Adaptability potentials for buildings and infrastructure in sustainable cities

A significant shift in the demand for buildings is under way due to IT innovations, new working practices and tightening of the environmental agenda. This is both reducing the extent and altering the nature of the demand for space. The paper explores how existing buildings may be adapted to support new needs and how new buildings may be designed to support a variety of uses and functions. It concludes that a degree of physical redundancy, use ambiguity and flexibility, within a permissive and dynamic regulatory system, could lead to a more adaptable and sustainable future for facilities, buildings and infrastructure.