What’s Next: Jolly Old Eco-land
What’s Next: Jolly Old Eco-land Come 2016, the ideal English country home may no longer be the thatch-roofed cottage or grand manor house so many of us have come to know. Instead, it may be the brand-new home a few hills over, in one of 10 government-mandated “ecotowns”—developments of 5,000 to 20,000 carbon-neutral houses that Prime Minister Gordon Brown hopes will ease England’s acute housing shortage. According to the government’s latest vision for the towns, residents of all ethnicities, ages, and incomes will walk or cycle to newly created jobs, schools, and shops. If they must commute by train or bus, new stations will be waiting across open green spaces. The homes will be rated at least a four (out of six) on England’s Code for Sustainable Homes—in part to counter the environmental damage that so much building would inevitably create. They will be affordable—especially the 30 percent to 40 percent priced for low-income families, and their design will be overseen by various professional bodies, including one created by Prince Charles, long a critic of England’s modern architecture. A recent YouGov poll found that Brits supported eco-towns 5-to-1, even though many might well have grown up in the homogeneous developments…
Popularity: 1% [?]
Short URL: http://www.ecobaan.com/?p=188
Posted by howandt
on Feb 5 2009. Filed under Environment general.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response or trackback to this entry