Designing Sustainable Communities: Learning from Village Homes. (Reviews: alternative...

Designing Sustainable Communities: Learning from Village Homes By Judy and Michael Corbett Island Press, Washington, DC, USA (www.islandpress.org), 2000, ISBN 1-55963-686-6, PB, 256 ppp., index, $30

This lively and well illustrated book tells the story of Village Homes, an eco-village

in Davis, California that combines Garden City principles with alternative technologies. It is written from direct experience: the authors were part of an group of idealistic graduate students who in the early 1970s took the bold step of designing a neighbourhood on ecological principles, providing homes for sale on the open market.

As well as offering a fascinating insight into this particular development, the authors give thoughtful and up-to-date advice on the process of designing and building sustainable communities. The book serves as a guide to alternative technology for planners, describing optimal layouts and densities for utilising solar energy, natural drainage systems, foot and bicycle transport, and urban agriculture.

Building the village was by no means plain sailing. The group found a site but struggled to get a bank to back them financially, eventually succeeding by playing down the more communal aspects of the settlement. City officials also took some convincing; the county health department would not allow a natural sewage treatment system and greywater recycling, and the fire department raised fears that the streets were too narrow for emergency vehicles. The planners recommended refusal and asked them to revise the plans, removing all the innovative features. Fortunately, the city council members were `willing to think outside the box' and, after two and a half years, approval was obtained, and the first houses at Village Homes were built.

The group drew inspiration from Ebenezer Howard, aiming for the sense of living in a rural setting. They report that the Garden City concept works well in ecological terms because of the housing density and the incorporation of nature. It provides land for food production and room for green technologies like natural water drainage channels, reed bed sewage treatment systems, and unshaded house-mounted renewables.

Village Homes is now a `Garden Village' of 242 mixed residential units, built on 60 acres. The authors were among the first residents. The development was not purely self-build, but provided state-of-the-art eco-homes for sale on the open market. What may interest UK housebuilders most perhaps is the popularity of this development. Indeed, it has become somewhat a victim of its own success, with prices rising beyond the means of many families. Its reputation has reportedly changed from `that hippies subdivision' to `the mostly costly place per square foot to live in Davis'.

One of the more unusual features is that the residents chose to have 17 acres of agricultural land. While the density is low (four units per acre overall, or seven per acre taking the built areas alone) the houses themselves are compact, freeing 15 per cent extra land for other uses. Controversially they reject high densities, believing that the benefits would be offset by the energy required to transport food in and waste out. Instead, they advocate community self-reliance in energy generation, food production, and waste water treatment.

They use part of the `liberated land' for community orchards, vineyards, and individual vegetable plots. Landscaping utilises species that produce food rather than ornamental plants, providing an `edible landscape' of fruit trees. There are 300 almond trees, which produce a valuable harvest sold annually as a cash crop. Other fruits like apricots, plums, grapes, and figs can be taken for free by the residents, creating `a paradise for children; they wander anywhere they want, snacking on fresh fruit'.

The houses are arranged in a cul-de-sac design; all are energy efficient, most have solar water-heating, and many use photovoltaic solar energy generation. Houses are orientated for maximum solar gains, and no household is allowed to infringe their neighbours `solar rights' by overshadowing. There are offices, neighbourhood facilities such as a solar-heated swimming pool, and a community centre which is home to 17 small businesses. A quarter of travel trips are made by bike.

What is shocking for us in Britain is that this all this was being done in the 1970s. This inspiring book shows that designing sustainable neighbourhoods, successful in economic, social, and environmental terms, can be achieved by combining the principles of the Garden City with the latest green technologies. Food for thought for planners and developers.

Lucy Nichol is a Research Associate in the School of Planning at Oxford Brookes University and a member of the TCPA Policy Council.