permaculture

[Marsha Hanzi <hanzibra@svn.com.br>]

>  The fact in Australia, as elsewhere, is that more and more
>  > people are living in cities and, if the cities canot be made 
> sustainable, then it is
>  > questionable that the rest of the country can be made sustainable.
>
> Where to begin? Wastewater?
>

The idea of zones is very useful in organizing physical space, putting that 
which demands
more energy closer to your house.  It is not so useful as an idea unless you 
actually HAVE
physical space.  Of course it can apply to the city as a whole:  where would 
be the "zone 1"
of a city ( or neighborhood, etc.)?  It may not necessarily be gardens. May 
be something
else, that which is most essential and time-consuming for the inhabitants.. 
Maybe zone 1
would include farmers markets?? We might get into some interesting analyses 
of city
functioning if we go deeper into this..

Two images I have found VERY useful when looking at urban Permaculture:
The city as a giant ecosystem, looking at all the various interlinked systems 
and how  well
they function ( water, food, waste,  but also traffic, information, etc.), 
and how we can
better close the loops.  It is most useful for people to think of their city 
in this way,
eagle eye, so to speak...

Another image is the city as a being, which has to function well at all 
levels to be healthy:

physical ( infrastructure, roads, food production, water, etc.)  social ( 
level of
interaction, opportunities for all, no marginalization of "special" people, 
etc.)
Intellectual:  opportunities for learning, schools, libraries, access to 
information, etc.

Spiritual: sacred spaces, temples, celebrations, but also  what I would call 
sacred qualities
( some call them "virtues") like respect, love,  solidarity, etc.

> Working through these levels with a group is a very interesting exercise, 
> because they make
> clear to themselves what a healthy community is, and immeditely perceive 
> how theirs is not
> (yet!) healthy.

The next step would be to create a VISION ( thank you Michael Patterson!) , a 
positive view
of their city, rather  than a negative one where one only focusses on what is 
wrong or
lacking.  Better to  focus on what is there in potential...

> Marsha
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