green belt - Notable Greenbelts

In the UK, a planning measure in which areas are designated free from development to prevent urban sprawl encroaching into the countryside, and the merging of neighbouring towns. It surrounds existing major urban areas, not necessarily continuously. It provides open land for recreation, and protects agricultural land. The concept is incorporated into garden cities and new towns.

A Green Belt or Greenbelt is a policy or land use designation used in land use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighbouring urban areas.

In those countries which have them, development in Green Belt areas is heavily restricted. The objectives of Green Belt policy are to:

protect natural or semi natural environments;

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.

Green Belt policy was pioneered in the United Kingdom, where there are fourteen Green Belt areas, 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 and Golden Horseshoe, Green Belts in Ontario, Canada.

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.

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";

Notable Greenbelts

Australia

Melbourne has one of the largest urban footprints in relation to its population density.

Canada

Ottawa Greenbelt - Surrounds the Capital city of Ottawa Toronto Greenbelt (Golden Horseshoe), is a band of land stretching for a few hundred km's across the north of the city of Toronto. Vancouver, British Columbia

New Zealand

Dunedin's green belt is one of the world's oldest, having been planned at the time of the city's rapid growth during the Otago Gold Rush of the 1860s.

United Kingdom (see Green Belt (UK))

The London Metropolitan Green Belt (5,133 km²) The North West Green Belt (2,578 km²) South and West Yorkshire Green Belt (2556 km²) West Midlands Green Belt (2315 km²)

United States

The U.S. states of Oregon, Washington and Tennessee require cities to establish urban growth boundary.

Anchorage, Alaska has extensive greenbelts throughout the city, complete with recreation trails for walking, running, biking, and for groomed nordic skiing in the winter.