London calling

By Matt Kitson

As Europe becomes increasingly urbanized, Matt Kitson of British engineering firm Hilson Moran outlines a sustainability strategy for the future that seeks to avoid some of the mistakes made by 20th century city planners in America.

Next year London will welcome its newest addition to the East End skyline. Currently in design stages, The Pinnacle will rise majestically from the heart of the city's banking district, adding to the collection of structures that are redefining the horizon of 21^st century London. The 66-storey office and retail building, nicknamed the Helter Skelter for its spiralling architectural design, curling like a coiled snake upwards to tower over the British capital, is set to integrate solar power technologies that will generate the largest single amount on a building in London. In addition, it will include a wealth of energy efficient features, such as biomass heating and ground water heat exchange.

Its pronounced aesthetics will almost certainly earn The Pinnacle a place among the great edifices of London but, more significantly, its low carbon energy and water efficiency features mark a trend that has become paramount for architects and developers the world over. At Hilson Moran, the engineer consultancy firm behind the EC2 tower, the project portfolio is teeming with similar developments that all exhibit the latest advancements in sustainability technology.

Hilson Moran's influence on the built world is far-reaching; its projects can be seen across Europe and into the Middle East, ranging from luxurious residential to innovative office space and efficient transport infrastructure. But while projects such as The Pinnacle are undoubtedly both arresting and socially responsible, implementing such sustainability features is no longer headline-making news, and nor should it be. "Sustainability is simply good design," explains Matt Kitson, Director of Sustainability at Hilson Moran. "People should be doing it anyway. It is not a bolt-on solution, it's just good quality design." This seems to be common opinion among industry professionals. Whether because demonstrating social responsibility is a good marketing tool, or because developers are acting for genuine moral reasons, sustainable infrastructures are popping up across the world. "The sustainability agenda has flourished out of the recession," says Kitson, highlighting that this trend marks the future of construction and development. "Designers that design using the principles of sustainability - social, economic and environmental - will be around for longer. Consultants also need to offer post occupancy evaluations of buildings as part of the dialogue with end user, to check that these principles are working in practice."

Kitson explains that the greatest challenge involved in developing a sustainable built environment is people. "The predicted population rise in Europe is the greatest issue facing the construction and engineering sector," he says. "The majority of cities will experience a population increase over the next 10 years. Our challenge is how to fulfil the needs of this increasing population, while ensuring that cities remain vibrant and prosperous." 

According to a report into the state of European cities commissioned by the European Union back in 2007, almost every country in the EU had seen a significant migration of its existing population to large urban zones. Extended residential development in these areas is all well and good, but as Kitson points out, the inevitable demands placed on a city's utilities infrastructure that is already exhausted will pose a considerable problem. "We only have to look at some US cities to identify some the potential pitfalls," he explains. "US cities went through huge population booms. However, within a couple of generations, people began leaving the city centres for the suburbs, leading to social segregation and racial tension within the inner cities, as well as obesity and diabetes issues due to the lack of transport infrastructure, overreliance on cars and sedentary lifestyle."

Despite impressive amounts of funding for research and development into energy and environment from the Union, there remains a distinct difference in the standards of sustainable infrastructure across the European region. Kitson outlines the difficulties that have hindered such developments in some of Europe's more economically strong countries, citing the UK as an example. "[UK's] infrastructure is on the cusp, with the introduction of district heating and cooling systems only just starting to be introduced by forward thinking developers. This is perhaps because the installation of centralised district heating systems requires developers to make a major investment in an energy efficiency infrastructure, long before they will see any capital return from the buildings on the development. Although this will deliver huge benefits in the long term, the challenge for consultants is to find solutions that are palatable for developers, balancing initial outlay against long term rewards, so that the environmental, social and economic indicators of sustainability are aligned."

Kitson's concerns are symptomatic of his firm's focus on the wider community of the built environment, an ideal that has been key in the development of the Hilson Moran's innovative Sustainable Built Environment Tool (SuBET). "The rationale behind it was 'how do you create communities where people want to live?'" explains Kitson. "SuBET offers a framework for masterplanning that focuses on place making for our future cities, while at the same time making sure that aspects such as energy, waste, social and cultural impacts are not overlooked."

The new way

The next generation in sustainability developing, the SuBET incorporates all considerations beyond simply the physical impacts of a development, and marks an evolution in the role of industry professionals. Kitson highlights that a notable advantage of such a system compares favourably to the sustainability standards in place today, such as the LEED or BREEAM systems. While these regulations provide a helpful standard that developers can endeavour to meet in order to improve efficiency features of a building, Kitson believes there is the potential for the grauitous addition of such features in order to meet the standards. "Poorly implemented solutions can become even less helpful than doing nothing," he says, "as they damage the credibilty of renewable solutions. Sustainable master-planning requires a 360 degree assessment of a proposed scheme; not simply bolting on technological solutions, but designing in sustainability from the outset."

The SuBET is the brainchild of Kitson himself, in conjunction with Dr Huam Al Waer, Director of the Sustainability Research Group at the University of Dundee and Emeritus Professor Dereck Clements-Croome. While it sets out to provide a framework of standards for a development's sustainability, it goes much further than other certification frameworks used in the industry, allowing for a more subjective analysis of a project. "It's not about certification," Kitson explains, "it's the thought process that's important. LEED and BREEAM both pre-set what is deemed to be a good thing. However, SuBET allows the stakeholders to decide what is most important and facilitates the development of a sustainable masterplanning design."

Taking three years to fully develop, the SuBet framework marked a significant investment of time and innovative skill, but one that looks set to pay off. Kitson highlights that the response from Hilson Moran's clients and project partners has been positive, with many critics of the tool describing it as the 'next generation way of thinking' when it comes to developing the built world. Kitson goes on to explain that the framework takes into account all aspects of a project, from its environmental effects to its social and economic impacts, and incorporates the specific considerations of each development, such as regional planning issues or national impact of the project.

This attention to the socio-cultural is a concept that seems to resonate with Kitson and he is keen to point out that municipal infrastructure that firms such as his are responsible for must meet the specific demands of the city's population. "A lot of city populations have a very young demographic; families and young professionals in particular," he says. "We need to ensure we offer the amenities and ecology that suits this young population: parks and open spaces, as well as schools and hospitals."

He emphasizes the benefits of implementing a master-planning framework to look at the whole picture of the development rather than using a set of efficiency certification standards. "Sustainable master planning means moving beyond a narrow building-centric view of design and energy efficiency ratings to considering the huge number of socio-economic and cultural factors that also have an impact on the long-term sustainability of communities and the environments in which we live, work and play."

Kitson points out that when it comes to project planning, environmental considerations such as land use, water conservation or energy efficiency have well-established parameters for sustainability, whereas considerations less readily quantifiable, such as social diversity and cultural identity, have largely remained unaccounted for in such standardization frameworks. "Long term sustainability could incorporate a whole spectrum of measures," he explains.

"From encouraging a greater diversity of commercial and retail centres and creating employment opportunities near transport facilities, to a more innovative use of space and consideration of land use between adjacent plots, together with concentrated areas for specific facilities such as schools and shops."

One of SuBET's unique benefits, both for the industry professionals implementing it and the prospective residents of the communities, is its subjectivity. "It does not provide a standard solution," explains Kitson. "There needn't be a uniformed or harmonized approach to master-planning, because every country's priorities will differ according to the climate, culture and population." Taking into account all of the characteristics that affect a built environment, he highlights how the tool's flexible framework approach can be adapted to incorporate different countries' requirements in terms of land, culture and climate. "The approach can be tailored to the needs of the country," he explains. "SuBET enables us to analyse the many different indicators of sustainability at the very inception of a project and to assess a proposed master-plan using bespoke weightings for environmental stewardship, economic growth and socio-cultural impact, according to the particular development's and country's priorities."

Community spirit

"The social and economic impacts of a development are closely intertwined," Kitson explains, and points out one of the primary challenges that the industry professionals will face in order to successfully utilize such frameworks.  "They will require a more lateral level of thinking than just a straight-forward environmental assessment of the development could ever achieve," he says. "Good quality, high density developments can in fact help create more viable neighbourhoods capable of supporting local services. While smaller, denser developments may be an acceptable trade-off where other amenity advantages are improved, housing densities need to be graded appropriately to maximise local accessibility and prevent overcrowding."

In addition to encouraging this new way of thinking, Kitson hopes that his master-planning framework will result in greater flexibility among professionals in the industry. This flexibility, he explains, is necessary to the development of a wholly sustainable master-plan as it will allow professionals to fully realise the various factors that combine to create such a plan. "For architects, engineers, planners and developers," he explains, "sustainable master-planning means moving beyond the familiar territories of their own disciplines and towards a more multi-disciplinary approach to consultation and engagement within the entire project team and with wider stakeholders at the earliest possible stages of planning."

Kitson's socio-economic master planning undoubtedly represents a revolution in metropolitan design, incorporating factors commonly overlooked in the development of larger residential areas. He outlines some of the factors that he feels should be taken into consideration. "In terms of social diversity," he explains, "we need to ensure that master-planning includes detailed consideration of the adjacency of work, leisure and living spaces." Indeed, as he revealed earlier, he is keen to avoid the divided and tense societies that emerged as a result of the poorly conceived city developments in the US. "Promoting physical connectivity through effective street networks between the new development areas and the existing urban fabric increases social networking and the usability of the local environment."

This marks just one step in Kitson's plans to create a unified community. "Community cohesion means finding a way to develop a collective pride and participation in community life," he explains, and goes on to highlight that while these sociological issues may not seem to fall under the jurisdiction of those in the constructions industry, architects and planners can help significantly toward creating a unified community. "Community cohesion may involve enhancing the visual characteristics of a development to evoke greater cultural and spiritual responses, while contributing to the quality of local life," he explains. "This may mean considering the height, setback, sizes and materials used in developments to provide continuity while injecting personality and character, or encouraging greater community interaction through an increased focus on recreation and leisure activities."

These plans seem so simple in theory; creating wholesome and united communities by ensuring straight and well-lit connecting roads or a common infrastructure aesthetic appear so obvious that it seems ludicrous that they had not been made standard planning requirements across the board. But Kitson's master-planning framework does not stop here. In an attempt to simultaneously reduce carbon emissions in his sustainable communities and improve the health of its residents, he highlights the need to implement a comprehensive transport infrastructure. "Proximity and access to frequent public transport helps reduce the reliance on car transport," he says, warning that such networks need to be carefully planned to reflect future growth expectations. "Promoting systems to reduce congestion can also assist in lowering vehicle pollution linked to poor public health. Even simple measures can encourage people to get moving, such as limiting off-street car parking, providing cycle paths and safe street lighting."

Ultimately, Kitson explains, the success of sustainable master-planning frameworks such as this will depend upon a complete change of mindset from both national governments and the industry professionals who build the cities. "Long term sustainability demands the creation of safer, more vibrant and inclusive communities that offer a wide range of opportunities for jobs, leisure, culture and activity. Such areas are more adaptable to change in the long term and offer better prospects overall for economic growth." 

Urban nightmare

Not every city has benefited from the careful and considered approach to urban planning that Matt Kitson is advocating...

New York

Well, Manhattan to be precise. Although the city's urban planners weren't to know back in 1811 that Manhattan Island would go on to become the financial, media and fashion capital of the world, they still should have foresaw the folly of their grid structure. At 20 kilometres in length, Manhattan has just 16 streets running north-south, but a total of 155 streets covering the five kilometres west-to-east. With the majority of traffic flowing north to south and back again, this iconic part of New York finds itself in almost terminal gridlock.

Birmingham, England

It was hardly Birmingham's fault that much of the city's centre was flattened by the German Luftwaffe during WWII, but what came after was all of the city's own making: dour, grey and chunky brutalist buildings sprung up throughout the centre, most infamously at the Bullring, which was a heaving behemoth of concrete, dodgy underpasses, urine-soaked stairwells and an infuriating one-way system. For 50 years this eyesore stood until, in 2000, the city planners did the honourable thing and tore the whole lot down, replacing it with something altogether more futuristic and appealing.

Dubai

Dubai looks great in the brochures. Its sparkling horizon of towers and skyscrapers is a testament to the creativity, vision and bloody-mindedness of the human spirit - 'yes we WILL build a futuristic city in the middle of the desert, and yes we WILL create man-made islands in the shape of palm trees'. All very impressive, but just you try traversing the place at ground level. The Sheikh Zayed road is the main thoroughfare between one end of the city and the other, and so is at the mercy of the Lexus- and SUV-driving army of vehicles that crawls and slithers its way along the only conduit in town. You could get out and walk of course, but the 50-degree heat and vast distances between anywhere of interest makes that a fool's errand.