<
https://theconversation.com/growing-nz-cities-eat-up-fertile-land-but-housing-and-food-production-can-co-exist-215706>
"Auckland Council recently voted to decrease the amount of city fringe land
available for development, citing flood risks and infrastructure costs.
Meanwhile in Christchurch, plans for an 850-home development north of the city
have been rejected because of the area’s “existing rural nature and the lack of
public transport and local jobs”.
Cities around the world face a similar dilemma: population growth and housing
shortages mean urban expansion often encroaches on rural productive land.
Fertile soil is one of the reasons why many cites were originally set up in
certain sites, but now the loss of these food-producing landscapes to urban
growth is widely recognised as a concern to local food security.
The edges of cities – the “peri-urban” zone – are critically important for
urban resilience. Apart from food, they supply ecosystem services such as flood
and stormwater mitigation, cooling and climate regulation, carbon storage,
waste treatment and recreation.
It could be said that the conversion of peri-urban agricultural land for urban
expansion unwittingly undermines the very life support on which city dwellers
depend.
Our research explores possible solutions that allow food production and housing
to co-exist within peri-urban zones."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
