Are We Coming Closer to the Objectives of Delivering Sustainable Communities - Essay Example

? Assessment and Analysis of Whether We Are Coming Closer to the Objectives of Delivering Sustainable Communities Submission Table of Contents Assessment and Analysis of Whether We Are Coming Closer to the Objectives of Delivering Sustainable Communities Your Name Your University 1 Date of Submission 1 Table of Contents 2 I. Introduction 3 II. Discussion 5 III. Conclusion 8 IV. References 9 V. Appendices 10 I. Introduction The population of UK at the turn of 21st century was estimated at 58.8 million in 2000 and by the end of the first decade of this century stood at 62.3 million in 2010, and it is projected to increase to 70.9 million by the end of 2030 (Office for National Statistics, 2011). This increasing population means that there is a strong need to develop more housing to accommodate the growing population, while maintaining the liveability and usability of the existing infrastructure. However, considering the environmental consequences of creating more buildings, the question of housing is not limited to just making more houses to accommodate people. With the anticipated level of growth, it is essential that the new developments be made such that their impact on the environment can be minimised and environmental sustainability can be built-in from the start. The question of environmental sustainability, then, is not limited to construction of buildings alone, but to creating sustainable communities which also encourage minimal use of personal transportation, minimise pollution, and maximise preservation and regeneration of green areas and other natural resources. The concept of sustainable communities was brought forward in UK in 2003 by then Deputy Prime Minister, Mr John Prescott, through a ?38bn plan for economic, social, and environmental development (OPDM, 2003). He termed sustainable communities as “places where people want to live, and work, now and in the future”. The plan included a 6 pronged strategy for developing sustainable communities: making decent homes and places, tackling low demand and abandonment in certain areas, increasing house supply in areas where demand was high, transforming land, countryside and rural communities, bringing sustainable growth by alleviating pressures on services and housing caused by economic success, and reforming for delivery by ensuring right legal framework to support the action plan in the agenda. Appendix 1 shows the details of this budget for the different steps proposed in the policy document. This paper analyses the progress made in UK until now on these counts to assess how close UK has come to delivering sustainable communities. One of the key elements of sustainable communities is sustainable construction. The Cambridgeshire County Council has brought forward a guide for good practices on sustainable construction (Land Use Consultants, 2004). This guide illustrates how builders can make buildings that respect the environment and what key parameters builders must take into account in designing and constructing the buildings. These key parameters are: 1) Adapting to climate change: guidelines on ensuring healthy and comfortable environments for living and working through efficient landscaping and reducing the impact of natural disasters on buildings. 2) Energy: guidelines on minimising the amount of energy people need to use to lead their lives comfortably 3) Waste: guidelines on minimising the amount of waste generated and not reused in any way, in both demolition/ construction and occupation of buildings 4) Water: guidelines on encouraging the sustainable use and management of water resources 5) Materials: guidelines on minimising the wider impact of new developments through maximising the use of local, natural and sustainable materials II. Discussion The issue of delivering sustainable communities is systematically considered within the UK government planning, one of the 6 levers identified in the OPDM report of 2003. This is evident from the fact that the Sustainable Communities Act was made a law in October 2007. This act gives councils and communities an opportunity to bring forward and implement new ideas on how best to improve the quality of life and the wellbeing of people in a local area (LGA, 2011). The key idea behind passing this law was to allow locals to be involved in decision making for changes in public services, and in the pattern of public spending. This law also brings some clarity on the debate on sustainable development and environmental justice. By allowing locals to decide the future course of their local areas and of public spending, the government is allowing the locals to figure out what works best for them – should a “sacrifice” be acceptable for the larger good. In order to assess whether we are getting closer to delivering on sustainable communities, we need to identify the factors that would reflect the progress (or lack thereof) in this direction. These factors must include environmental impact of residential areas, and the general wellbeing of the people. We now turn to the evolution over time of specific indicators for these factors that show our progress towards sustainable communities. Environmental factors Household energy use: Appendix 2 shows the evolution of energy consumption in households. It is evident that the energy consumption in the residential sector is going down. This statistical evolution indicates progress in moving towards sustainable communities. Domestic water consumption: Appendix 3 shows the evolution of domestic water consumption which shows that there consumption of water in households is steadily decreasing. This reduction in water consumption shows movement towards developing sustainable communities. Household waster per person: Appendix 3 shows that the waste produced in households per person per year is also going down. Also, the percentage of recyclable waste has gone up. Clearly, this shows a forward step towards sustainable community living. Land recycling: Appendix 4 shows that a high percentage of the present developed land is being converted for building new dwellings. This indicates more progress towards housing supply too showing that we are progressing towards sustainable communities. Dwelling density: Appendix 6 shows that we are increasing the density of population in terms of dwellings per hectare. This means that the areas of low housing supply are being converted to liveable areas; another indication of progress towards delivering sustainable communities. Wellbeing factors Households’ access to key services: Appendix 7 shows the evolution of percentage of households that can access key public services from their homes. Over the last few years, the percentage of households able to easily access the services has gone up showing that we are moving closer to sustainable communities. Availability of decent homes: Appendix 8 shows the evolution of percentage of houses considered to be below decent home standards in UK. The statistics show that this percentage has been consistently reducing over time meaning that more and more existing and new homes are being converted to/built with good living standards. Homelessness: Appendix 9 shows the evolution of homelessness in UK. The number of rough sleepers (homeless people) has reduced considerably all over UK indicting that we are getting closer to the promise of sustainable communities. Housing supply: Appendix 10a and 10b show the evolution of net additions of homes to dwelling stocks and the number of vacant houses in UK. While the number of net additions has slowed down, the percentage of vacant homes in UK has reduced significantly. This shows that the areas previously considered as low in demand for housing are being developed to encourage people to occupy those areas. Overall life satisfaction: Appendix 11 shows the evolution of people’s general perception and their overall satisfaction of living in UK. Over the years, more and more people have responded that they are more satisfied with living in UK. This clearly indicates that UK is getting closer to delivering on sustainable communities. All the indicators identified seem to suggest that we are making good progress towards delivering sustainable communities. However, a survey conducted by DEFRA showed that a “higher proportion of people in the most deprived areas in England may live in areas with multiple environmental conditions that are in relative terms the ‘least favourable’, compared with populations living in less deprived areas” – appendix 12 shows the details of the responses by people from these different areas. This indicates that most of the progress that we see in the indicators above is probably happening in areas that are generally considered to be good for living. In order to truly progress on delivering on sustainable communities, the good work done so far needs to be spread to areas that are considered “less worthy” for living. Therefore, while the indicators at the national level might indicate that we are progressing well, the reality remains that the promise of delivering sustainable communities is yet to reach the most deprived areas. III. Conclusion At the overall national level, there is little doubt that delivering sustainable communities is an important focus area for the UK government and a lot of good progress has been made in delivering this promise. All of the indicators identified for evaluating this progress show that the initiatives undertaken by the government are bringing good results. However, on delving deeper into regional aspects and segregating the “less deprived” and the “more deprived” areas, it becomes clear that most of this progress is happening in areas that are as it is close to being sustainable communities. As these “less deprived” areas will remain more “in-demand” for future habitation, the pressure on environment and on public services in these areas will continue to increase. In order to truly deliver on creating sustainable communities, the pressure on these areas needs to be reduced. This can be done only if the other areas, which are today considered as “more deprived” areas, are made more liveable and the quality of environment and life is improved there. Only then, can we be sure that from a long-term perspective, we are truly getting close to delivering sustainable communities. IV. References Communities and Local Government. 2011. Housing: Live tables on dwelling stock: Vacant dwellings. Communities and Local Government. [Online] 2011. [Cited: 7 October 2011.] http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/housingresearch/housingstatistics/housingstatisticsby/stockincludingvacants/livetables/. —. 2011. Housing: Live tables on stock. Communities and Local Government. [Online] 2011. [Cited: 7 October 2011.] http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/housingresearch/housingstatistics/housingstatisticsby/locallevelstatistics/225646/. DEFRA. 2010. Measuring progress: Sustainable development indicators 2010. London : Crown copyright, 2010. Land Use Consultants. 2004. Sustainable Construction in Cambridgeshire: A Good Practice Guide. Cambridgeshire : Land Use Consultants, 2004. LGA. 2011. Sustainable communities act. Local Government Association. [Online] 2011. [Cited: 18 October 2011.] http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/core/page.do?pageId=561616. ODPM, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. 2003. Sustainable communities: building for the future. London : Crown copyright, 2003. 02HC00964. Office for National Statistics. 2011. Annual Abstract of Statistics, Q3 2011. [Online] 2011. [Cited: 17 October 2011.] http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/ctu/annual-abstract-of-statistics/quarter-3-2011/art-quarter-3.html#tab-Chapter-15---Population. V. Appendices Appendix 1: ?38bn plan introduced in 2003 for sustainable communities’ development Source: ODPM, 2003 Appendix 2: Household energy use Source: DEFRA, 2010 Appendix 3: Domestic water consumption Source: DEFRA, 2010 Appendix 4: Household waste per person Source: DEFRA, 2010 Appendix 5: Land recycling Source: DEFRA, 2010 Appendix 6: Dwelling density Source: DEFRA, 2010 Appendix 7: Households access to key services: Access to key services at the neighbourhood level by foot and public transport Source: DEFRA, 2010 Appendix 8: Availability of decent homes: houses below decent homes standard Source: DEFRA, 2010 Appendix 9: Homelessness Source: DEFRA, 2010 Appendix 10a: Housing supply: net additions to dwelling stock Source: DEFRA, 2010 Appendix 10b: Housing supply: number of vacant dwellings in UK (in thousands) Source: DEFRA, 2010 Appendix 11: Overall life satisfaction; people’s responses on a scale of 0 to 10 with 10 meaning highly satisfied Source: DEFRA, 2010 Appendix 12: Environmental Quality perception of people Source: DEFRA, 2010 Note: The environmental conditions people were asked to rate were: river water quality, air quality, green space, habitat favourable to biodiversity, flood risk, litter, housing conditions, road accidents, and presence of regulated sites like waste management, industrial or landfill sites or sewage treatment works. 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