Repurposing The Green Belt In The 21st Century

The green belt has been one of the UK’s most consistent and successful planning policies. Over the past century, it has limited urban sprawl and preserved the countryside around our cities, but is it still fit for purpose in a world of unprecedented urban growth and potentially catastrophic climate change? Repurposing the Green Belt in the 21st Century examines the history of the green belt in the UK and how it has influenced planning regimes in other countries. Despite its undoubted achievements, it is time to review the green belt as an instrument of urban planning and landscape design. The problem of the ecological impact of cities and the mitigation measures of major climate changes are at the top of the urban agenda across the world. Urban agriculture, blue and green infrastructures, and forestation are the new ecological design imperatives driving urban policymaking.

Repurposing the Green Belt in the 21st Century examines the history of the green belt in the UK and argues that it is time to review the green belt as an instrument of urban planning and landscape design.

Planners internationally have employed green belts to contain the explosive sprawl of cities as varied as Tokyo, Vienna and Melbourne during the twentieth century. As yet, no collection has gathered these experiences together to consider their contribution to planning. Juxtaposing examples of green belt implementation worldwide, this book adds to understanding of how green belts can be effected in theory and how practitioners have adapted them in practice. The book provides a typology of green belt implementation and reform, enabling planners to grasp why these policies are employed and whether they are relevant to twenty-first century planning.

The green belt was part of the 1940s package of planning measures that were intended to protect farmland and to stop the spread of towns and cities. Since then, the largest cities have seen decline in their economic base while rural economy has prospered. More people are seeking to live in small towns and villages, but the same people also want to protect the environment and the countryside landscape; everyone would like a Green Belt around their home. This report concludes that Green Belts fail to meet today's social and economic need sand that the concept is urgent need of revision. But can alternatives to the Green Belt be found which are politically acceptable? The report urges the development of new strategic plan that is both less rigid towards new development and more sensitive to the need to protect and enhance the quality of the environment than the present Green Belts policy. The conclusions will provoke wide debate amongst all those interested in the future of cities and the countryside .

THE CLIMATE CITY Provides professionals in finance, technology, and consulting with solutions for improving the quality of urban life under the changing climate The Climate City provides cutting-edge approaches for developing resilient solutions to combat the effects of climate change in cities throughout the world. Linking finance and technology to policy and innovation, this highly practical resource outlines a global framework for mitigating and adapting to climate change and for effectively planning and delivering a low-carbon future. This book addresses how cities can work effectively with each other to drive change, the importance of strong leadership and international cooperation, the role of innovative finance and technology to identify new economic opportunities, and more. Throughout the book, the authors address future trends such as the changing streetscape, connected infrastructure and eMobility, and autonomous vehicles, drones, and other emerging technologies. Designed to help all stakeholders build a pathway to a less resource-intensive future, The Climate City: Provides in-depth discussion of the technological, financial, and practical aspects of tackling climate change in urban environments Demonstrates why the global economy needs to transition to a low-carbon economy Describes the role of financial institutions and how they can allocate capital more efficiently Explains why and how challenges and priorities are different in the global north and south Illustrates how data can improve the ways cities use energy resources and operate transportation systems Discusses how citizen action can drive a new, more meaningful way of living in cities Features insights from political leaders such as the Mayor of Copenhagen, the Mayor of Los Angeles and the former Mayor of London and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The Climate City is essential reading for city planners, policy makers, technologists, consultants, finance and business professionals, and general readers wanting to improve the cities in which they work and live.

This new handbook provides a platform to bring together multidisciplinary researchers focusing on greening high-density agglomerations from three perspectives: climate change, social implications, and people’s health. Written by leading scholars and experts, the chapters aim to summarize the “state-of-the-art” and produce a reference book for policymakers, practitioners, academics, and researchers to study, design, and build high-density cities by integrating green spaces. The topics covered in the book include (but are not limited to) Urban Heat Island, Green Space and Carbon Sequestration, Green Space and Social Equity, Green Space and Public Health, Biophilic Cities, Urban Agriculture, Vertical Farms, Urban Farming Technologies, Nature and Biodiversity, Nature and Health, Biophilic Design, Green Infrastructure, Urban Revitalization, Post-Covid Cities, Smart and Resilient Cities, Tall Buildings, and Sustainable Vertical Cities.

The green belt was part of the 1940s package of planning measures that were intended to protect farmland and to stop the spread of towns and cities. It is still a popular concept despite the fact that social and economic conditions have changed significantly since the first green belts were designated. The largest cities have seen decline in their economic base while the rural economy has prospered. While more people are seeking to live in small towns and villages, the same people also want to protect the environment and the countryside landscape; everyone would like a green belt around their home.

For the British people, 1947 was a momentous year. For three long months, they endured the worst winter in living memory, with drastic fuel shortages and power cuts, and continuing food rationing post-World War Two. Heavy snow gave way to widespread flooding in the spring, and by the summer, the economic crisis had deepened, forcing renewed cutbacks; the Chancellor of the Exchequer even imposed a savage tax increase on tobacco, the chief solace for much of the nation. But against this backdrop, a programme of ambitious and far-reaching reforms was being rolled out, from town and country planning to the institution of the National Health Service. Amid the misery of freezing homes, meagre food supplies and threadbare clothing, the British were on the brink of a new era of social transformation--the beginnings of the 'Welfare State'. Drawing upon an extensive range of local newspapers, contemporary articles, films and the archives of the Mass Observation Project, Britain, 1947 reveals how ordinary people in town halls, hospitals, schools and dance halls, on the terraces of the local football club, at the pub and in homes across Britain, navigated, survived and found hope in the turbulent world of the 1940s.