How do we design cities and buildings that metabolise, use living materials and are net positive - that give back more to the planet than they take?

Our cities and buildings are a drain on the planet, requiring huge amounts of resources and tracts of land to support their needs, and destroying biodiversity in the process. The idea of living, regenerative buildings is gaining ground - buildings that give back more than they take, providing habitats, ecosystems services (e.g. clean water, clean air), locally-grown food, and putting humans back in touch with the natural world.

The climate and biodiversity crisis has driven organisations to set ambitious net zero carbon and ESG targets: however, many are struggling to see how to achieve them and often doing the same thing, but expecting a different result.

This book sets out the regenerative building agenda and design principles, showing how buildings, towns and cities could start to have a positive impact on our planet, providing ecosystems services and living within the means afforded by the site.

David Cheshire is a Director at AECOM, specialising in sustainability in the built environment. David is the author of The Handbook to Building a Circular Economy (RIBA Publishing), which explains how to apply the circular economy to the built environment. The hierarchy proposed in this book is referenced in the latest London Plan consultation and he is currently working with the GLA to implement the Circular Economy Statement Guidance.