Creating Sustainable Communities

By Ben Gray

Arden Cross, the new £3 billion business, residential and transport destination for the Midlands and the UK, is geared towards being an adaptable and resilient, nature-led, accessible, and healthy place.

It will meet local, regional, national and international objectives around sustainable development and the protection and creation of natural habitats by staying focused on these priorities from the very start of its design and planning.

The UK needs to achieve rapid and transformational change in all sectors to achieve ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by 2050 in order to meet its commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement. The agreement includes an ambitious target to reduce the UK’s emissions by at least 68% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.

As a green, sustainable and safe environment, the Arden Cross masterplan features a range of features to help fulfil this promise. Electric vehicles and a dedicated people mover will connect it to adjacent parts of the UK Central Hub, including the NEC, Birmingham Airport and Birmingham International station.

Private vehicles will have limited access to the site and walking, cycling and other active travel options will be the predominant way of moving around Arden Cross. With most journeys across the development taking between 5 and 10 minutes, Arden Cross will enable behavioural change through clear wayfinding, legible public realm and high quality cycling and footpath infrastructure.

These principles tie into wider local and regional efforts to support sustainable travel, especially the work promoted by Solihull Council, while also contributing to the national Levelling Up agenda of spreading inclusive economic growth across the whole of the UK.

These measures will radically improve local air quality, reduce private vehicle movements and support the latest and emerging modes of public transport.

Arden Cross will also seek to recycle much of the material required in the construction phases from neighbouring and partner projects, such as HS2 and improvements to the highway network where more than £300 million of investment is taking place.

Locally, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council is committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2041, in line with the aims of the West Midlands Combined Authority. Transport options at Arden Cross will be both inclusive and accessible, and aligned to local and regional priorities. Due to its unique location and masterplan, Arden Cross may also be a national testbed for new technology and innovation around mobility and the movement of people.

It is a key Arden Cross objective to effectively manage the relationship between the natural and built environment to deliver a healthy, environmentally sustainable and diverse new destination that maximises use of green space and seamlessly links issues like climate change to health and wellbeing through the intelligent utilisation of space, land use and amenities.

Since 2012, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have provided a clear framework shaping policy and decision making for sustainable outcomes at all levels. However, the goals will likely be replaced by a new set when they expire in 2030. Arden Cross will be primed as an adaptable location ready to respond to future policy goals.

The current UN SDGs are designed to:

• Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth
• Bring full and productive employment with work for all
• Build resilient infrastructure and promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation
• Foster innovation and the application of technology
• Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
• Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
• Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns are in place

At Arden Cross we are supporting these objectives through the following actions:

• Creating a new economic destination for international and high value businesses
• Actively attracting high-employing, high-paying employers
• Creating best in class work spaces directly connected to sustainable transport
• Future proofing the development through use of the latest SMART technology
• Safety and resilience built into the design of Arden Cross
• Net carbon neutral will be a specific focus
• Creating a culture of low consumption and thoughtful recycling and upcycling

The masterplan for the site places sustainability at its heart and this is one of the principal advantages of Arden Cross both for now and into the future.