Interviews: Sustainable housing growth

Local interviews: policy and other actors engaged in planning and delivery of sustainable housing.
This project will examine the challenges and tensions associated with new housing growth in South Central England. It is concerned with the complex relationships between local communities, government agencies and the house building industry, at a time of market and public policy uncertainty. Using the Milton Keynes/Northamptonshire area as the laboratory, the project investigates the tensions and debates about new housing developments in three periods: before the slow-down in the housing market, during the property crash period, and in the current period of slow growth, public expenditure reductions and radical changes in Government planning and housing policy.

Using reports and documents (such as local newspapers and planning reports) and interviews with local authorities, developers and community leaders, it will explore how attitudes to new housing among local policymakers have changed, why some areas find it acceptable and some do not. The research will also examine changes in support for sustainable development. Sustainability was a much-publicized objective of the previous government, with the promise to create "sustainable communities" through better urban design (including low carbon buildings), community-based planning and improved public transport, and remains a core element of contemporary planning policy.