British Minister Announces Eco-Towns Competition

The homes many people take out mortgages to buy in the future will be designed by experts in the field of design, transport and architecture, the government has announced.

British housing minister Yvette Cooper has launched a competition to design the ten eco-towns that the government has pledged to build, with the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Prince’‘s Foundation for the Built Environment all sitting on the judging panel.

In addition to this, local citizens panels will sit with the purpose of judging local plans for each town.

Ms Cooper said the government wanted each town to have a distinct character, adding: “This is why it is crucial that we involve local people and citizen juries are a great way of doing just that.”

In a further development, health secretary Alan Johnson has called for the new towns to be made into Fit Towns as well, with features incorporated to improve health such as better leisure facilities and more cycleways.