| urban green space | urban green space (trees, grass and shrubs) has a number of beneficial impacts on the micro-climate of our towns and cities where the consequences of climate change will be most severe. by creating daytime shade and evaporative cooling at night, green space can moderate the urban heat island. green space also reduces storm water run off, and helps to lower the risk of urban flooding |
| urban sprawl | the growth outwards at the edge of a city, typically suburbs in more economically developed cities, or squatter settlements in poorer countries. |
| urban village | the concept of a close knit community style development in the middle of a city, where people live, use services and work all in a small area. helps sustainability because it minimises movements. |
| u-value | is a measure of thermal transmittance through a building component usually a roof, wall, window, door, or floor. the u-value multiplied by the area of the component gives the rate of energy (heat) loss through the component per unit of temperature difference between inside and outside air temperatures. u values are measured as wm2k |