Tales of the City - London's Learning

London's vast sprawl is more often despaired of than held out as an exemplar for the future. Vibrant, maybe - but sustainable? Yet for all its problems, London's also home to some striking examples of sustainability in action - on and off the drawing board. Gillian Symons has found six of the best.

Raising the power of BedZED

Talk about sustainable urban living in the UK, and BedZED is bound to come up. Now the team that brought you south London's celebrated 'zero emissions' ecovillage [GF22] is engaged in an ambitious project to apply the experience to the UK's largest brownfield site - Thames Gateway.

It's called 'Z2', - BedZED raised to a higher power. The vision is for a settlement of up to 5,000, and the principles remain constant:

  • High density urban living.
  • Residential, commercial, education, health and leisure facilities within easy walking distance.
  • Efficient public transport and car pools for access to the world beyond.
  • Heat and power generated locally.
  • Waste minimised (during both construction and use), remaining waste sustainably managed.
  • Space maintained for leisure, food growing and wildlife habitats.

The Z2 team is preparing a massive communication programme aimed at the key stakeholders involved with Thames Gateway's regeneration. They'll be talking to 20 private developers, 40 housing associations, 150 engineering and architectural companies, the wider building industry, the general public... The stakes are high. Regeneration projects don't come much bigger than Thames Gateway. Imagine the impact if it became a supermodel of best practice.
www.bioregional.com
www.bedzed.org.uk

Sustainable vertical village

Architects rarely live in tower blocks - so there aren't many pros with real inside experience. But that's a crucial perspective for an ambitious project in Westminster, which is aiming at the 'intelligent and green' refurbishment of all the city council's housing stock. So City West Homes, managers of the council's social housing, and their partners Integer, are looking to local residents for the necessary 'expert feedback' - which means treating them as full partners in the project.

Glastonbury House, a sheltered and supported block of 162 flats in Pimlico, will be the first to undergo full scale renovation. It's already home to a demonstration project of two small flats and an exhibition space, with plans to involve its residents at every stage, notably via a 'virtual reality walkthrough' in which they can try out different colour schemes and layouts. The lessons learnt in Glastonbury House will then be rolled out across the borough.

The 'intelligent and green' strategy has two key ideas - the highest environmental standards, allied to 'intelligent' technology to improve the performance of the building and enrich the lives of residents. Environmental improvements will include 50% energy savings, 40% water savings and on-site waste separation, as well as waste reduction during construction. City West Homes, who are unusual as landlords in being prepared to look at costs over a 30-year cycle, believe the slightly higher construction costs will be greatly outweighed by the predicted 10% savings in year-on-year costs, and the benefits to residents. This is particularly relevant to people in sheltered housing, who may rarely leave the building. A cabling network will bring access to digital television, broadband internet and lowcost telephoning - including free calls within the block - as well as providing security and access control, and online links to a local GP.

Direct links to Westminster City Hall website will provide information services, help with claims, and emergency support. Communal spaces will be given high priority and will include a rooftop 'sky lounge' with stunning views across central London, a mini-health centre and meeting facilities for the local Age Concern group.

But how will elderly residents learn to manage the new technology? The plan is to bridge the generations by bringing in young volunteers from local schools to do the teaching. Six schools will be working with Integer in the classroom and on site, getting involved in the whole reconstruction and in related science, design technology and citizenship lessons. And there are wider dimensions to the learning - national, and even global. A national conference to disseminate Integer's experiences, and discuss the future of social housing, is planned for June. This summer, too, pupils involved with an Integer project in Hong Kong will visit Westminster, as part of a British Council-led exchange focusing on the future of sustainable 'vertical villages' around the world.
www.integerproject.co.uk
Evelin Pellow, 020 7813 0374,
epellow@enablingconcept

Wind in my backyard

Wind turbines are often accused of being a blot on the landscape. In Tower Hamlets they're taking a different view. The next phase of redevelopment at Mile End Park should see the installation of a 97-metre high turbine, framed by the towers of Canary Wharf, in perfect scale with the surrounding cityscape. It's one of the latest direct drive models, energy-efficient and low-noise, and should provide enough renewable energy for more than 1,100 homes, bringing in income to contribute to the running costs of the park. And the 'energy payback' period, (the time needed to generate as much power as it took to construct and install it), should be only about five months.

Sustainability has been a core concept at Mile End Park. Recently rescued from dereliction, it includes an ecology centre, a silent go-kart track and a 'green bridge' which joins the two halves of the park, formerly divided by the busy Mile End Road. A small turbine is already in use, pumping water around the lakes in the ecology park.
www.envirotrust.org
John Alderton, 020 7264 4660;
john@envirotrust.org
www.milendpark.co.uk

Growing Communities

The name says it all. Growing food in the city can help build a sense of community, reconnect people with the origins of their food, reduce food miles [GF26] and provide wildlife habitats. Health benefits stem both from the exercise involved and the nutrition derived.

Growing Communities, in north London, began as a vegetable box scheme. Now derelict land is being converted into 'organic gardens of Eden' with the help of local residents. And, not unlike city farms (Heeley City Farm in Sheffield is a good example), Growing Communities combines this local food production role with an education and vocational training remit. Trainees work there towards NVQs in horticulture, and school groups come to work and learn about alternatives to conventional agriculture.

Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming, believes that 18% of London's food could and should be produced within the city - using private spaces such as window boxes, gardens and roof gardens, in combination with a return to communal food growing, allocating 5% of space in parks, and planting streets with trees bearing fruit that passers-by can pluck and eat. Over 1,000 bee keepers in London benefit from the rich and varied pollen on offer in urban parks and gardens, in contrast to the sprayed monocultures of much of the rural landscape.

Growing Communities already grows fruit and vegetables in two local parks and a community garden. Locally grown onions grace its vegetable boxes in June and July, when supermarket onions are being flown in from Egypt, Argentina and Israel. At the new farmers' market on Saturdays in Stoke Newington, the produce from Growing Communities will be on sale alongside that of organic growers and producers from within a 70-mile radius of London.
www.growingcommunities.org; 020 7502 7588
www.heeleyfarm.org.uk Federation of City Farms, www.farmgarden.org.uk www.sustainweb.org

Respond as needed

You're on a low income and need a cooker? Or baby clothes? You've just been evicted and your furniture is on the street? You're elderly or disabled, you need a new carpet, but the fitters say you have to clear the room first? Who're you going to call? Try Respond.

It started as a furniture bank - collecting furniture and white goods from the local community, refurbishing them and providing them at low cost to local authority social services departments, refugee support groups, housing associations and individuals on low incomes. The success of this scheme, now financially sustainable, has allowed Respond to expand its programme to include a mobile clothing and baby equipment a service visiting nurseries, playgroups and lone parents, a resource centre for local community groups and NVQ training for long-term unemployed people. Respond now employs 20 full-time workers, as well as volunteers and trainees.
Respond, 020 8310 8808

Buying fair

Consider the global impact of a huge city like London - not least the purchasing power of its population. Put that kind of weight behind the principles of the Fairtrade movement, and producers around the world could feel the benefits. Now London's mayor Ken Livingstone has taken up the challenge of becoming a Fairtrade City - raising awareness about the issues at stake, and encouraging the availability of Fairtrade products in shops, offices and cafés.

There's already one Fairtrade Borough in the capital - Croydon, where the impetus came from the local community, many of whose faith and ethnic groups have links with countries where food growers suffer from unfair trading conditions. The lobby for action was so successful that Croydon Council voted unanimously to sign up to Fairtrade's principles, and the borough's environment and sustainability team is now working with NGOs and businesses to get offices, shops and cafés on board.

New council catering contracts in Croydon will now specify Fairtrade products, which have already been introduced in council offices, residential homes, schools and libraries. Last year's Fairly Merry Christmas event boosted sales of Fairtrade foods, gifts and cards, and premises have been found for a community-run shop, 'Fair Enough'. Workshops for teachers and promotion through the local media are also part of the mix, as are displays and tastings in prominent venues, notably during Fairtrade Fortnight.

www.croydon.gov.uk/la21/fairtradecouncil
GLA Public Liaison Unit,
020 7983 4100
Fairtrade, www.fairtrade.org.uk

Gillian Symons is a freelance writer and educator on sustainable development.

26 May 2003

Gillian Symons