Reasons for Land Constraint
Rising Demand For Land
As the world population increases, there is an increased demand for housing, jobs, food and recreational spaces. A growing population will lead to an increase in demand for housing. More land will have to be used to build new houses for people. And to provide jobs for people, more industries and businesses will have to be created or expanded. This means more land is needed. To produce food to feed the increasing amount of people, more arable land is required to grow crops. However, only one-fifth of the Earth's surface is arable. There is also a increased demand for recreational spaces, from parks and nature reserves to swimming pools to golf courses and theatres, for people to enjoy and relax in. As an country develops, transport systems are developed and more roads have to be built for the movement of goods and to transport workers to travel between their workplace and home.
Limited Supply of Land
Only 30% of the Earth's surface is land. Furthermore, not all of this land can be used. Areas like swamps, marshes and low-lying coastal areas are constantly flooded with water and deserts are too dry to be used. Some land also has been damaged by mining or poor farming practices. Also, some land is reserved for special uses, such as water catchment areas and military training areas.
Responses to Rising Demand for Land
Increasing the price of land
The land supply in every country or city is limited. When the demand for land increases, and the available land area cannot meet with the increase in demand, the price of the land may increase. This is because some users might be willing to pay a higher price for the land and this will push up the price of the land. Increasing the price of land will discourage some people from using the land, hence reducing the demand.
Increasing the supply of land
Land Clearance
One of the ways to increase the supply of land is by land clearance, which is a process whereby empty plots of land are created for various landuses. This may be carried out by demolishing old buildings or by deforestation. After a piece of land is cleared, it can be developed for other uses. However, when land is cleared through deforestation, habitats of animals will be destroyed and many of them will die or become extinct.
Land Reclamation
Land reclamation is another way of increasing land supply. It is the creation of dry land from an area covered by water. Its also refers to the process of recovering land that is damaged or abandoned and making it usable again. There are three ways to reclaim land, landfill, empoldering and reclaiming derelict land. However, sand is needed to reclaim land and if the country does not have enough sand, they will have to purchase sand, which increases the overall cost. Also, for countries that are surrounded by other countries, there is an limit to the amount of land that can be reclaimed.They will not be able to extend too far out without entering other countries' territories. Land reclamation also has a negative impact on the environment when coastal habitats are destroyed.
Maximising Use of Existing Land
The last way is through maximising use of existing land by maximising urban and agriculture landuse.
Urban Landuse
Urban land can be maximised through mixed landuse and high density buildings. In mixed landuse projects, there is an combination of shopping malls, offices, houses and hotels in one area. High density buildings can also be built to house a large amount of people in a small area.
Agriculture Landuse
Irrigation
Countries need land to grow crops to provide food for people. Irrigation allows farmers to ensure that their crops have the right amount of water which will lead to greater amounts and wider varieties of crops, also lands that were not suitable for agriculture and be made arable.
Terracing
Crops cannot be grown in hilly areas as the slopes cause water to run off the slopes quickly and little water is retained by the soil. However, cultivation of crops on steep slopes has been made possible through terracing, which is creating flat strips of land by cutting a series of steps in to the slopes. It is an inexpensive way of increasing arable land and flat land allows modern machinery to be used.
Soil-less Farming
Crops can also be cultivated through soil-less farming, such as hydroponics and aeroponics, where crops can be grown closer together and more crops can be grown in a single area.
Reflection:
I feel that these measures to conserve land are effective, however, we will still run out of land to use as the population increases. The Singapore government has built high density buildings to maximise the land use and allow more people to live in a small area and also developed mixed landuse projects such as Suntec City, where there are offices, shops and hotels, all in walking distance of one another. There are also hydroponics and aeroponics farms in Singapore. These measure are effective, but they are not long-term and other ways of increasing the supply of land will have to be used.
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