Dear Bharat Punjabi,
I am a British PhD student at the University of Tsukuba, Japan and
currently writing my thesis on the role of corporatism and pressure groups
in setting up and maintaining the London green belt. Part of this work
involves a comparison with Tokyo's abortive green belt 1939-1960. In
particular, I am interested in the way that UK planning concepts have been
borrowed and applied in other contexts, as mentioned in your email.
The need to separate town and country - the fundamental reason for green
belts, is linked to the UK's 19th Century Romanticism and the development
of a countryside and landscape movement. [For more details see Machnachten,
P. and Urry J. 1998, Contested Natures, London, Sage, pp 172-211].
The green belt originated in the UK, and though there are 16th Century
precedents, it was only in the 20th Century that plans started to be drawn
to limit the outward growth of cities. The history of green belts reads
like a who's who of UK planning as all the major figures were involved at
some stage: i.e. Howard, Unwin, Abercrombie etc.
Much more information is available in the following books: Elson, M. J.
1986: Green Belts, conflict mediation in the urban fringe. Thomas, D. T.
1970, Green belts.
Many more references can be found on this useful page produced by
Nottingham University:
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/sbe/planbiblios/bibs/grbelt/02.html
Internationally, green belts may have been employed alongside other
colonial planning experiments. I don't know of any specific works on this
topic (please let me know if you hear of any). In other cases, limiting the
spread of an urban area was seen to be a good for preserving agriculture,
reducing the primacy of one city and also for military reasons.
The direct connection with the UK is evident in Australia - there should be
a parallel here with India - see Michael Buxton and Robin Goodman's work at
RMIT University, Melbourne.
Green belts in Asia have been employed in Korea around most large cities,
in Japan and in Bangkok. Among these, Korea's green belts is the only
example of a successful application of this policy that I know of. This has
to be qualified by the fact that they were implemented by fiat and that the
green belt has an important military purpose. However, even for this much
quoted example, the policy is undergoing review and currently large
developments are being planned in the Seoul green belt to respond to
housing demand. Japan's green belt failed in the late 50s and early 60s
because of a lack of administrative support and pressure from landowners -
see Ichikawa, H. 2003, 'Reconstructing Tokyo: The attempt to transform a
Metropolis', in Hein C. et al. ed. 'Rebuilding Japan after 1945', Palgrave
Macmillan, Basingstoke Hampshire, pp. 50-54.
Bangkok still officially has a green belt though I think it is being
steadily encroached upon.
This is inevitably a cursory and brief start, for what is huge and
interesting topic. I would be delighted to learn more about your findings.
Kind regards,
>-----Original Message-----
>From: A forum for critical and radical geographers
>[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of BHarat Punjabi
>Sent: 29 October 2003 16:12
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Green belts: History and globalization
>
>
>Hello friends,
>
>I am currently writing a MA thesis at York University on the politics of
>urbanization of what was once a green belt area in the Bombay metropolitan
>region. This region lies on the north of the Bombay metropolitan region and
>is
>called the sub region of Vasai-Virar. While going through some archival
>records in Bombay, I found that the idea of having green belts in colonial
>cities like Bombay originated in Britain and especially came from British
>town
>planning. I was wondering whether any one on the list can refer me to
>articles
>which have dealt with the origin of green belts, and why they came to be
>developed in cities around some parts of the world in the last century.
>While
>studying here in Toronto for the last one year, I have found that this city
>also has a green belt in the Oak Ridge Moraine, which has also been opened
>up
>for urbanization like Vasai Virar in Bombay.
>
>My first question is therefore a historical one. I am wondering whether
>green
>belts are a British colonial legacy, since Canada and India were both
>colonies
>once upon a time. My second question has to do with what I see a change in
>policies around cities in the world on green belts. Toronto and Bombay are
>two
>examples, I know of. Are there any environmental controversies/debates
>around
>other major cities in the world with the urbanization of green belts ? Both
>Vasai Virar in Bombay and the Oak Ridge Moraine in Toronto are undoubtedly
>ecologically sensitive and could have been declared no-devlopment zones for
>that reason.
>
> Information on this would be valuable for my thesis and I will make sure I
>acknowledge any possible help I receive on this .
>
>
>warm regards
>Bharat Punjabi
>
>Graduate student
>Department of Social Anthropology
>York University
>Toronto
>Canada
Marco Amati
Landscape and Regional Planning Research Group
University of Tsukuba, 3F-516
School of Policy and Planning Science,
Tsukuba, 305-8573, Japan
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