The British Papers: Current Thinking on Sustainable City Design

`The compact city is the only sustainable way of housing a growing urban population. This means creating well-designed neighbourhoods with a live-work mix, and housing affordable to rich and poor, connecting them with walking, cycling and public transport infrastructure, and making public space that is open for all. Allowing sprawl not only destroys valuable natural resources, but also robs cities of the vitality, and potential for meeting friends and strangers, that is the bedrock of civilised society. It is exciting to see the breadth of architectural and design thinking in this collection of essays. I hope it will be widely read, not just by architects and planners, but by the politicians who lead our cities.' - Richard Rogers KBE

`It's good to have a collection of essays with viewpoints from many different backgrounds. Sustainable city making is a collective endeavour and requires industry, government and communities to come together and shape a vision of the future. In the Farrell Review of architecture and the built environment, I made the point that more collaborative and proactive planning is needed to create resilient and adaptive communities. There are many lessons to be learned from these papers about quality design and placemaking.' - Sir Terry Farrell, Farrells

`The debate on the future of cities is intrinsically linked to the future of mankind. This collection of essays provides an important overview of the profoundly significant role that the form of the city and the design of buildings play in creating social and environmentally balanced eco-systems.'- Ricky Burdett, Professor of Urban Studies, Director, LSE Cities and Urban Age

`The strength of great places derives from their diversity. This collection of perspectives is similarly diverse. It offers fresh insights that I hope will stimulate further reflection and action to help shape and sustain better places. The Academy of Urbanism promotes better understanding of successful urbanism through learning from place, and celebrates its essential components - Space, Place, Life - through its Annual Urbanism Awards. These papers reflect a similar enthusiasm for and commitment to better places.' - Steven Bee, Chairman, Academy of Urbanism and Principal, Steven Bee Urban Counsel