Truly sustainable living?

Summary: Self sufficient and sustainable cities and communities such as The Park in South Africa and Ashwicken in Norfolk require many disciplines effectively working together. From these concerted efforts, such communities can make significantly positive impacts on environmental, social, and economic factors.

Why this is important:  Self-sufficient communities can can be insulated from global commodity and energy price volatility. Longer term sustainability thinking can have benefits for biodiversity and the local economy too.

The big theme: We are used to the traditional investment world being divided along industry or sector lines - silos really. Sustainability illustrates how interconnected themes and ultimately industries are. A holistic approach is necessary to enable an effective transition. Smart Cities are a good example of interconnected thinking. This is escalated when we consider what is needed to create truly self-sufficient and sustainable living communities. Multiple disciplines from material science, engineering, IoT, natural capital and agriculture as well as health & well-being will need to be brought to bear.

Summary of a story from SmartCitiesWorld:

Net zero sustainable cities developers Urb have unveiled designs for a sustainable and smart city in South Africa. The project, called 'The Parks' will aim to produce 100 percent of its water, food and energy on site and house 150,000 people. The 1,700 hectare site will comprise mixed use hubs with medical, retail, educational and entertainment as well as 40,000 residential units. The site is designed to promote “social sustainability and an active lifestyle” and housing will cater for “all income levels” without segregation, aiming to “increase community cohesion” according to the project website.

The economy will be automated, digital and green tech driven from an employment perspective, whilst the project from conception to operation is expected to generate more than 40,000 jobs.

Why this is important

Sustainability is about lasting for a long period of time. Self-sufficiency is one of a number of key sustainability aims but can feel like a conflict with certain capitalist ideals such as the accumulation of capital. Self-sufficient communities when properly designed can avoid global commodity and energy price volatility. For investors the bringing together of many disciplines holistically offers plenty of opportunities to create value both financially and from a sustainability perspective.

Urb are involved in a number of sustainability projects in Africa and the Middle East including The Parks project mentioned above, the Nexgen Sustainability City in Cairo and the Xzero City in Kuwait.

There is a project under development in the UK in Norfolk at Ashwicken Lake, an 80 hectare former quarry. The £35 million private sector investment aims to create a self-sufficient eco-wellness resort with leisure and accommodation (154 floating and lakeside lodges). It is expected to create more than 300 local jobs and an estimated £8 million boost to the local economy. The accommodation will be passive and so have very low energy demands with the clubhouse built to the 'very good' BREEAM standard and energy efficient lighting where needed throughout the resort. The resort will be car free with walking and cycling encouraged although there will be electric vehicles, including electric water taxis to offer low carbon transport around the resort.

However, the longer term sustainability thinking of the project is what caught our attention. The broader site includes forestry providing both building materials and biomass for energy generation with the resulting biochar feeding back into the land. In addition the site will combine multiple renewable energy generation technologies including solar and have waste recycling as well as sustainable drainage systems. Finally the biodiversity of the area will be protected, for example preserving native wigeon bird breeding areas, along with new nature planting too. Ashwicken is in the pre-planning stage so hopefully in the next 12 months we start to see the reality of this local example of how to generate sustainable environmental, social and economic returns.

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