Browsing by Author "Thorne, Christine"

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    Living differently
    (2008) Thorne, Christine
    Society today is structured in a way that supports centralised authorities who devise systems for living (eg: food supply, energy sources) that are not necessarily in keeping with sustainable processes. South Africa is facing a severe energy crisis and the current solution to this problem is to build more energy plants that are heavily dependent on non-renewable resources. The global economic situation is heading towards a recession and South Africa will be greatly affected. The general public seems to be responding to these problems by trying to solve these problems individually eg: buying a generator for their home or installing solar panels on the roof, but these solutions are impractical if not expensive. Rates of energy and resource consumption worldwide follow an exponential growth curve. Already there are noticeable effects of this unsustainable way of living and there is substantial evidence that we are causing often irreparable damage to the planet that supports our livelihoods. To reduce our impact on the planet we should begin to live in a system of closed metabolic cycles that follow patterns of natural systems. Therefore, the key problems that have prompted this dissertation are: The impending global food and energy crises Unsustainable living – in terms of attitudes, such as ignorance of natural systems, and practices, the excessive consumption of resources and production of waste Based on these problems, this dissertation will begin to explore what would happen if certain lifestyle habits changed. If people did start living differently, communities could integrate with natural systems and collectively create sustainable systems that also provided carbon neutral energy and sustainable food supplies. (Although it is explained later, for now it is assumed that landscape architecture plays an important role in creating landscapes of different living.) Because this is a landscape architecture dissertation it is focused on the spatial manifestation of living differently, ie. what will it look like?