Designing resilient cities: a guide to good practice (EP 103)

BRE (Building Research Establishment) is an independent, research-based consultancy, testing and training organisation, operating in the built environment and associated industries.

On 11 April 2012 BRE published Designing resilient cities: a guide to good practice (EP 103) by DR Lombardi, JM Leach and CDF Rogers (University of Birmingham) and the Urban Futures Team.

Global urbanisation is increasing dramatically and most of the world’s population now lives in cities, making urban sustainability a top priority. Designing resilience is about putting in place solutions that are resistant to future uncertainties. Large investments are being made today to make our cities more sustainable; the success of these investments depends on their resilience and how the future develops.

The 126-page BRE guide presents the Urban Futures Method for testing the likely future performance of urban developments and regeneration-related sustainability solutions (actions taken today in the name of sustainability) in a series of possible future scenarios in the year 2050. If a proposed solution delivers a positive legacy, regardless of the future against which it is tested, then it can be adopted with confidence.

The method was developed as result of a four-year, £3.1 million grant from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council on Urban Futures, and was directed by a steering committee and expert panellists representing industry, government, academia and the third sector. It provides insights into the potential impacts of today’s urban planning and design decisions, and challenges the conventional mainstream approach to sustainability by incorporating changing priorities and different ways of thinking into today’s actions.

The contents of the guide are:

• Abbreviations and glossary; Executive summary.
• Part One: Introduction to the Urban Futures Method.
• Part Two: The Urban Futures Method: delving more deeply.
• Part Three: worked examples of sustainability solution-benefit pairs.

--BRE Group

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