6 months ago

End the 'cheap to develop' option of urban sprawl building housing on valuable natural landscapes, as well as productive farming land. Urban sprawl effectively shifts the cost to the home owner in terms of longer and more expensive commutes, social dislocation from family and established communities, lack of important services and infrastructure.

Urban sprawl is just a lazy way of responding to the urgent need for more housing. It defers the cost of housing from the developer and places the burden on those that can least afford it. Urban sprawl causes irreplaceable loss of biodiversity and natural habitats and ignores the opportunities of working within the existing urban boundaries.

Opportunities include utilizing under-developed sites, existing transport and public infrastructure, building on established employment and commerce networks, and amplifying the existing urban fabric including our build heritage. The benefits of living within the existing urban boundaries are many, especially in terms of health and wellbeing, meaningful lives, and importantly connectedness and sense of place.

Make the places we have already better and be kind to the natural environment while we do it.