In July, PRP Architects, Urbed and Design for Homes launched the initial findings of a comprehensive study of exemplar ecotowns in Europe, at the same time as the government closed its first consultation on its Ecotowns: Living a Greener Future paper. The three research partners claim that their findings could hold the key to successful UK ecotowns. From their findings, the research partners drafted out 29 recommendations under six categories entitled the “6Cs” – connectivity, community, climate proofing, character, collaboration and cashflow. Former PRP chairman and ecotown challenge panellist Barry Munday says that most of the proposals he has seen fall short of the six categories. “There certainly needs to be more collaboration and community consideration,” he explains. <br><br>“The ecotown process has overall been positive however as it’s informed the debate on delivering sustainable communities.” Andy von Bradsky, PRP’s current chairman, points to the research which has highlighted the strong role that local authorities enjoy in European communities. “The local authority has created a vision and got buy-in from the local community so it’s definitely a bottom-up process. In the UK, the local authority lacks the power and skills to properly achieve this.” Despite a sense of being up against …