Really interesting ideas guys. Boreal, I think you bring up a great point about the disconnect between people and the land. For an urban agriculture project I was working on, I met with the organizers at a community garden/foodbank (check out their innovative programs:
http://www.thestop.org/). Kids in the local schools (many whose families used the foodbank) were taught about where food comes from, how it is grown, etc. I think it is important that the next generation learn about and appreciate the source of not only food, but many other products we use in our daily lives (including our built urban form)...As for peak oil, that's another awesome topic. I too wonder how planning methods and public policy will change when gas is 3 or 4 dollars per litre. It's conceivable that those prices could be seen in the next 20-25 years. I imagine that a development like that would spur on massive gentrification in inner cities everywhere, and an abandonment (or at least mass exodus) of the furthest lying sprawl. Not to mention the impacts the that spike would have on the price of consumer goods and food (which are both transported and largely a product of oil). It will be an interesting time indeed... Rgalston, that was the post that actually partially inspired me to start this thread. I remember reading that post about broadway-assiniboine and thinking, "what other issues or questions have we yet to look at in depth?"...