Agriburbia

[Tuesday Afternoon]

The key feature of an Agriburbia development, Redmond said, is to allow residents to be more in touch with the land and the food that comes from it. "Up till now, developers just focused on shelter," he said. "We want to address the human need of food the best we can. We believe agriculture is part of the infrastructure of a development."

Food production in developments may range from collectively owned orchards and vineyards, through to vegetable production - it would be fun to see suburban lawns being munched by goats too! Redmond also points out that these developments may be attractive for another reason - offering an immediate source of revenue in the form of food production as houses are being built.

Of course food is just one piece of the sustainability pie though - and the Agriburbia website (which could do with a little love in general) is short on details of energy efficiency measures or renewable energy generation that you'd expect from an eco-development. Similarly, the main drawback of allowing space in housing developments, besides physical footprint, is the distance it takes to travel anywhere. I'd hope (and this may very well be the case), that Agriburbia takes consideration of residents' sustainable transport needs, and facilitating telecommuting/co-working as part of the bigger puzzle. But certainly an interesting concept, and one to watch.

more at link:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/08/agriburbia-sustainable-suburbs.php