Most of the green belt…

Most of the green belt expansion seems to be occurring in areas that will just become suburbs, I believe instead of expanding the urban footprint and sprawl by reducing the green belt, would it not be better to up the density across all the cities near the green belt reduction sites by changing the local residential zoning etc. The Netherlands have been able to preserve a massive green space surrounded by dense cities known as the Groene heart, because of the proximity of this largely rural area to major population centres it gives city dwellers the ability and ease to access nature conveniently. If there is to be any development in the green belt it should be around making trails and park lands that are easily accessible to people living in nearby urban centres, ideally without the need of a car. Too often we choose the expedient over the effective, we should be upzoning our cities and mandating that buildings get constructed with 3 bedroom units, not just studio to 2 bedroom so as to encourage families, we shouldn't be constructing any detached houses, they should be row houses and semi-detached at the least, we should be using the land we already have set aside and use it more efficiently than we currently are. Some may argue that by using the greenbelt this once, it's a pressure release valve, but if federal policy continues the way it is going for immigration, we will have to repeatedly tap the green belt for residential land, when we could be using what we already have. What's more, Covid and lockdowns have shown us that many commercial buildings could stand empty if need be, so why not encourage businesses to work remotely and maximize the existing prime commercial real estate and convert it into residential with government support such as loans and subsidies for developers to convert those to living spaces thereby more efficiently using real estate that is already valuable and centrally located. Please do not reduce the green belt, instead increase density and convert other zoning to residential.