Building on the success of BedZED, RRF member BioRegional is working in partnership with WWF on a project to produce a concept design for a 2,000 home zero waste and zero carbon One Planet Living community. BioRegional are developing the initial concept design with KBR, Fulcrum Consulting, Cyril Sweett and Foster and Partners.

BioRegional are working to identify a site in the Thames Gateway regeneration area east of central London that can accomodate up to 5,000 people. The community would provide homes and employment, with social, health and education facilities nearby.

Thames Gateway London is the largest and most ambitious regeneration initiative in Europe. The area covers over 700km2 including more than 1,000 hectares of previously-used developable land, making it the UK‘‘s largest brownfield site. The Thames Gateway extends from Tower Bridge eastwards to Thurrock and Dartford. It has a powerful strategic location offering outstanding development opportunities for new jobs and homes, in addition to environmental improvements.

Government predictions suggest that the population of London is going to expand considerably in the coming years. The Deputy Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. John Prescott, has called for a second generation of new and expanded towns in the south-east capable of providing 200,000 homes - much of this planned growth will occur in the Thames Gateway region

The Z-squared project will use information about resource use and waste generation, gathered through the BedZED project, City Limits London report and other mass balance studies and sources, to map the waste, energy and water flows through the proposed community. It will bring together strategies for waste management to create a vision for a zero waste community on the site. It will work with the Thames Gateway London Partnership of local authorities to identify a site for the Z-squared proposal and will secure a consortium of industry, local government and NGO partners to realise the development.

Z-squared will turn information and ideas on waste management and resource efficiency into a living, working example of sustainable living for 5,000 people within Europe‘‘s largest regeneration area.

This report, Z-squared: Enabling One Planet Living in the Thames Gateway, is the culmination of the first phase of work to justify development of a One Planet Community in the Thames Gateway. It outlines scenarios for on-site infrastructure required to deliver zero carbon and zero waste and sustainable water use and treatment. It suggests the approach that should be taken to reduce the environmental impact of transport and food within a community. It proposes methods to reduce the environmental impact of construction materials and improve biodiversity. Incorporating strategies to increase equity and fair trade, and acknowledge culture and heritage, it offers a means by which people who live, learn and work in Zsquared can have happy and healthy lifestyles whilst living within a fair share of the earth‘‘s resources