Integrated modelling for Sustainability Appraisal for Urban River Corridor (re)-development

Abstract

Abstract Sustainability Appraisal (SA) is mandatory under the relevant legislation of UK (DCLG, 2008a) and applies to the preparation of Regional Spatial Strategies, Development Plans and Supplementary Planning documents. SA is a complex task that involves integration of social, environmental and economic considerations into formal plans and often requires trade-offs between multiple stakeholders that may not easily be brought to consensus. Classical assessment can facilitate discussion, but these can only partially inform decision makers as many important aspects of sustainability are abstract and not quantifiable. Such abstract criteria however can be modelled using a Bayesian Network (BN), combining expert opinions, empirical evidence and other information such as model simulation, survey etc. This paper discusses the work of the URSULA project at the University of Sheffield, in which a participative and integrative approach to urban river corridor development, incorporating the principal of sustainability was used. The project used a case study site in Sheffield, UK, and three alternative scenarios were developed, incorporating a number of possible riverside design features. Scenarios were fully designed and visualised using a variety of different media and a sustainability appraisal was undertaken using a broad range of environmental, social and economic indicators. Experts’ assessment logics were captured through mind mapping and further expert elicitation was used to develop an integrated model for SA. The BN approach allows model complexity to be reduced to a level appropriate for an assessment process, whilst still taking complex system interactions implicitly into account. The integrated SA model is being used to develop better design by optimising different design elements in order to deliver an optimum (re)-development plan.