Brief history of ESP-sim project

ESP-SIM stands for ‘Enabled Self Procurement Simulation’.

The ESP-SIM project sets out to define a viable model of enabled self procured housing for the UK and to illustrate this using two key tools. 

Firstly, through our blog, we hope to engage the views of various stakeholders and decision makers in the planning and regeneration sectors. In addition to the blog, we are constructing an on online process map which will help current policy makers, regeneration experts and interested professional understand how ESP can work for them, and see the benefits in terms of building sustainable communities.

Secondly, we are building multi-user on line software which will simulate the consumer experience of entering an enabled self procured project. This software, called Youcanplan, offers future residents a choice of plots within a community, and a range of preapproved house design choices to design their own customised house. 

With these two tools we hope to remove the barriers of complexity that surround the ESP concept, and engage with enabling developers and early adopters who want to try it on a real site.

The ESP-sim project is one of several projects funded by the UrbanBuzz programme, and it runs for 13 months from July 07 to July 2008. You can read about UrbanBuzz on the related page on this section. The project team comprises a diverse range of individuals from academia and industry and you can read more about those involved in the people section.