Milton Keynes: A case study of urban sustainability?

Milton Keynes is often an over used case study in geography but I feel it highlights some of the issues in the sustainability debate. Milton Keynes was part of the British New Towns Programme, located between London and Birmingham to accommodate urban sprawl. Both green field and brownfield sites were used, and it became a success in demographic and economic terms and has become a major employment node.

Key features:

• All economic and social activities such as jobs and leisure opportunities are deliberately dispersed throughout the town.
• Housing is deliberately mixed to encourage social interaction.
• Car orientated city, US style grid road system to reduce congestion.
• Nearly a quarter of Milton Keynes is parkland.

These are just some of the key features of the town, sustainability was not the intention behind this project but raised some issues when planning sustainable cities and towns.

There is a heavy ecological footprint in terms of energy consumption. The strategy to disperse activities meant that there was an overall low development density, but as a result public transport is not a viable option. Future expansion will consume 1800 hectares of green land but will be built to higher energy standards. Promotion of biodiversity is a key part of parks and watercourse management. Parks drain run off into a system of 13 balancing lakes, designed to hold rain water and to release later into the river system to reduce flood risk. Rising house prices, Milton Keynes is one of the most expensive areas in  the UK outside of London, demands for affordable homes have been neglected by developers. There is also a growing degree of exclusion as a result. More information can be found at: http://www.geographyteachingtoday.org.uk/images/text/FW_LL_Milton_Keynes_article.pdf

This document illustrates how the ecological footprint can be taught in school.

I'll do the Chattanooga case study tomorrow, so not to overload you with information but think about what the inputs and outputs of Milton Keynes' ecological footprint are?