Promoting Sustainable Construction: European and British Networks at the Knowledge–Policy Interface

Abstract

The responsibility of builders, developers, planners, architects and policy-makers to promote more sustainable urban environments and buildings is consistently prioritized in nascent European, national and local planning strategies. Yet what counts as ‘sustainable construction’ varies by issue, sector and policy mandate. Proponents of sustainable construction might promote technological shifts in terms of materials, energy use and waste reduction, or they might encourage cultural and behavioural adaptations to how society views, uses and plans its built environment. This paper examines this problematic bifurcation of sustainable construction into two exclusive agendas: the construction technology agenda and the urban sustainability planning agenda, each constituted by distinct policy and sector-based networks. It is argued that the orientation to detail in the construction technology agenda operates at odds with the holistic process orientation of the broader urban sustainability agenda, thus complicating the effective translation or co-generation of sustainable construction knowledge between the two networks. The lack of integration between these two sets of networks should be cause for concern, yet appears to be largely overlooked in mainstream policy processes.

Keywords:

• Sustainable urban development
• sustainable construction
• urban planning
• knowledge
• policy networks
• urban thematic strategy

Acknowledgements

The research on which this paper is based was funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England under their HEIF2 tranche. It was undertaken within the Centre for Environmental Policy and Governance at the London School of Economics and Political Science. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial and other support of these organizations. The authors also acknowledge the support and feedback of Rob Krueger and James Evans whose AAG 2006 session ‘Engaging Critical Spaces for Sustainability’ provided an initial forum for the development of this paper. We would also like to thank all our interviewees.

Notes

Interviewees from the European Commission included officials from DG TREN, DG ENV, DG ENTR and DG Research; from the UK Central Government: ODPM (International Planning Unit and Corporate Strategy and International Division); from Local Government: Local Government Association/International Bureau, Association of London Government/Greater London Enterprise, London's European Office; from trade and industry: UK Home Builders Federation, European Construction Industry Federation, Council of European Producers of Materials for Construction; from Professional Associations: Architect's Council of Europe; from QUANGOs: Constructing Excellence, Environment Agency, CITB-Construction Skills and several academic and commercial consultants (including Ove Arup and Eclipse Research Consultants).

The bureaucracy of the European Commission is organized into DGs or Directorates General, each with a specific remit.