Urban growth usually happens in contradictory ways to the concept of sustainable settlement development. Spatially diffused and functionally segregated settlement structures tend to cause growth in traffic volumes as well as increased pressures on the environment. Measures to promote sustainable transport modes in isolation are stultified by these trends, still dominating settlement planning concepts and their implementation. The resources to be conserved for future generations - land (urban sprawl), energy sources (fossil fuels), the environment, as well as human resources (health, quality of life) - are particularly jeopardised.

In contrast to this trend, the objectives of the European Union for the development of sustainable settlements and for the improvement of urban environments specifically imply to support a polycentric, balanced urban system and to promote resource-efficient settlement patterns, that minimise land-take and urban sprawl.

The project team contributes to the implementation of these objectives by designing model settlements for specific sites to demonstrate the feasibility and desirability of future urban living compatible with sustainability requirements. The concepts developed provide the basis for urban places to continue being the engine of social, cultural and economic development in the future.

Objectives and approach

To overcome the above problems of urban development requires the consistent integration and implementation of specific, often already tested individual solutions. The overall goal of the project is, hence, to develop settlement patterns for sustainable cities(ECOCITIES), emphasising the implications for an environmentally compatible transport system.

Strategies to design a space- and energy saving settlement structure will thus give priority to the requirements of sustainable transport (convenience for pedestrians, efficient public transport and goods"" distribution logistics) as well as energy efficiency, environmental quality and the utilisation of alternative sources of energy. Necessary conditions of sustainability to be operationalised are compactness selection of suitable sites - and a balanced mix of land uses.

The approach of ECOCITY is to develop a common concept, design model settlements in six participating countries (in experts round tables creating scenarios, integrating sustainability in all sectors and considering multiple cross-sector interrelations in the definition of solutions) and to work out general guidelines for planning.

Expected impacts

The products to be developed in the project mentioned above, properly disseminated, should have a substantial impact on the growing community of urban planners interested in an improvement of current planning practices. It is to be expected, hence, that further developments of the concept will be stimulated as well as an increasing application of the projects results can be expected in the future.