[p2p-research] land multipliers

[Michel Bauwens]

let's not forget that nearly 50 percent of food is destroyed today (seen
these figures somewhere)

On Thu, Jun 17, 2010 at 10:19 PM, Samuel Rose <samuel.rose at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Thu, Jun 17, 2010 at 1:17 AM, Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > Comments on this remark most appreciated:
> >
> http://vinay.howtolivewiki.com/blog/other/infrastructure-is-a-land-multiplier-1771
> >
> >
> > For example, at five people per acre, about the maximum possible
> sustinable
> > density for high intensity organic agriculture, Greater London can
> support
> > about 1/4 of its current population. Therefore the “land multiplier” for
> > Greater London is 4. (or possibly more if you count the skills of high
> > intensity agriculture as infrastructure)
> >
>
>
>
> I agree that the way cities are managed with regards to food and
> energy cannot be sustained. Vinay is right that food production in
> general is going to need to increase, possibly exponentially
>
> A few thoughts from my own experiences with urban agriculture
>
> 1. 1 acre of arable land could certainly support more than five
> people's food needs annually, if it were effectively managed.
>
> 2. The tops and interiors of structures contain a huge amount of
> unused space in cities.
>
> 3. I have witnessed the incredible power of soil production firsthand
> in urban settings (via both composting and vermiculture). The current
> food waste in a typical city could easily be converted to enough soil
> to support the food needs for a large number of people
>
> My point is that a large city like London, NYC, Mexico City *could*
> supply it's own food needs now with existing resources, solar and wind
> energy (likely with surplus). It would take a concerted effort (likely
> at least some degree of participation by a majority of people in the
> city, until it becomes clear as to what can be automated)
>
>
>
>
> > --
> > P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  -
> http://blog.p2pfoundation.net
> >
> > Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss:
> > http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/p2presearch_listcultures.org
> >
> > Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens;
> > http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens
> >
> > Think tank: http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> --
> Sam Rose
> Future Forward Institute and Forward Foundation
> Tel:+1(517) 639-1552
> Cel: +1-(517)-974-6451
> skype: samuelrose
> email: samuel.rose at gmail.com
> http://forwardfound.org
> http://socialsynergyweb.org/culturing
> http://flowsbook.panarchy.com/
> http://socialmediaclassroom.com
> http://localfoodsystems.org
> http://notanemployee.net
> http://communitywiki.org
> http://p2pfoundation.net
>
> "The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human
> ambition." - Carl Sagan
>



-- 
P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net

Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss:
http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/p2presearch_listcultures.org

Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens;
http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens

Think tank: http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listcultures.org/pipermail/p2presearch_listcultures.org/attachments/20100618/17b13e00/attachment.html>