I think we could use some of these ecotowns (see here too). No doubt we'd face these same controversies in the United States. The British government is planning to build eleven towns by 2020 that drastically reduce their carbon footprints by reducing energy consumption in the home, changing transportation, and (I think I have this right) encouraging super-local food growth.
Question for me: What are the schools in these towns going to do?
I don't know hardly anything about the specifics of these development projects, but the Guardian piece raises some important questions about the viability of these "green" communities, and I'll raise one of my own.
ReplyDeleteFirst, the Guardian piece raises the question of jobs. What jobs will keep people employed in these communities? This leads to another question that is not answered in the piece: if there are jobs for the residents, how far will they have to travel to work? who will the work employ (low, middle, or high income workers)?
Second, I feel uncomfortable with a development strategy that attempts to create isolated "green" communities as testing grounds for green ideas.
Green ideas need to be tested in our existing communities. Given that such local efforts are afoot on both sides of the pond, the government, if it is interested in green innovation, should support these efforts. That way, the diversity and experimentation of grassroots efforts could be harnessed and integrated into communities that currently exist.
The implicit lack of support for grassroot efforts also suggests that there are interests other than those of the environment (like technology firms or developers) at play.