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Jul 11, 2019 • 3 tweets • 1 min read
Since social housing is on the agenda again, I'd like to share the most successful attempt so far. People who want to save the world, 1000 homeless at a time ought to first see how it has been done before.
Christopher Alexander explains how the Fuggerei works physically, why it does not alienate people like all modern social housing projects.
Remember that this is completely privately funded, a charity. The secret? The social housing project was never meant to pay for itself.

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More from @wrathofgnon

Wrath Of Gnon Profile picture
Feb 18
Genius biologist Minakata Kumagusu (1867-1941, right in photo) was a fierce environmental protectionist. In 1910 he was arrested for getting drunk and gatecrashing/heckling a meeting of local politicians who wanted to cut down sacred groves to "improve agricultural efficiency."
He spent his time in jail after sobering up by discovering a new species of slime mold. And the politicians eventually gave up. Thug science.
Minakata spoke fluent Japanese (of course), and also English, French, Italian, German, Latin, and Spanish, and could read and write in ancient Greek, Sanskrit, Hebrew and classical Chinese. Banned from life from the British Museum after brawling.
Read 5 tweets
Wrath Of Gnon Profile picture
Feb 15
If we are to have any chance for a future we need to start looking at what we have that is sustainable now. The FAO registers Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS), for example the Minabe-Tanabe Ume System, Japan: an integrated orchard and water control system.
The Ume orchards (a sort of hard plum) has been in business for 400 years without the need for technology, pesticides or fertilizers, without erosion. The system integrates the entire area (population 79,000) in a satoyama-satochi system: rice, vegetables, orchards, coppicing.
The key part of the system are the ume orchards, accounting for 50% of all the processed ume fruits sold in the country. Its productivity is astoundingly 200% of any regular ume orchards in Japan, and this is done by relying on honey bees for pollination. So pesticides are out.
Read 9 tweets
Wrath Of Gnon Profile picture
Feb 6
Most interesting thing on twitter last month was a tweet from @ploughmansfolly suggesting that 1 in 10 Americans might be better* employed in market gardening, raising a furor similar to what we get when talking parking.

*For reasons of economy, health, soil, animal rights, &c.
The furor was to be expected of course, but it shone a light on the familiar blue-tick disconnect. @ploughmansfolly based his argument on vegetables/chicken. Let's look at chickens. Already 13% of Americans keep chicken. So his argument was low-balling it: just get a bigger coop.
Second argument: grow your own vegetables. This is easy, since the largest crop by area already is lawn turf. 63,000miles² (the State of Georgia is 59,425miles²). Just convert 3-4% of it to greenhouses and cabbage fields. Several farms/gardeners are already doing that.
Read 8 tweets
Wrath Of Gnon Profile picture
Feb 6
The Batdam ( 밭담 ) dry stone walls (no mortar) of Jeju Island have been likened to black dragons crawling over the landscape: 21,108km of volcanic field stone dug up by hand and built gradually over the last 1,000 years: without these most agriculture here would be impossible.
The walls protect the little soil there is from wind erosion, they keep livestock out and create a better microclimate at ground level, and provide habitats for wildflowers, insects, animals, and effectively mark family properties.
Due to the rough surface of the volcanic stone and the built in gaps winds can't blow them over. The walls make mechanization difficult preserving and actually contribute to building soil over the centuries which means more and more of the island can be farmed each generation.
Read 5 tweets
Wrath Of Gnon Profile picture
Feb 3
"Rice Paddy Dam" is a concept for river basin flood control that originated in northern Japan around the turn of the century. It uses agricultural land as a sort of reservoir to protect downstream urban areas from flood damage and excessive water, the fields used to store water.
When bad rains are anticipated fields can be emptied prematurely and filled up again in a controlled manner that prevents overflow, erosion and scouring using a system of weirs and channels. Depending on the size of the system it can hold vast amounts of water, millions of tons.
As a bonus, after installation it becomes easier to regulate water in the rice paddies with hugely beneficial effects on flora and fauna. The system is voluntary but many cities are now paying farmers to compensate for any damages to crops and for maintaining the system.
Read 4 tweets
Wrath Of Gnon Profile picture
Jan 27
Map of Toyama City's (pop 419k) resiliency project by city densification and public transport improvement: development in red zones* get subsidized (think ca. 1/3 of cost of new build). Target: 45% of pop. bef 2045.

*500m from train/tram.
*300m from high freq. bus (>60 per day).
In 2003 Toyama City was facing skyrocketing infrastructure and social services costs: the population was aging, city trams were losing money, health levels were dropping, young ppl. had little hope for the future. Car dependency was increasing at over 70% but fewer could drive...
...so the mayor decided to promote programs to move people into the city, lessen car dependency, improve public transport & promote healthier more active elderly, lower cost of establishing family.
1. The city center zoning laws were relaxed.
2. New home construction subsidies.
Read 4 tweets

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