New Eco-City: Incorporating Sustainability into the Concept Master Plan

Abstract

Several international tools and standards (e.g. LEED, BREEAM) exist for evaluating the level of sustainability of buildings and neighborhoods. Nonetheless, they are still not available in the context of new city-scale developments. While such sustainability appraisal tools are important, of special interest to practitioners is how to ensure that their requirements are well integrated in a proposed city Master Plan (MP). New eco-city development is the focus of this study. A concise pre-project planning process, consisting of stages and activities, is proposed as a guide to assist the design manager of a new eco-city construction project. The proposed process covers the Concept Phase and assists in evaluating the Concept MP alternatives in light of pre-defined sustainability requirements.