The housing and planning minister Yvette Cooper has announced that design standards for ten proposed new eco-towns will be determined by an ideas competition.

Leading creative thinkers in architecture, urban and landscape design will be encouraged to take part in the competition which will be organised by the government and its network partners: Royal Institute of British Architects, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment and The Prince’s Foundation.

The competition will concentrate on both the practical design ideas and the development process for the proposed 20,000 new homes.

A citizens’ panel will also be established to allow the public to judge the eco-town designs.

Yvette Cooper indicated that the government wanted to see a great variety in the sustainable housing developments put forward by the entrants.

"This is why it is crucial that we involve local people and citizen juries are a great way of doing just that," she added.

Earlier this year, Gordon Brown promised to double the number of eco-towns to be built across the UK from five to ten.

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