Land at the Centre

by JohnC.Holliday (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  1986

  $6.50

  This book looks at the issue of land in the late 20th century, discussing issues such as land reform, social development and environmental issues, and the possible solutions to the problems that we face. We live in time of unprecedented global change, according to the author, and the impact on the environment, the economy and society is severe and potentially disruptive, but change also brings new opportunities. To ensure our future well-being, careful consideration needs to be given to all the issues involved and their inter-relationship. Land is accorded little importance in the advanced industrial countries, although it is frequently acknowledged as crucial in developing ones. Yet in both, land is the basic resource and, as the author points out, attitudes towards it can either encourage development or stand in its way. As Britain and other developed countries move towards a post-industrial society, are land policies based on planning ideas formulated half a century ago still relevant? or should we be thinking in terms of a post-urban society in which new values have emerged and where new kinds of work and life-styles will be located by preference in the country-side, villages and small towns rather than concentrated in the big cities? Much is said today of productivity and unemployment, food surpluses and wildlife but little about any connection between these issues and our uses and controls of land. The author poses the question: if land is at the centre of many of our ills, may it not also be central to many of the solutions?