This is the same Ken Livingstone who regularly makes anti-Semitic remarks and has shown sympathy for the tactic of suicide bombing. Let's hold off on sainting him for his environmental work.

I hope it doesn't look like the picture - ick, Prince Charles strikes again.

Ken Livingston is a saint. The accusations of anti-semetism are a joke. And if he has "shown sympathy for the tactic of suicide bombing", he is no different to the prime minister's wife, a respected human rights lawyer.

Mayor Ken has transformed London. Nobody else could have done what he's done, and this latest project is a great example of his ability to move things forward.

What is this, an eco-village for ANTS?

COME ON PEOPLE!!!! Your comments reflect exactly the kind of mentality that has kept America behind everyone in the world in this area!!!
PLEASE use your words correctly, you fools!!!
This is an incredible acheivement. I would like to see other models do the same idea, perhaps with a different style.

or...
I am glad to see people in Britian working on solutions and not just destruction.....

I hope people in the world will see this for what it is and become inspired.

LOL DG!zoolander...i understood

This eco-village will have to be at least... 3 times this big.

I agree that we should keep politics secondary to the article being commented on, unless that article is about politics (duh). Has anyone seen this article?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12314959/
It's about another "Eco-city" going up outside Shanghai... One question, given the human race's appauling track record of environmental abuses, why isn't EVERY city and Eco-city? Maybe i'm just an idealist...

It seems that the commentators here are more eager to fight about Ken Livingston than the eco city. I think it's a fantastic project and other big cities should learn from it. I just only wish that there were more than 1,000 homes.
On a lighter note, China and
India are doing very well as far as generating wind energy is concerned. The
west should perhaps learn more from these two countries that you can have
economic growth and wind growth at the same time.

where can I buy a flat/house? I went to see BedZed in Surrey, it was so nice.

'Given that the Palestinians don't have jet fighters, they only have their bodies to use as weapons. In that unfair balance, that's what people use. When talking about the imbalance of forces, I will gladly welcome leading members of the Israeli government if they come here even though they have done horrendous things which border on crimes against humanity in a way they have indiscriminately slaughtered men, women and children in the West Bank and Gaza for decades’"

-- Ken Livingstone

As a former resident of Israel and member of humanity, this is not a joke to me. Implying that a bomb spraying nails into teenagers at a nightclub is an expected alternative form of protest, while hunting down the bombmakers and unintentionally killing a bystander is indiscriminate! This is not legitimate criticism of a government, this is a singling out of Israel. As Israel is not distinct from any other nation save its Jewish identity, Ken Livingstone has made an anti-semitic remark.
I will continue to question Ken Livingstone whenever I come across praise for him; people should pick their allies more carefully, regardless of agreement on one specified issue. I would expect that Treehugger would not run a post on David Duke should he green his home, they should be so careful with bigots who arise from the left.

David Steinberg - take the politics out of this! Your opinion is just your opinion, not the truth, and as it happens most of the rest of the world disagrees with you. This website is thankfully NOT concerned with the cruelty of Israeli goverments towards the Palestinians, or the terrorism carried out by Palestinians towards Israel (both are reprehensible). It is all to do with working towards a more environmentally friendly way of living on this earth.

Ken Livingstone is undeniably a colourful character, and is definitely not perfect, but he should be applauded for initiatives like this, particularly on websites like this.

One point I will make is that I think you are doing the Jewish people a great disservice by equating the race with the Israeli state. They are not the same, and I know many wonderful Jewish people who are ashamed of what Israeli goverments have done to the Palestinians. You are equating Israel with the Jewish people only in order to justify your comment that criticism of Israel is anti-semitic, and that is quite shameful.

I'm sorry if this comment has become political itself, but it proves the point that by bringing politics into an area where they shouldn't be present, you cause the true agenda to be hijacked. Please stop and reflect on this.

You ask me to remove politics from this discussion, and then you use the remainder of your comment to espouse your political views. Had you truly wished this to be a place separate from politics, you would have deleted your entire post save the first eight words.

"This is not a place for politics, and your politics are wrong" is not terribly coherent, your "look what you made me do" signoff included. Call a soapbox a soapbox, and admit that you were just standing on one.

Environmental issues are thoroughly tied up with politics, legislation, and voter opinion. Have you ever taken green platforms into consideration when voting? Let's not pretend that an environmental forum is not as relevant a place as any to discuss politics. My argument was that Treehugger should thoroughly vet the people it praises, and I questioned whether a right-wing politician with a history of disdainful comments (Livingstone was suspended for a month for an anti-Semitic comment once, and later refused to apologize) would earn a spot on the page should said politician do something agreeable for the environment. If Treehugger does not want such discussions, they should refrain from applauding any politician.

You accuse me of something I specifically did not do, and I will restate my argument so that I am clear -- Ken Livingstone (and you) hold up Israel as a horrific human rights abuser, utterly dominating the conversation at UN and througout Europe. When you single out Israel as a human rights abuser, and pay more attention to Israel then to countries such as China, Syria, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Iran, Myanmar, Sudan, Egypt, Russia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Libya...When Israel alone dominates the conversation, and you have contributed to that, you have contributed to anti-Semitism.

Interesting that somehow I don't feel any need to respond to your reply!

I don't think it is at all odd to equate holding Israel to a standard different from all other countries suggests an anti-Semitic stance.

To say a vicious, politically-loaded untruth is example of "colorful" character is an intruiging use of understatement and vaguery. I think I shall appropriate it.

"Someone has shot up the mall. What a colorful activity. Largely red."

If you want to talk more about politics, please take it to email. This is not the place. Thanks.

In Port Moody, BC, Canada where I live we have been creating Eco-city communities. One of their main purposes is to reduce the need of a car in this auto dominated corner of the world. It places a number of sorts of residential units close together going from single family dwellings on the permiter to town house developments; low rise condominiums, and high rise structures. Many of the buildings have commercial space on the street level and the quiet streets in the developments are pedistrian friendly and invite people to come have a look and stay.

They are developed on land where rapid transit and bus access are convenient. Soon we will have a branch of rapid transit here too. Other municipalities and cities in the Greater Vancouver region are following suit. Older areas are having condo and coop developments as well though there is also a need to protect the older heritage districts too.

Port Moody was voted the second most livable city by the UN a few years ago in part for this.

I think that the design for the London one is intended to fit into a heritage district without being joltingly out of place.

Of course the style might not be to everyone's taste, but you don't have to live in that one if a number are built to different styles. You would be able to chose the style of development you like.

Another important aspect is mixing different economic levels of housing. It allows for a mixing of the "classes" so that kids from poorer families don't feel "ghetto"ized. There would be a complete spectrum of income levels... at least except for the most affluential. :-/

In any case it seems to be working here and is being copied all around the region.

Anyway I have written too much in this for now. Thank you for the patience to read this through.

~ Darrell