ABSTRACT
In recent years there has been an increasing number of ‘socalled’ sustainable, environmentally sustainable, or eco/green masterplans. Such developments promote a general ethos of sustainability through their design and, often, the provision of new or novel technologies. Neighbourhood developments that follow the principles of sustainable development, or more specifically environmental sustainability (i.e. those with a greater focus on the environmental aspects of sustainable development) are referred to using a wide range of designations. The relatively recent growth in literature relating to the design of sustainable neighbourhoods and cities has spawned a range of terms so wide that it has been referred to as ‘bewildering’ (Roseland 1997). Developments are
often characterised by ideological principles or descriptions such as those of ‘new urbanism’, ‘smart growth’, ‘eco-villages’, ‘eco-cities’ (Roseland 1997), or ‘urban villages’ and also to a variety of criteria that define them as such.
