The need for better planning

There is little doubt that the urban population will continue to grow at an increasing rate in most countries of the world and buildings and infrastructure to accommodate this will use up more and more land. At the same time this population will need to be provided with food, most of which originates from agricultural production on the land. Land used for buildings and other parts of the infrastructure cannot be used to produce food. Currently, therefore, we have the situation in which two of the principal needs of the world population are becoming increasingly incompatible.

To date there are very few countries that have been forward looking enough to address this situation. There has been too much of a short term approach and too little thought given to what is likely to happen in a decade or so ahead. Most countries have a planning strategy when it comes to building on land but few have considered the economical, ecological or social consequences of sealing land by buildings. It is time that much more attention is given to how land is used and decisions made on the basis only of well informed information on the future needs for that land. A rational land use planning approach to support the sustainable management of soil resources is essential.

Good quality land is now in very short supply around the world. It needs to be protected and not sealed under buildings and other parts of the infrastructure. Careful thought needs to be given to the accommodation of people which avoids incursion on land that may be needed for other purposes in the future. It is a complex problem to resolve but if it is not solved then major, even catastrophic, problems will arise in future with respect to feeding the world population. Such is the scale of the problem that it needs to be addressed in the very near future!