Climate Integrated Design and Closing Cycles

Abstract

Composite measures of sustainability provide useful insights into the environmental impacts associated with human activities but, in themselves, are not the solutions for abandoning traditional paradigms. Sustainable spatial planning and development must be able to conduct the spatial consequences of changes. Therefore, it is necessary to look beyond boundaries: not only physical boundaries (between areas or countries), but especially boundaries of the various scale levels of solutions, the interrelated networks (energy, water, waste/nutrients), the public space and, particularly, their mutuality. It induces an exploration of the ‘urban metabolism’ with underlying social needs and the finding of solutions that allow the urban areas and infrastructure to fit the changing objectives, especially sustainability. This chapter promotes sustainable management of the environment and its resources through a renewed focus on existing, mostly ignored resources and local ‘quality-cascading’, together with niche planning to improve knowledge of the interactions between natural resources, human activities and environmental impact. Especially, the introduction of solutions on an intermediate scale-level of the neighbourhood or urban district offer opportunities. With respect to this, several recent innovative projects will be explained.