The focus of mass housing developments built by speculative developers in the UK has broadly been on maximising density whilst retaining a predominantly detached housing form. This economically led strategy, aimed at maximising sale values, can conflict with the aim of radically reducing environmental impacts. For example by creating very closely spaced, deep, narrow frontage houses, which may not optimise solar design. Whilst a variety of products have been developed to enable design professionals to model and assess the environmental performance (especially in energy use terms) of individual buildings, there are currently no tools for modelling the performance of whole developments, based on variables such as site layout, denSity, orientation, topography, etc. USing passive solar design as an exemplar for sustainable development offers the opportunity to improve the environmental, spatial and aesthetic performance of speculative developments. This thesis describes the development of a tool for planners and developers to optimise the passive solar characteristics of housing developments through an environmental site assessment, encouraging the use of basic environmental techniques early in the design process. In this thesis the characteristics of passive solar design are ascertained and a tool is developed that can show, quantitatively and visually, the savings that passive solar design can achieve compared to more 'standard' modern speculative developments. This thesis is one small step in the development of a tool to encourage sustainable design through the entire design process from an early stage. It has used passive solar design of mass, speculative housing in the north east of Scotland as a starting point for a tool which, it is hoped, can in future encompass wider aspects of the complex field of sustainable design.

Du projet urbain au musée à ciel ouvert, la ville oscille entre un besoin de modernisation et une volonté de préserver son patrimoine. À Strasbourg, l’ensemble urbain de la Neustadt illustre ces deux manières d’envisager la ville. Le terme même de « Neustadt », traduit littéralement par « ville nouvelle », résonne de manière singulière car il est porteur de ces deux modalités qui peuvent être perçues comme antagonistes. D’un côté, il se réfère à l’extension urbaine « moderne » planifiée en 1880. De l’autre, il correspond à la dénomination officielle utilisée pour valoriser ce patrimoine et concourir à son inscription sur la liste du patrimoine mondial de l’Unesco (juillet 2017). Dans ce contexte de patrimonialisation, la thèse vise d’une part, à déconstruire les faits qui ont conduit à ce changement de statut et d’autre part à étudier la place des habitants dans ce processus. Au-delà des représentations à l’égard de la Neustadt, les décisions vernaculaires des résidents sont particulièrement mises en exergue. À une échelle plus fine qu’est celui de l’immeuble de rapport, il s’agit de comprendre comment des pratiques patrimoniales hétérogènes cohabitent et s’articulent. / From urban project to open-air museum, the city oscillates between a need for modernization and a desire to preserve its heritage. In Strasbourg, the urban ensemble of Neustadt illustrates these two ways of looking at the city. The very term 'Neustadt', translated literally as 'new city', resonates in a singular way because it conveys both of these modalities, which can be perceived as antagonistic. On the one hand, it refers to the "modern" urban extension planned in 1880. On the other hand, it matches the official name used to promote this heritage and contribute to its inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage list (July 2017). In this context of heritagization, the thesis aims to deconstruct the facts that have led to this change of status and to study the place of the inhabitants in this process. Beyond representations of the ‘Neustadt’, the vernacular decisions of residents are highlighted. At the smaller scale of the revenue house, it looks into how heterogeneous heritage practices coexist and combine.

La thèse se focalise sur les relations sociales de la vie contemporaine liée à l’habitat dans la grande métropole chinoise, tout en visant à questionner la notion d’ « espaces de voisinage », qui gère les frontières entre les individus et les groupes, à travers une analyse socio-spatiale et architecturale. Notre attention est portée sur l’époque contemporaine, où la construction des tours résidentielles s’affirme rapidement, la tour devenant le type architectural dominant de l’urbanisation chinoise. La verticalité typologique et architecturale des tours résidentielles affirme un changement spatial fondamental, par rapport aux anciens types d’habitation. La notion d’« harmonie », issue de la pensée philosophique de la société traditionnelle chinoise, est introduite comme nouveau vecteur à travers lequel analyser les nouvelles relations de voisinage. / The thesis focuses on the social relations of contemporary life linked to housing in this major Chinese metropolis. Through a socio-spatial and architectural analysis, the thesis aims to question the notion of "neighbourhood spaces" that governs the borders between individuals and groups. Our attention is focused on the contemporary era, during which the construction of residential towers has rapidly asserted itself, the tower becoming the dominant architectural style of Chinese urbanization. The typological and architectural verticality of the residential towers affirms a fundamental spatial change compared to the old types of housing. The notion of "harmony", stemming from the philosophical thinking of traditional Chinese society, is introduced as a new vector through which to analyse new neighbourhood relations.