Eighth International Conference on The Constructed Environment

Abstract

Sustainable community assessment tools (SCATs) are fast becoming the principal framework for urban planners and developers for promoting sustainability in the built environment. The majority of SCATs focus on planned neighbourhoods; thus, it is argued that these tools effectively exclude regeneration projects from the urban sustainability conversation and do not devise meaningful strategies for addressing urban regeneration and sustainability in the local context. Moreover, our cities are mostly built, and existing, under-serviced, communities are in particular need of meaningful intervention and sustainable redevelopment frameworks. This paper undertakes an evaluation of various SCATs and builds the case that the technocratic “one size fits all” approach adopted by many tools inadequately accounts for underlying institutional, social, and economic arrangements that influence urban development, making them inappropriate for application in both planned and existing communities. The paper proposes that urban redevelopment strategies need to be derived from the urban realities of a particular place or context. Such strategies must be grounded in principles of urban governance, participatory action and an understanding of market dynamics. Without these collaborative procedural frameworks, urban regeneration projects will continue to inadequately transition towards more comprehensive sustainability trajectories.