Existing communities: their

untapped capacity and their

environmental potential
Anne Power
London School of Economics and Political Science
 99+% of all homes already exist
• But 20% are precarious
• 60% are in slow decline
• 85% will be standing in 2050
• Bricks and concrete last thousands of years
• Development impact doubles house building
impact
• Britain is a highly urbanised island
 Islands do not grow land
• England is the third most densely populated
country in the world
• Spread out urban areas because of urban history;
highly cultivated countryside
• Short of environmental sinks
– Rivers and flood plains
– Long-term deforestation
– Roads and other buildings
– Urban drainage failures
– Water overuse
– Waste dumps – 30% of building material
 Environmental imperatives
require:
• Protection of land and nature
• Preservation of existing built environment
• Upgrading of all homes and buildings to
highest energy standards
• Recycling of all possible buildings
• Re-use of land
• Expanding within built frame
 Where is the capacity?
• Demand for replacement and expansion
• Upgrading and recycling potential
• Existing communities have:
– Underused homes
– Unused buildings – commercial, residential
– Scraps of unused / abused land
– Derelict land / infrastructure
– Functioning service infrastructure
• Potential to re-densify population
• Household shrinkage and multiplication are key
problems
 Recovering value in existing buildings
• “Worn in” structures can be transformed
• Bricks, slates, girders, foundations have vast
embodied energy
• High value attaches to historic streets and sites
• Mixed-use streets have more potential than cut
off cul-de-sacs
• Empty scraps of land become usable when empty
buildings are restored
• Side and back alleys, garages, backyards, parking
lots are valuable assets
 How much can empty buildings add?
• 750,000 empty homes – some are large
• Unwanted commercial properties – unknown capacity
– may offer 1 million homes
• Empty rooms in over-sized occupied dwellings – maybe
1 million spaces
• Total contribution:
– 3 million extra homes
– spaces for people to occupy
• Subdivided buildings generate income through homes
• Helps investment in upgrading energy efficiency
• Reclaiming buildings revalues small sites
 How much can small scraps of land
offer?
• Unwanted thousands of half acre sites
• In London alone (inner and outer) enough small
sites to meet increased demand to 2030.
• Outside London – more small and large sites than
we need
• Existing communities constantly create flows of
land, buildings, people
• Using small sites protects street frontages
• Densifying uses creates safer environments
 How does this help existing
communities?
• Upgraded, re-used buildings strengthen confidence
• Reinvestment attracts new investment
• Reclaiming buildings makes land more valuable
• More households generate demand for shops, buses,
schools etc.
• Greater density creates neighbourhood management
• More homes, more choices help families stay closer
• Smaller households generate more housing demand
• Thinner populations need greater density of buildings
 How does recycling help the
environment?
• Recycling buildings has the same logic as all
recycling
• Resource inputs, waste outputs minimised
• Big energy gains possible
• Preserves land and environment
• Protects community stability
• Shrinks costs, maximises value
• Generates better neighbourhood environments
• Cuts green field building
 Profile of energy performance in
existing dwelling stock, 2004

Source: Communities and Local Government, Review of Sustainability of Existing Buidings: The Energy Efficiency
of Dwellings - Initial Analysis. Based on English House Condition Survey (EHCS) 2004, DCLG
 Evidence of energy reductions in
German Zukunft Haus Programme

Source: DENA, http://www.bmvbs.de/Bild/original_989637/bild.jpg

 Lifetime CO2 emissions

Lifetime CO2 emissions per m2 Operational CO2

Embodied CO2
2,500

2,000
kg CO2

1,500

1,000

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Source: David Ireland, 2008

How can we show there is untapped
capacity?