Re-Defining Exurbia

Greybelts: The answer may lie in thinking big

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The new Government has pledged to deliver 1.5 million homes over the next five years, that’s 300,000 homes per year, a welcome and ambitious commitment. As part of the solution the government has released land from the Greenbelt, creating a newly defined ‘greybelt’ to encourage development. Knight Frank has calculated that circa 100-200,000 homes could be built on greybelt sites across the UK, 10% of the total homes committed to by the government.

The government’s release of greybelt land proposes a common-sense approach to edge of city planning by focusing housing delivery on areas that are previously developed. Can we use this logical starting point and stretch it a bit further?

For example, disparate development of car parks cannot guarantee significant levels of housing delivery. If taken at face value it will lead to piecemeal development of isolated sites. However, the common-sense approach to the policy might be amplified to combine more land to deliver more comprehensive development, one that contributes more significantly to housing targets.

As the industry commentary on greybelt development has pointed out, there is a financial burden that smaller sites will face including the challenge to deliver 50% affordable housing (albeit viability tested) and overcome potential site-specific costs. Decontamination, sustainable transport and infrastructure costs may well tip the balance away from development. We cannot after all repeat the car dependency and high infrastructure model of suburbia.

The answer may lie in thinking big.

3 Mayfield Park General SEW Jarrell Goh 3

Mayfield Park, Manchester, UK

This is not just a question of how we develop the grey belt, but how we grow the edge of city condition. The answer has to start with a comprehensive approach that combines the greybelt, greenbelt and previously developed land. There is an opportunity to create a city edge that is purposeful, rather than the current arbitrary threshold imposed by the green belt to stop urban sprawl.

That said, a larger more purpose driven development must rise to the challenges of our times – balancing climate concerns with the need to create desirable places to live.

This will require investment in transport and climate resilience alongside a focus on genuine mixed use led placemaking. The starting point may well be to expand existing conurbations on the city edge, ones that are already well connected, growing these around the city threshold to create places people actively want to live.

With urban brownfield sites thinning out it is time to consider what lies beyond suburbia. Maybe it is a newly defined ‘exurbia’, an area that has historically mixed rural life with good connections to the city.

To quote Ebenezer Howard, the creator of the Garden Suburb ‘Town and country must be married and out of this joyous union will spring a new hope, a new life, a new civilization.’ (1898). Maybe we can update the Garden Suburb to a newly defined Exurbia

Greener than Green

If a comprehensive approach to marry town and country is taken we have the opportunity to turn concrete and poorly performing green spaces into verdant and thriving contributions to local ecology. Ironically, the greybelt can provide greater contributions to ecosystems and biodiversity than the green belt itself which actually offers relatively muted environmental contributions given its size.

If we expand on this further, a nature led approach can define the character of this new type of neighbourhood, balancing the density of the ‘town’ with the ecology of ‘Country’ Overlaying new development with an enhanced green and blue infrastructure will create a whole new identity place. One embedded in a coherent, verdant, sustainable, attractive and desirable place that people choose to live. A verdant edge to our cities that captures the imagination.

A new ‘ex-urban’ development approach that balances transport needs, climate change response, density and the provision of affordable housing. Rebalancing the equation by creating value through identity, a place people want to live in that has the potential to deliver more homes for more people.