MGB Project Blog

9 Oct 2016

Green belt does not relieve pressure on London’s urban green spaces, by Meredith Whitten

The green belt policy has achieved a “taken-for-granted” status and is considered “unassailable,” “politically untouchable” and “one of the UK’s most renowned planning policies.” Yet, only 22 percent of London is designated as green belt – and only a mere 7 percent of the Metropolitan Green Belt lies within Greater London. Meredith Whitten  about common misconceptions regarding London's green belt. 

Click here to read the blog. 

17 June 2016 

Invisible green belts in Beijing:  From romantic landscape to businesses opportunity, by Yimin Zhao

The green belt may be a British idea imported to China but the concept has worked out to be very different in practice. In the context of Beijing’s urbanisation, it turns out that the local state uses the ecological discourse of the green belt to legitimate its land businesses. Despite the differences, Yimin Zhao writes about the lessons from China for Britain.

Click here to read the blog.

14 April 2016

Workshop 5: Landscape planning

Our fifth workshop was on the inevitable question of landscape enhancement. We identified three broad areas to consider if we want to make the most of the landscapes in the Metropolitan Green Belt.

Click here to read our blog summarising the discussion.

10 March 2016

Workshop 4: Infrastructure and land value

Our fourth workshop was particularly timely given various announcements on infrastructure, most recently the Budget announcement on Crossrail 2. We discussed several ways in which transportation can be improved. 

Click here to read our blog summarising the discussion.

4 March 2016: Key Facts on the Metropolitan Green Belt

What are some of key things you need to know about the Green Belt? Take a look at our key facts and then our quiz to test your knowledge of the Metropolitan Green Belt at large. 

Click here to read the key facts, and click here to take our quiz.

11 February 2016

Workshop 3: Garden cities & urban extensions

In our third workshop we explored the role of green belts in garden cities. We took inspiration from Ebenezer Howard's Garden Cities of To-morrow. We also discussed urban extensions, as recommended by Town & Country Planning Association.

Click here to read our blog summarising the discussion.

28 January 2016

Workshop 2: Methods of review and their outcomes

For our second workshop, we wanted to look at more practical ways of understanding planning in the green belt. The objective of this workshop was to look at how green belt reviews are created and how they can influence change in the Metropolitan Green Belt.

Click here to read our blog summarising the discussion.

21 January 2016

Workshop 1: Purpose and means

What's in a name? Our first workshop exploring purposes of the Metropolitican Green Belt was held on 21 January. The goals of this workshop were to question the purposes of the Green Belt and to look at other ways we might achieve these purposes.

Click here to read our blog summarising the discussion.

3 December 2015

Official launch event

On 3 December we hosted the official launch of the 21st Century Metropolitan Green Belt project. A number of opinion formers were present - some in favour of the conservation of the Belt, others questioning its utility. There was general agreement that now is an important time to debate the Metropolitan Green Belt.

Click here to read our blog summarising the discussion.