Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability 1

MajorhighwaysGreenbeltUrban centerSatellite townsFigure 25-17 Establishing a greenbelt around a large city cancontrol urban growth and provide open space for recreationand other nondestructive uses. Satellite towns sometimes arebuilt outside the belt. Highways or rail systems can be used totransport people around the periphery or into the central city.named after the trees and wildlife they displaced suchas Oak Lane, Cedar Drive, Pheasant Run, and FoxFields.In recent years, builders have increasingly used apattern, known as cluster development, in which highdensityhousing units are concentrated on one portionof a parcel, with the rest of the land (often 30–50%) usedfor commonly shared open space (Figure 25-18,bottom). When done properly, high-density cluster developmentsare a win-win solution for residents, developers,and the environment. Residents get more openand recreational space, aesthetically pleasing surroundings,and lower heating and cooling costs becausesome walls are shared. Developers can cut theircosts for site preparation, roads, utilities, and otherforms of infrastructure.Some communities are going further and usingprinciples of new urbanism to develop entire villagesand recreate mixed-use neighborhoods within existingcities. These principles include walkability with mostthings within a 10-minute walk of home and work byIn 1883, Minneapolis, Minnesota, officials vowedto create “the finest and most beautiful system of publicparks and boulevards of any city in America.” Inthe eyes of many, this goal has been achieved. Todaythe city has 170 parks spaced so that most homes inMinneapolis are within six blocks of a green space.Some cities provide open space and control urbangrowth by surrounding a large city with a greenbelt(Figure 25-17): an open area used for recreation, sustainableforestry, or other nondestructive uses. Satellitetowns can be built outside the belt. Ideally, the outlyingtowns and the central city are linked by an extensivepublic transport system. Many cities in westernEurope and Canadian cities such as Toronto andVancouver have used this approach.We can also let nature reclaim spaces we have developedas examples of reconciliation ecology (p. 247).On the west side of Manhattan, New York, for example,an abandoned elevated rail line now supporsabundant plant and animal life—an example of naturecreating a self-seeding, self-sustaining urban landscapewithout human input.UndevelopedlandTypical housingdevelopmentCluster housingdevelopmentMarshClusterCreekCreekCase Study: How Is New Urbanism CreatingMore Livable Spaces? Returning to TraditionalNeighborhood DevelopmentThere is a growing movement to create mixed-usevillages and neighborhoods within urban areas wherepeople can live, work and shop close to their homes.Since World War II, the typical approach to suburbanhousing development in the United States has been tobulldoze a tract of woods or farmland and build rowsof houses on standard-size lots (Figure 25-18, middle).Many of these developments and their streets arePondClusterFigure 25-18 Conventional and cluster housing developmentsas they might appear if constructed on the same land area.With cluster development, houses, town houses, condominiums,and two- to six-story apartments are built on part of thetract. The rest, typically 30–50% of the area, is left as openspace, parks, and cycling and walking paths.http://biology.brookscole.com/miller14579