More on UK's eco-towns

From "Eco-towns: New eco-towns to make it hard going for cars with 15mphl imit" in the Guardian:

Half of all households in eco-towns will have to live without a car and those that have one will find their speed limited to 15mph, according to standards for the wave of new towns unveiled yesterday.

In a series of anti-car measures announced by Hazel Blears, the secretary of state for communities, large parts of the towns of up to 20,000 homes each will be car-free. Homes will instead be built no farther than 400 metres from a bus or tram stop, and car-sharing schemes will replace car ownership. ...

The German town of Freiberg, home of Europe's largest car-free development, is cited as a good example. In Freiberg, bike lanes, light rail and buses have replaced cars and anyone who owns a car has to pay £12,500 for the parking space as well as a monthly management fee. Developers will also have to make room for allotments. "Giving people the opportunity to grow their own vegetables and plant fruit trees will ... turn passive consumers into active producers," the guidance states.

This is what I mean by self selection...

For more information, the planning worksheets created by the Town and Country Planning Association can be downloaded:

-- Transport worksheet
-- Community worksheet
-- Water cycle management worksheet

Resource webpage dedicated to the TCPA’s involvement in researching the criteria for new eco-towns, featuring the TCPA’s eco-towns scoping report, project contacts and news related items.