How to Design a PERMACULTURE NEIGHBORHOOD

Permaculture instructor Andrew Millison presents on designing a permaculture neighborhood.
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[@zeideerskine3462]

Add universal solar panels for electricity, biogas harvesting from blackwater, greywater collection, and community composting and you have a modern version of an ancient city.

[@ginak5715]

solar panels are not regenerative or sustainable, so don't add it to a perma desing. And in permaculture there is no blackwater either, it's compost toilet. But otherwise I'd be interested about this biogas option, can you share a link about the subject? Thank you!

[@DensityMatrix1]

These are good points. People forget that centralization IS more efficient than everyone doing their own thing. It is however not as resilient nor "free". Following your question would it be better for 20 homes to have 20 black/grey collection systems OR have one local but centralized system? Is it better to have 20 solar systems along with the associated cost and maintenance OR to have 1 system that can be maintained and monitored expertly.

[@bbob288]

@@DensityMatrix1 You should read the book "tribe" by Sebastian yunger. What you kinda described is a tribal situation 🙏 it's our true way of organising ourselves. This video is also kinda presenting a "transition town" it's a movement connecting with permaculture, Jem Bendell and prof rupert read talk about it. It will be nessesary if we are to "transition" to tribal like societies and avoid total civilisation collapse, many tribal societies were already practicing permaculture methods and principles before we even called it permaculture, for example the 3 sisters. 🙏

[@b_uppy]

@@ginak5715 They do add to personal resiliency which is an important concept in permaculture.

[@b_uppy]

@@DensityMatrix1 A lot of that depends on your neighbors...

[@robertzinke7370]

This should be common knowledge for all city planners, architects, and especially government - amazing concept!

[@b_uppy]

I've seen city planners attempt to implement permie concepts. They failed to make the paradigm shift. It can turn out expensive to make and maintain, be a design failure (one was physically dangerous!) and in need of further change. Always do oversight as much as you can on your local government.

[@rokarz76]

People spend money on poison and crap they don't need everyday. Don't blame laziness for poor budgeting. Governments are not going to do anything for you, it's up to people to want better and get up to start doing for themselves.

[@MrSaint3]

And neighbors

[@b_uppy]

@@MrSaint3 Think working with one's neighbors is great. It builds relationships. Fosters caring. Builds resiliency. It's really smart. I try to work with my neighbors. Every bit counts.

[@kile1343]

Well first this concept has to be made with taller buildings. Detached houses are highly unefficient since they waste too much space. And second, if you want to take it to the next step then you would need to incorporate a design that includes the well-being of humans, plants and animals on an equal level and not just design for humans

[@thomasellis8586]

A wonderfully insightful presentation, yet again! I'd love to see you do another presentation on RETROFITTING existing neighborhoods that were badly designed (like most of them).

[@b_uppy]

I find 'garages' are more than 'car houses'. They are hard working adjuncts. The garage is where I keep my garden implements and large canners so they last longer and remain mine. They store work tools so my vehicles are lighter during my commute. The garage also serves as a comfortable place to process veggies for winter preservation and ferments. I keep my freezer there along with a minimally heated, insulated food storage room. The crocks are cooler in the garage than the porch, house or carport. Fermenting smells are out of the house. Animals and insects remain off my crocks here while they transform. The garage keeps my bike safe from nicking. I have room for project expansion. It conserves my work energy to leave the project out instead of being forced to put everything away nightly. My garage also gives me a place where I can get in and out of my car *safely* without slipping on the wet or sometimes mildly snowy pathways of my temperate region. This can be especially important for the disabled and the elderly. The vehicle avoids damage from frost and snow removal efforts, including snow plows. Well-made garages protect from overnight rodent damage to wiring a recurring issue in some areas. My neighbors lacked a porch so they would open their garage door, and sit in lawn chairs protected from the breezes and watch and visit with passersby. --A garage even adds to social connection, who knew! Garages are the modern day suburban barn and workhorse to our self sufficiency and resiliency efforts. Narrow reasoning is increasing the distance between the haves and the have-nots, subtly taxing the environment in ignored ways. The one-(small) size-fits-all mantra drummed into the heads of students is poor logic. Assess the true purpose and usefulness before making denigrating epithets... Think your neighborhood at 6:44 is oriented wrong. It messes with the homes' solar aspects.

[@tray2637]

AND BABY JESUS WAS BORN IN A GARAGE!!! How dare you denigrate the sanctity of my car room Andrew. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fpLSqoaFfNGNlbc

[@b_uppy]

@@tray2637 Using mockery reflects badly on you, and your strawman argument. Think Andrew would be insulted, even...

[@tray2637]

@@b_uppy When are people going to think of the "sometimes snowy pathways" kzbin.info/www/bejne/hIuxeYiwhd96g7s

[@b_uppy]

@@tray2637 When they've happened for one. I do. It is a concern for elderly and disabled people also.

[@tray2637]

@@b_uppy lol. Is this what it has come to for the far right? Bad mouthing permaculture videos on youtube. Or did you have nothing better to do while you wait for the horse dewomer to kick in?

[@s.m.a8182]

Garage is a must have especially in winter where roads need to be clear to remove snow/trees that fell/clean the sidelines.

[@mjegs7392]

As a young architect with an interest in permaculture (wrote my architecture thesis and designed a community center on the topic), I hope to change my own lifestyle and help others do the same. I just need to get my license and build the skills. Your videos are really great at explaining the topic, and I wish that I had found this channel a year ago.

[@YeshuaAlBhagwani]

Thats so cool! I am studying landscape architecture right now and my plan is to eventually incorporate permaculture principles into my designs wherever they may be. There are simply more avenues to affect change in the world going the "normal" route of becoming a licensed architect/landscape architect and THEN implementing permaculture principles than by simply being a permaculture designer, at least in my mind. Super cool to see someone else who is doing something similar.

[@lizcox7286]

That is awesome!! I am in the design world (specification sales) and no one knows about permaculture or practices it here. Its stunning. These principles should be integrated into all designed spaces. So happy to hear you are starting it off that way!!! Change the world!!

[@eunickissimo]

I was about to comment the inefficient road placement right before you optimise it. We are moving to community carpooling which is way more efficient than everyone holding personal vehicles and save garage space makes a great sense. Here in Brazil, most territory is between tropics so I think adapt this format to a more "square like" homes may be more efficient to save energy.

[@HeavyMetalorRockfan9]

community carpooling sure sounds like a bus

[@FelixTheAnimator]

The best house shape for you might be circular.

[@johnransom1146]

The Indian bungalow with breezes going underneath?

[@andrewbryner2187]

That with white roofs and heat escapes on the top of walls (heat rises) sounds wonderful for your area.

[@jonathanlochridge9462]

@@HeavyMetalorRockfan9 Well, a bus mainly helps if there is only a single place the whole community needs to go. Or if there is a certain regular path people need to take. In many cases that makes a lot of sense. Getting a decent bus line is something that basically any decently sized town could benefit from. But, using a bunch of cars carpooling for mass transport is pretty inefficient. It is better when it comes to land use because then you don't need a separate garage/driveway for everyone. although, it things are too centralized then things can get expensive and impractical again. For a bit, I lived in a tiny town that did a decent chunk of carpooling for grocery trips and such. Since the closest thing to an actual grocery in town was a dollar general.

[@HomesteadForALiving]

I’m very excited to be working with a design client on a full community design. We need permaculture development and redevelopment!

[@facelessdrone]

Where and when will your design be implemented??

[@blazingangel623]

From a design perspective, this is awesome. The amount of efficiency and synergy baked into this is great. The problem is finding enough people, who are all interested in the lifestyle caveats that would come with this style of building, and are all looking to buy a home in the same place. Granted, you can incorporate most of these principles on an individual plot basis anyways, but nonetheless the benefits of all that synergy is lost because to find enough people interested in order to scale it seems unlikely

[@andrewd3005]

A way to solve that problem is to rent out or not own the land around the house which is used for growing food by having a private company manage it.

[@kawaiidere1023]

@@andrewd3005 at that point why not just build the farms somewhere they can be operated en mass, like a field

[@HeavyMetalorRockfan9]

@@kawaiidere1023 exactly lol, i like learning about this sort of thing for my own purposes but its very clear that this cannot compete economically with industrialized farming techniques from two points 1) The people who do this stuff are largely already rich 2) Those who do this stuff and aren't rich before getting into it all say "they manage to get by" With intense land management you can get more food/nutrition yields per acre, but then you have to consider how many more people are necessary to work that land, and it turns out those people have to be willing to accept a standard of living (note, I didn't say quality of life) than industrial farmers, this is presumably why you see these techniques being applied primarily in less developed countries, where industrial farming isn't the standard anyways because there's plenty of people and little capital. We have more than enough space capable of producing food already, this sort of technology helps us produce more and better food in places that would be otherwise unproductive. With the increase in desertification and droughts, these techniques will have to start to be adopted in more places however. I would also like to see how the swales/ponds produced by permaculture setting impact water flow further downstream - and how mass scale adoption would impact a river, like say the Colorado. A lot of these techniques are using water resources in one place while not considering for it elsewhere later on, now what makes more sense to me is to use the same amount of water resources more times in areas that are drought stricken anyways, and not have to wait for more water resources to arrive, then again, to properly build out the infrastructure is probably ridiculously expensive for that too

[@MakeSomeNoiseAgencyPlaylists]

no problem at all.....count me in plus 12 friends with families and at least 20 other poeple I know

[@andrewd3005]

@@kawaiidere1023 there are advantages to growing it in town. Easier to harvest for residents while picking what u need at the time resulting in less waste and healthier ppl. Also, in town can avoid a lot of toxic chemicals and gmo pollination that can be quite hard to do in certain areas like where I live in the Midwest. Plus there are a lot of ppl that own property while only utilizing for growing grass, that also don't want to live in a condo or apartment. With less grass especially In certain areas, i.e middle class and above, there is also less toxin usage as those lush green only grass lawns require a lot of harmful bs to maintain. This setup would also give more opportunities to kids, young adults, lowered skilled, and less well off ppl to contribute to the community, work, learn and develop life long skills. I.e the kid in the hood, kid/ppl, or any impoverished area could work yards in their community, get fresh clean organic nutrition packed food while learning how to grow, harvest, compost, sell, market, and build relations with out the need for transit or even leaving their neighborhood except maybe to sell depending on how thats set up.

[@asktheanimals]

I love these new designs, & I'd like to see fewer new developments & more retrofits. I've dreamt about the many backyard fences already in existence being retrofitted for a rotating neighborhood grazing herd. This would take cooperation amongst the community, & that's a challenge.

[@amarns2984]

In Vedic architecture, the five elements of nature are considered and vastu is used to improve mental and physical body of the humans inconcert with nature.

[@jenniferspring8741]

That sounds interesting! How would you add to Andrew's design to fulfill Vedic architecture?

[@amarns2984]

@@jenniferspring8741 as per vastu, the central space has to be left for the air ventilation and light to move around called as bramha space which helps in increasing flow of air water and light.

[@amarns2984]

@@jenniferspring8741 there is ABUNDANT literature relating to Vastu Shastra similar to fengshui of China available on internet. Also, you can see and search for traditional Indian homes for more info on the above

[@benoitham2527]

Hi! I just tumbled upon this channel... THIS NEEDS TO BE KNOWN! What a genius!

[@Chranos83]

just to add to this. if you had the water storage containers be able to pump some of the water into a container in the roof of your building you could use it to flush your toilet. also you could have another tank that could be hooked up to your solar panels to slowly heat it up so you can have hot showers. this is a great way to save energy and water.

[@facelessdrone]

Instead of using flush toilets, you could use composting toilets. They recycle nutrients back into your garden, are far cheaper, and smell nicer since they do not mix human wastes which is what causes odorous bacteria to grow. With this system in place you could then use the water roof storage system you suggested for not only showers, but also an automatic watering system.

[@toraph1]

@@facelessdrone humanure needs to be composted for five years to be safe

[@ellast1]

This needs to be taught at schools

[@TheWanderingFinnegan]

😆 How would that benefit government indoctrination facilities?

[@kewpified]

grow gardens not lawns

[@surfviewgardens2396]

Great video. Thanks! I'm creating an 8-acre eco-village campground in Ecuador that will encompass a permaculture neighborhood design similar to what you've demonstrated. To make it a bit more complicated to address the needs of the campground park, here are some elements to incorporate. It will be a campground with full hook up RV sites, cabins, and area(s) for tents. I hope to direct all blackwater to a central biodigester where methane will be used for kitchen cooking - indoor and outdoor. So, once the location is mapped using a drone resulting in an accurate contour map and that is further used to make a Keyline design, I can determine where the ponds and roads will go - and the sites - then the central biogesting and methane production location can be determined. I am in the process of acquiring the property. Once done, I will get the contour maps of the 8 acres for further design work. If you know of anyone who knows about keyline design, biodigesters, installing septic pipelines, and other related matters, please let me know. I will have funds to hire such a person.

[@Tom-rz9dg]

regrarians know a bit about these things i think

[@amarumipeopel214]

Very interesting, would like to hear more about that

[@surfviewgardens2396]

@@amarumipeopel214 Thanks for your response. Are you someone with the ability to do any of the planning design, ala Keyline and Septic/Biodigester design?

[@louisegogel7973]

If you haven’t watched Geoff Lawton’s videos, I highly recommend you do so. Also you could contact him or his site for help in finding people who might want to use your project as a hands on learning class and people who are experienced could help design the site.

[@shawnp8628]

Garages are great spaces for working on equipment, like say, farm equipment. They're not just car houses, they are work spaces.

[@gustavohopkins242]

Then get a shed....

[@shawnp8628]

@@gustavohopkins242 It's the same thing, except if it's attached you can easily warm it up for working in the winter. Literally ANYONE who's had to fix a vehicle in the winter will agree with me. It's all good and well to design a utopian future where you decide what people need and don't need, but people can asses their needs better than others that's just a fact. Im all for building with nature but if it doesn't fit people into the equation it's no better than the old equation that was ONLY concerned with housing people and not nature. Balance my dude that's what we're talking about here. I live in a tiny home under 300 square feet. Trust me. I need a garage. The fact that I won't be heating or cooling it 90% of the year, will offset it's foot space, and combined with my house I'm still taking up less space than your average fug.

[@gustavohopkins242]

@@shawnp8628 then by all means get a garage instead of the front garden or whatever. The whole point was for him to challenge the idea that the average person needs a garage. You might work in it but the majority of people dont work on thier own car more then a simple oil change or filter change. Is it then justified to make garages the norm just to pile peoples excess stuff, because let's be honest you see most peoples garages and its not an organized workspace, its boxes of crap to the roof. Furthermore how many more people work enough in thier garages during cold winters to need it constantly heated. If they only did work a couple hours in per couple months, then it would be cheaper to heat it per that day rather then constantly. Lastly if we get to a point where we are building permaculture communities, then we will start applying permaculture principles to society as a whole. In this term that means more efficient public transportation or biking, further reducing the amount of cars which then further reduces the actual need for garages. But even then obviously these communities would be personalized and if that means a garage for you then so be it but I feel the whole point flew over your head

[@shawnp8628]

@@gustavohopkins242 ONE. I did say I wouldn't heat or cool it 90% of the time. Secondly, I didn't hear him say anything about customization. I heard him call my garage a "car house". Third what I SEE is lil boxes on the hill side 🎶🎶 lil boxes made of ticky tacky, and they all look just the same. 🎶🎶 Lastly I think maybe MY points have gone over your head as you still fail to acknowledge that farm equipment also needs repaired. Where will that happen? I had an idea for a community garage and shared tools, buttttt you'd still need at least ONE garage per neighborhood. Did it go over your head that we're talking about sustainability? How is it sustainable to not fix things? How is it you get the concept of growing your own food, but not the concept of repairing equipment that aids in that endeavor? Seems to me they would go hand and hand, and yet no mention of a space to do that except to sarcastically call them "car houses". Cuz that's clever. I don't care for dining rooms, I find them pointless. A room that's heated and cooled the whole year when most people only use them for Christmas and Thanksgiving. Even still I would NEVER presume to tell others that they don't need them and call them "Holiday Rooms". If they think they need them they should have them, because if the plan doesn't take into account human needs, than as I said before, its no better than the old plan that didn't take nature into account. Balance.

[@ANTSEMUT1]

You know there is the option of designing a metropolitan area that doesn't necessitate the use of cars...

[@WB-zr7pq]

I had been drawing this out in more circle patterns, with common path ways for walking and biking and then circle based driving area on the a outside of a hub. Design each hub like its part of a network, then that work can barter and trade or help each other out as part of a bigger system. Love seeing this outlined so well.

[@projectmalus]

There might be another way if you're familiar with Hilbert curves (great video by 3Blue1Brown on pseudo Hilbert curves) great for connecting spaces.

[@dhrt5577]

One issue I have with the collection of run off water from roads is, especially in colder climates, the fact that during winter a bunch of salt is dumped on the roads. Does anyone know how these salinity levels effect plants?

[@TheRydz11]

Horibly they just die. Great example is carthage after Rome Burn it and use Salt so nothing will grow.

[@karlrovey]

@@TheRydz11 Depends on the concentration too. In high school, we had a big problem with gas growing where we didn't want it on the baseball field. We tried digging it out, grass killer spray, salt, etc and had no success.

[@Ninjaananas]

I wonder if we could design roads that do not need this salt. Otherwise we just use salt plants.

[@joowapagames]

a lot of places ban salting roads

[@jasonreed7522]

Plants don't like too much salt, but the salting of carthage is a myth. Also many places try to just use sand for keeping winter roads safe to drive on and reserve salt for truly bad weather and important roads. (And at very cold temps salt stops working anyway)

[@zb6682]

i literally have been drawing this design from seeing an ocean front in South Carolina!

[@MarcCastellsBallesta]

Intelligence and information. 2 key concepts so underutilized... My hometown ordered a traffic management study. Mainly how to re-setup street directions to get rid of permanent bottlenecks. When the study was done they said: "What does this people know about out town if they don't live here?". That was ~20 years ago. The epitome of stupid management.

[@melvinquinones3328]

You are the kind of people that we need in our government key positions for land management of the United States.

[@grim_dave]

Highly satisfied that I found your channel and can learn from you. Thanks for posting.

[@monicacruz4407]

Andrew Millison for president! Town planners, listen to this man!

[@alexriddles492]

In your first drawing you draw solar panels on the roofs. If those building had gable roofs instead of the hip roofs you drew, you would have more area oriented to the sun. Also, the gable end provides a place to install a vent fan to keep the interior cool.

[@b_uppy]

Shed roofs would allow even more.

[@TheBarefootedGardener]

Funny you should post this video because I was thinking of reaching out to a local “developer“ and pitching the idea of eco-Apartments, but I didn’t think to add edible plants into the mix. This is fascinating! The concept of all the backyards facing south is a great idea, the only problem I have with it is I don’t like the idea of a large community garden, because it doesn’t take human nature into account. I don’t want some “Karen- type” telling me that I can’t plant bamboo and because it’s community land going and ripping it out.

[@johnransom1146]

Hose Karen down and tell her to mind her own business

[@TheBarefootedGardener]

@@johnransom1146 LMAO 🤣

[@bryonlako7377]

I think in systems like this you would have an 80/20 split. 80% of the food grown in community gardens where everyone help, then each daily has their personal garden for growing things they like that aren’t in the community.

[@scvzthebull8294]

A local shared food forest sounds so amazing... I wish this was the case every where

[@Jesus-qv5sw]

On Latam is practically dangerous.

[@kamilfrancoolczak]

Definitely I will use this design in the Paradise to come. Thank you 😊

[@QuiChiYang2]

Dude,😖 this is the😳 coolest way to educate & teach something. I😍💛e the huge see thru blackboard!

[@nesiansides7133]

This permaculture concept will be observed by many civilizations beyond the sun, on a pale blue dot suspended in a beam of light. We are blessed. Thank you.

[@gargoylekingGWO]

The way u teach visually is amazing from the drawings to the cool sandbox demonstrations great job keep up the good work

[@nathanielcharles821]

Exceptional and inspiritional content like this gives me hope, thank you very much.

[@amillison]

I'm glad you enjoyed it, thank you! :)

[@forkleftism9692]

Minus the neighborhood aspect, I like what you have here. It's just that I still need a wood lot for harvesting firewood; room for chickens, sheep, and cows; and a minimum of an acre of garden space per person in my house.

[@hhwippedcream]

Many of the small towns in my part of the central valley follow a similar pattern and you can see the amoebic off-growth of modern construction that often does not follow these principles and instead maximizes saleable units per acre. The old part of town will often have shotgun style houses arranged with knowledge of this "TEK". You can literally see the human mind disconnecting with the environment as air conditioning was added to dwellings. Its a fantastic real life historic mental map. The town centers have narrow streets and taller buildings to provide shade during the heat of the summer. Thank you for sharing and getting us thinking about our environment in an intelligent way.

[@krisn.9000]

Good job again Andrew. As things started to get busy I had to time manage my YT watching. Finally finished the last 2 videos now just one more to go next week cheers have a good wknd ✌

[@Chedring]

Maybe you are designing this for those dense suburbs, but you are missing out by not having a Garage. Garages are great work places (if your home isn't already large) as well as another collector structure for rain water and solar. Garages are also great for vehicles in winter, if you've ever lived through one. Suburb roads need to be plowed after all, which means no street parking.

[@nicholasvillalobos3809]

No garage means no personal cars which means less roads less cars less pollution and yes the roads need to be plowed but that’s the same as now and to replace a garage you can just have a basement and use the “garage space” as home space driving the value up of the property 3x win

[@PatrickKQ4HBD]

I'm with you. A large, secure, open, non-climate-controlled space is supremely useful and enjoyable.

[@user-tv3mc5tr9b]

Understandable but also many countries don't have garages and they get by all the same. Maybe some houses could have garages while keeping these design points in mind or maybe you'll just have to choose what you'd rather have.

[@johnransom1146]

Community garages you can book?

[@louisegogel7973]

Garage/workshop! Yes! And maybe the drawings of the houses were so close together for demo, but I would despise having to only have to look at my neighbors windows east and west or worse, huge tanks! Space the houses out so there is a tree or bit of garden between, then you have a decent design.

[@chewysponge]

this is absolutely fascinating...so glad I found your channel!

[@carsonchan5102]

Long live earth! Long live plants! Thank you for your videos. Your ideas, along with many other's on youtube, allow me to imagine an utopia. Permaculture along with effective city design and flexible zoning bylaws can help create efficient livable communities that is both good on the habitat and on our wallet. At least it can exist in my dream.

[@jerrysamuels8716]

This is one of the most important videos on this topic. Thank you.

[@blueycarlton]

Thank you for making your hope-filled and informative videos, to whet the appetite of people who want to explore these ideas further

[@amillison]

It's my pleasure! Thank you for watching! :)

[@yantoyanto6749]

This channel Will give unlimited benefit for all of the world.. Great teacher 😁👍

[@pianoman47]

Been really digging your videos! Thanks for the work you put into them. This is an interesting concept.

[@amillison]

Thanks for watching!

[@heirwithjesus]

This video has so many great takeaways.... definitely will be implementing alot on my homestead.

[@isaias-b]

What a great application! Cool drawing and presentation. Really like it.

[@ronk4073]

"There's double the amount of roads that their needs to be." When you eliminate those roads and put in a food forest directly south of those gardens, those trees can shade out the gardens. It could work with dwarf trees, but larger trees would shade out much of the garden, and potentiality solar panels.

[@BlackSabbath1989]

i would assume the garden is not to scale and the property is much longer on the east and west facing sides.

[@ronk4073]

@@BlackSabbath1989 Point taken that it's not to scale. But full size trees can grow to be 50 feet or more. Around the equinox that means the shadows stretch 50 feet or more. Longer before and after the equinox. That is a lot of garden space lost. Most current urban yards are not much longer than 50 feet. At best you get 50 ft in the front and 50 ft in the back. If the home is 2 stories and 30 feet tall, between the shadow from the food forest and the home, you don't get a lot of full sun for annuals. You could make this work with full size trees, but it would take more space.

[@BlackSabbath1989]

@@ronk4073 yeah better to prone those trees, harvesting fruits 50 feet in the air is not so much fun either...

[@facelessdrone]

@@ronk4073 fruit trees don't get that big, ever.... you're thinking of nut trees or sap trees, which would be in far lesser numbers that that of genuine fruit trees

[@ronk4073]

@@facelessdrone Yeah, I was thinking of nut trees. But full size apples can go well over 30 feet. I had a very old full size apple in my yard that was well over 30 ft. Not sure how tall, but taller than my 30+ ft house, perhaps 40 ft. I believe pears can get as large as apples. I think there are some tropical and semi-tropical fruit trees that get a lot taller than that, but I'm not as familiar with them. Also, paw paws are typically 20 ft, but can top out at 30 to 40 ft.

[@jeffoneill3429]

Great work as usual Andrew; excellent content!

[@danieljackson654]

Vitruvius rides again. Wonderful. Astronomy and Design. Classic.

[@lorenluyendyk5800]

Great video! A lot of these elements can be added to retrofit conventional developments. For example rainwater harvesting, Grey water systems, and of course food forests and vegetable gardens. The adventurous can even add chickens!

[@nicababi86]

What's annoying is zoning laws and regs. For example, in my area, you are not allowed to compost. I get that some folks wont do it correctly but why not educate them instead of outright banning the practice? Smh, governments.

[@jeguschristie4300]

This becomes significantly more effective if you’re combining it with high density development or at least combine the homes into row houses, which are thermally much more efficient.

[@MellowMaple]

I've had this idea for a long time now, to make just one large building for a lot of people, and instead of everyone having a little plot they won't ever use, cause we all know capitalism and overworking isn't going away, we can have one large garden/food forest/park. maybe even all around it. Parking lots can be designed around trees and pathways, making them more complicated for people who Have to have their car, and including a bus route that drives up to the building and back out. you could even have grocery stores and other commercial on the top middle and bottom floors depending on the size of this building. Common areas inside where things like indoor pools and other things can be built. People would have to give up having their own little garden space where their tiny dog can take a dump, but people would still move in if you make sure it remains affordable and the price isn't jacked up "just cause I can".

[@user-sc7fk5ys6x]

Gardens can’t be on the north side of a food forest unless the plants are shade tolerant. Food plants rarely are.

[@doctorinternet8695]

Interesting ideas, and I agree with the basic concepts of the video, but this design leaves out crucial elements needed for a healthy neighborhood and treats it somewhat as a isolated system, to the point that many modifications would be needed as time went on to make it more sustainable and efficient. First I feel like it was implied that those habitations are for single families, which is not a very sustainable way to house people (in many cases) and far from viable for the vast majority of places and populations. Maybe the intent of the video was to just deal with this specific case, but the fact that many places face population pressure and most people live in urban areas, makes it almost obligatory to include some sustainable solutions for denser habitation in a video about neighborhood design. Then, if you start putting more people in this system, comes the question of how would it deal with bigger demands for water , food , energy and waste management. Also how would it accomodate other land uses besides housing, like commerce and services, other workplaces, storage etc which the local population would need nearby. This also makes necessary a mixed use of the land, in order to increase sustainability and quality of life. And finally, that all necessitates to include some solutions for mass transit in the design, because every place is necessarily connected to other places far and near, and people would need and want to go there. If the objective is sustainablity and quality of life, cars should receive the least amount of space possible, and other ways of thansportation should be intimately integrated with the neighborhood. How would it accomodate trains, trams, subways, buses etc? Of course, maybe all that is outside the scope of the video, which is okay. But some consideration should be given to these and other elements, or else we are left with a platonic ideal of a neighborhood design, appliable only in rare cases in the real world. Having said that, I really enjoy your content, and it gives me inspiration for where and how I'm gonna live my life in the future, thank you for your work! PS: This made me realize that the intersection of permaculture and urbanism is a still little explored vast well of techniques, solutions and design possibilities. If people from both fields worked more together, the advancements would be tremendous.

[@Ladadadada]

From an urbanist perspective there's an aspect in this video that we should alter for optimum outcomes and that is on-street car parking. You have correctly realised that space within your property is valuable and far too much of it is taken up for car storage, but offloading that storage into the public realm means that we need the paved part of every street to be 2x wider than it would need to be if the street was just used for transport and not storage. Storage of private cars in public space means that everyone, including those who don't own cars, is subsidising those who do own them. Road maintenance becomes more expensive because there's more road space to maintain, utilities (water, gas, electricity, etc) become more expensive because houses need to be further apart and the streets become more difficult and dangerous to navigate.

[@kirsten4896]

I need one that is titled, "How Permaculture Will Overthrow Tyrants". Thx.

[@kwlweapons]

The people will have to collectively overthrow and replace them with something much more harmonious.

[@anonperson3972]

My one criticism is lack of parking. I live in an area with a lot of victorian qnd edwardian era housinh, which has no parking because cars werent around or were only owned by the rich. This has resulted in streets with cars parked both sides of the road all the way down. This means children are crossing the road without being able to look properly and without drivers being able to see them untill they are in the cars path. It also results in vehicles getting in each others way, including delivery vehicles and more importantly ambulances which get delayed. To deal with this I would do 1 of 3 things. 1. Mitigate the traffic issue by making the roads one way and create crossing points in the road. 2. Give people a driveway that can be converted to an amenity space for those without a car. 3. Create community parking nearby, (this would also allow for greater security as the car park could fitted with cctv for easily than every driveway. Leaving the road exclusively to pedestrians, cyclists, works and emergency response vehicles and those with permits for mobility reasons. This would ensure greater access for those that need it most and make a safer neighbourhood for children :)

[@justincatlett56]

I am loving learning about permaculture, but I'd like to understand how these designs support anti-islanding of the various habitat zones or wild areas. You say that this type of design is more in line with nature's water and light, but I'd be interested in how it can also support the larger fauna as well. Thanks for these wonderful lessons and visuals. :)

[@louisegogel7973]

I believe that by keeping the villages clustered, and only allowing agriculture and forests to exist within a large space around each village, you maximize the potential animal habitats. It is important too, to design corridors for the various species to be able to shift between the areas.

[@cvestick]

I really like seeing your ideas, designs, and reasonings

[@amillison]

Glad you like them! Thank you for watching!

[@here5D]

Love it! More and more people are def wanting to live better and in harmony with the earth and other animals and plant kingdoms! 👽✨💞

[@hanneken4026]

Somehow, the uniformity of the permaculture neighborhood you show in this design still reminds me very strongly of the car-centric suburbs of North America. With added water storage and food-producing gardens and swales instead of useless lawns, but still very much designed from the same sort of Euclidean zoning mindset and nimby zoning laws which I saw demonstrated in NotJustBikes videos from his StrongTowns series (among others). If you are designing a permaculture neighborhood, looking to enable a sustainable lifestyle, you might also want to take a look at sustainable transportation options and what that means for neighborhood design. Good, solid Dutch-style bikes and cargo (e)bikes can work as good replacements for a car for most journeys, especially if you combine them with good, frequent public transport that has their own lanes - putting plenty of secure bike storage at bus stops gives a wider catchment area per stop, and allows the bus route to be more direct and faster. Maybe plan in an e-car recharger point at a small parking area for shared cars at the end of every second or third street, instead of making all the roads wide enough to park in front of each house? You could still go and get a car e.g. for a big shopping trip, load it up and unload in front of your house, but then put it away at the parking lot on the next street. It makes it something you do when you really need a car, not the default option you always pick first because it's parked right outside the front door. The streets can be a lot narrower, with chicanes (with trees, planting and where relevant swales) alternating on either side of the road. This does a lot to cool the area down as well as being good for water infiltration, but it also slows any car that needs to be on that street down to a speed that is safe for kids playing or cycling to school, wheelchair users and handcyclists, and safe for elderly walkers to cross. That makes them less noisy as well as less dangerous. This is an important element in creating a good social environment. But to get people to prefer using their bikes for short journeys you also need to plan the things people need to get to within easy biking distance (3 miles): zoning must allow and promote corner shops, primary school, primary care center with doctor/dentist/physio, daycare, hairdressers etc.who work from home, within or along the border of the permaculture residential neighborhood. It also means designing safe streets, traffic calmed and slowed by design, filtered to remove through traffic from residential and commercial town center districts, and providing solidly protected bike lanes and protected intersections where necessary on faster, wider through streets (protected with parking/planters/solid bollards or concrete barriers), while making the routes for cars less direct and fast. It's also wise to allow for gentle density, to allow for people of all ages and abilities to thrive in your neighborhood. Elderly people, people with disabilities, young people starting to live on their own for the first time, will probably not all want to or be capable of caring for such a large house and garden and water system, and maybe some of the swale. Put 2, 3, or up to 4-story apartment buildings on or near the corners, with ground floor flats for the elderly or handicapped, and a corner store or café, and flats above for young people, and maybe the shop-owner or employees. That creates enough gentle density for a good bus or tram service to serve the neighborhood, running to the nearest train station and town center (for access to the high school*, hospital and other services, and more diverse commercial district), as well as making the neighborhood more livable. * If possible, ensure that kids can safely bike to the high school on their own, with their classmates and friends, along separated cycle paths - that saves 1/4 of car trips (or nasty old diesel-spewing school busses causing pollution around the kids) and frees up their parents' time from playing taxi driver.

[@bhavens9149]

for those of us in the Desert would suspect you put gardens on the North and water/Trees to the south and not overshadowing the south facing roof, also including a garage for the same thing we all have them, a place to do work and store stuff you dont do in the house. who has room in a garage for a Vehicle?

[@lilynoir3939]

Make sure the angle of the roof is the same angle as ur latitude for maximum solar panel efficiency!

[@b_uppy]

Think you mean to have the panels *adjusted* for latitude. There is also your personal priorities regarding seasonal variances that will figure into their angle of placement.

[@Jaylea1010]

This is the one I wanted to see!! I love this and would love to see further into this with wildfire prevention and a larger community! One question, though, if you're taking away the homes for cars (smart...) and half the roads, where will people park? (I have back to the future going through my head... where we're going, we don't need roads.)

[@amillison]

In the ideal world we have less cars :-) But people can park on the street in this design.

[@davedaddy101]

I absolutely love this idea. thanks. Only part I disagree with is a common garden that people share. Human nature, everyone assumes the other guy is gonna take care of it and no one does. And inevitably people will all fight over the harvest knowing to grab before someone else does. I like this same system but with individuals all playing specific roles and having specific responsibilities. Maybe that is what you meant. Not sure.

[@facelessdrone]

That is not true, human beings have been collectively and community farming for hundreds of generations longer than we have not, it is not human nature to neglect and steal, it is capitalistic nature, born form a cycle of abuse and inequality. people raised in such a human centered community, or ones forward thinking enough to live in such a place are far more likely to see the bigger picture, rather than the individual, as capitalism promotes.

[@davedaddy101]

@@facelessdrone It’s not community farming I’m against. It’s lack of accountability I am against. Each individual should be held accountable for what they grow and harvest. Or I promise you there will be slackers. If you’ve ever ran a job of any kind you would know what I’m talking about.

[@athena1491]

@@davedaddy101 there have been systems like that, and they found that there were rarely slackers, and.... so what if there is.... like, communities take care of each other. In your system, Janice the 96 year old, and Fred who struggles to move around the garden in their wheelchair, are expected to do the same amount of work, and the same kind of work as other people who are more able, which is foolish to expect. Also... gardens are not a ton of work, a single person can care for a space large enough to feed 6-10 other people in around 42 minutes a day on average, 5 hours a week. The average home has 2.5 people in it, so 42 minutes to feed 4 homes, 10 minutes and 15 seconds of work per home, or 4 minutes and 20 seconds per person, its not a ton of work. I have disabilities that keep me from doing regular work, but, i would totally be down for 5 hours of gardening a week. In fact, thats my life goal, to have a small family farm.

[@davedaddy101]

@@athena1491 i’m sure even with your disabilities you put in your fair share of work and bring value to the table in some way Athena. No doubt. Besides, there are always exceptions. But what you’re mentioning is literally the problem the pilgrims faced their first year at Plymouth Rock. A few were doing all of the work. As soon as they switched to a policy of accountability there was enough food to feed 3 times the population. Yes I am taking into consideration senior citizens, children, and people with disabilities. Also taking into consideration that the Native Americans taught them how to farm in year two.

[@gustavohopkins242]

@@davedaddy101 if you didnt like gardening or plants would you move into a permaculture community? Also it seems like dues would simplify this. Cant put in the work, pay a due and the neighborhood uses to get the labor needed for it. But if you have seen permaculture gardens they are pretty wild. Yeah some maintenance but alot less daily work then a monoculture set up. Like dont harvest something, birds will eat it. Need to control overgrowth let chickens and goats on the land. It becomes a lot more work when you are trying to make a profit off it

[@PatrickKQ4HBD]

I'm going to impose two requirements on your designs: 1. Every house must have an attached two car garage. NOBODY is going to buy a house in which they park on a street, walk at night through a food forest carrying their suitcase and shopping to their house. You just aren't planning around the humans foremost. 2. Every house must have enough dedicated sun-facing roof space to enable solar charging of the house plus electric cars. The owners don't have to have two cars, but they need usable, SECURE, non-heated space to work and store possessions.

[@amentco8445]

These guys always assume no crime, no differences between people, no needs beyond what they want. It's almost communist, and I wouldn't doubt they could subscribe to that. The underlying concepts are ok for some areas, I'd really appreciate if people who don't need empty grass zones could just have a fairly natural permaculture, but it's too much to ask.

[@brittanyfriedman5118]

this is great for retrofitting existing suburbs but i think we could do a lot better if we started from scratch

[@b_uppy]

Ignoring 'established' allows for huge amounts of waste. 'From scratch' neighborhoods use a lot of resources. In-fill has speed saves effort and energy in its set up--all pluses. 'Established' neighborhoods are easily appropriated converting the hardscaped resources to permaculture. They create unique opportunities that teach and inform other projects. *Think* of how Brad Lancaster created curb cuts to harvest water before it escaped to drains, then think of what you can do locally...

[@facelessdrone]

@@b_uppy they are not saying to start building vastly more neighborhoods, but to instead create every single new neighborhood that is ALREADY going to be built, into a permaculture one, neighborhoods are going to be built either way, id rather have one done with less resources spent and at a higher living standard(permaculture) than one that uses vastly more resources, is ugly, is far more expensive to maintain, and creates a lower standard of living. When we do start to build new neighborhoods with permaculture in mind, it will be easier for others within a town or city to see the immense benefit of such a system and want to "retrofit" their neighborhood in a similar way.

[@b_uppy]

@@facelessdrone You are reading a lot into his comment that isn't there. Additionally building all neighborhoods as permaculture ones suggest government enforcement and regulation. Governments usually take a broad club where finesse would do much better. Permaculture is about finesse and thinking. Government is not a thinking entity, bureaucracy proves that over and over. Permaculture is a beautiful thing. Let it breath.

[@palecompass3598]

There is actually more than one neighborhood in Davis, CA, that uses permaculture design. Verona Terrace is much smaller than Village Homes, but it's designed just as you've drawn Village Homes but with some small garden spaces and paths to parks. And Village Homes is actually designed with community spaces, large gardens, orchards and a restaurant included. Village Homes, like most Davis neighborhoods, includes access to public parks and a bike path called the Greenbelt, which runs all over the city. The Greenbelt is a bike/walking path lined with trees, grass and bushes that meanders through neighborhoods connecting parks, open spaces, wildlife areas, shopping centers, and small and large playgrounds.

[@drpk6514]

In Australia, most houses are West East oriented which is the worst direction. I am convinced they do this purposely so we use more power. They cant be this stupid.

[@Mansahx]

Very cool. Great information 👍🏾👍🏾

[@matarael]

I would throw in an Aquaponics/tilapia farm, chicken coop, and (since I recently saw an interesting video about it) attach a bottle to bottle beehive to some homes. Would be dope.

[@inventor121]

One main concern I have with your development is that the houses on the north side of the street would have large road-facing windows and small yard facing windows, which most people tend not to like very much, especially in North America. I find this to be the largest reason why passive solar isn't readily adopted in my city. Also garages are a necessity if you own a car in my area, otherwise it can get hot and cold enough within the same day for engine blocks to crack (and batteries to start failing/catching fire).

[@SteveDinnes]

Great Andrew! Thanks!

[@paxniemand2751]

It would be awsome to expand to village design including how it interacts with zones

[@jeffrey6019]

U are crazy sir...so much efforts...like straight awau

[@marencruickshank]

I love you. My dream is to create a permaculture neighborhood

[@gwynnethvanjaarsveld7030]

Wow, this is a GOOD video !🇿🇦💚

[@mclau1524]

I would also love to paint my roof bright white, it would keep my house sooo much cooler in the hot summer and I wouldnt have to turn on air conditioning as much

[@camazotzz]

This is excellent, my only issue is that these are single family homes, I'd love a follow up video about higher density neighborhoods, cities, co-housing?

[@djash7161]

This was helpful towards Buying or Building My House 🏡

[@eliskabohunicka9568]

Thanks for sharing what you learned with us!

[@growinfaithkate6184]

How would permaculture be possible in a dense business/commercial district of a city? You tackle residential areas pretty well here but most metropolitan areas have heavy foot, vehicle traffic, dense building. How would you reconcile nature & modern architecture in that circumstance?

[@hypedude6120]

I love these ideas but think the biggest obstacle is getting reluctant homeowners to share land with neighbours. A new mindset is needed.

[@guiller2371]

Absolutely, love it!

[@xoSiNgInGiNtHeRaInox]

Wow, this is awesome!!!

[@ErikaVondrak]

Amazing ideas 💡 thank you so much

[@ailaclarisjumawan8817]

your ideas are great

[@petekooshian5595]

I would love to design something like this for my extended family. In our particular situation the issue IS money 😂 Awesome concepts though, and I'm really hoping (optimistically of course) that this becomes the future!

[@ddubsr5886]

Keep up the excellent work

[@heathertoomey7068]

5:02 All I can hear is Dora repeating the three landmarks on the way to her destination.

[@dingus_doofus]

I have a word to say about those swale paths. In a high-density, low-income neighbourhood, these will be crime hotspots, unless meticulous care is taken to ensure optimal lighting conditions. I live in an area that has similar features (except Brutalist and less optimised), and that's exactly how it turned out here (it quieted down a long time before I moved here, but the damage's been done and the state of the neighbourhood is dismal). I'm also not as confident as you are about the communal gardening. Whether it works would depend on several factors, mostly related to organisation/administration/cohesion of the neighbourhood. I've seen neighbourhoods where I'm confident it would thrive, and others where I'm confident it would end up an overgrown landfill (such as the one mentioned above, in fact that's exactly how the communal gardening spots look like here).

[@jacobshocklie2928]

now do one for an arid landscape!!

[@ANTSEMUT1]

What kind of arid environment? They aren't all the same.

[@bozemanjunkremoval]

Fantastic next episode how to fix city parks with this method

[@AbidAli-bv2gl]

Excellent video

[@ky8187]

The only bit I’m concerned with is, will the water being seeded into the ground from the swales, impact the home foundations over time? What if any steps can be taken to minimize any potential structure issues? Otherwise this is great I live in an EQ prone area so solid foundations are critical when the earth decides to move

[@ginak5715]

I think it depends on the area you live - precipitation, soil conditions, exact structure of the houses. I think if you share this info, you can get exact answer.

[@williamhad]

From what I've read, so long as water harvesting basins are more than 10ft away from the foundation and so long as all water drains away from the house(ie house is upslope from the basin) you shouldn't have problems.

[@amillison]

The basins are sunken quite a bit and sloped away from the houses, but it would depend on your particular soil type and moisture conditions. The most prominent example of this design that I show in Davis, CA has sandy well drained valley-bottom soils. If you were in a really swampy area with a shallow water table, then you'd need to think about that aspect differently.

[@mtpender69]

@@amillison I have another question about the swales, If they are being fed with water runoff from the road how do you stop contamination? (i.e. motor oil)

[@b_uppy]

A person that has written a lot on the subject is Brad Lancaster. He talks about sloping away excess while harvesting the optimum rainwater. Buy his set of books called Rainwater Harvesting. Really interesting and informative.

[@jenniferlafortune9710]

This is briliiant!! Love this!! Thank you for sharing!! You can use algae to produce energy and power an entire community with it; as well!!

[@Interglacial_optimist]

Road runoff contains brake dust antifreeze gasoline rubber you do not want that in anyting

[@amillison]

Woody perennial species (like trees) bind pollutants up in their tissues. Road runoff has to go somewhere...

[@williamhad]

If it doesn't go into a basin next to the road it will just end up in a river.

[@Interglacial_optimist]

@@williamhad maybe if electric cars have a lot less... We can only hope..regenerative braking probably reduce his brake dust no oil no gas no antifreeze I don't think

[@Interglacial_optimist]

@@amillison yes my cattails pull Mercury out of the and other plants extract lithium...

[@williamhad]

@@Interglacial_optimist there's been lots of studies on this shit. But I bet you know better...

[@BerserkrCasts]

I like some of the ideas presented. However living in the northern hemisphere with a lot of snow I can say with some confidence that this design would not work here. Driveways and garages are absolutely necessary. In the winter months it is illegal to park in the street because the snow plow's need to be able to clear the roads of snow to allow for free movement and emergency vehicle access. Garages keep the snow and ice off your car / truck and allow you to do maintenance in relative comfort. I couldn't imagine needing to change a tire or work under the car in one of the many blizzards we get here. One day energy efficient technology permitting I think heated roads / sidewalks that could melt the snow / ice and drain the water into the proposed cisterns may solve that issue.

[@farmermann210]

I tried like hell to set up and tiny house permiculture community for veterans.... Sure wish it would have worked out.

[@colintilbrook]

Yea so, you're mostly correct but you are missing some of the basic interdisciplinary principles of permacultural/low impact design (LID) and environmental planning. house spacing should be narrow frontage and deep, this provides increased population density and economic return on infrastructural costs as well as a more walkable neighbourhood. This also serves to decrease environmental impact per capita and improves biodiversity by elongating green fringe zones, improving impermeable to permeable surface area ratios, places more of your yard space further from the heat of the road, reduces energy costs to buildings I.E shade from adjacent structures and reduces southern exposure as per your suggested alignment. However.. Orientation also should not be based on compass points. I'll skip how local watersheds should be accounted for. The road grid should be largely determined based on 2 principles, access for transit maximizing permeability of human movement into/out of adjacent areas and to the existing topography of the area to utilize natural drainage and minimize the amount of bulldozing. Quick aside - the bulldozing of agricultural land for developments involves stripping all topsoil into large piles where it then dies and looses what little viability it had, brutal compaction of sub soils leading to much higher rates of foundational failures in structures from water. The two aforementioned principles encourage diverse design and environmental diversity over cookie cutter solutions this in turn favours property owners as individuals over big developers and banks. Keep up the good thinking!

[@venatorspar90]

parking cars on the street severely reduces their life due to being exposed to weather more also unsure about the second suburban plan mostly due to the accessibility of the second row of houses for emergency services is certainly thought provoking though

[@IcyMidnight]

These designs are still very car centric. We need to be building neighborhoods with sustainable transportation in mind as well!