"MABA" Make America Beautiful Again (Mid-Sized Cities)

Energy & Infrastructure
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“MABA” Make America Beautiful Again (Mid-Sized Cities)

SHORT SUMMARY
Imagine you have a big box of Legos and you’re building a city. If you keep stacking more and more Legos in one spot, the city gets crowded, messy, and hard to live in. There’s no space to play, no trees, and it just doesn’t feel nice anymore. Now, imagine that between each part of the city, you make sure there are big open spaces with grass, trees, and maybe a park where people can go outside and play.

This policy is like making sure every city in America has room to grow, but also leaves space for nature—like parks and forests—so that cities don’t get too crowded or ugly. It’s like building the city in a way that makes it beautiful, with space for people to breathe, play, and enjoy nature.

The idea is to make sure that there are areas between the cities where no buildings can be built, and these places are protected by the government. These special spaces can be used for nature walks, picnics, and camping. By doing this, we can keep our cities nice and clean, with trees and fresh air, just like the peaceful areas you want to play in when you build your Lego city.

The goal of this plan is to Make America Beautiful Again (MABA) by keeping cities from getting too crowded and making sure there’s always space for nature to thrive.

Federal Policy Proposal: Regulation of Overdevelopment in Mid-Sized Cities through Federally Preserved Land

Overview: The overdevelopment of mid-sized cities has become a pressing concern across the United States, especially as cities grow rapidly and urban sprawl continues. This overdevelopment often leads to issues such as pollution, lack of green spaces, loss of biodiversity, and a reduction in quality of life for residents. To address these challenges, a new federal policy is proposed to regulate overdevelopment in mid-sized cities through the establishment of federally preserved lands, limiting the clustering of urban development, and ensuring there are natural buffers between urban spaces.

This proposal seeks to enhance the Hallmark Cities Initiative by incorporating land preservation and environmental management into the urban planning process, ensuring that mid-sized cities develop sustainably while preserving natural habitats, maintaining environmental health, and providing residents with access to green spaces.

Key Objectives:

  1. Limit Overdevelopment Clusters: Overdevelopment often results in unappealing, overcrowded urban areas that reduce livability and increase pollution. The policy will regulate the concentration of urban development by requiring a certain amount of undeveloped land between cities, serving as a natural buffer to reduce urban sprawl and improve air and water quality.
  2. Establish Federally Preserved Lands: To combat overdevelopment, a designated portion of land within or surrounding mid-sized cities will be federally preserved as nature reserves. This land will remain untouched by development, enhancing local biodiversity, reducing pollution, and providing recreational spaces for residents.
  3. Promote Sustainable Growth: Mid-sized cities will be required to develop in a scattered pattern, rather than in large clusters, with natural green spaces (such as forests, wetlands, and open land) intervening between urban developments. These natural areas will act as buffers, improve air quality, and provide recreational spaces for residents.
  4. Recreation and Maintenance: The federally preserved land will be open for recreational activities such as hiking, camping, and educational programs during daylight hours, promoting a healthy lifestyle and connection to nature. Additionally, these lands will be used for environmental research and maintenance efforts.
  5. Support Local Wildlife: The natural reserves will provide critical habitats for wildlife, preserving biodiversity and protecting endangered species. These spaces will ensure that urban expansion does not lead to the degradation of ecosystems that are crucial for the environment and local wildlife.

Policy Details:

  1. Creation of Federally-Owned Nature Reserves:
  • A designated percentage of land surrounding mid-sized cities will be preserved as federally-owned nature reserves, prohibiting any development or commercial activity.
  • This land will be set aside as part of the Hallmark Cities Initiative, which promotes sustainable development in urban planning, ensuring that natural spaces are integrated into urban growth.
  1. Regulation of Development Clusters:
  • No urban development project within a mid-sized city will be permitted to cluster or expand beyond a certain population density threshold without providing a significant green space buffer, to be determined based on the city’s population and geographic size.
  • These buffers will be maintained through a combination of federally protected nature reserves, parkland, and natural areas, ensuring a balance between urbanization and environmental preservation.
  1. Preservation of Open Space for Public Use:
  • Federally-preserved lands will be accessible for public recreation, such as hiking, biking, camping, and environmental education. However, these areas will be restricted from commercial development or construction, ensuring they remain in their natural state.
  • Urban residents will be encouraged to utilize these spaces as a way to maintain a connection with nature and ensure their access to recreational areas within the city’s periphery.
  1. Implementation and Funding:
  • The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will jointly oversee the creation, management, and maintenance of the federally-preserved nature reserves.
  • Funding will come from federal grants, as well as a portion of property taxes from urban development, to ensure the sustainability of these reserves.
  • The policy will also involve partnerships with local governments, non-profits, and community organizations to ensure the implementation of green spaces and nature reserves is both effective and culturally relevant to local populations.
  1. Education and Awareness:
  • The policy will include an educational component to raise awareness about the importance of preserving nature and managing overdevelopment. Public campaigns and local workshops will be implemented to engage communities and encourage responsible growth practices.

The Catan Analogy: A Balanced Development Approach: Just like in the game of Catan, where there is a need for careful planning and resource management to ensure the growth of cities, this policy will require a careful balance between urban expansion and land preservation. In Catan, players must manage resources in a way that prevents clusters of development from overwhelming the available land. Similarly, mid-sized cities will be required to ensure that land is properly distributed for urban use and green space, creating a more sustainable and harmonious environment for residents.

Conclusion: The proposed federal policy to regulate overdevelopment in mid-sized cities through the creation of federally preserved lands and green space buffers will help address pressing environmental and urban challenges. This approach not only promotes sustainable urban growth but also protects natural habitats, provides recreational spaces for citizens, and improves overall quality of life. By integrating nature into urban planning, the federal government can ensure that mid-sized cities grow responsibly, without sacrificing the beauty and environmental health of the land.

Relevant Federal Departments Involved:

  • U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI)
  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  • U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
  • U.S. Forest Service (USFS)

This proposal will require collaboration across federal agencies, local governments, and stakeholders to be successfully implemented, and will require continuous monitoring to ensure long-term sustainability.