FOCUS FEATURE


PROPERTY AND CONSTRUCTION


Home is where the heart is


Communities exist regardless of geography. It’s people, not places, that make them. However, creating a built environment which allows communities, individuals and businesses to flourish remains a key global challenge. Business Network takes a closer look at the role that construction plays in building sustainable communities, and how the East Midlands is faring.


Sustainable development has become a key consideration for policymakers around the world in recent years. In 2015, world leaders at the United Nations initiated the


2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a historic global agreement to eradicate extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and leave no one behind. It set out 17 universal Sustainable Development Goals


(SDGs), to be achieved by 2030, with all signatories expected to contribute to them internationally and deliver them domestically. These include eliminating poverty and hunger; improving


health, well-being and equality; promoting climate action and affordable, clean energy; increasing responsible production and consumption; boosting industry, innovation and infrastructure; and creating sustainable cities and communities. Construction is at very heart of this evolving global


agenda. There is an inextricable link between the built


environment and the health and well-being of the communities it encompasses. It goes way beyond a simple sense of place and belonging. Cleverly-designed, interconnected, sustainable


infrastructure will provide a solid foundation upon which people, businesses and communities can thrive. At a national level, there is still much work to do. A 2018 report by the UK Stakeholders for Sustainable


Development (UKSSD) found that the country was performing well against only 24% of its SDG targets. The report, called Measuring Up, was the first


comprehensive assessment of the UK’s performance against all 17 SDGs. The findings made for stark reading. It warned that the quality of life in the UK will worsen if


more action is not taken to meet the SDGs. It found that a fifth of homes in England failed to meet


the Government’s Decent Homes Standard, covering state of repair, basic facilities, warmth, and health and safety. It stated that none of the UK’s industry, innovation and


infrastructure targets had achieved a ‘good’ performance rating. It called for large-scale, sustained investment to replace


ageing infrastructure and create additional resilient, low- carbon infrastructure of all kinds. It said that an “industrial transformation” is required to


make the UK’s economy more circular, with much higher levels of reuse, repair, recycling and energy recovery, and major improvements in resource productivity. And it found that access to public green space is under


threat, with 59% of councils likely to lose parks and green spaces or transfer the management of them to third-party providers. So, how does the UK, as a whole, address these issues, and what role can the regions play?


70 business network October 2019


Green spaces are being eliminated


‘Access to public green space is under threat, with 59% of councils likely to lose parks and green spaces’


While the fundamental building blocks of creating


sustainable communities remain the same, a more nuanced approach is required. Every place is different and has unique challenges and


opportunities. Even in a region such as the East Midlands, which is as


rich and diverse as it is geographically compact, there’s no easy fit for a one-size-fits-all strategy. A local Industrial Plan that will work for Nottingham, for


example, may not be appropriate for its near-neighbours Derby or Leicester. Mansfield, Chesterfield and Loughborough may be


similar sized towns in their own right, but they each have differences which can only be addressed individually. And the myriad suburban, village and rural communities


across the region all require a tailored approach to addressing the issues they face, from transport and digital


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