The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It includes designated parts of Greater London and the surrounding counties of Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey in the South East and East of England regions.^[1]

History[link]

The Metropolitan Green Belt was the first such area of protected open land to be mooted in the United Kingdom, by the Greater London Regional Planning Committee in 1935. The Green Belt (London and Home Counties) Act 1938 permitted local authorities around London to purchase land to be protected as open space and enter into covenants with landowners that open spaces would not be given over to development. The Town and Country Planning Act 1947 permitted local authorities to designate areas to be protected as part of the green belt within their development plans.^[2]

Designated area[link]

The areas designated as the Metropolitan Green Belt in 2009 were as follows. 19 of the 32 London boroughs have green belt land and at least some part of every district in Surrey and Hertfordshire is included.

References[link]

The city of Ottawa, located in the middle of the map, is surrounded by the Ottawa Greenbelt

A green belt or greenbelt is a policy and land use designation used in land use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighbouring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges which have a linear character and may run through an urban area instead of around it. In essence, a green belt is an invisible line encircling a certain area, preventing development of the area allowing wildlife to return and be established.

Purposes[link]

In those countries which have them, the stated objectives of green belt policy are to:

• Protect natural or semi-natural environments;
• Improve air quality within urban areas;
• Ensure that urban dwellers have access to countryside, with consequent educational and recreational opportunities; and
• Protect the unique character of rural communities that might otherwise be absorbed by expanding suburbs.

The green belt has many benefits for people:

• Walking, camping, and biking areas close to the cities and towns.
• Contiguous habitat network for wild plants, animals and wildlife.
• Cleaner air and water
• Better land use of areas within the bordering cities.

The effectiveness of green belts differs depending on location and country. They can often be eroded by urban rural fringe uses and sometimes, development 'jumps' over the green belt area, resulting in the creation of "satellite towns" which, although separated from the city by green belt, function more like suburbs than independent communities.

History[link]

The Old Testament outlines a proposal for a green belt around the Levite towns in the Land of Israel^[1] Moses Maimonides expounded that the greenbelt plan from the Old Testament referred to all towns in ancient Israel.^[2] In the 7th century, Muhammad established a green belt around Medina. He did this by prohibiting any further removal of trees in a 12-mile long strip around the city.^[3] In 1580 Elizabeth I of England banned new building in a 3-mile wide belt around the City of London in an attempt to stop the spread of plague. However, it was possible to buy dispensations which reduced the effectiveness of the proclamation.^[4]

In modern times, green belt policy was pioneered in the United Kingdom in the 1930s after pressure from the CPRE and various other organizations. There are fourteen green belt areas, in the UK covering 16,716 km², or 13% of England, and 164 km² of Scotland; for a detailed discussion of these, see Green belt (UK). Other notable examples are the Ottawa Greenbelt and Golden Horseshoe Greenbelt[2] in Ontario, Canada. Ottawa's 20,350 hectare greenbelt is managed by the National Capital Commission (NCC).^[5] The more general term in the U.S. is green space or greenspace, which may be a very small area such as a park.

The concept of "green belt" has evolved in recent years to encompass not only "Greenspace" but also "Greenstructure", taking into account all urban greenspaces, an important aspect of sustainable development in the 21st century. The European Commission's COST Action C11 (COST - European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is undertaking "Case studies in Greenstructure Planning" involving 15 European countries.

An act of the Swedish parliament from 1994 has declared a series of parks in Stockholm and the adjacent municipality of Solna to its north a "national city park" called Ekoparken (the "Eco park"; it stretches from the parks surrounding the royal palaces of Ulriksdal and Haga in Solna, through the Brunnsviken area, down to the former royal hunting grounds of North and South Djurgården).

Criticism[link]

The difference/contrarian interpretation of the green belt's effects/motivation (for example, suggested by economist Tim Harford [3]) is that a green belt is created by residents to preserve the bourgeois status quo of those already living within the zone, and especially the advantage of landlords who profit from a scarcity of housing (see above, "preserving the character of rural communities"). In this interpretation, the stated motivation and benefits of the green belt are well-intentioned (public health, environment), but these benefits accrue as intentioned or claimed (for example, critics such as Mark Pennington [4] claim that only a small fraction of the population ever sets foot on the green belt for leisure purposes,^{[citation needed]} and they claim that a green belt is not strongly causally linked to clean air and water). Rather, the ultimate result of the decision to green belt a city is to maintain the middle class status quo, [5] thus exacerbating high housing prices by concentrating demand within the zone and stifling competitive forces in general.

Another area of criticism comes from the fact that, since a greenbelt does not extend indefinitely outside a city, it might spur the growth of areas much further away from the city core than if it had not existed, thereby actually increasing urban sprawl.^[6] Examples commonly cited are the Ottawa suburbs of Kanata and Orleans, both of which are outside the city's greenbelt, and are currently undergoing explosive growth (see Greenbelt (Ottawa)). This can lead to other problems, as residents of these areas have further to commute to work (if they seek employment in city) and little access to public transport. It also means people will commute through the green belt, an area not designed to cope with high levels of transportation. Not only is the merit of a green belt apparently subverted, but the green belt may heighten the problem and make the city unsustainable^{[citation needed]}.

There are many examples whereby the actual effect of green belts is to act as a land reserve for future freeways and other highways. Examples include sections of the 407 highway north of Toronto and the Hunt Club Rd / Richmond Rd. south of Ottawa. Whether they are originally planned as such, or the result of a newer administration taking advantage of land that was left available by its predecessors is debatable.

In Britain, greenbelt barriers to urban expansion have been criticised as one of several protectionist political-economic barriers to housebuilding with negative effects on the supply, cost/prices, and quality of new homes. Critics argue that the greenbelts actually defeat their own stated objective of saving the countryside and open spaces. By preventing existing towns and cities from extending normally and organically, they result in more land-extensive housing developments further out – i.e., the establishment beyond the greenbelts of new communities with lower building densities, their own built infrastructure and other facilities, and greater dependence on cars and commuting, etc. Meanwhile, valuable urban green space and brownfield sites best suited to industry and commerce are lost in existing conurbations as more and more new housing is crammed into them.^[7]

Notable green belts[link]

Australia

• Adelaide's Central Business District is completely encircled by the Adelaide Parklands, as was initially planned in 1837.
• The Nillumbik Shire Council which is located approx. 30km (19 miles) north-east of Melbourne is considered as "The Green Wedge Shire" because of the agreement with the Victorian Government which prevents high-density infrastructure to be built.

Brazil

• The São Paulo City Green Belt Biosphere Reserve - GBBR, an integral part of the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve, was created in 1994 stemming from a people's movement that collected 150 thousand signatures. It extends throughout 73 municipalities including São Paulo metro and the Santos area. With approximately 17,000 km², it is inhabited by about 23 million people, corresponding to more than 10% of the country's total population in an area equivalent to 2 thousandth of the Brazilian territory. There are over 6,000 km² of forests and other Atlantic Forest ecosystems at the Reserve, one of the planet's most threatened biomes. In addition to a spectacular biological diversity, the GBBR's ecosystems render valuable ecosystem Services.

Canada

• Ottawa Greenbelt - Surrounds the Capital city of Ottawa
• Greenbelt (Golden Horseshoe), is a 7300 km² band of land that encompasses the rural and agricultural land surrounding the Greater Toronto Area and Niagara Peninsula, and parts of the Bruce Peninsula. Most of the land consists of the Oak Ridges Moraine, an environmentally sensitive land that is a major aquifer for the region, and the Niagara Escarpment, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. In an effort to restrain urban sprawl that has encroched on these lands, the Ontario government created the Greenbelt Act in February 2005 to protect this greenspace from all future development, with the exception of limited agricultural use.
• British Columbia - the Agricultural Land Reserve protects agricultural land throughout this mountainous province from urban development, including around Vancouver. This protection is strict and urban development of agricultural land is only allowed if no reasonable alternative exists. However, it does not protect non-agricultural land, particularly hillsides, leading to substantial, and highly visible, leapfrog-type hillside sprawl.
• Quebec - The Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Quebec asserts its mission, namely to keep a territory (the agricultural zones) that is favorable for the practice and the development of agricultural activities. In so doing, the commission safeguards the agricultural territory and helps make its protection a local priority. The agricultural zones cover an area of 63 000 square kilometres in 952 local municipalities.

Dominican Republic

• The Greater Santo Domingo has a Greenbelt (Santo Domingo Greenbelt) project surrounding the whole D.N. It is composed of the National botanical Garden, Mirador Del Norte, Mirador del Este, and other parks surrounding the area from its outer municipios. It has largely been affected by uncontrolled urbanization, but other parts remain unaffected.[6][7]

Mainland Europe

• European Green Belt
• Banjica Forest, Belgrade
• Stockholm Eco park
• German Green Belt
• Coulée verte du sud parisien
• Coulée verte du nord parisien
• Promenade plantée

New Zealand

• Dunedin's Town Belt is one of the world's oldest green belts, having been planned at the time of the city's rapid growth during the Otago Gold Rush of the 1860s. It surrounds the city centre on three sides (the fourth side being the city's harbour).

Pakistan

• Islamabad, often called the "green city," is known for its green belts found on most roadsides which are often decorated and filled with various flora.

Philippines

• Makati City's green belt is very green yet full of malls and modern structures.

Thailand

• Bangkok's Bang Krachao Green Area located inside the curve of Chao Phraya River is considered a green area with authority control over the urbanization. Today it is a popular spot for tourism and cycling. The area is located within the boarder of Bangkok Province and Samut Sakorn Province.

South Korea

• Seoul

United Kingdom

• The Metropolitan Green Belt (5,133 km²)
• The North West Green Belt (2,578 km²)
• South and West Yorkshire Green Belt (2,556 km²)
• West Midlands Green Belt (2,315 km²)

United States

• The U.S. states of Oregon, Washington and Tennessee require cities to establish urban growth boundaries (UGBs).
• Notable US cities which have adopted UGBs include Portland, Oregon; Twin Cities, Minnesota; Virginia Beach, Virginia; Lexington, Kentucky; Miami-Dade county.
• More than 20 cities in the San Francisco Bay Area have UGBs (see Greenbelt Alliance, a Bay Area organization that has been involved in establishing these boundaries).
• Staten Island Greenbelt
• Barton Creek Greenbelt, Austin
• Ann Arbor, Michigan is acquiring conservation easements on agricultural land around the city without the establishment of an urban growth boundary. While the city's initial plan did not include the participation of surrounding townships, at least four townships have participated directly or have initiated their own efforts to protect agricultural land surrounding the city.
• Boise Greenbelt, Boise, Idaho
• "The Jungle", Seattle
• Boston's Emerald Necklace is halfway between a green belt and a greenway, nearly ringing central Boston. The final link in the chain, the Dorchesterway, was never constructed.

See also[link]

	Environment portal
	Ecology portal
	Earth sciences portal
	Sustainable development portal

• Community separator
• Conservation movement
• Development Supported Agriculture
• Ecology
• Land use planning
• Greenway
• Prime farmland
• Sustainability
• Urban growth boundary
• Urban rural fringe
• Urban sprawl

References[link]

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2011)

Duke Special, real name Peter Wilson, is a songwriter and performer based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. A piano-based songwriter with a romantic style and a warm, distinctly accented voice, he has distinctive long dreadlocks, eyeliner and outfits he describes as "hobo chic". His live performances have a theatrical style inspired by Vaudeville and music hall, and often incorporate 78s played on an old-fashioned gramophone, or sound effects from a transistor radio. He is most often accompanied by percussionist "Temperance Society" Chip Bailey, who plays cheese graters and egg whisks, a Stumpf fiddle and a Shruti box, as well as the more typical drums and cymbals. Other musicians who perform with Wilson from time to time include Paul "Pilot" Wilkinson (guitar), Réa Curran (trumpet, backing vocals, accordion), Ben Castle (clarinet, saxophone), Ben Hales (bass guitar), Gareth Williams, "Professor" Ger Eaton (keyboards), Dan Donnelly (mandoline, backing vocals) and Serge Archibald III (saxophone, "ethereal background sounds", vibes).

His albums include Adventures in Gramophone (2005), Songs from the Deep Forest (2006),^[1] both of which were nominated for the Choice Music Prize, I Never Thought This Day Would Come (2008),^[2] Little Revolutions (2009), The Silent World of Hector Mann (2010) and Mother Courage and Her Children (2010).

Background[link]

Wilson was born in Lisburn and grew up in Coleraine, Downpatrick and Holywood with his mother, father and three sisters. Wilson's grandmother, Mary Groves, taught his mother and her brothers and sisters to play the piano. This tradition of playing the piano was passed on to Wilson's three sisters and eventually to him also. He attended Down High School, Downpatrick and later Sullivan Upper School in Holywood.

After leaving school and a brief stint with a community arts project in Swindon, England he returned home and played piano for Brian Houston (a Belfast songwriter influenced by Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Cash and Elvis) under whom Wilson apprenticed, picking up a hunger for performing and a knack of winning over an audience in the process. Several band mutations on the musical journey followed and saw Wilson front other acts composed of Belfast musicians but he was yet to hit his stride.

He currently resides in Belfast with his wife and family.

Solo work[link]

In 2002 he went solo, adopting the name Duke Special, and began building up a following as a live performer. He released three EPs on Medieval Haircut Records, the first two of which, Lucky Me and My Villain Heart, were collected as an album, Adventures in Gramophone, released by Hag Records in 2005. The album was nominated for the 2006 Choice Music Prize. In 2006 he signed to V2 Records and released a second album, Songs from the Deep Forest, which was nominated for the 2007 Choice Music Prize. He was nominated for three 2007 Meteor Music Awards, for best Irish male, best newcomer, and best album for Songs from the Deep Forest. A third album, I Never Thought This Day Would Come, was released in Ireland in October 2008 on Universal, who had acquired V2 in 2007.

He has supported acts such as Crowded House, Van Morrison and Snow Patrol, and in 2006 toured Ireland with the Beautiful South and Europe with the Divine Comedy. In 2007 he headlined a concert with the Ulster Orchestra at Belfast's Waterfront Hall, "Orchestral Manoevres". The concert was supported by Julie Feeney and Foy Vance, who sang on one of Duke Special's songs, "This Could Be My Last Day". 2007 also saw him perform at Greenbelt festival, Glastonbury, Guilfest, Summer Sundae, Haldern Festival and the Electric Picnic among others and support Bell X1 on 2 dates; in Malahide Castle, Dublin and also as part of the Live at the Marquee series of concerts in Cork. In 2007 he performed as part of the BBC Electric Proms, supporting former Kinks lead singer Ray Davies. In 2008 he won the Meteor Music Award for Best Irish Male.^[3]

In August 2008, Duke Special appeared in the Northern Ireland children's television show Sesame Tree with his band,^[4] having also written the theme music for the show.^[5] He also played on the O2 stage at Oxegen in 2009.^[6] Between September and December 2009 Duke Special and his band appeared on stage at the Royal National Theatre in London as part of a new production of Bertolt Brecht's play Mother Courage and Her Children, for which he wrote music for a number of songs. The production was directed by Deborah Warner and starred Fiona Shaw in the title role.

In January 2010 Wilson launched a campaign on Pledge Music (see Fan-funded music) whereby fans pledged for items to help fund the promotion and touring of his triple CD, The Stage, A Book & The Silver Screen^[7] (comprising Mother Courage and Her Children, The Silent World of Hector Mann and Huckleberry Finn).^[8]

On 11 September 2010 Duke Special played at the Last Night of the Proms for the BBC at Hillsborough Castle.^[9]

Duke Special presented a documentary on the life and songs of Belfast's Ruby Murray and released Duke Special Sings The Songs of Ruby Murray in January 2011.^[10]

In March 2011 Duke Special performed songs based on the photographs of Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen and Paul Strand at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. These songs were subsequently released in November 2011 as the album Under The Dark Cloth performed alongside The RTE Concert Orchestra, conducted by David Brophy, with leader Joanne Quigley and arranged for orchestra by Michael Keeney.^[11]

In July 2012 Duke Special will be appearing at Camp Bestival performing live sets in both the Big Top and in the Black Dahlia / Spiegel Tent - where he will also be debuting as a 78rpm record DJ as a guest of the Shellac Collective^[12].

Discography[link]

Early work[link]

• Time Is Right EP as Booley House (1996)
• Lemonade as Booley House (Contraflow, 1997)
• Bathroom Floor as Booley (Medieval Haircut/ICC, 1999)
• Garçon Pamplemousse as Benzine Headset (Medieval Haircut, 2001)

Albums[link]

• Adventures in Gramophone (Hag, 2005) (collects the EPs Lucky Me and My Villain Heart)
• Songs from the Deep Forest (Izumi - Vinyl / V2 - CD, 2006 / V2 Special Edition CD, 2007)^[13]
• Orchestral Manoeuvres In Belfast (V2, 2008)
• I Never Thought This Day Would Come (Universal, 2008)^[2]
• Little Revolutions (Reel to Reel Recordings, 2009)
• Mother Courage and Her Children (Reel to Reel Recordings, 2010)
• The Silent World of Hector Mann (Reel to Reel Recordings, 2010)
• Little Revolutions Two (Reel to Reel Recordings, 2011)
• Under The Dark Cloth (2011)
• Oh Pioneer (2012)

Extended plays[link]

• Lucky Me (Medieval Haircut Records, 2002)
• My Villain Heart (Medieval Haircut Records, 2004)
• Your Vandal (Hag Records, 2005)
• Huckleberry Finn (Reel to Reel Recordings, 2009)
• Duke Special Sings The Songs of Ruby Murray (Charity 3-Track EP, 2011)

Singles[link]

• "Freewheel" (Hag / Izumi Records, 2005)
• "Portrait" (V2, 2006)
• "Last Night I Nearly Died (But I Woke Up Just in Time)" (V2, 2006)
• "Wake Up Scarlett" (V2, 2006) (iTunes download only)
• "Freewheel" (V2, 2007) IRE #15
• "Last Night I Nearly Died (But I Woke Up Just in Time)" (V2, 2007)
• "Our Love Goes Deeper Than This" (V2, 2007) (featuring Neil Hannon and Romeo Stodart, download only)
• "No Cover Up" (V2, 2007)
• "Sweet Sweet Kisses" (Universal Music, 2008)

Other contributions[link]

• One (Myrrh, 2000) - "Peace Has Broken Out" - duet with Moya Brennan
• New Irish Hymns (Kingsway, 2001) / In Christ Alone (USA title - Worship Together, 2002) - backing vocals under real name Peter Wilson - Margaret Becker, Máire Brennan, Joanne Hogg
• Acoustic 07 (V2, 2007) - "This Could Be My Last Day"
• Ceol '09 - "Tochailt Uaighe go Róluath" (a version of "Digging an Early Grave" in the Irish language)
• Theatre production of Mother Courage and her Children 2009 at the National Theatre

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site
• Official Profile on MySpace
• V2 Records site
• Izumi Records site
• Duke Special interview, review and photos on Record Overplayed webzine
• Duke Special interview on twistedear.com
• 5 Nights at the Empire DVD review
• FREE Duke Special Session Download
• Duke Special PR in Ireland
• Duke Special review at Daily Music Guide