Greenbelts

DEFINITION: Tracts of open space preserved to control urban growth patterns

Greenbelts provide numerous environmental, social, and economic benefits to the areas that surround them.

Throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, developed nations have urbanized at ever-increasing rates. As a result of the automobile, the United States and Canada in particular have been subjected to uncontrolled growth, resulting in the phenomenon referred to as urban sprawl. As development moves outward from a central city, prime agricultural and forested lands are converted to more intensive uses, resulting in a significant loss of wildlife and plant habitats. This decrease in natural areas also leads to a subsequent degradation of air and water quality.

The concept of creating greenbelts, or greenways, developed as a grassroots response to address these problems. With limited public funds for open-space preservation, greenbelt proponents have focused attention on “leftover” or abandoned lands. These parcels are often found along ridgelines and streams, areas that are too steep or too wet for development. Abandoned railroad and utility rights-of-way have become important potential resources as well. These areas all have common physical characteristics: They are long, thin tracts of land that relate to the topography, threading through land more suitable for development.

Greenbelts, as linear open-space corridors, provide several important benefits. First, they enable urban areas to retain their biodiversity. This is important for maintaining plant and animal habitats, as well as for establishing sources of protection for air and water quality. The natural corridors provide migration routes for species interchange. This movement of plants and wildlife along natural pathways is particularly significant, since it may determine the ability of some species to survive in these areas. Second, the retention of undeveloped, vegetated lands allows to be returned naturally to the water table, minimizing surface runoff, erosion, and subsequent stream sedimentation.

Greenbelts offer many recreational opportunities as well. Most greenbelts include systems of trails that may link larger, more intensive recreational facilities or provide people with access to natural amenities from urban areas. By connecting different sorts of facilities, in essence creating a system or network of urban parks, greenbelts increase the aggregate benefit to the community. Because of the linear nature of greenbelts, they have more edge area than do other kinds of parks or open spaces. This characteristic maximizes the available open space and provides potential access to greater numbers of people.

The economic benefits of greenbelts are also significant. As leftover or derelict lands, suitable parcels may be purchased relatively inexpensively; thus, the minimum expenditure is often required for the development of a greenbelt system. In addition, the aesthetic improvement of the green edge provided by a greenbelt often enhances the value of adjacent properties.

Bibliography

Amati, Marco, ed. Urban Green Belts in the Twenty-first Century. Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2008.

Hough, Michael. Cities and Natural Process: A Basis for Sustainability. 2d ed. New York: Routledge, 2004.

Loog, Kathryn. "Global Biodiversity: Why the Proposed Changes to Ontario Greenbelt Matter." The Conversation, 20 Aug. 2023, theconversation.com/global-biodiversity-why-the-proposed-changes-to-ontarios-greenbelt-matter-211719. Accessed 17 July 2024.

Pourtaherian, Parnian and Jochen A.G. Jaeger. "How Effective Are Greenbelts at Mitigating Urban Sprawl? A Comparative Study of 60 European Cities." Landscape and Urban Planning, vol. 227, Nov. 2022, doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2022.104532. Accessed 17 July 2024.