Is Permaculture the Future for Urban Landscapes?
Permaculture is a design approach that is not restricted to one environment. It enables people to create sustainable food sources, build healthier homes, and create a productive ecosystem.
Some people refer to permaculture as having elements of hydroponics, ecological gardening, organic farming, biodynamic farming, permaculture design principles (PDPs), agroforestry (which includes tree crops), bio-intensive farming, and zero-tillage farming. Sounds complex and confusing for many.
Is permaculture a methodology that could help us design and deliver more sustainable urban landscapes?
In this article, we take a deeper dive into the advantages and disadvantages of permaculture.
Advantages of Living in a Permaculture Community
Living in a permaculture community has many advantages, including:
-
You are protecting our natural resources
Permaculture can be used to achieve many goals related to conservation and sustainability, a design system for sustainable human settlements. To do this, permaculture focuses on protecting natural resources and promoting the development of resilient communities that can withstand the effects of climate change and other global environmental challenges.
Its practices are designed to mimic natural processes and allow plants, animals, fungi, and humans to adapt in harmony with one another while regenerating natural resources in perpetuity.
-
There is less work involved, and less energy needed
By implementing the principles of permaculture, you can create self-sustaining systems that provide for all your needs. Once put into motion, a permaculture environment should require less work, as the natural flow of nature removes the need for intensive agricultural practice.
-
It promotes biodiversity and helps to preserve wildlife
Permaculture offers solutions for soil fertility, water conservation, climate change mitigation, and animal habitat. Its design principles help to maximize biodiversity and preserve wildlife by creating more habitat for animal species.
-
It produces organic crops
In permaculture, plants are grown in diverse mixtures of perennial and annual plants that provide food for one another. This helps to increase soil health, removing the need for pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers. The result is crop growth at the pinnacle of organic farming.
Permaculture boosts health across three needs: physical, mental, and spiritual.
Physical health is improved because of cleaner air and water, and foods that taste better with a higher nutritional value grown organically.
Mental health is improved because of the sense of belonging to something greater, the community that permaculture develops, and the sense of self-esteem created by creating.
Spiritually, permaculture helps people to find a higher meaning to what they do and the world in which they live.
Permaculture has begun to filter into the landscape of urban farming. The methods used in permaculture at scale work well when you need to create a small space with an intensive output.
Disadvantages of permaculture
The disadvantages of living in a permaculture community depend on the individual. For some, the disadvantages are too strong.
There are three things that people should consider when trying to adopt permaculture in their life:
-
How much time do I have in my life?
-
What strengths and weaknesses do I have?
-
What level of preparedness do I have?
Certainly, the challenges associated with permaculture are more mental than physical.
-
It is hard to give up all your previous habits and beliefs when you move to this kind of lifestyle
In permaculture, we strive for a lifestyle that is harmonious with nature. This includes eating natural foods, using green materials, recycling or composting waste, and using water wisely by conserving it when possible.
Moving to permaculture has been known to be challenging for many people because they are used to their habits and beliefs about how life should be lived.
-
You must be willing to work hard and take care of yourself and another person
Permaculture is not only about food production, but also about being able to sustain your life through many different means – environmental preservation, social justice, self-sufficiency, etc.
When living in a permaculture community, you will need to be an active participant in everything that goes on. This means that you are obligated to create a sustainable lifestyle for yourself and help others by participating in projects that help the environment at large.
-
It is much more difficult to create and maintain wealth
One of the biggest challenges in becoming self-sufficient is creating and maintaining wealth. Permaculture is not about money. The idea is to create systems so that humans don’t have to rely on corporations or governments.
For more than your essential needs, you need to find ways of creating wealth through your land, your skills, and the community you live in so that you can continue your lifestyle without having to rely on money.
-
It can be more difficult to purchase goods and services
It’s worth considering whether living in a permaculture lifestyle is worth the struggle to find conveniences that exist outside of it.
Because it is difficult to create wealth, it can be harder to purchase goods and services when you live a permaculture lifestyle, but there are alternatives. For example, instead of buying things from the grocery store, you can grow your own fruits and vegetables for eating or make your own clothes using natural materials such as wool.
-
It is considered outside of mainstream life
Permaculture provides us with an effective way to create sustainable agriculture, human settlements, and ecological systems. It also offers guidance on how to live more sustainably and offers help in preserving the environment we live in. However, with such environment-centric ideals, permaculture doesn’t always connect easily with modern-day needs. It might be hard for some people who are new to permaculture principles to fully embrace them.
Is permaculture the new design imperative for urban landscapes?
Research shows that permaculture works well in cities, partly because it creates systems for managing waste and water usage, as well as enabling reduction in energy used.
Additionally, permaculture can be used to create food that is locally grown, ecologically friendly, and healthy, and requires less work to maintain than traditional farming.
It also allows for an alternative way of living through ecological living systems, which help to mitigate the negative effects of human activity on the environment by focusing on ways in which humans can live in harmony with nature rather than as destructive entities.
With the growing population, greater awareness of environmental issues, and the more expensive cost of living, people are looking for a way to provide sustainable food and energy sources for their families. Consequently, the advantages of permaculture are beginning to outweigh the disadvantages, and permaculture is becoming a trend in urban landscapes.
At ACB Consulting, we are committed to helping improve the communities in which we live, work, and play – including how they are conceived, designed, and created. To learn more, contact ACB Consulting.