ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AS A REAL-ESTATE MANAGEMENT PROTOCOL - LONDON URBAN DESIGN OPPORTUNITY AT KINGS-CROSS

This paper considers the use of environmental assessment (EA) as a pro cedure interrelated with community-based citizen participation plannin g procedures. When applied to King's Cross railway lands in London, EA , as published in the environmental statements of two alternative deve lopment schemes, highlights the contrasts between a proposal for inten sive commercial development and alternative community-orientated lower -scale strategies. It also emphasizes that less intensive development scenarios are less risky commercially. The conclusion is that EA, if c arried out with multidimensional sensitivity in urban regeneration set tings, and particularly with use of socio-economic impacts, can make t he case for sustainable and socially aware development. Furthermore, c ommercially aggressive alternatives become less viable if subjected to full-range commercial risk assessment, as part of EA. As a consequenc e EA should produce a new real estate development paradigm over the co ming years.