Resumen de The diffusion of innovations in urban design: The case of sustainability in the Hulme development guide
The role of town planning in the British system of local government is evolving rapidly. To evaluate what is happening requires a discussion of the way in which new ideas are put into practice, as well as of the application of this theory to urban design. This paper applies the theory of innovation-diffusion to this problem, focusing on the experiments in urban design guidance which are currently linked to the consideration of sustainability at the neighbourhood scale. It includes a case study from Manchester. In this a description of the Hulme Regeneration project and its design guide is supplemented by discussion of a small set of interviews with members of the team which wrote the guide and is implementing its provisions, including those on sustainability. The discussion of these interviews suggests that the achievement of new planning objectives is affected by the degree to which innovations are accepted by those playing a role in the implementation process.
