Zones
A large scale concept of zones of land use was developed in
the 1970's by the Greek architect and planner, Constantinos Doxiadis.
In his scheme there are twelve zones of land use ranging from
the most natural to the most human modification. (Ekistics, June
1976)
NATURAREAS
- Zone One
- Real wildlife and virgin areas. Only open for scientific
research.
- Zone Two
- Wildlife visited. Man can enter without machines but does
not stay.
- Zone Three
- Wildlife embraced. Man enters and stays in temporary camps
or boats but without machines.
- Zone Four
- Wildlife invaded. Man enters and stays in permanent camps
but without machines.
- Zone Five
- Wildlife conquered. Man controls in order to both protect
and enjoy area. Small settlements.
CULTIVAREAS
- Zone Six
- Nonindustrial food production. Traditional agriculture and
fishing.
- Zone Seven
- Industrialized food production. Intensively cultivated areas
with regulated climate, water supply.
ANTHROPAREAS
- Zone Eight
- Physical life. Man lives close to nature but has facilities
for sports and entertainment.
- Zone Nine
- Low-density city. Small settlements with complement of commercial
and service establishments.
- Zone Ten
- Middle-density city. The normal human built-up area.
- Zone Eleven
- High-density city. Central business districts.
- Zone Twelve
- Heavy industrial and waste disposal areas.
ZONES IN PERMACULTURE
The concept of zones in permaculture guides the location of elements
as they are related to sector forces. A zone is a unit of land
determined by its requirements for energy or time use. The more
energy or time needed, the closer in toward the actual center
of site activity (usually the house) and the lower the zone number.
We radiate out from most intense to least intense need, from most
controlled to most wild.
- Zone I
- the person, the self. It includes our body and our personal
space.
- Zone O
- the main living structure.
- Zone 1
- the area closest to the living structure including auxiliary
buildings and storage, greenhouses and vegetable and herb gardens
needing the most care or providing the bulk of immediate food
needs.
- Zone 2
- might be orchards, small animals and cash crops needing a
little less care.
- Zone 3
- might be areas for aquaculture, pasture, low maintenance
nut trees and things that need only seasonal attention.
- Zone 4
- might be rough pasture, timber, and wildcraft collecting
areas that need little attention and infrequent visits.
- Zone 5
- wild areas for plant and animal observation and occasional
low level harvesting.
While in diagram form we might see these as pure and concentric
zones moving out from Zone 1 to 5, in reality they can become
more mixed. For example we might have a Zone 5 wildlife corridor
cutting across other site zones or we might have an isolated Zone
2 use in a Zone 5 wild area. All site designs do not have to have
all zones. But, even an urban site might have "representatives"
of each zone as a symbolic commitment to the permaculture idea.
