Building in Arcadia; The case for well-designed rural development

摘要

In the context of England's acute housing shortage, this book presents a reasoned, yet impassioned and practical argument identifying the key barriers to rural development. The English's romantic perception of the countryside prevents them from objectively distinguishing the key elements of rural areas. A number of additional issues intervene as well. Firstly if national planning policy requires that we recognise the beauty of the countryside, we need to be able to distinguish between genuine countryside and areas that are just green and in some cases, actually detrimental to the balance of nature. This shift from all countryside being protected for its own sake to recognising its intrinsic character and beauty, has been allowed for in national planning policy since 2012. Secondly, the urban and rural are often perceived as two mutually exclusive poles, rather than a spectrum of gradual shift. Thirdly there is often a general resistance to development, partly as a response to poor quality construction and design. Fourthly, local authorities tend to further exacerbate the rural issue with superficial requirements to maintain 'character and appearance', rather than a deeper understanding of what this constitutes, and much of it not physical. Fifthly, an Anglo-Saxon attitude across towns in Great Britain, North America, and Australia, is biased towards lower density and individual detached houses, whereas the opposite predominates in Europe and South America. There, a small town of only a few thousand people will often have many 3-6 storey buildings.