With the accelerating pace of urbanisation around the world, the planning, development and operation of buildings and precincts have become increasingly important with respect to energy use and the associated carbon footprint of the modern built environment. Over recent decades, much effort, both in research and in practice, has been devoted to building construction and...

The implications of climate change and the end of the fossil fuel era suggest that we are entering a period of major, transformative, change requiring the restructure of the most fundamental systems for urban living. But rapid structural change is hard to negotiate within existing communities.