Strategies for reducing the environmental impact of new urban development: case study

Abstract

Assuming the challenge of sustainable urban development, as it was proposed for the first time in the 1987 Brundtland Report, carries with it the need to stop doing some unsustainable practices. The city growth over the last 150 years is a perfect example of one of our most destructive habits, especially during the period of the fifties beginning in the 1950, when consequently to global population growth, and post-war economic welfare, one extraordinary urban development took place across the planet. From some theoretical contributions of different authors on the principles that the sustainable development of cities should be based, this article offers a catalog of simple and understandable strategies for reducing the environmental impact of new urban developments and presents its application in a practical example: the Sector Plan Cifuentes in Sabadell. Combining the density with bioclimatic design strategies such renewable energy and waste minimization is the appropriate way to reduce the ecological footprint and to achieve the goal of mitigating the carbon footprint of our cities.