‘This is a wonderful book that should be on the desk of every architect and planner. It shows how

Step 3: Articulate Project Objectives and Criteria 
Once decision principles, processes and rules are agreed upon, specific project goals can be set. For 
convenience, some sample goals are repeated here under separate physical and social headings. The 
design brief should ensure that such goals are not to be traded off. Economic goals are not included 
here, as financial interests have adequate means to look after themselves. Further, economics and 
accounting tools are too often seen as ends in themselves, rather than means. (As we have said, such 
tools are only legitimate to the extent that they serve broader social and environmental goals.) For 
present purposes, the economic question is only to determine if Positive Development is a relatively 
good investment. The broader issue is whether there are better ways of solving problems in the 
existing built environment from a whole systems perspective.
Biophysical design goals [Chapter 1]
Project planning and design goals tend to be at either end of a spectrum between very general 
performance statements that give no real guidance and prescriptive design solutions that, if applied 
categorically, can turn out to be wrong in a particular context. The definition of sustainability used 
in this book has suggested the following basic goals for biophysical development. For convenience, 
the criteria in Box 15 are repeated here. They can devolve into more specific goals related to the 
planning area or project. The project should:
• 
Exceed ‘resource autonomy’ (ie self-sufficient energy production, water and waste treatment),
creating positive on-site and off-site impacts that increase the ecological base and resource 
security by integrating natural systems with development.
• 
Increase conditions for eco-services in cities (ie provide conditions and space for the 
production of healthy food, air, water and soils through natural systems) to improve the
ecological viability and self-sufficiency of the surrounding areas.
• 
Actively restore and increase natural habitats and biodiversity (variety of genes, species and/ 
or ecosystems) by design that accommodates, and provides habitats for, appropriate 
indigenous species – rather than just ‘mimicking’ ecosystems.
• 
Reduce land coverage while increasing natural capital in buildings and development by 
creating ‘ecological space’, or the multi-functional use of space for human and natural
functions, such as offices in atriums (or vice versa) that clean the water and air.
• 
Plan, design and manage development to proactively improve human and environmental
health – not just reduce toxins (eg provide opportunities for social interaction, exercise,
semi-outdoor spaces and healthy food production). 
• 
Consider replacing resource and capital-intensive machines with natural microbes that work
for ‘free’. (For patented microbes it should have to be established that no natural life-form
can feasibly achieve the same function.)
• 
Where appropriate, use organic, compostable, adaptable and renewable resources and
materials instead of mined (high embodied waste) materials. Ensure bio-based materials are
grown sustainably and avoid toxic binders, solvents and so on.
• 
Increase natural and national security, avoidance of fossil fuel dependency, decentralized 
energy, and urban food production. Urban areas should be eco-productive and self-sufficient 
in order to cope with civil emergencies, severe weather events and so on.
• 
Maximize passive solar heating, cooling and ventilating systems, as these are more efficient
than fossil fuels in embodied and operating energy, waste, water, and materials. Ensure solar
design is not ‘under-designed’, as it often is.

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Positive Development