Текст Green Belts? What are they? с переводом.
Green Belts? What are they?
Зеленые лесополосы? Что это?
| After World War II, town planners became alarmed by the way big cities were spreading out. Lines of new houses stretched along roads until they reached a town or village, swallowing it up into the big city. For this reason, in 1955, towns and cities were surrounded by ‘Green Belts’ or zones of land around urban areas where all housing and other development is forbidden or severely restricted. The problem is… England’s Green Belts are now under threat! Thousands of square kilometres are disappearing each year to make way for new housing estates, airports, roads and business parks. | После Второй Мировой войны городские архитекторы насторожились от того, как простираются большие города. Ряды новых домов простирались вдоль дорог, до тех пор пока они не достигали городских или деревенских окраин, поглощая их и превращая в один большой город. По этой причине в 1955 году большие и малые города были окружены “зелеными лесополосами” или такими зонами земли вокруг города, где было запрещено или жестко ограничено любое строительство или иная разработка территории. Проблема в том, что зеленые лесополосы Англии … сегодня под угрозой! Каждый год исчезают тысячи квадратных километров, уступая место новым домам, аэропортам, дорогам и бизнес-паркам. | |
| So… should Green Belts continue to be protected? Two of our readers, Suzy and Tim, have just done a school project on them. Read what they had to say before you make up your mind! | Итак… следует ли продолжать защищать зеленые лесополосы? Двое из наших читателей, Сьюзи и Тим, только что сделали школьный проект о них. Прочитайте, что они говорят, до того как вы примите решение! | |
| YES | ДА | |
| “I can’t believe anyone would want to see England’s historic towns and pretty countryside villages ‘eaten up’ by urban sprawl! Why don’t city planners develop ugly derelict land in urban areas instead? People’s lives are enriched by having green, open spaces close to their cities. They provide opportunities for sports and other outdoor recreations, and are visually pleasing. Who would rather look at a concrete jungle? Also, these spaces provide habitats for wildlife that has been forced out of our cities. The trees and plants in these open spaces clean city pollution from the air too. We should all oppose any plans that will give our green belts to developers!” | “Не могу поверить в то, что кому-нибудь захотелось бы увидеть малые исторические города и замечательные деревни Англии “съеденными” большими городами! Почему бы городским архитекторам вместо этого не развивать заброшенные городские территории? Жизнь людей обогащается тем, что у них есть рядом с городом зеленые, открытые пространства. Они предоставляют возможности для занятий спортом и другим отдыхом на свежем воздухе, а также приятны для созерцания. Кому бы захотелось смотреть на бетонные джунгли? Также эти пространства обеспечивают среду обитания для диких животных, которым нет места в наших городах. Деревья и растения в этих открытых пространствах устраняют из воздуха городскую грязь. Нам всем следует противостоять любым планам по отдачи зеленых лесополос девелоперам (застройщикам)”. | |
| NO | НЕТ | |
| “England has a huge housing shortage problem, but unfortunately there simply isn’t any more land in overcrowded towns and cities to build on. In my opinion, building on a very small proportion of Green Belt land – which is all that is needed – is the answer! In any case, some Green Belt land is very unattractive, so building on it would only improve it. Also, because of Green Belts, many commuters have to live beyond them and make very long and tiring journeys every day to work. This causes terrible traffic congestion and produces a lot of polluting C02! As for nature conservation, that is not why Green Belts were created. We have national parks and nature reserves for that! | “Англия имеет большую проблему с недостатком жилья, но, к сожалению, просто больше нет земли в переполненных малых и больших городах для застройки. По моему мнению, ответом на это является строительство на небольшой части зеленой лесополосы – вот все, что нужно! В любом случае какая-то часть зеленой лесополосы выглядит весьма непривлекательной, так что застройка здесь только улучшит ее. Также из-за зеленой лесополосы многие жители пригорода вынуждены жить за ней и каждый день совершать очень долгие и утомительные поездки на работу. Это вызывает ужасные транспортные пробки и производит много загрязняющего углекислого газа. Что касается сохранения природы, так это не является тем, ради чего создавались зеленые лесополосы. Для этого у нас есть национальные парки и природные заповедники!” |
Источник: Spotlight, 11 класс
Wangari Mathai is an environmental icon in the world, and the first and only Woman Nobel Peace awardees. Born in 1940, in Nyeri county of Kenya, Wangari Mathai amassed quite a number of accolades which are no mean feat for any woman schooled during her times. She obtained a degree in biological Sciences from the Mount Scolastical College in Kansas in 1964, and then proceeded for her Master of Sciences degree in Germany before joining the University of Nairobi for another Masters degree and lastly a Ph.D from the same university where she taught for some time.
In order to fully understand the content and context of this literally work, Its important to note that Wangari Mathai, in her life, fought quite a number of battles with the government of the then president of the Republic of Kenya, His Excellency Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi.Key among these battles arose as a result of the government’s intention to lease the present day Uluru park gardens to foreign investors for the construction of high-rise buildings. Wangari staged a demonstration of people who opposed this government move. In the process, she was badly beaten, by the police and sustained injuries that were evident in her head even till her death. In commemoration of this fight, there is a poster at the corner of the park which is written ‘The Green belt Movement, Lest we forget’, which reminds everyone who visits that park that it was through the efforts of the greenbelt movement that the park stands, even today.
Her battles with the government did not end there. She has been involved in a number of scuffles with the government, especially as a result of her willingness to protect the environment, especially the Karura forest, which the government of His Excellency former President of Kenya wanted destroyed.
On the spiritual front, Wangari equated planting of trees with spiritual Nourishment and this is founded in the core values of the greenbelt movement, where Wangari worked for most of her life. These values include the love for the environment, gratitude and respect for earth’s resources, self empowerment and self betterment.
Wangari believed that humans have a responsibility towards ensuring that the environment is taken care of, as it’s a duty from God, according to the Christian Faith. The rate at which the earths resources were being depleted was worrying and therefore Wangari and other like minded people took it upon themselves to enlighten the people on the need to plant trees to conserves the environment.
It must be noted that during the context of the authorship of this book, the world was undergoing massive tree cutting and natural forest destruction and therefore Wangari and like minded people thought of the world as being wounded and therefore tree planting is a way of replenishing and healing this land. True to her worlds, areas that have been planted trees are much better as there is water that can be utilized by all, as opposed to the depleted forest cover areas.
Trees, in the words of Prof Mathai are significant as they represent Gods presence in nature. Symbolically, the biblical garden and eve were placed at the Garden of Eden, where there were many trees from which they were to eat their foods; this shows that in the Christian context, trees are an important aspect of spirituality. Trees represent abundance too, of Gods grace. In other faith contexts, trees represents Gods grace on eats as well as life that God has given to mankind which should not be interfered with.
Mathai, through the greenbelt movement that has presence in almost all countries of the world tried to bring an understanding of the value of nature and trees through her many works as well as presentations both local and international. So strong was her commitment to preserving the environment that Wangari, on her death had critically insisted that her body be cremated, rather than cutting trees to make her coffin. In her honor, a resident of Nyanza province made a coffin from reed from her, which considered a very informed decision, given her fight for trees through the greenbelt movement. This was despite her Christian faith that does not allow cremation. For all her efforts, Mathai was internationally recognized by the Nobel Peace Commission for her efforts in environmental conservation.
This book is a very interesting read, as it not only mirrors the environmental commitment that an educationist and environmentalist had towards the environment, but also provides a chronology of events that happened to prior environmentalists in the hands of the oppressive regime of the time. It details the struggles that people and leaders have gone through in bringing environmental change and awareness to the society of today.
Works cited:
Wangari Mathai, Replenishing the Earth: Spiritual Values for Healing Ourselves and the World,
2010
Wangari Mathai, The challenge for Africa, 2010
Wangari Mathai,Unbowed.2007
Select your language
Suggested languages for you:
Lerne mit deinen Freunden und bleibe auf dem richtigen Kurs mit deinen persönlichen Lernstatistiken
Jetzt kostenlos anmelden
When you think about the rapid growth and expansion of a city or a town, it sounds quite positive, doesn’t it? More people are coming from rural areas to work, making industries flourish and bringing economic growth. However, it can also be an urban planner’s worst nightmare. Cities, towns and urban growth are spilling out of carefully planned areas and taking over nearby agricultural land, whilst infrastructure is stretched to facilitate the overflow. So, what can we do? The development of the green belt is one solution to this problem. How do we define the greenbelt? Are there already examples today? Let’s find out!
Green Belt Definition
As cities and towns begin to grow, they can become victims of urban sprawl. To counter this, there are various policies that exist. One of the widespread policies in Europe and North America is the greenbelt.
Urban sprawl is the rapid expansion of towns and cities, which results in unrestricted growth.
Urban sprawl can contribute to air pollution with higher emissions from transport, loss of open spaces, and puts stress on public services such as hospitals and schools. A greenbelt, then, is a ring of land around a town or a city, like parks, agricultural areas, or other types of open space to limit urban sprawl. The designated border is protected by law from development, and the open space is available for leisure and recreation, as well as agricultural use and habitat for wildlife.
Green Belt Movement
Greenbelts were essentially created to reduce or stop urban sprawl. The first proposal was in London; it gained widespread support from the London Society in its ‘Development plan of Greater London’ in 1919. They lobbied alongside an environmental campaign group, Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), which worked for a sustainable future for the English countryside.
In the 1930s, the expansion of cities and towns grew rapidly as public transport became widespread, and the private ownership of cars allowed people to commute from further away. By 1947, greenbelts had become a part of the Town and Country Planning Act. This was central in planning permission for land development in the UK.
The term greenbelt can even be dated back to 1898, as an expansion on urban planner Ebenezer Howard’s idea of the Garden City, which outlined the importance of having rural areas nearby urban areas. This vision of having rural green spaces near urban areas can also be dated back to many other urban theorists and architects.
Fig. 1 — Map of The Metropolitan Green Belt in London and the surrounding green belts in the UK.
At present, there are fourteen green belts in the UK covering around 16,716 km² of England and 164 km² of Scotland. It has been implemented around the world in places such as:
- Ottawa Greenbelt in Ontario.
- Barton Creek Greenbelt in Texas.
- BeltLine Greenbelt in Atlanta.
- São Paulo City Green Belt Biosphere Reserve in São Paulo.
Green Belt Benefits
There are many benefits of implementing a green belt when urban planning.
- They prevent urban sprawl.
- They stop neighbouring towns from merging with each other. By protecting the towns from merging into each other, each town’s distinctive character and culture can be protected.
- They allow the preservation of the countryside for agriculture and recreation within a reachable distance for the urban residents.
- They assist in urban regeneration by encouraging developers to use brownfield urban land rather than greenfield agricultural land.
- The open green space assists in the conservation of wildlife as it is protected from development. Green belts are also referred to as the city’s ‘green lungs’ and help with the air quality.
Brownfield land is land that was previously developed but is not used anymore.
Greenfield land is undeveloped land that hasn’t been built before.
Disadvantages of Green Belt
There are disadvantages to the green belt despite the positive intentions of the policy.
- House prices often increase in these areas as the urban area is restricted to new housing. When there are more people looking for homes than available, the prices rise, forcing poorer people to have to move out of the area. Affluent suburban and rural-urban residents are more likely to be able to afford homes in these areas, pushing the less affluent who are seeking more affordable housing out of the area.
- It is difficult to constrain the growth of an urban area with a growing population and can lead to ‘leap-frog’ development, the new development at the outer edge of the green belt. This consequently puts pressure on these outer areas and can lead to further sprawl.
- Despite the ideal nature of protected land as wild and natural, the green belt has been used for intensive farming. While farming is necessary for producing food, it is not always beneficial to the environment.
- Greenbelt land is not always accessible to the public as the land is often privately owned.
The city of Oxford in the UK has a green belt to manage urban growth and development. However, in recent years, the population has been growing and the housing crisis has become severe, as the availability of new homes cannot keep up with the growth. It became one of the most expensive cities to live in in the UK. The rising prices of houses led to 46,000 people commuting to Oxford, half of its working population. There has been increasing pressure to reassess the green belt policy and to build on the green belt.
Green Belt Project Examples
Although green belts are seen as an initiative to stop urban sprawl, there are variations in how green belts came to be and are being used.
Golden Horseshoe Green Belt
The green belt around Golden Horseshoe in Southern Ontario is a protected area of green space with forests, wetlands, farmland, and watersheds. It was created in 2005 after the Green Belt Protection Act was passed as legislation by the Government of Ontario. It was intended to stop the urban sprawl of the Golden Horseshoe. The population had grown from 6.5 million to 7.7 million between 1991 and 2001, and farmland had decreased by 7% in the Greater Toronto Area between the years 1996 and 2001. The green belt now protects agricultural land, heritage sites, and ecological and hydrological features such as Niagara Escarpment and Oak Ridges Moraine.
Green Belt of Vitoria-Gasteiz
The green belt of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, is created from a set of urban parks that are connected through green corridors.
Green corridors are strips of green spaces which connect other green spaces. They can create movement routes for wildlife.
Fig. 2 — The Salburua Wetlands in Vitoria-Gasteiz, SpainIt was created in the early 1990s with the main intention of restoring and recovering the natural features of the land on the outskirts of the city. There are six parks, Armentia, Salburua, Zadorra, Errekaleor, Olarizu, and Zabalgana, which provide different environments, from woodland to open fields. In particular, the restoration of the wetlands of Salburua and the River Zadorra ecosystem has been internationally recognised. The green belt is close to the urban centre and can be accessed by the public on foot or by bicycle.
European Green Belt
There are some green belts that are more environmentally focused rather than just for controlling urban expansion. The European green belt is an example of an environmental initiative that was developed along the corridor of the former Iron Curtain.
Iron Curtain was a political boundary between the former Soviet bloc and the West and noncommunist countries from the end of the Second World War until the end of the Cold War.
Fig. 3 — Map of the European Green Belt
The aim of the European green belt is to connect the national parks, nature parks, biosphere reserves, transboundary protected areas, and non-protected valuable habitats from the Barents Sea to the Adriatic and Black sea. After the Cold War, strict border regimes were abandoned, starting with the German reunification and the opening of border zones. Many of the military facilities for training or research along the border were shut down. It was unclear to whom these lands belonged and what would happen to them, so the initiative for the European Green Belt was formed to conserve the natural assets along the former Iron Curtain.
Green Belt Development
The concept of the green belt has been developed into different versions.
- ‘Green buffer‘ is a green space that stops two cities from merging. There is an example of the green buffer being used between Cheltenham and Gloucester in the UK.
- ‘Green wedge‘ intends to bring green space closer to urban areas and is a linear version of the green belt which runs from a centre to the outskirts, through urban areas rather than around it. An example of the green wedge can be seen in Berlin, Germany.
- ‘Green heart‘ encourages urban growth around the green space. It is seen in Randstad, Netherlands, where the green space is surrounded by the major cities of the Netherlands, such as Amsterdam, The Hague, and Rotterdam.
Green Belt — Key takeaways
- The green belt is a ring of land around a city or a town to stop urban sprawl. It is usually protected from development by policies or legislation. It is seen as an open green space for recreation, agriculture, and wildlife habitats.
- There are both advantages and disadvantages to the development of greenbelts.
- There are many green belts around the world with different agendas. The Golden Horseshoe green belt in Southern Ontario is a successful example of a green belt preventing urban sprawl and protecting green spaces. The European green belt was created mainly to preserve the environment along the Iron Curtain after the war.
- At present, there are different versions of the green belt, such as the green buffer, green wedge, and green heart.
References
- Fig. 1: Map of The Metropolitan Green Belt in London, UK, and the surrounding green belts (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Metropolitan_Green_Belt_among_the_green_belts_of_England.svg) By Hellerick (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Hellerick) Licensed by CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)
- Fig. 2: The Salburua Wetlands in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vitoria_-_H%C3%BAmedal_de_Salbur%C3%BAa_-BT-_03.jpg) By Basotxerri (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Basotxerri) Licensed by CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
- Fig. 3: Map of European Green Belt (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:EuGB_solid_labels_web.png) By Smaack (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Smaack&action=edit&redlink=1) Licensed by CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)
Frequently Asked Questions about Green Belt
A greenbelt is a ring of land around a town or a city to limit urban sprawl.
A green belt project looks like a protected area of green space around a city or a town. An example is the Golden Horseshoe Green Belt in Southern Ontario, which has forests, wetlands, farmland, and watersheds.
The advantages of green belts are that they prevent urban sprawl and stop towns from merging with each other. They can also preserve the countryside for agriculture and recreation. They are useful for urban regeneration, as they encourage developers to use brownfield land instead of greenfield land.
The disadvantages of green belts are that they can drive house prices up as the urban area becomes restricted to new housing. It can lead to ‘leap-frog’ development on the outer edge of the green belt.
The green belt is important as it stops urban sprawl which can contribute to air pollution, loss of open spaces, and put stress on public services.
Final Green Belt Quiz
Green Belt Quiz — Teste dein Wissen
Question
Green belt is a _____ of ____ around a town or a city, to limit _____ _____.
Show answer
Answer
Green belt is a ring of land around a town or a city, to limit urban sprawl.
Show question
Question
Which statement is FALSE?
Show answer
Answer
Urban sprawl can contribute to air pollution with higher emissions from transport.
Show question
Question
Which of the below is what a green belt is used for?
Show answer
Question
True or false: rural flight is the migration of people from rural areas to urban areas.
Show answer
Question
What are the benefits of the green belt?
Show answer
Answer
They prevent urban sprawl.
Show question
Question
Green belts encourage developers to use _____ urban land rather than _____ agricultural land.
Show answer
Question
What do the city’s ‘green lungs’ mean?
Show answer
Answer
A green space that helps with the air quality.
Show question
Question
What are the disadvantages of the green belt?
Show answer
Answer
House prices can be driven up as the urban area is restricted to new housing.
Show question
Question
What is ‘leap-frog’ development?
Show answer
Answer
New development at the outer edge of the greenbelt.
Show question
Answer
The greenbelt has been used for intensive farming.
Show question
Question
True or false: greenbelt land is always accessible to the public as the land is not usually privately owned.
Show answer
Question
The greenbelt of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain is created from a set of urban _____ that are connected through _____ _____.
Show answer
Answer
The greenbelt of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain is created from a set of urban parks that are connected through green corridors.
Show question
Question
What are green corridors?
Show answer
Answer
Green corridors are strips of green spaces which connect other green spaces.
Show question
Question
Which are the developments of green belts?
Show answer
Discover the right content for your subjects
No need to cheat if you have everything you need to succeed! Packed into one app!
Study Plan
Be perfectly prepared on time with an individual plan.
Quizzes
Test your knowledge with gamified quizzes.
Flashcards
Create and find flashcards in record time.
Notes
Create beautiful notes faster than ever before.
Study Sets
Have all your study materials in one place.
Documents
Upload unlimited documents and save them online.
Study Analytics
Identify your study strength and weaknesses.
Weekly Goals
Set individual study goals and earn points reaching them.
Smart Reminders
Stop procrastinating with our study reminders.
Rewards
Earn points, unlock badges and level up while studying.
Magic Marker
Create flashcards in notes completely automatically.
Smart Formatting
Create the most beautiful study materials using our templates.
Sign up to highlight and take notes. It’s 100% free.