Government Policy on Architecture 2009 – 2015 - Department of Arts ...

4.1 BackgroundThe focus of <strong>Government</strong> policy is to promote the creation of sustainable communities andsettlements through integration of best practice in planning, engineering, landscape, urban design,and architecture. It is the policy of the <strong>Government</strong> to work in partnership with local and regionalauthorities in making provision for a sustainable future. While the resourcing of local authoritiesis a matter that is beyond the scope of this <strong>Policy</strong>, the <strong>Government</strong> is determined to ensure thatthe systems in place optimise the ability of authorities to meet their responsibilities in terms of thequality of the designed environment.The delivery of quality in architecture depends on many factors, many of them related to widerconsiderations of societal values and environmental and financial policy and practice. Themanagement of land use is one of those factors and, in this regard, the Department of theEnvironment, Heritage and Local <strong>Government</strong> has issued over the last two years key designguidance which places an imperative on sustainable development, which requires concrete actionto ensure that the optimum use of the non-renewable resource of land is determined by longtermeconomic, social, and environmentally sustainable criteria. Such guidance documents as:Delivering Homes, Sustaining Communities 6 ; Quality Housing for Sustainable Communities 10 ; andSustainable Residential Development in Urban Areas 7 with the associated Urban Design Manual:A Best Practice Guide 8 , coupled with the ongoing Developing Areas initiative, are noteworthy inthis regard.The Leipzig Charter on the European Sustainable City, 2007 23 and the objectives of EFAP,the European Forum for Architectural <strong>Policy</strong> on issues of architectural quality and sustainabledevelopment make particular reference for the need for an integrated approach to the design ofour built environment. The primary aim of <strong>Government</strong> policy is the creation and managementof sustainable communities and neighbourhoods - areas where efficient use of land, high qualityurban and landscape design and effectively integrated physical and social infrastructure combineto create places people want to live in. As a general principle, increased densities will be possibleonly when supported by sustainable forms of transportation. Environmentally attuned planningand design, within a context of thoroughly integrated land-use and transportation policies, areessential to bringing this about. The recent Department of Transport policy Smarter travel: ASustainable Transport Future: a new transport policy for Ireland 2009-2020 17 notes the importanceof aligning spatial planning and transport. Under the Developing Areas initiative, the Departmentof the Environment, Heritage and Local <strong>Government</strong> is closely monitoring the integration and coordinationof the provision of essential hard and soft infrastructure in a range of fast growth areasacross the country with an aim to improve the systems and processes that enable the emergenceof sustainable communities.40 <strong>Government</strong> <strong>Policy</strong> on Architecture 2009 – 2015