Addressing sustainability issues in relation to the design and planning of the urban environment is a complex, multi-disciplinary issue and solutions never arrive from a single perspective. The authors use design as a facilitating factor to consider when and by whom decisions that contribute to sustainability are made, and through three major city-centre case studies - London, Manchester and Sheffield they consider social, environmental and economic factors and examine their relationship to the decision-making process.

Designing Sustainable Cities begins by identifying the key processes and lead decision-makers. The following chapters develop an understanding of the dimensions of sustainability, presenting the tools by which the dimensions can be analysed. Later chapters illustrate the trade-offs and the relationships between the dimensions of sustainability - with case study examples - as well as the use of IT in making design decisions. Finally, the book makes recommendations for future approaches to the design, development and on-going management of urban environments.

Designing Sustainable Cities covers:

Graeme Evans London Metropolitan University

Christopher T Boyko Lancaster University

Acknowledgements.

Preface.

Introduction.

Section 1 The urban design process.

Introduction.

1 The urban design decision-making process: definitions and issues.

2 Urban design decision-making process: case studies.

3 Urban design decision-making process: a new approach.

Overview.

Section 2 Environmental sustainability and city-centre living.

Introduction.

4 Urban environmental quality.

5 The sensory city.

6 Inclusive design of 'away from home' toilets.

Overview.

Section 3Urban form and social sustainability for city-centre living.

Introduction.

7 Housing in the twentieth-century city.

8 Designing safe residential areas.

9 Crime and urban design: an evidence-based approach.

Overview.

Section 4Diversity and mixed use for city-centre living.

Introduction.

10 Urban sustainability: mixed use or mixed messages?

11 The generation of diversity.

Overview.

Section 5 Supporting urban design decision-making: ICT.

Introduction.

12 IT Infrastructure for supporting multidisciplinary urban planning.

Section 6 VivaCity2020: artists-in-residence.

Introduction.

13 The role of art practice within VivaCity2020.

14 Present in public space.

Overview.

15 The ongoing sustainable city endeavour.

Appendices.

1 VivaCity industry partners and collaborators.

2 Explaining space syntax.

Index.