014; Samberg, Bassok, and Holman 2011; Kitchen 2002; among others). Alternatively, LP is cited for its absence or rarity among adopted or reported environmental concerns (Haklay 2002; Joumard, Gudmundsson, and Folkeson 2011) or is mentioned in other ways without elaboration (Short 2007; Sturzaker and Shucksmith 2011) or is a topic in a book that is reviewed (Byahut 2014; Nesse 2019).…”

Introduction: Anthropocene or Urbanocene?

“…As a matter of fact, the introduction of regulations on the energy efficiency has improved the thermal performance of buildings, making architects and engineers accountable for the energy consequences of their choices. However, as shown by Futcher et al (2017), the energy impact of new buildings, especially tall ones, can go far beyond their envelope, modifying the solar access, wind speed and air quality of surrounding areas and consequently the energy use of other buildings. As Futcher and Mills rightly point out (Futcher and Mills 2015), no one is accountable for the microclimate and energy impact of new buildings beyond their envelope and this should be better regulated to achieve sustainable urban development.…”

Urban tissue transformation under the densification policy

“…In one tradition, the urban form is considered at the large spatial scale, the scale of the city or urban agglomerations, and is understood as a question of coordinating transportation, densities and land use (see, for example, Stead and Marshall, 2001;Jabareen, 2006;Naess & Andrade, 2013). Other fields of research cover the micro-scale (the scale of buildings), concentrating on issues such as energy efficiency, technology, building types or the effects the different building types produce in the urban tissue in terms of microclimate, densities and urban change in general (see, for example, Dahl, 2014;Futcher, Mills, Emmanuel, & Korolija, 2017).…”