The President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has warned government minister to not see plans to build ten additional eco-towns as a way of meeting recent housing demands. Sunand Prasad said that once eco-towns were seen as a part of housing demand targets, then their purposeful conception would be lost entirely.
MPs are to choose from an original shortlist of 15 sites. Amendments to the proposal mean that ministers must select 10 of the most eligible locations for the UK’s eco-towns that will each contain thousands of homes. However, accusations of “green-washing” have set the developments in dialogue with a number of governmental concerns, including plans for a vast expansion of housing construction.
Prasad commented on the critical debates launched against the eco-builds at an exhibition on the life’s work of the influential architect Corbusier. The Modernist architect was a critical component in shaping post-war British urban planning, but has since been accused of misshaping the face of Britain’s inner cities. Mr Prasad defended Le Corbusier’s legacy but stressed that ministers risked replicating the mistakes of the past if they concentrated architectural innovation to meeting housing targets.
“I think there's always a problem of poor imitation. It seems completely unfair to me to blame the genius Le Corbusier for the poverty of imitation.” Prasad explained “We are about to embark on the same thing - it's the targets and numbers culture, which is what politicians do."
Referring to the Government’s next large scale planning project, he said: “If you think of eco-towns as the solution to the numbers game, you’ve lost the plot.” Prasad continued “They will only account for four percent of projected housing demand.”
The RIBA architect suggested that instead of seeing the prospects of architectural excellence as a solid solution to housing demand, they should be utilised on a smaller-scale as “test beds” for such a cause: “They are, or should be, a potential solution to future low-carbon living. They should be seen as trials and test beds for the future,” he said “I’m in favour of three or four – with local support – and I’m optimistic that we will have that.”
These comments were delivered as eco-towns received another shock. The medical charity The Welcome Trust withdrew its plans to develop one of the remaining 13 potential sites. This deal was expected to include the sale of 270 acres at Hanley Grange in Cambridgeshire, where an expected 11,000 homes were incorporated in a net site of 927 acres.
Further opt-outs include Marston Vale in Bedfordshire, Selby in North Yorkshire, Manyby in Lincolnshire, and Curborough in Staffordshire. And due to continuing doubts from developers for eco-towns, a further two of the fifteen shortlisted sites are set for review.
With the Government wanting to build five fully established eco-towns by 2016 and a subsequent ten by 2020 let’s hope that the prospective builds present the nation with an excellent opportunity to incorporate the best standards and latest developments in public services at the heart of each chosen community – instead of becoming a part of ambitious plans to build 3 million homes by 2020.
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This post was written by Ryan Whatley on August 26, 2008