Even Wolverhampton could be transformed into a bucolic wonderland: there's a plan to turn the deserted quarter (!) of Detroit into semi-rural farmland and parkland, providing healthy food, jobs and a better quality of life for this semi-derelict city.
Wolverhampton too has vast swathes of abandoned industrial land - imagine the possibilities. We could grow our own poppies for organic, low-mileage heroin, murder victims can add to the richness of the soil, and pigs can root around happily until they're turned into the local delicacies - kebabs and pork scratchings.
OK, I'm mocking slightly, but it's a great idea. More and more people are living in apartments rather than houses, and there's plenty of land to spare. There'd be some social upheaval and the land would need decontamination, but green cities would help socially and environmentally.
I've always wanted to persuade local authorities of a very simple idea: each new dwelling (flat, house or office) should have a fruit tree. The fruit would be healthy, and the tree would contribute to carbon reduction, improve air quality and reduce local temperatures, thus aiding the fight against global warming. There's no downside, and it would be cheap.
I'd also replace all railings, fences, crash barriers, bollards and dividing wall under local government control with hedges: they'd be equally effective as dividers, don't require mining, smelting and high energy construction, be cheap and easy to maintain, contribute to carbon reduction and air quality, be easy to remove/replace when underground maintenance is required, be good for security and separating cars from people (who's going to push through a holly bush rather than walk along to a crossing?), wildlife would massively benefit, and they'd be aesthetically pleasing - urban life would be transformed. How about it?
3 comments:
Sounds marvellous but sadly far-fetched, the amount of cash dwindled on a new high-tech bus station is just one example of the council's insanity.
Wythenshawe (a district of Manchester with a population of 60 odd thousand) was, before the right to buy policy, mainly council housing and all the houses had a fruit tree planted in the garden upon construction. The idea of a 'garden city' has perhaps not been realised but the area has aged far better than other similarly less well off parts of Manchester and does have a greater sense of community too. Part of this is down to giving people houses they like to live in. It is a quality idea and yes it should be implemented further. Of course, in the mean time, if you want crops in waste ground you could just go and plant them.
I'm not sure about your hedges for crash barriers/ railings etc though. I'm not convinced a holly bush trimmed to a width of a foot or less would stop a car at 40mph heading toward a school play ground.
Garden Cities were great ideas. Time for a revival.
OK, hedges where they're just dividers rather than for protection. Though I reckon an old hedge would be fairly strong.
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