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Preventing Urban Growth
Greenbelt
There is pressure for development on the rural-urban fringe with the risk of cities linking up & causing
massive urban sprawl. This would cause:
 Huge conurbations
 Loss of agricultural / recreational land.
Therefore the government developed the policy of greenbelts.
Function of the greenbelt:
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Check the spread of urban development.
Keep neighbouring towns separate.
Preserve the special character of towns – maintain identity.
Assist urban regeneration – Towns have to manage the land they have and so it encourages the use
of brownfield sites.
Preserve character of rural areas
Provide recreation & leisure.
Create a better environment around the edge of the city.
Protect agricultural land & woodland from development.
Safeguard agricultural practices.
The first greenbelt was used in London and was set-up from 1954-1958. There are now 20 greenbelt
regions taking up 15% of the land in the UK.
Other greenbelt schemes:
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Wedges – Penetrate to the heart of city e.g. Copenhagen
Green corridor – Run straight through city e.g. Geneva.
Green Buffer – Separate cities e.g. Ruhr.
Green heart – preserve open space at the centre of urban regions e.g. within the ring of
Amsterdam/ Rotterdam.
Greenbelt land may extend up to 10km beyond the city boundary. Urban growth is restricted not
prevented. Any proposals for land-use must go through government.
The greenbelt prevents the unification of 2 cities but it does not always work. E.g. the greenbelt in
Coventry has not been entirely successful as Coventry & Bedworth are merging. Urban development
may jump over the greenbelt.
Problems:
There have been some successes in preventing urban sprawl, however:
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There is a great deal of pressure on the rural-urban fringe. Especially to use it for housing or
transport links.
Much of the land is brown-belt – damaged or degraded land.
There is pressure on rural settlements to build & expand, as people want to live in rural areas commuter belt.
Causes land prices to rise due to shortage of new houses being built.
The greenbelt is not really successful as a lot of greenbelt is now being lost by being nibbled away
to allow new developments e.g. NEC which has increased pressure on greenbelt nearby.
Jobs are lost as a result of prohibited development e.g. London.