Supported by Tesco, Forum for the Future is running a series of 'Ahead of the agenda' seminars during 2008 and 2009. These seminars examine emerging trends in sustainability that are likely to be crucial to the retail sector in coming years.

Living on the Edge: Can the Suburbs make a comeback?3 April 2008, The Innovation Centre, Holborn.

The first of our seminars focused on the sustainability challenges facing the suburbs of the future, and asked:

• What needs to change from the old model of car-reliant, individualistic suburbs in an era where sustainability is paramount?
• What do the sustainable suburbs of the future look and feel like in terms of land-use, transport, architecture, density, community and politics?
• How can retailers contribute to the fabric of these communities without creating a country of clones?

The Panel

Sir Peter Hall - internationally renowned expert on urban planning and Bartlett Professor of Planning and Regeneration at the Bartlett School of Architecture and Planning, University College London

Chris Leslie – Director of the New Local Government Network and formerly a Government Minister

Lord Richard Rogers – one of the world’s foremost living architects

David North - Community and Government Director for Tesco

Chaired by Stephanie Draper - Deputy Director of Forum’s Business Programme

SPEAKERS’ OPENING REMARKS

Sir Peter Hall

Sir Peter opened the seminar by emphasising how attractive the traditional suburbs are to residents. Semi-detached and detached homes have an enduring appeal.

The key question is one of density of developments in the suburbs. Around 30-40 dwellings per hectare are needed to support public transport, but do densities need to increase as household size decreases or as more homes are demanded? How high can we build in sustainable suburbs? Above a certain density, diminishing returns are experienced because of the need to provide infrastructure, such as roads and green spaces.

A further key factor is connectivity and public transport, which is critical in planning future suburbs. The nineteenth-century suburban design around railways can provide a useful model for the future.

Sir Peter then explored some inspiring examples of mass transit systems around the world, such as Brisbane’s highly regular and speedy network of buses every 40 seconds to the suburbs, setting an example for places like Cambridge in the UK.

Chris Leslie

Chris Leslie suggested that where we live at different stages in our lives to some extent evolves naturally: psychology, personal preferences and market forces all play a role. He asked what is the role for political leaders and policy intervention today? And has the time has come where the benefits of intervening to shape the suburbs of the future now outweigh the costs?

Traditionally the suburbs have been seen with a kind of horror, but actually in many cases they represent the English ideal of safety and security in leafy, small-scale environs. But we cannot ignore the social problems of some suburbs, such as ghettoisation, problems of community cohesion, urban-sprawl and spec-built estates. The lesson must be that physical environment matters.

Many of the issues surrounding sustainability are inter-linked: for example, encouraging walking can help tackle obesity as well as fossil fuel dependency; social capital and a sense of belonging to the community are also improved.

So there is clearly a role for politics – right down to the parish council – in tackling the big governance challenges. Suburbs should experience a renewed interest given the homebuilding agenda and eco-towns, and now is surely the time to act.

Lord Richard Rogers

Richard Rogers began by outlining how it is important to think of suburbs as a part of cities. So what cities are for? Meeting people, friends and strangers; also for transport and other functions, but primarily cities are about the spontaneous getting together of people to exchange ideas, culture and goods. So they should be designed with this in mind.

Richard Rogers emphasised that in designing cities, it is imperative that land is recycled to avoid the problems of urban sprawl. It does not make sense, he argued, to expand cities before all brownfield land has been recycled. Returning to the issue of density, he argued that the only sustainable form of city is a compact one. Urban sprawl creates particular problems for public transport.

He argued that transport is an important component to understanding cities, but only part of the explanation. Transport systems don’t capture the vitality of life in our cities. Similarly, with density, figures can’t tell us everything – who knows whether high density urban New York is somehow worse than low-density London? Instead, density figures are only a tool.

Space is perhaps one of the most critical concepts, both internally and externally, public and private. Building high density suburbs around transport hubs is a good model to follow, but designers need to ensure people have the space they need.

What are the problems with our cities today? One of the most serious is their car-reliance. He argued that combining urban sprawl with low-density developments increases CO2 emissions because of a reliance on cars. But also concepts of space and places for meeting people are frequently overlooked.

So we can all unite around a focus on quality of life issues, not just statistics. Richard Rogers closed by arguing strongly that it is everyone’s right to be able to sit on a doorstep or terrace, see a tree from their home, and have access to open spaces.

David North

David North began by suggesting that the suburbs have often been seen as something of a myth, where other people live. The denigration of the suburbs is historical and can be traced back over centuries. When standing outside of them, people describe them as dull and uniform, yet from inside, the picture is very different.

In some ways, the suburbs can already be seen as ‘sustainable’ because they survive so well. They work. Historically they have not needed much government intervention to survive on their own, and David North argued that the reason they work so well is because the people who live there feel empowered to shape their own lives.

Recent data highlights that trust in modern Britain is very low. Suburbs can be part of the solution to this, and they traditionally score highly on lots of positive community measures like membership of clubs, volunteering and recycling.

So what is the role of Tesco and sustainability in the suburbs? Firstly, store design such as the Tesco Express model can promote increased walking and cycling, helping to play a positive role in reducing car-reliance. Secondly, Tesco can play a role in generating localised renewable energy on site at stores. Finally, it is important to understand the power of going with the grain of people. As people want to engage with issues like sustainability, going with the grain can help gain interest, and become a powerful engagement tool.

DISCUSSION

Questions from delegates raised the issue of whether a more ambitious and radical rethink was required to tackle sustainability problems such as climate change.

Chris Leslie agreed that leadership from residents, business and politicians was all needed. He raised the issue of the home-work and home-school runs as a key sustainability challenge. Peter Hall agreed that the home-school run was a relatively recent revolution of the last 30 years that needs to change. He placed emphasis on price signals for altering behaviour – for example on petrol prices, as a signal for technological adaptation to less fossil fuel dependent transport.

Richard Rogers returned to the theme of densification as key to making the suburbs work. He also picked up on an earlier point about ‘going with the grain’ and questioned whether this just meant ‘going with the car’. Changes to regulation and a carbon fuel tax might therefore be needed.

David North agreed that more needed to be done to tackle climate change – one step could be to incentivise energy efficiency measures. Changes to the planning system could help, such as making it easier to build renewable energy technologies. Developments such as home shopping could also be important, but we don’t yet have all the answers to this and more research is needed. But the potential to help climate change is huge.

A further question raised the issue of food supplies to cities, and the importance of having sufficient ‘productive hinterland’ surrounding urban and suburban communities.

Peter Hall pointed out how radical the original garden city model was, with plenty of intervening green spaces. David North said that the real solution to low carbon food production models is not yet known. Tesco is currently assisting research into this at the Sustainable Consumption Institute. Chris Leslie added that current shopping patterns are very different from how they used to be, with increased emphasis on buying food last-minute and less long-term planning.

Chris Leslie added that ‘Mondeo Man’ and ‘Worcester Woman’ are critical in modern politics. In some ways, therefore, the residents of the suburbs perhaps hold the key to future success or failure for our politicians. Peter Hall also raised the issue of eco-towns: should they not be located further away from London to avoid attracting commuters? Peterborough offered a better ‘self-contained’ model than Harlow. Richard Rogers said that people like to ‘escape’ to the suburbs from the cities. Their ability to absorb people without expanding is therefore key for sustainability.

The issue of resilience and retrofitting suburbs for possible problems with global supply chains was also raised.

David North suggested that this issue was talked about much more than before.

On the issue of crime and design, Richard Rogers argued that the best thing for security in high-risk areas was encouraging people to visit and mix in areas. Peter Hall added that residents sometimes didn’t use walking or cycling routes in suburban areas because of safety fears. It is critical therefore that suburban planning addresses this issue as a vital part of community design.

The seminar then considered whether what is needed for a comeback for the suburbs is merely a better reputation? Speakers discussed why there weren’t more seminars on the suburbs, how suburban lifestyles could be made more aspirational and the need for leadership from those within the suburbs.

Richard Rogers rounded off the seminar by asking whether there really was such a thing as the suburbs? In fact, he argued, perhaps they are too abstract a concept and should be seen as really part of the city.

SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS AND SUGGESTED ACTIONS

1. An understanding of the ideal density of suburbs is central to their sustainability – high density suburbs can reduce urban sprawl and long commutes, but this needs to be carefully balanced with infrastructure demands and the attraction of low density areas.
2. Access to open spaces for meeting and exchange is critical. Designing homes within easy access and sight of green spaces makes for a more pleasant experience.
3. The suburbs of the future should make clever use of planning around transport routes – considerations of connectivity are crucial to combating climate change.
4. Political leaders have a critical role to play – from the national eco-towns and homebuilding agenda right down to the parish councils. Leaders should not be fearful of bold action.
5. Retailers can play an important role is shaping behaviour: how people travel to shops; the forms of energy used on site; and promoting sustainability amongst consumers.

See Richard Rogers speaking here

Read James Goodman's blog about the event

The next seminar in the series will pick up on this final theme of the role of retail in shaping behaviour, and examine the issues surrounding sustainable consumption.