Planners' climate change response is building impetus for lifestyle shift

Planning, 13 June 2008

The hill we all have to climb in terms of reducing the impacts of climate change should be apparent to most of the UK's population. The choices of walking or cycling instead of driving, turning down heating, insulating the loft and recycling waste are well publicised and becoming increasingly popular.

In my office, we have sent back the water dispenser on the basis that water is expensive because of the energy needed to transport it in plastic bottles - and in any event tap water is perfectly good. However, a recent visit to the USA reminded me that many developed countries have much further to travel in winning over the population to the cause. Las Vegas, where the American Planning Association's national conference was held in April, must be a case in point.

As part of the proceedings, delegates were shepherded around the city centre and driven out to the endless suburbs, where construction continues relentlessly. Each suburb has its own casino and mall with massive car parks and wide feeder roads to get people somewhere else faster. Cycle and pedestrian facilities and public transport are conspicuously absent even in the most recent developments.

I asked our planner guide what would happen when the oil runs out. No plans for that, was the reply. Ironically, the local television news programmes were full of stories of hardship cases relating to the recent hike in fuel prices. One lady had given up her 125km daily commute and her car to be based in her own neighbourhood. Perhaps the USA will be forced to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle out of necessity rather than conviction.

But oil is not the only resource in short supply. Residents in Las Vegas are paid by the city authorities to remove their garden lawns and plants and adopt a desert style of stones and cacti. Water is drawn from the Colorado River but modern demands are outstripping the supply provided 50 years ago by the construction of the massive Hoover Dam. Desalination systems, beloved of equally unsustainable Middle Eastern states, are clearly not an option. So again necessity will change lifestyles.

But some places have got the message on climate change and are signed up for action. In Washington DC, more than 40 per cent of commuters use public transport. In Marin County north of San Francisco, massive advertising hoardings proclaim the carbon footprint of residents compared with inhabitants of developing countries. Suggestions for lifestyle changes are abundant.

Back in the UK, the Construction Industry Council recently held a gathering of presidents of the many construction-related professions and the debate again centred on climate change. The consensus was that developments could not be designed or located without a detailed assessment of the long-term costs and environmental impacts.

I was impressed by the reports of changes in procurement processes that frontload design with intensive research and development on how building methods can be revised to reduce energy consumption during construction and after occupation. Huge efforts are being invested in this task by our sister professions.

Last week, I visited Northern Ireland and attended the RTPI branch's tall buildings conference. Speakers agreed that the height of new buildings is one factor that relates to the intensity of urban development and transport solutions in a city. I have to admit to a feeling of excitement when I consider the level of knowledge and vision that exists in the UK about the need for cities to adapt to zero carbon objectives. Planners are at the heart of the debate, appreciating the pressing need for refocusing construction and other activities.

But what about those countries with low per capita carbon footprints but massive populations? I am sure that someone will have calculated the energy use of construction for the Olympic Games in Beijing and it will greatly exceed the average Chinese city's impact on climate change. But even seeing activities in these terms is a massive step forward in doing something about it. If our work includes implementing expertise in sustainable development and sharing the knowledge globally, we will have made a major contribution to a less damaging future.

Janet O'Neill is RTPI president.