Developing Sustainable Communities in Edinburgh's South East Wedge: The Settlement Model and Design Solution

Sustainable communities are seen as offering the opportunity to manage growth in plan-led and environmentally friendly patterns of settlement. The settlement model put forward and design solution for the development of sustainable communities in the South East Wedge of Edinburgh is examined. It is suggested that while the growth management strategy is clearly plan led, the degree to which the settlement model can be said to be environmentally friendly is questionable. Furthermore, it is suggested this is because the settlement model put forward for the development of sustainable communities in Edinburgh is unable to show whether the design solution advanced is ecologically sound; whether, in particular, the solution is ecologically sound and, because of this, efficient, not only in greening economic development, but also in making it financially viable for plan-led experiments of this kind to produce environmentally friendly patterns of settlement.