The Uk

[madpenguin]

Just build huge 1 mile high super towers, in London. I can remember when these idea's were being considered in the 1970's. Completely self sustaining, with accomodation, hotels, shops, offices, bars and restaurants. You would commute within the tower to get to work.

You don't even need to do that, I'm living on the Netherlands at the moment and they rarely seem to build above 6-8 floors for residential property but they do it frequently, and they seem to have enough apartments to go around, I think the problem in Britain is that people are addicted to having a house with a garden, and they make the walls/floors too thin. I have just ruined 3 masonry drill bits in a row putting up one light fitting, my friends have told me apparently over here you need a good hammer drill and the toughest drill bits you can afford.

Rarely hear the neighbors upstairs or downstairs even when they have parties

[MarkG]

Just build huge 1 mile high super towers, in London. I can remember when these idea's were being considered in the 1970's. Completely self sustaining, with accomodation, hotels, shops, offices, bars and restaurants. You would commute within the tower to get to work.

Some of us have read Judge Dredd, thanks .

[Executive Sadman]

Yes but how many acres of land per year does it take to feed someone a good basic diet? And remember a lot of those acres are already like to be built on/un-farm-able.

Depends what they eat. Potatoes i heard its about 1/10th of an acre. If they want roast beef on top of that every week its 600 acres.

Meat is HUGELY land hungry.

[AteMoose]

Your average older council house has enough land to be self sufficient, 1/4 of an acre for a family of 4, or 1/2 an acre if you want more variety.... I am growing quite a bit in just a few pots in the back yard..

http://thesietch.org...lf-sufficiency/

Edited July 3, 2011 by AteMoose

[tahoma]

Depends what they eat. Potatoes i heard its about 1/10th of an acre. If they want roast beef on top of that every week its 600 acres.

Meat is HUGELY land hungry.

I can believe the Potato stat. I've got probably half a ton of the little beasts growing 'out back. They don't take much room, although you need to move where you plant them each year if you want to avoid blight.

Meat? 600 acres? Keep a bloody pig or two, one big piggy would produce enough meat for a person to eat every week for at least 6 months.

Did a vegetarian give you the 600 acres figure?

[thod]

I think for a decent sized home and garden you need at least a 1/2 acre plot (100x200 feet)

There is a good reason all those old towns have the houses packed together so tightly. Everywhere you went, you walked. Thus the best location is one within walking distance of all the services. Living on a large plot means living out of town and that means a car. Since oil is becoming scarcer, you could easily end up sticking the nation with a load of homes that are unusable due to distance.

[MarkG]

Living on a large plot means living out of town and that means a car. Since oil is becoming scarcer, you could easily end up sticking the nation with a load of homes that are unusable due to distance.

Again, if you don't have cheap energy to drive to work, you don't have a job to go to because the whole of modern society will collapse.

[Ah-so]

Did a vegetarian give you the 600 acres figure?

[Riedquat]

I suppose that, given these figures, we can pat ourselves on the back for having a country that only appears moderately overcrowded, with roads that will still usually get you there faster than walking.

It's clear as day though that the best quality of life requires a population density quite a bit lower than the UK's. Particularly when you need most of the place to have a density less than average to provide food and simply that their existance makes life so much better than seeing houses wherever you go, even if they are a few hundred feet apart.

[ken_ichikawa]

Some of us have read Judge Dredd, thanks .

Its funny as to why British people can't live in highrise. When many Asians manage to do it without them turning bad.... in fact it is even desirable....

[thod]

Its funny as to why British people can't live in highrise. When many Asians manage to do it without them turning bad.... in fact it is even desirable....

We can't have nasty foreigners bringing their nasty ways of living over to here. That would never do. They'll have us all living like ants. Well I for one have no intent of become Asian.

[Venger]

That house in the first pic looks awful. Rather you clean the windows, pay for the heating and do long commuting than me. So glad we don't live in a country with all the houses like those in the second pic. It's been bad enough watching so many mansions being built over the last 12 years on plots which could have a run of 3 or 4 houses

Buy less crap to go in houses. We need a many more well built and designed small houses built, and fewer mansions.

Edited July 3, 2011 by Venger

[iamdamosuzuki]

Its funny as to why British people can't live in highrise. When many Asians manage to do it without them turning bad.... in fact it is even desirable....

I'm in Scotchland, so I'm alright, Jack. However, I've got a semi detached occupying approx 20 * 8m = 140m2 or 65 * 26.5 feet, and I'd have to say it's ample (actually more than ample) for a family of 4. And it's got a garden. I don't know where some of these ideas about having a massive plot come from.

[iamdamosuzuki]

Its funny as to why British people can't live in highrise. When many Asians manage to do it without them turning bad.... in fact it is even desirable....

For me a few reasons;

Noise. Thy're all Jerry built crap round here.

Never want to live anywhere you require a lift. This tends to equate (in the UK) to monumental factors fees. Often higher than the council tax.

No chance of a garden.

Isolation.

I don't like it at all, and wouldn't live in a high rise unless I absolutely had to.

[scottbeard]

Asia and Africa can still feed themselves. Well, they could if it wasnt for Monsanto et al. Once the pound is shown to have no clothes, WE STARVE. We dont even produce 2/3 of food needs anymore, let alone energy needs, and yet we import MORE people, worsening the trade balance with every month that goes by.

1. What do you mean, the pound has no clothes?? We have lot of people whose work can be taxed in the UK.

2. Even if the pound tanks, we have 62 (or 85 or whatever) million people - do you not think they could be put to use making things other countries would buy if we lost the banks and brought back the factories?

3. Suppose you're right, and 1/3 of the country are starving. Would all the immigrants stay? No.

So I can't see this scenario playing out.

[kzb]

I'm in Scotchland, so I'm alright, Jack. However, I've got a semi detached occupying approx 20 * 8m = 140m2 or 65 * 26.5 feet, and I'd have to say it's ample (actually more than ample) for a family of 4. And it's got a garden. I don't know where some of these ideas about having a massive plot come from.

Went up to the Scottish borders region the other week : at 0830 a.m. on a weekday I saw precisely three other vehicles on the road on my 8-mile journey from my hotel to where I was going.

Last week, I was in central London and it took me an hour to walk a mile (due to all the people in the way).

Everyone wants to live in the London area, and it would be quite possible to achieve this. The entire UK population could fit into Greater London at a density of 25 sq metres per person. That is a square just over 16 feet on a side. Should be possible given plenty of high-rise accommodation.

After all, Manhattan has a population density of 36.5 sq m per person, and they manage to have parks. So 25 sq m per person is definitely achievable.

This is where we are headed with current demographics. Maybe it's time to give some investment and provide high level jobs in the North ??

[iamdamosuzuki]

Went up to the Scottish borders region the other week : at 0830 a.m. on a weekday I saw precisely three other vehicles on the road on my 8-mile journey from my hotel to where I was going.

Last week, I was in central London and it took me an hour to walk a mile (due to all the people in the way).

Everyone wants to live in the London area, and it would be quite possible to achieve this. The entire UK population could fit into Greater London at a density of 25 sq metres per person. That is a square just over 16 feet on a side. Should be possible given plenty of high-rise accommodation.

After all, Manhattan has a population density of 36.5 sq m per person, and they manage to have parks. So 25 sq m per person is definitely achievable.

This is where we are headed with current demographics. Maybe it's time to give some investment and provide high level jobs in the North ??

I'd hope so. Pretending to enjoy the slavebox lifestyle because 'it's so vibrant and you can see a play in the west end anytime' isn't for me

[Thane Tasker]

Get ready to start hearing more and more about euthanasia of the elderly, and you'll all turn on them won't you, the very people who worked all their lives and who brought us up, what a greedy morally corrupt land we've become.

Enjoy the NWO serfs

[Chuffy Chuffnell]

I'd hope so. Pretending to enjoy the slavebox lifestyle because 'it's so vibrant and you can see a play in the west end anytime' isn't for me

Indeed. I love London, but would never live there, unless I was earning a considerable income and could afford it and all it has to offer. Thing is, much of England is within 3 hours of central London by train, so it's hardly inaccessible. If I want to see a West End show I'll just pop into London. May have to stay overnight. Book the train and hotel in advance and it's not expensive at all. Certainly cheaper than living and commuting within the capital. Don't know why people bother. Only a tiny % make it rich. The others end up being debt slaves, rattling underground in a sweaty tube, returning "home" to a slavebox. No thanks.

[Riedquat]

That house in the first pic looks awful. Rather you clean the windows, pay for the heating and do long commuting than me. So glad we don't live in a country with all the houses like those in the second pic. It's been bad enough watching so many mansions being built over the last 12 years on plots which could have a run of 3 or 4 houses

Buy less crap to go in houses. We need a many more well built and designed small houses built, and fewer mansions.

It's been just as bad seeing so many jammed into plots that shouldn't have that many houses on them - or at least not in that way. Somehow lots of modern builds manage to be both tiny and really wasteful of space.

re: later posts, agree about London. A great place to visit for a couple of days but whenever I've been there for any longer I can't wait to get out of it. What it has to offer is only stuff that I want occasionally and wouldn't make up for living somewhere so crowded (at least it's easy to get out of Stockport and off to somewhere pleasant).

Edited July 4, 2011 by Riedquat

[Ethel]

I'm just very grateful I was born in the UK and not Somalia.

[allfiredup]

Its funny as to why British people can't live in highrise. When many Asians manage to do it without them turning bad.... in fact it is even desirable....

You need to look at the "types" of British people that live in them though.

[Djini]

Just build huge 1 mile high super towers, in London. I can remember when these idea's were being considered in the 1970's. Completely self sustaining, with accomodation, hotels, shops, offices, bars and restaurants. You would commute within the tower to get to work.

Great, until some fanatic flies a plane into it.

[bmf]

I'm just very grateful I was born in the UK and not Somalia.

Yes - that's a great point. We should all let the whole situation in the UK get more and more of a mess until we get to the current level in Somalia. Then once that happens we can complain about it. I'm sure this course of action will produce the best results for all concerned.

[Executive Sadman]

I can believe the Potato stat. I've got probably half a ton of the little beasts growing 'out back. They don't take much room, although you need to move where you plant them each year if you want to avoid blight.

Meat? 600 acres? Keep a bloody pig or two, one big piggy would produce enough meat for a person to eat every week for at least 6 months.

Did a vegetarian give you the 600 acres figure?

No, internet forum (which i guess could mean a veggie) i'll try digging it out.