Addressing sustainability issues in relation to the design and planning of the urban environment is a complex, multi-disciplinary issue and solutions never arrive from a single perspective. The authors use design as a facilitating factor to consider when and by whom decisions that contribute to sustainability are made, and through three major city-centre case studies - London, Manchester and Sheffield – they consider social, environmental and economic factors and examine their relationship to the decision-making process.

Designing Sustainable Cities begins by identifying the key processes and lead decision-makers. The following chapters develop an understanding of the dimensions of sustainability, presenting the tools by which the dimensions can be analysed. Later chapters illustrate the trade-offs and the relationships between the dimensions of sustainability - with case study examples - as well as the use of IT in making design decisions. Finally, the book makes recommendations for future approaches to the design, development and on-going management of urban environments.

Designing Sustainable Cities covers:

• latest research data on the urban environment and the interaction between social, economic and environmental issues
• methods of understanding the context in which urban design takes place
• guidance on the codes of practice
• process maps to help understand the context, make trade-offs and develop design solutions that allow for change
• methods for testing the consequences of design proposals and monitoring outcomes.