Uploaded on 2014-11-21 by Kobiyoshimaru

1. Food Although certain food products are made within the city (walkers crisps and pork pies) most of the cities produce is brought into the city from other areas of the country and abroad. Even the initial ingredients to make crisps and pork pies are brought in from outside the city (ingredient and food flows into the city). (Leicester is synonymous with Pork Pies and Walkers crisps). Some of the food which is produced within the city is sold by retailers within the city, this again is seen as a flow from producers to customers albeit with the food being a stock for the retailer for a short amount of time. A flow out of the city is Walkers crisps and other similar food products. Walkers sells crisps worldwide which helps provide a flow of money into the company based in Leicester. Livestock (stock) is generally raised outside of the city in the rural villages and farmland surrounding the city/hinterland, this is the same with crops. Both are then transported (flow) into the city for use/retail or are transported elsewhere, potentially to other cities or food processing factories for use. The farmland can be seen as a stock of land also, however these areas are almost totally located outside of the city. Once food is used/consumed within the city by humans it is either discarded as garbage if the food has not entirely been consumed (flow) or it is excreted by the human(s) as foul drainage. Foul drainage flows along the foul drainage system to sewage treatment facilities around the city, ie, Wanlip Sewage treatment facility. The sewage is treated to produce an environmentally safe fluid waste stream via removing contaminants from the waste water as well as removing solid waste which is suitable for disposal or even reuse commonly as a fertiliser. The process of removing the contaminants from the waste water is a flow. The solid waste which is extracted from the waste water can be viewed as a stock, potentially of fertiliser or other uses. The filtered water can either be retained for many uses as a stock, ie, greywater for use within toilets for flushing, etc in the waste treatment centre and/or surrounding buildings. Or the filtered water can be released into the natural environment as a flow, with the treated water being released back into natural watercourses. One method of altering the flow of food into a city is by providing developments/local areas with the opportunity to grow and stock their own food. Individual dwellings could be provided with larger gardens in order to grow a stock of vegetables to be consumed by the residents of the dwelling. In larger developments, rather than designating the remaining areas of land as parkland, or land to remain green, this land could be used as allotments to encourage local residents to grow their own vegetables and food which could help them save money and reduce the requirement on importing food into the city. Also areas of industrial development could be identified within an urban plan for the erection of food production facilities bordering on the Hinterland and the city. This would give the companies easy access for the transportation of local resources to the building(s) for food production and then following this it would give the company direct access into the city for distribution of the individual products to the population of the city. The stock of fertiliser created from the sewage treatment facility could be offered free of charge to local residents, farmers, developments so that they can fertilise their crops, plants, etc. The excess water could be used by local communities for the flushing of their toilets or even to local farmers for the irrigation of the land and crops. 2. Water Water is another flow into the city. Water is provided to most homes, companies, places within the city by Severn Trent water. The company operates a number of reservoirs (stocks of water), many of which are also accessible for recreational use (which provides a flow of people to and from the reservoir daily for recreational activities). Water is extracted from the reservoirs into treatment plants were it is treated before distribution through mains water distribution systems and then individual buildings, homes, etc (which is a flow). The water can then flow into the buildings when a user operates a tap, etc. Water can be poured into bottles, barrels, storage devices to act as a stock of drinking water for the building user. Also water can be taken and stored in tanks, radiators, etc as a stock ready for heating when the building user requires hot water or heating. Water can also be used for providing nourishment to plants and vegetables on site, this helps provide a stock of food or plants. Water consumed by individuals is usually released via perspiration or excretion. With the flow of excretion from the body, water takes the same course as mentioned in the previous section where by it is used to flush foul water into the public sewer. One method in which the stock and flow of water could be altered in the future urban planning and design of the city is that more emphasis within individual and local design can be put on grey water harvesting. More storm water could be collected by individual buildings/plots or even residential developments and used within the same development. For example a stock of collected rainwater could be used for toilet flushing facilities throughout the entire building or buildings on a site. This would reduce the consumption of mains water required per household. If done on a larger scale, ie over the planning of new developments within a city it would drastically reduce the demand for natural water in that area from the Hinterland surrounding the city (reservoirs located outside the city). A stock of grey water could also be used in the summer for the watering of plants and vegetables on site, potentially providing a stock of locally grown vegetables which could be distributed evenly to the local residents for consumption. This would potentially reduce the cost of their food bill therefore helping the individual residents accumulate a larger stock of money. When water is stored on site, whether it be sustainable urban drainage systems or grey water harvesting systems, potentially water source heat pumps could be employed to reduce the energy demand for heating households and other buildings. This may be prevalent in the cooler months of the year when water source heat pumps are used to extract warmth from the stored water to input directly into the heating of the houses/buildings to reduce energy load. 3. People / Population The third flow into the city of Leicester is people. Leicester city is the largest city in the East Midlands region of England with circa 330,000 residents. Over 33% of the population of Leicester city are foreign born signifying a huge flow of people into the city in recent decades. The inflow of foreign people and the stock of local residents have helped contribute to giving Leicester the largest economy in the East Midlands region. Many different ethnicities/origins/nationalities/religions and beliefs are represented within the city, with buildings such as local libraries, churches, mosques, mandirs, etc, being stocks of data, information, knowledge, teachings. Also specific professions particularly those associated with health, ie, doctors, surgeons, nurses, etc, have a high employment rate within the city which is a stock of those qualifications and expertise with a high amount of those professionals originating from outside of the city. The two Universities within the city both offer a wide variety of courses which attracts a large amount of overseas students and students from elsewhere in England. One way to satisfy the demand for residents within Leicester city for those moving into the city is to continue the development of urban areas. More substantial student accommodation could be built in close proximity to the Universities which may continue to attract students to the city. Also city expansion could be provided in order to accommodate the increasing flow of people into the city. Both of the two recommendations above have already been adopted by clients/planners, architects, developers within the city to some extent. However many of the residential developments and also many of the proposed future residential developments are outside of the city centre and industrial/commercial zones of the city. This means that a large volume of people enter the city via car when going to work, which vastly increases the traffic and congestion within the city. Currently there are two park and ride schemes located on the edge of the city, one to the south of the city and one to the north. A further recommendation could be to develop further park and ride schemes into the city. These could be located potentially to the East and West of the city to accommodate those travelling from those directions from the cities suburbs/residential areas. Also, perhaps a concept similar to the ‘London Barclays Cycle hire’ could be introduced. Cycle docking stations could be placed in strategic areas around the city to allow people to hire a bike and cycle to their destination. Or even incentive schemes could be offered by local businesses to employees who cycle into work as opposed to driving in. This could be pushed and potentially partly/fully subsidised by the local authorities/government. I think creating a more sustainable city helps attract people to the city. If the city became more sustainable it would help retain the current population as well as attracting those from outside the city particularly those which could help maintain, contribute to and increase the local/city economy. ![Image Shows Park and Ride in Enderby, south of Leicester city][1] [1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14165802354668271.jpg