Rashid's Blog: A Place for Inquisitive Souls

Portland Urban Growth Boundary / Portland Metro via regional governments.org

Urban growth boundaries are held up as one of the most effective tools for limiting sprawl. But do they actually work to constrain unplanned development? Three urban growth boundaries — in Portland, Oregon; King County, Washington; and Denver, Colorado — were examined in a session at the American Planning Association (APA) conference in Seattle. A few interesting points came out of the discussion: growth boundaries are flexible and constantly being renegotiated. When they succeed, it’s because there is widespread political support for limiting growth and directing it to urban centers. Redevelopment and infill development in the cores relieve pressure on the outer boundaries, and offering incentives to those outside the boundary to limit development can work.

Portland’s Bipartisan Boundary Holds

Ted Reid, a planner with Portland city government, explained how Oregon became the first state to adopt urban growth…

By Sharon St Joan

The water is not deep at Pichavaram, maybe two or three feet. It is dark green. Waterways run between the islands of mangrove trees. Pichavaram lies along the coast of the Bay of Bengal, in south India.

In February, 2015, our rowboat sailed quietly along the waterways which came together, parted, divided again. The water rippled peacefully.

Beautiful great egrets landed on the mangrove trees, taking off and circling, then returning. In the shadows, a little yellow bittern waited, perched on a mangrove root near the water’s edge, half-concealed behind the leaves and branches, watching hopefully for his dinner to swim by.

When cyclones come, the mangrove roots, which sink deep into the mud below the water, protect the mangrove forest from destruction and the land from erosion. Along one side, the mangrove trees of Pichavaram have been cleared to make way for grazing goats. This…

Programme for upcoming ‘Contested Spaces of Citizenship’ Postgraduate Conference on Wednesday 29th April 2015 at Durham University, with Engin F. Isin as the key-note speaker. All those planning to attend should email g.d.m.maestri@durham.ac.uk to confirm.