The Greater South East, a region around London in the South East of England, is home to about 21 million people living on only 16% of the total UK surface area. This economic powerhouse creates 42% of the UK's gross value added and many global headquarters are located in this area. Key international gateways, such as Heathrow Airport, Southampton and Felixstowe sea ports and the Channel Tunnel provide access to London as one of three world cities.
Within the Greater South East major population growth needs to be accommodated. London itself is expected to grow from currently 7.4 million inhabitants to eight million by 2016 and further growth will take place in the East and South East. The Sustainable Communities programme aims to take pressure off London by the provision of 250,000 new homes in the South East. These new homes will mainly be located in four growth areas: Thames Gateway, Ashford, Milton Keynes - South Midlands and London - Stansted - Cambridge.
The South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) is the Government funded agency set up in 1999 responsible for the economic and social development of the South East of England.
SEEDA's aim is to create a prosperous, dynamic and inspirational region by helping businesses compete more effectively, training a highly skilled workforce, supporting and enabling the communities, while safeguarding the natural resources and cherishing the rich cultural heritage.
SEEDA aims to be a catalyst for change within the South East, working with partner organisations - businesses, education at all levels, local authorities, Government agencies, voluntary and community organisations and many others - to produce clearly recognisable results.
Sustainable development is at the Core of the Regional Economic Strategy (RES): the RES recognises that economic success can only be maintained if development meets other targets too, in particular the need to improve the quality of life for all people in the region.
The European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) aims at creating several dynamic zones of global economic integration and a network of internationally accessible metropolitan regions with an integrated hinterland, areas like the Greater South East. This can only be achieved by complementing international and national hubs with regional and local growth opportunities, particularly in locations that can provide sustainable mobility, i.e. public transport hubs.
In tackling the challenge of building sustainable urban spaces in growing metropolitan regions, we need to ensure that future growth is achieved with the maximum possible social cohesion and protection of the environment. Higher self-containment of urban areas can contribute to reduce commuting and to achieve mixed communities but also the integration of land-use planning and transport is essential to deliver that vision.
The policy aim to achieve higher densities around public transport hubs needs to be accompanied by high quality urban and architectural design. Higher density should not only be financially more attractive for investors but also provide a higher quality of life and support more sustainable patterns of development.
Within the English policy framework a mechanism has been developed to enable and deliver higher density development around public transport nodes, the Transport Development Area (TDA). The TDA idea "is founded essentially upon an understanding of the interrelationships between accessibility, location, design and the density and or intensity of land use" (RICS, 2002, p.31). Through the cross-sectoral approach TDAs provide opportunities to re-unite different planning principles in one location; land use and transport planning issues need to be considered, transport operators and transport operations are as important as the development industry and financial considerations, but also urban design, community viewpoints and active urban management are key components to deliver a workable TDA.
Testing this approach in London and the Thames Gateway will be the focus of the Greater South East activities within the Connected Cities project.
