Prince Charles gets to build an eco town
If you follow progressive green news, you'll find a lot of stuff happening in England.And you can't get more English than an eco town built by Prince Charles. A developer called Red Tree, along with the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment, have been given permission to build a brand spankin' new town in South Devon, England.
The new settlement, called Sherford, will be constructed over the next year and hold 12, 000 citizens in what's being branded as Britain's greenest town.
How green? Think about all of the urban eco ideas you've heard of and put them in one impressively sustainable town plan.
Cars will be banned in some areas, a huge 390ft wind turbine will tower over a park and a full half of energy needs will be met by renewable sources like wind and solar energy. Want more green? Construction materials will be mostly found within a 50 mile radius, green roofs will be the norm and you'll be able to walk between your home, work, and shopping. Or you could ride the bicycle that comes with every home.
It's not all sunshine power and happy citizens, however. Sherford has generated its own share of anger (as have the 10 other new eco-towns being built across the United Kingdom). Critics have complained about the large area of pretty countryside that will be covered in concrete and the wind turbine threatens to block the view of a really old hill fort. But still - even the bicycle in every home sounds awesome!
I haven't come across many projects like this in North America (maybe I'm not looking hard enough). I'm hoping these ideas are like British bands that sound amazing, but take a while to become popular on this side of the pond. Once these larger-scale ideas are tried out here, I can look forward to getting telling everyone I already thought eco-towns were awesome, like, years ago.
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