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Abstract |
The need to increase the density of urban development is becoming widely recognised - a recognition stimulated by two areas of concern. The first is the growing demand for new housing in developed countries. This is partly due to increasing wealth and
partly to the growth in small households. In Britain it is estimated that an additional 3.8 million homes will be needed in the first twenty years of this century. Such growth presents a huge challenge and an Urban Task Force, chaired by leading
architect Richard Rogers, was appointed to consider the implications. The task force examined current development patterns, which largely comprised low-density developments on ex-urban greenfield sites. If this pattern were allowed to continue the
required new housing would result in the loss of enormous swathes of open land, and create serious problems of transport and servicing. Instead, the task force recommended a new emphasis on developing derelict urban sites (Department of the Environment,
Transport and the Regions, 1999). This has now been recognised in government policy with a target of building 60 percent of new housing on urban brownfield sites and new planning guidelines for the development of high density housing.
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