I'm not being negative but...
Yesterday Radio 4 carried a little publicised Documentary on the work of the Economist/Philospher EF Schumacher author of "Small is Beautiful".
Looking at these grand proposals, they look great seen in two dimensions from a considerable distance away.
It's amazing what archetects can dream up between real projects. Look closely at the Machester proposal and you see a lot of warehousing /office accom etc. I bet Manchester has a lot of this already.
Non Space on a big scale: where the environmental impact of a major airport does not effect the commercial activity too badly - A way of moneterising a area commercially that would not really be a place where people would want to live.
Is there housing at the edge ? - I cannot tell. - The whole thing reminds me of those "Intergalactic Space Cities on the Moon" , beloved of Dan Dare Si Fi of the nineteen 50's. OK there are; as we have seen, Airport Cities - But the Question is are they thriving ? - The precepts that we in the West, have held as given; since WWII, e.g. cheap energy are no longer true.
The assumptions that underpin developement like this, no longer apply in the UK - The systemic lack of finance for the forseeable future, fuel costs etc mean that grand projects like this will remain a planners dream.
CAT III
(Wannabee route developement manager at BHX)
Last edited by Guest 112233; 26th Jun 2011 at 09:23.
Reason: EF not EM