Governance and Sustainability programme, University of Westminster

'Sustainable Communities' seminar series

'Making up sustainable places after growth'
with Professor Allan Cochrane (Open University)
26th January 2009, 5:30 PM
To be followed by a drinks reception at 7pm.

Venue: University of Westminster; Board Room, Regent Street Campus. 309 
Regent Street, London W1B 2UW.

In recent years the dominant policy framework for urban development and 
regeneration in England has been based on the assumption of market driven 
economic growth. In the cities of the North of England this has been 
expressed through strategies directed towards the renewal of housing markets 
in inner areas, in the South East it has been reflected in strategies for the 
making of (new) sustainable communities on the edge of the region. The 
current economic crisis has thrown the underlying assumptions of this model 
into disarray. It is no longer possible to rely on the surplus generated from 
house building and sales to provide the infrastructural spending to underpin 
sustainable communities, in terms of social, educational, environmental or 
transport needs. 

Yet the underlying drivers which led government to develop strategies for 
housing market renewal and the building of sustainable communities have not 
disappeared. In particular, the backlog of unmet housing needs remains severe 
and continues to create challenges, even if the housing market is presently 
unable to meet them. 

This paper focuses on one of the main pillars of recent urban and regional 
development policy in England, asking how the end of the growth agenda 
affects the possibilities of building sustainable communities. It considers the 
experience of the South East of England, with a particular focus on its 
northern fringes (Milton Keynes, West Northamptonshire and North 
Northamptonshire), where a series of partnership bodies and local delivery 
vehicles were intended to deliver substantial housing growth, supported by 
significant infrastructural investment generated from the surpluses produced 
by house building.

For a map showing the venue location, see
http://www.westminster.ac.uk/about/how-to-find-us/regent-street2

All seminars in this series are free of charge.

To reserve your place, please book via the following online form:

http://www.westminster.ac.uk/schools/humanities/news-and-
events/events/2010/making-up-sustainable-places-after-growth

A further seminar in this series will be held on 2nd March 2009,5:30pm. Graham 
Haughton (University of Hull), will be discussing 'Soft spaces and planning for 
sustainable communities.' Booking for this event is also open:

http://www.westminster.ac.uk/schools/humanities/news-and-
events/events/2010/planning,-communities-and-soft-spaces-of-
governance

For any further questions about this seminar series, please write to Dan 
Greenwood and Liza Griffin at 

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