ABSTRACT
The parameter space is infinitely large in which an optimal configuration of the variables that influence the sustainability of a new urban development is found, given that several of these variables may be continuous. In the case of the refurbishment of an existing development, the number of variables may be considerably reduced, constrained and perhaps only discrete. Our parameter space is thus much smaller but remains nevertheless too large to be effectively explored by manual trial and error or simple parametric studies within reasonable time constraints. It is appropriate then to use computational methods to efficiently explore this parameter space in the search for the most promising or optimal solutions.
