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The Ecological Types of Space That We Need

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Constantinos A. Doxiadis
Constantinos A. Doxiadis
Affiliation:
Architect-planner, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Doxiadis Associates International Consultants on Development and Ekistics, and President, Athens Center of Ekistics, 24 Stratiotikou Syndesmou Street, Athens 136, Greece.
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Extract

What we need now is to find the balance required between all types of space from the ecological point of view. A great danger for food production is being created by the expanding human settlements. As soon as commercial forms of energy and machines enter our settlements, they start to expand at a much greater rate than does the growth of the settlement's propulation and economy. As the growing settlements need to add a lot of industry and many big buildings, their expansion is not directed towards mountainous areas but occurs chiefly on the plains. It is here that the best soils usually lie: thus urban growth means profligate elimination of agricultural land.

This is not an immediate problem for tomorrow, in terms of days; but it is a very big problem in terms of years and decades, as agricultural land covers a very small percentage of the total global surface and we cannot afford to lose it. The danger is very great and we must act quickly if we are to avoid it.

This need for action has led me to classify twelve zones of land-use with the ultimate goal of reaching a Global Ecological Balance (G.E.B.) and the immediate goals of saving land for agriculture and food production, of conserving the environment, and of giving a boost to the dying flora and fauna.

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 2 , Issue 1 , Spring 1975 , pp. 3 - 13
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1975

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References

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