The regenerators

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 485.

We all want to save the green belt but the demand for new housing has never been greater. Part of the solution could be to regenerate land previously thought uninhabitable due to industrial pollution.

If England was equally divided between all its inhabitants we would each have a plot of land slightly smaller than the floor-area of Westminster Abbey. In major cities such as London people-congestion is even greater, with every person allocated a little less than the floor space in the House of Commons Chamber. England is the fourth most densely populated country in the world, putting space at a premium. In order to avoid concreting over our 'green and pleasant' land the UK Government is promoting 'brownfield' development. The idea is to recycle land by trying to construct at least 60% of new dwellings on previously developed land (known as brownfield), rather than building on fresh, undeveloped, 'greenfield' land.

Since July 2003 a multi-disciplinary project has been funded, aiming to investigate the problems of developing on brownfield land. A range of scientists, including hydro-geologists, chemists, engineers and social scientists focused on a portfolio of brownfield sites in two regions: Manchester in the northwest and the Thames Gateway, near London.