Abstract
It is hard to imagine a more compelling image of urban ‘un’-sustainability than a city skyline teeming with cranes and towering office blocks. Accusations of short-term profiteering by commercial developers leading to poor energy standards and profligate use of non-renewable resources are common. Speculative property developers are therefore held in especially low esteem by environmental groups (Lees, 1992, p. 3). Equally, private-house builders are often portrayed as ‘Neanderthals’, wilfully resisting efforts to raise energy and environmental standards in housing design. All told, the construction industry receives a pretty poor press from environmentalists.
This chapter is based upon research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council under the Global Environmental Change Programme and draws upon interviews with property developers/managers, builders, agents, investors and occupiers in the housing and commercial office sector in Britain.
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Guy, S. (1999). Evil Developers and Green Fairies. In: Fairweather, N.B., Elworthy, S., Stroh, M., Stephens, P.H.G. (eds) Environmental Futures. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-27265-5_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-27265-5_13
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