ABSTRACT
Sustainable communities have gained an important place in public policy from an environmental, social and, importantly, an economic perspective. The UK government’s announcement of a Sustainable Communities Plan in 2003 and subsequent inclusion of the term in all planning policies has placed this notion at the heart of policy and strategy. Housing, as a central component of urban and planning policies, has been brought into the mix of sustainability. As the foundation of most neighbourhoods, housing should be an integral part of any strategy to deliver sustainable communities. Several questions arise from this: How is housing integrated into this strategy and what role does it play? Does the role cast for housing achieve the aims of a sustainable community? Is housing’s role overplayed? Even more importantly, what have been the failings of this approach and what is missing from the mix to make communities more sustainable?
