Viable eco-towns should seek to reduce residents’ eco footprints by 66% and their carbon dioxide emissions by 80% says new report from the UK.

Guidelines for development of eco towns and all new residential developments published by BioRegional and CABE, the Commission for Architecture and Built Environment, has recommended carbon reduction be achieved not only through energy efficient buildings and renewable energy use but through whole life ecological approach, from transport and food to employment and shopping.

Carbon reductions achieved in construction and energy use account for 31% of an individuals carbon dioxide emissions and 26% of their ecological footprint alone.

However, the report’s building guidelines also stipulates the provision of areas to grow food, adequate leisure spaces and also creation of reliable public transport alternatives.

The provision of tree canopy cover of at least 25% to alleviate the impacts of climate change, with 15% canopy cover in mixed-use or commercial areas is also cited in the report.

Eco towns should also contain sociable and healthy alternatives to shopping, which seek to improve the quality of natural life and developers are urged to provide such spaces through proper urban planning.

Recreation provision should include good quality parks and play spaces (including spaces suitable for teenagers); and sports facilities and green gyms, which involve groups keeping fit while maintaining open space.

Consumer goods account for 14% of an individual’s carbon footprint and the report suggests aiming to halve the ecological impact of consumer goods bought in eco towns, whilst maintaining a vibrant local economy.

The report notes that eco towns should be as much about creating employment and a local economy as they are about building homes. Greater repair and re use activity, swap shops and encouraging local sustainable goods and services should also be encouraged.

Eco towns can also help reduce carbon dioxide from driving through the provision of a comprehensive, frequent and reliable low carbon public transport, and supporting walking and cycling with a density of 50-100 dwellings per hectare.

Sue Riddlestone, executive director of the BioRegional Development Group and an eco towns challenge panel member, said: “We need to see trailblazing projects worthy of the name eco town.

Done well, these real-life projects should advance industry best practice, inform government policy and show how we can reduce our impact to sustainable levels and have an improved quality of life.”

“If eco towns are to have a fundamental purpose, it must be to show how we can all live and work in well-designed, low-carbon neighbourhoods,” said Richard Simmons, chief executive of CABE added.