[Pil-pc-oceania] Where do the children play?: Where have all the gardens gone?

[Deb Guildner]

Backyards are disappearing:
they are being subdivided off from the front of blocks, and the only 
requirement for it is having the width of a driveway down ONE side of the 
block, to provide access to new homes being constructed in what were once 
people's backyards.

What is happening to the great Aussie backyard.....where is there room for 
the white mans sacred site, the sacred BBQ (barbeque).  No, nothing is 
sacred anymore.  If you want to hold an event in some of the public open 
spaces which is frequently the only choice left, guess what....in some 
parks, you have to BOOK AHEAD.

The consequence of this redevelopment nightmare is that there has never been 
so much concrete covering urban areas.  Rain falls there but it don't 
infiltrate into the ground, and frequently it goes out to sea via stormwater 
channels, and even creates local flooding in urban areas where it has never 
been known..  There has never been so much cracking of homes on clay soils, 
partly due to less rain and partly due to the excessive concreting over of 
the ground. There have even been some really interting articles in 'New 
Scientist' in recent times , regarding evidence that these artificial albedo 
urban landscapes create their own extreme weather storms. Ithink Dallas or 
Houston, Texas,  ws used as one example....all that glass and concrete..

It has also been pointed out that someone could make a tidy fortune by 
designing and patenting modular street kerbing with small predrilled holes 
drilled in to assist with groundwater infiltration. There really are 
fortunes to be made by smart thinking people designing their way out of this 
mess, on a large industrial scale.

More alarming, in a society where kids and adults have an increasing 
tendency to obesity, smaller blocks of land now contain larger homes with 
almost NO front or backyards, so kids must either roam the streets, be 
restricted to organised sporting activities, or just sit around inside 
watching TV or sitting at a computer looking at a 2D world. What a joyless, 
soulless existence for a human being. What are their parents thinking?

In 2002 I began a GIS (Geographic Information Systems: ie 
cartography/surveying/remote sensing) course at UniSA.  Before the course 
even began, the relevant industry bodies and the uni co-sponsored an awards 
presentation  day, where the winners etc presented their projects.  One 
which stuck in my mind was by the SA State Govt planning authority, who had 
cunningly plotted the entire metro area of Adelaide (using Arcview 
software - Adelaide was one of the first places in the world outside the USA 
to take up Arcview as a mapping demographic tool), to assess the subdivision 
potential and suitability of every single block of domestic urban land.

The plot: it basically came to down to two key factors:
1)  Whether there was room for a driveway down one side of the block (with 
its existing domicile) to create a legal access for a separate title to be 
created - for another dwelling to be constructed at the rear, and/or
2)  whether the value of the existing dwelling was lower than the land value 
(as expensive homes would preclude the economic gain to be had from 
potential subdividsion income). if the existing home was old and relatively 
cheap, you could just knock it down and divide the block lengthways down the 
middle (from front to back) and then build two very skinny long homes along 
the length of the block, each having a separate title.

Why have a backyard with fruit trees and space for kids if you can make a 
quick $100,000+, especially since home and land prices have doubled in the 
last 7 years?  (esp. land). Good point, seeing as the affordability of homes 
is well beyond many low income families reach. very tempting way out of a 
barely serviceable mortgage nightmare.

I have observed this phenomenon for a couple of decades in some of the 
lovely older inner city suburbs, but now it is happening nearly everywhere.

As I walk through my favourite suburb (where I lived on and off for 25 
years), I am haunted by the ghosts of the old people and their once 
beautiful homes and gardens which they tended with love all their 
lives.......and it makes me mad and sad, all at the same time.
Cities just SUCK.

Deb

.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Andrew Leahy" <alfski at gmail.com>
To: "permacultue discussion list" 
<pil-pc-oceania at lists.permacultureinternational.org>
Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2007 12:13 PM
Subject: [Pil-pc-oceania] Where have all the gardens gone?


> Hi, for those who are teaching urban permaculture you may want to
> check out this recent paper from Griffith University's Urban Research
> Program.
>
> If you haven't lived in or visited modern Australian 'suburbia' you
> might be in for a shock!
> It is certainly going to provide some design challenges.
>
> http://www.griffith.edu.au/centre/urp/urp_publications/research_papers/URP_RP13_Hall_ResidentialForm.pdf
>
> "Where Have All the Gardens Gone?
> An Investigation into the Disappearance of Back Yards in the Newer
> Australian Suburb
> by Tony Hall
> August 2007
>
> Introduction
>
> The disadvantages of the low-density car-based suburbs that surround
> Australian and US cities are well known and widely debated. These
> include facilities located to the disadvantage of non-car users,
> wasteful use of land, cost of infrastructure, time and energy expended
> on driving, low incidence of social contact and lack of exercise.
> Nevertheless, the older Australian suburb also has compensating
> advantages for both the residents and the wider community. This
> includes a higher degree of bio-diversity, the presence of trees also
> provides shade, modifying the microclimate and giving aesthetic
> pleasure. The planted areas around the dwelling also aid the process
> of storm drainage by retaining water and reducing run-off. The private
> amenity space around the dwelling can accommodate not just a garen for
> the pleasure of the occupants but also barbeque facilities and an
> in-ground swimming pool. These not only benefit the residents directly
> but also facilitate social interaction with friends and neighbours. In
> some parts of Australia, notably Queensland, use is made of verandas
> to provide outdoor living sheltered from the sun. Although very large,
> all encompassing roofs may be employed, a significant part of the
> space under them is open to the air and to the surroundings.
>
> The more recent suburbs, however display a disturbing trend, signified
> by the problematic design and layout of the dwellings. The dwelling
> now extends near to the boundary of the plot and, in consequence, near
> to adjoining dwellings. There is very little private amenity space to
> the rear of the dwelling, in extreme cases none at all. Houses are
> predominately single-storey, with only a proportion rising to 1.5 or
> two storeys. There is little in the way of balconies and verandas. The
> design is square of deep-plan and incorporates an integral double
> garage greatly reducing the scope for natural lighting and
> ventilation, windows are often small and tinted. Normally only one
> room provides an outlook to the front and surveillance of the street.
> While the disadvantages of suburban living still apply, the advantages
> referred to above have disappeared.
>
> This paper provides a quantitative analysis of this change to the
> morphology of the Australian suburb. Comparisons are made with
> selected examples in the USA and UK. The effects and possible causes
> of the change are discussed and remedies suggested."
>
>
> Cheers, Andrew
>
> -- 
> Be The Least You Can Be
> http://idletheory.info/
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