Green Options

Ever wonder just how much smog you’re bathing in every day? A new pollution radar developed by Surrey Satellite Technology, the University of Leicester, and EADS Astrium might be able to show you.

Great Britain’s Eco-towns initiative is a result of Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s previous commitment to build five (subsequently changed to ten) zero-carbon eco-towns should he become Prime Minister. These towns of up to 15 000 homes are meant to be built on unused brownfield land such as former industrial sites.

The initiative is meant to respond to the UK’s housing shortage, as well as help partially fulfill climate change commitments. It is also meant to be an opportunity for housing developers to change the way they do business, and work with the proposed site’s local communities.

The government’s vision of the eco-towns was that the eco-town should be a:

Large-scale free-standing new settlements that are exemplars of sustainable building and living, with the opportunity to design low and zero-carbon technology from the beginning.

The Government wants to ensure that the delivery of eco-towns makes as much use of the existing infrastructure as possible.

It is encouraged that some, or even many, of the initial bids have proposals for developers to invest towards rail provisions The Government said that it saw eco-towns providing a major contribution to the housing supply and increasing affordability, including up to 50 per cent of affordable housing.

However, some opponents to this initiative claim that the eco-town approach may be illegal.