Quote:
Originally posted by Moridin:
There is so much talk of room, room, room...we have so much 'empty' land that we don't have to worry about population growth.
What do we do then? Continue to expand our cities until there is nothing left. Sure the US has plenty of open space, but it is dwindling faster than one might think. Our urban areas are sprawling at an enourmous rate. More and more people want to live in the 'suburbs' to get away from the big city, and this is leading to more and more land lost to city development. Ah, but what is one acre here and one acre there? Who cares there is still plenty of land!
I grew up in a small town south of Rochester MN. While growing up, a drive to Rochester took me through 8 miles of farmland (from the edge of my town to the edge of Rochester), there was nothing but farms and farm houses (and the tiny Rochester Airport). Now only 8 years since I left you almost cannot distinguish when you leave Rochester and arrive in my hometown. The farmland that once existed is now all housing developments, hotels, and supermarkets. And it is not only this way south to my hometown, but north to Pine Island, West to Byron, and East to Dover-Eyota.
Urban sprawl is a problem! We cannot continue to grow and destroy the very land that supports us...there will be a breaking point, it is inevitable.
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Exactly, but the thing that allows urban sprawl is the car. Technology and the choices made regarding it's use. 4million people cram into Singapore. The same amount are in Scotland and Norway. Singapore is also filled with trees and plants. The greenest urban area I've seen. Good for birds, heat reduction and quality of life. Even so there is room for a water/forest area in the centre, and forest/army training area in the west. Most of the population is in the south
Sydney has over 4 million people but over a much larger area. Urban sprawl as a result of the car has made it a very large land area city ondeed.
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I am the walrus!.... er, no hang on....
A fair dinkum laughing Hyena!