303 research outputs found
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Sustainability and Cities: a landscape planning approach
According to the United Nations, the world’s population has recently become predominantly urban, and the world’s urban population is projected to double by 2050 (United Nations Habitat 2006). This paper discusses the issues, challenges and best practices that are being conceived and applied by landscape and urban planners to bring sustainability and to build resilience capacity in cities. Landscape planning provides working/operational methods to address complex built and green urban environments with diverse resources, land uses and competing social needs and values. The theories behind landscape planning, landscape urbanism and new initiatives on sustainability and resilience will be reviewed and illustrated with selected international applications to urban planning and design. The concept of ecosystem services is used as a metric to assess the specific abiotic, biotic and cultural functions and processes in urban environments in support of sustainability
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Novel Urban Ecosystems: New Nature(s) for the Century of the City
The 21st century has been labeled the “Century of the City” because of the present and growing dominance of the world’s urban population. The world has entered a new geological era, the Anthropocene, so labeled by Paul Crutzen and Eugene Stoermer in 2000 - in which the impacts and artifacts of humans are recognized as a geologic force. Clearly in this new humandominated urban era, for the world to be sustainable and resilient, cities will need to play a leading role. Urban biodiversity, defined broadly and holistically here, will become key providers of the ecosystem services that cities depend on. The changes that humans have made to the earth are visible from space, measurable in the planet’s atmosphere, and can be sensed by all via the world’s changing climate, rising sea levels, biodiversity loss, and changes to water and air quality, human health and the overall quality of life. We are now beginning to understand the consequences and complexities of our present, and future, urban existence (McPherson et al 2016, Forman 2014). The world is undeniably in new and uncharted territory, the era of the Anthropocene – in which the impacts and artifacts of humans have become global in scale. In this context, the conventional wisdom that views “nature” and “cities” as opposites is no longer accurate and certainly not productive to meet current and future challenges. Marris et al. (2011) argue that the Anthropocene does not represent a human failure, but rather a call-to-action, … – and to develop a more opportunistic and “forward-looking nature”. The world’s urban future needs new conceptions, paradigms and models for urban nature – including its appearance, its spatial dimensions, its functions and complexity, and ultimately it as a physical manifestation of human values and aspirations. The new global urban demography will cause humanity to rethink its most fundamental concepts and conceptions of nature. There is no going back to the pre-Anthropocene world. “We can only go forward and have to find the best way of making progress” (Sijmonds 2014). In the Century of the City “urban nature” of all types, will be called on, directly and indirectly to contribute to the, feeding, clothing, sheltering, buffering, inspiring, rejuvenating, recreating, and otherwise sustaining
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Opportunistic Urban Greenways: typologies, precedents and challenge
As greenways have gained global popularity, planners and city officials have adopted opportunistic strategies to adopt and implement ambitious visions for greenways in space-limited contexts. These opportunistic strategies can be organized into a typology of four principal types: unused infrastructure, vacant lot patchwork, “found” space, and urban redevelopment-related. These types can be defined by their urban context, goals, scale and functions supported. A series of precedents are presented that illustrate the diversity of approaches in American and European cities. While the opportunities are many, challenges to their implementation exist, including: overcoming public preconceptions about vacant urban lands, monitoring the benefits (ecosystem services) provided, acknowledging and addressing the important ecosystem disservices found in vacant and spontaneous urban lands and building strong public support through community participation in planning and design
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Novel Urban Ecosystems: Concepts, Definitions and a Strategy to Support Urban Sustainability and Resilience
The 21st century is already known for unprecedented and fundamental changes and new trajectories - think climate change, global economics, migration and population growth. The world is now predominantly urban and will become increasingly so until mid-century when global population is expected to stabilize at around 70% urban. The world has entered a new geological era, the Anthropocene, in which the impacts and artifacts of humans are recognized as a geologic force. In this Century of the City, - for the world to be sustainable and resilient, cities must be an essential part of the solution - and novel urban ecosystems will play a fundamental role. A new conception, definition, and typology of 21st century novel urban nature is proposed here as the basis for a novel urban ecosystem strategy to provide essential ecosystem services to support urban sustainability and resilience. This proposed novel nature strategy is informed by landscape and urban ecology and collaborates systematically in designed experiments with urban landscape architecture practice. Designed experiments on novel urban ecosystem are necessary to: 1 I monitor the performance of innovative designs to provide essential ecosystem services; 2] to mitigate the inescapable ecosystem disservices; and 3) to build public understanding and support for new types and new models of novel urban ecosystems
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Imparting Olmsted’s Legacy Abroad: An Exhibition Series in Beijing, China
In the first integrated-exhibition of its kind, our team of Chinese landscape architects and American scholars showcased the influence and impact of Frederick Law Olmsted’s work on the American landscape through a three-month Exhibition, a Symposium and Reference Book launch at Beijing’s National Museum of Chinese Gardens and Landscape Architecture. The Exhibition featured a meticulously curated collection of Olmsted’s most significant works, organized into six distinct thematic sections spread over 6500 square-feet. In tandem with the Exhibition was a Symposium that assembled leading Chinese landscape architects, government officials and scholars, and a 230-page Chinese-English Resource Book Designing America\u27s Landscape - Olmsted and His Works to serve future generations of designers and scholars. This integrated-exhibition afforded a broad audience - students, professionals, government officials, and the general public - a multi-faceted and comprehensive understanding of Olmsted’s approach to design and how they can be consulted to inform the work of urban development in China. With a visitorship of 112,500, this groundbreaking exhibition aimed to germinate and advance the sustainable urban design movement in China.
The Olmsted exhibit in China was conceived, researched, and produced in partnership with the museum’s curatorial staff with technical assistance from institutions in both the U.S. and China, including the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic site, the US National Park Service, and the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. A lavish collection of historic photographs and newly collected educational materials illustrated Olmsted’s professional contribution and how heightening qualities within natural landscapes can protect dense urban areas from flooding, create public spaces that provide a safe and healthy respite, and foster a legacy of preserved natural and cultural landscapes. Furthermore, the exhibit showcased Olmsted’s vision and how the profession can improve the quality of life and create sustainable environments.
The Olmsted exhibit was held at the Museum of Chinese Gardens and Landscape Architecture, which receives approximately 450,000 visitors annually. This is the first and only national museum in the world that is primarily focused on landscape architecture. Since the exhibit concluded, portions of the exhibit, including scale models of Central Park and Boston’s Emerald Necklace are now on permanent display in a prominent location at the entrance to the museum. The now-permanent inclusions ensure that Olmsted exhibit will continue to impact and influence contemporary Chinese landscape architecture
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Novel Urban Waterfront Ecosystem Services Evaluation, Monitoring and Improving Strategies
The urban waterfront is the interface between urban areas and their adjacent water (Timur, 2013). Urban waterfronts have historically been the hub of transportation, trade and commerce. In the 20th century, many cities evolved from a manufacturing or trade economy to a service industry economy – often abandoning their waterfronts in the process, with common environmental problems, and creating the opportunity and need to reconceive the waterfronts (Smith et al., 2012). In the early 21st century, the waterfront regeneration trend has continued, often with a broader view of restoring and improving urban waterfront ecosystem services.
Here we suggest that this contemporary and continuous trend of urban waterfront regeneration represents a fundamental change in understanding and perception of urban waterfronts from a historical commercial/industrial place, to the waterfront as a special zone where goals for sustainability and resilience inspire new waterfront developments that explicitly aim to provide multiple ecosystem services, and support the concept of urban greenways
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Gloucester Marine Station: Future Development Feasibility Study
The study commenced in July 2009 with historical research about the site and its context, site analysis, including the existing conditions and development regulations. This analysis included: topography, soils, vegetation, structures, utilities, easements, property deed, and city, state, and federal regulations. From this analysis an assessment of future development potentials was made based on the existing data/documents from UMass files, public records, Mass GIS data, site visits, and interviews with Gloucester, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and other officials and stakeholders. From the assessment we identified potential future uses, building locations, and feasible alternative layouts of the site. These alternatives were summarily analyzed to support continuing discussions among committed and potential partners regarding shared space and facilities, development costs and timing of future needs
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Novel Urban Ecosystems: Opportunities from and to Landscape Architecture
Novel assemblages of biotic, abiotic, and social components resulting from human-induced actions (e.g., climate change, land-use change, species movement) have been labeled as “Novel Ecosystems”, or “Novel Urban Ecosystems” when emerging in urban contexts. This concept has been shifting perspectives among some scientists and making them question traditional values about human-nature interactions in a rapidly changing era dominated by anthropogenic actions (Anthropocene). Controversial dimensions surrounding the Novel Ecosystems and Novel Urban Ecosystems terms may be preventing the evolution and further research of these concepts. The environmental problems that our society will soon face support a search for innovative solutions and transdisciplinary efforts. For that reason, this discussion should not cease, rather should expand to other fields of knowledge that can contribute with pertinent insights and collaborations. This way, this short communication aims to reflect on the opportunities from Landscape Architecture to the discussion, research, and application of the novel ecosystems concepts in the real world, particularly in the urban landscape, and also reflect on the opportunities of this debate to the Landscape Architecture field. Ultimately, Landscape Architecture can contribute with innovative and creative perspectives, acceding valuable and advanced tools, facilitating dialogues between fields of knowledge, and bridging gaps between science, people, and nature
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Adapting to Expanding and Contracting Cities, Book of Abstracts, 6th Fabos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning, March 28-30, 2019, Amherst, MA.
The Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning is held every three years to bring together experts who are influencing landscape planning, policy making and greenway planning from the local to international level. It is intended to highlight recent trends and expand the literature about landscape and greenway planning. The aim is to explore how landscape architects and planners from different countries have approached greenway planning and to understand how greenways have been tailored to each county’s unique geographical, cultural, and political circumstances. The theme for the 2019 conference, Urban Greenway Planning: Adapting to Expanding and Contracting Cities, explores the social and ecological potential of linear green spaces in urban areas that are experiencing decline or those that are booming. We look to understand the variety of ways in which urban greenways are conceived, designed, built, used, and maintained in cities across the globe in response to economic and demographic trends
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