Groupe Chronos

The economic transition from Fordism to Post-Fordism has led to a massive industrial restructuring in Europe during the last 30 years. One of the most pronounced physical consequences has been the changing fate of industrial areas. Those with a relative central location, not too far from the core of city regions have generally managed the transition well - on the one hand, some have said goodbye to heavy manufacturing, on the other, some have welcomed service firms and knowledge intensive industries. However, the situation is rather different for industrial areas located further away. Often, the result is urban wastelands dominated by derelict buildings and neglected by decision makers.

The development of these areas poses a challenging task for urban planners, but perhaps part of the solution can be found in the countryside. It becomes increasingly attractive to place traditionally "rural-functions" close to urban agglomerations. Two examples follow.

Food production has always been centred in the countryside due to - among other things - the smell from cattle and pig dung. This will no longer be a problem if a Danish test facility turns out successfully: Pig City is a combined pig breeding facility and tomato farm where the heat and manure from the pigs in the ground floor are used for growing the tomato plants upstairs. The result is no emitted CO2 and no smell nuisances making areas close to the market the optimal location for such facilities due to a limited transport distance (other examples of urban farming here).

Source : Realdania www.fremtidsgaarde.dk

Another type of facility mainly located in rural areas today is biogas plants. These plants are often of vast size, easily spanning over more than 10 hectares. Locating such facilities at the urban fringe will allow them to easily obtain food and solid waste from the city as well as industrial waste from farming. San Jose is one of the cities establishing a large urban biogas plant near the city centre. Located in the middle of Silicon Valley, the new biogas plant will be located less than 3 kilometres away from the headquarter of the IT giant Cisco Systems.

Bringing functions like these into the urban fringe might achieve several goals whereof utilising derelict areas and reducing CO2-emissions are the most important. However, it is a Nimby* issue for many urban dwellers (Europe Finds Clean Energy in Trash, but U.S. Lags) and planning laws do often not allow such a mix of rural and urban activities. A first step for policymakers is therefore to ensure that the adequate tools are available to urban planners.

* Not In My Backyard