One of the features that makes the UK such an amazing place to live is the number and variety of small and midsize towns and villages. Many of these are steeped in history, beautiful to behold and are pretty much perfect just as they are.
Now however the requirement for additional homes and the indifference of the majority of developers to anything other than profit, means that the essence of what made most of these towns so quintessentially British, is being annihilated as every last inch of land in and around most towns is developed. The roads are overloaded, moving from one part of a town to another with no planned ring road is choking the towns not only with traffic jams but fumes as well. The lack of additional schools, hospitals, social areas or access to shops without using a car, are all having a detrimental effect on living within almost any town one knows. However since much of this is happening a couple of houses here, a few hundred there and over years little opposition is mounted nationally to the overall damage that is occurring and as a result no large scale alternatives are floated for discussion.
Now, as we look towards more sustainable environments, is the moment to look again at the bigger picture. How can we best supply the thousands of high quality, affordable, environmentally friendly homes that the nation needs? The answer is not to keep shovelling more and more homes around the edges of existing towns.
Expandable Towns And Cities Are The Sustainable Option Of The Future
Many of the geological features that made the locations of our historic towns so idea are no longer the idea features of a modern town. We know longer have to worry about fording a river, looking out for attacking tribes, or being on an existing trade route. The issues that effect us today are very different and so new plans and indeed new towns and cities are required to answer todays issues not least to avoid the destruction of our existing towns.
Scaleable towns come cities need to be conceived. Ones that work perfectly not only as small, mid and large towns but also as they transition from one size to the next. These might be circular, with ring roads planned outside ring roads to cope with expansion, school locations allocated ready for each stage of growth, green spaces left undisturbed to connect each area with the next and act as corridors for wildlife, shops and social spaces always only a short cycle away and a multitude of employment options situated where most appropriate.
Planning new towns would allow not only the very best social and town planning to be included but also the most sustainable homes and buildings to be built. Perhaps all buildings could have south facing roofs made entirely of solar panels. They might not be carbon neutral, but actually carbon negative, achieved by supplying electricity back to the grid to assist neutralising the need for the production of non eco power. Competitions could be organised to allow the best and brightest designers and architects to provide inspiration and innovation for both a wide range of homes, the planning of expanding towns, sustainable environments and economic opportunities. The best ideas and people could then be pulled together to finalise a vision.
These towns would be designed not only as beautiful places to live, but also as economic entities in their own rights ready to power the careers of the future. With the correct allocation of affordable housing the young would not have to move away but gradually progress from smaller properties to grander options as their careers allowed.
Unfortunately bold action is what is needed, and to be frank, this is no doubt why this has not be undertaken before. New locations for these town need to be found and yes every site that is considered will be extremely controversial. However there comes a time when everyone needs to look into the future and consider what our towns might look like in thirty or forty years time. We need thousands and thousands of new homes and most of these are now being built on green fields on the outskirts of our existing towns. Surrounding villages are being swallowed up with no real foresight. This is not a problem that can be answered by local planning departments, it is government that needs to step forward and visualise this brave new world. Choosing a new location will not mean more green belt agricultural land is used, it is already being used. New towns have the potential to be so much greener that current developments and far better to live in.
Who would build and fund these new towns you might be asking. Well that would depend on how bold the government wanted to be. It could simply be build as most existing expansions are by developers who earn close to 50% profit on everything they build. Or the government could build the towns itself which would allow the homes to be more affordable while still making a profit to help pay for the schools, hospitals and many other buildings which would otherwise be government funded. A compromise could be that the companies that would otherwise make billions from this scheme agree a far more realistic profit cap with additional income from house sales going to the government to help it fund the infrastructure, the options are in fact endless.
Expandable towns are needed but they will only become reality if there is an expansion of vision, foresight and determination by those able to make them reality.
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