292 Gathering the pieces
Protected highest-quality stream valleysare valuable in virtually all regions.
In arid areas much of the water runs underground, but gul-
lies or washes or wadis are normally useful imprints on the
land surface. Targeting protection to high-priority streams is an
alternative to attempting to protect all streams by regulation
and enforcement, a difficult task in urban regions.
Restoration of small wetlandsis probably valuable and feasible in all urban
regions, which long ago lost most of their wetlands to draining
and filling. Small wetlands, especially created on floodplains, at
specific sites by the bases of hills or mountains, and at the end
of certain stormwater pipes draining numerous impermeable
surfaces, provide value to natural processes and many ecosystem
services to society.
Asetofstrategic places for growthapplies universally in urban regions. To
help channel future urbanization into particularly appropriate
areas, a few well-separated satellite cities in the outer portion
of the urban-region ring, and one area close to the big city may
often be a good balance (see Chapter8).
Asetofstrategic places for limited growth, no growth, and building removal
also applies universally. The solution addresses the problem of
valuable sites or areas imminently threatened by urbanization.
In addition, locations are pinpointed where especially damag-
ing or inappropriate urbanization has taken place relatively
recently.
An array of solutions for widely repeated small locationsis useful in all regions.
Gullies, streams, highways, villages, and towns, which are often
toonumerous to analyze and plan individually, are typical loca-
tions. A few generic solutions addressing diverse human and
natural systems issues are developed, and then a solution is
tailored to the distinctiveness of each location. An important
cumulative effect across the region can be expected.
Edge parks for towns and small citiesprovide benefits for nature as well
as for both today’s residents and tomorrow’s newcomers. There-
fore suchparks are valuable for towns and small cities that are
growing, acommon case in an urban-region ring.
Animpressive park to protect a large nearby unappreciated areaapplies widely
in or adjacent to metropolitan areas. Creating a monumental
cultural flagship park that provides an array of both human and
natural values has the added benefit of minimizing imminent
threats to an existing valuable resource.