There were scores of individual concepts proposed at our charrettes. We eventually boiled them down to six simple principles for sustainable communities.

• Principle 1: "Locate different dwelling types in the same neighborhood and even on the same street."
• Principle 2: Provide buildings that present a friendly face to the street.
• Principle 3: Transit and shops should be within a five-minute walking distance.
• Principle 4: Provide an interconnected street system.
• Principle 5: Provide lighter, greener, cheaper, smarter infrastructure.
• Principle 6: Provide lighter, greener, cheaper, smarter infrastructure.

For a community to function and be sustainable, the basic needs of its residents must be met. A socially sustainable community must have the ability to maintain and build on its own resources, and have the resilience to prevent and/or address problems in the future.

The Melbourne Principles for a Sustainable Community were tabled at the U.N. World Summit on Sustainable Development, August 2002, by the City of Melbourne, Australia, and endorse by civic leaders worldwide:

• Provide a long term vision for cities based on: sustainability; intergenerational, social, economic and political equity; and their individuality.
• Achieve long term economic and social security.
• Recognise the intrinsic value of biodiversity and natural ecosystems, and protect and restore them.
• Enable communities to minimise their ecological footprint.
• Build on the characteristics of ecosystems in the development and nurturing of healthy and sustainable cities.
• Recognise and build on the distinctive characteristics of cities, including their human and cultural values, history and natural systems.
• Empower people and foster participation.
• Expand and enable cooperative networks to work towards a common, sustainable future.
• Promote sustainable production and consumption, through appropriate use of environmentally sound technologies and effective demand management.
• Enable continual improvement, based on accountability, transparency and good governance.

Whilst focusing on sustainable communities, we have weakened our stance on urban regeneration. To solve the problems facing society today and to build on successes to date we have to learn from the experience of the past six years, reflect honestly on what has worked and where problems remain, and take decisions now to ensure the mechanisms to deliver an urban renaissance are fit to meet the exacting demands of the vision.