More or less: Food for thought

The compact city model is currently favoured as that most likely to support sustainable development. Its major benefit in relation to environmental sustainability is the reduction in travelling distances and hence transport, due to compaction and mixed-use development. We see Continuous Productive Urban Landscapes (CPULs) complementing compaction, by including the major contribution urban food production can make towards environmental sustainabilty. Furthermore, we think that this combination will create a new kind of city, one with a richness of associations and experiences, to date found either in the city or the countryside.The CPUL model challenges the notion that all brownfield sites should be built upon, but does not challenge the principle that all land should be used to maximise its sustainable return.