Winchester planners have outlined the gaps between villages they want to see preserved.
The city council is drawing up its new local plan which will help guide planning decisions over the next decade.
The gaps are seen as vital ways of keeping settlements apart and stopping the spread of urban sprawl.
The gaps proposed to be included in the local plan are:
Winchester/Compton; Winchester/Kings Worthy/ Headbourne Worthy; Winchester/Littleton; Otterbourne/Southdown; Kings Worthy/Abbotts Worthy; Bishop's Waltham/Swan-more/ Waltham Chase/Shirrell Heath/ Shedfield; Denmead/Waterlooville.
Already major threats are emerging to those green lungs.
North Winchester, possibly including the Littleton area, has been earmarked by the county council as a reserve site for 2,000 homes.
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