Sustainable Neighbourhood Adaptation for a Changing Climate (SNACC)

Identifying effective, practical and acceptable means of suburban re-design

It is widely accepted that existing built environments are both contributing to, and adapting poorly for, climate change. Suburban areas contain 80% of all homes in the UK, and tend to be characterised by low-medium density housing that is energy- and land-rich, with built environment layouts that encourage car use and discourage walking and cycling. In terms of the urban sustainability debate, suburbs have been vilified as the opposite of the desirable ‘compact city’. As suburbs are, and will be in the future, where the majority of people reside, there is a need to identify practical ways of adapting existing suburban areas to cope with the challenges of climate change. The research seeks to answer the question:

"How can existing suburban neighbourhoods be best adapted to reduce further impacts of climate change and to adapt to ongoing changes? "

The aim of this research, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), is to develop feasible adaptation scenarios for suburbs in the UK in the context of the challenges presented by climate change. The research adopts a socio-technical approach and aims to build an understanding of the processes, agents and potential outcomes of suburban change in order to establish how adaptation can be directed to a beneficial outcome for the UK’s existing suburban landscape.

• Project Principal Investigator Professor Katie Williams (Director of the Centre for Environment and Planning, University of the West of England)
• Principal Investigator Dr Rajat Gupta (Co-Director of The Oxford-Brookes Institute for Sustainable Development, Oxford-Brookes) •
• Principal Investigator Professor Glen Bramley (School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt)
• Co-Investigator Dr Ian Smith (Director of the Cities Research Centre, UWE)
• Co-Investigator Professor Robin Hambleton (Professor of City Leadership, UWE)

Researchers
Dr Charles Musslewhite (Transport and Society Research Centre, UWE); Dr Nada Brkljac (Construction and Property Research Centre, UWE); Dr Neil Dunse (School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt); Dr Jennifer Joynt and Dr Diane Hopkins (Centre for Environment and Planning, UWE).

Stakeholder partners
Bristol City Council, Oxford City Council, Stockport Council, White Design.

International visiting researchers
Professor Orjan Svane (KTH Stockholm, Sweden); Professor Brendan Gleeson (Griffith University, Australia); Trevor Graham (City of Malmo, Sweden); Joaquim Flores (Gondomar City Council, Portugal); Janet Holston (Arizona State University, USA).

Project timeframe: September 2009 – September 2012 (funded by EPSRC)