Landscape And Infrastructure

As ecology becomes the new engineering, the projection of landscape as infrastructure—the contemporary alignment of the disciplines of landscape architecture, civil engineering, and urban planning— has become pressing. Predominant challenges facing urban regions and territories today—including shifting climates, material flows, and population mobilities, are addressed and strategized here. Responding to the under-performance of master planning and over-exertion of technological systems at the end of twentieth century, this book argues for the strategic design of "infrastructural ecologies," describing a synthetic landscape of living, biophysical systems that operate as urban infrastructures to shape and direct the future of urban economies and cultures into the 21st century. Pierre Bélanger is Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture and Co-Director of the Master in Design Studies Program at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. As part of the Department of Landscape Architecture and the Advansed Studies Program, Bélanger teaches and coordinates graduate courses on the convergence of ecology, infrastructure and urbanism in the interrelated fields of design, planning and engineering. Dr. Bélanger is author of the 35th edition of the Pamphlet Architecture Series from Princeton Architectural Press, GOING LIVE: from States to Systems (pa35.net), co-editor with Jennifer Sigler of the 39th issue of Harvard Design Magazine, Wet Matter, and co-author of the forthcoming volume ECOLOGIES OF POWER: Mapping Military Geographies & Logistical Landscapes of the U.S. Department of Defense. As a landscape architect and urbanist, he is the recipient of the 2008 Canada Prix de Rome in Architecture and the Curator for the Canada Pavilion ad Canadian Exhibition, "EXTRACTION," at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale (extraction.ca).

Infrastructure is a much discussed topic within the field of landscape architecture. It regards the entire urban and rural space as a network that calls for an integrated planning and urban design approach. Natural and man-made infrastructures are viewed as forming a single, overarching whole. The book examines this robust and ecologically sustainable approach with essays by well-known experts in the field. It also documents 14 international case studies by SWA landscape architects and urban designers, among them the technologically innovative roof domes for Renzo Piano’s California Academy of Science in San Francisco, the restoration of the Buffalo Bayou in Houston, and several master plans for ecological corridors in China and Korea. Other projects develop smart re-use concepts for railroad tracks that no longer serve their original purpose, such as Kyung-Chun railway in Seoul or Katy Trail in Dallas. All projects are described extensively with technical diagrams and plans. The publication offers ideas for reinventing, repurposing, and repositioning infrastructure as a viable medium for addressing issues of ecology, transit, urbanism, and habitat.

This volume examines the applicability of landscape urbanism theory in contemporary landscape architecture practice by bringing together ecology and architecture in the built environment. Using participatory planning of green infrastructure and application of nature-based solutions to address urban challenges, landscape urbanism seeks to reintroduce critical connections between natural and urban systems. In light of ongoing developments in landscape architecture, the goal is a paradigm shift towards a landscape that restores and rehabilitates urban ecosystems. Nine contributions examine a wide range of successful cases of designing livable and resilient cities in different geographical contexts, from the United States of America to Australia and Japan, and through several European cities in Italy, Portugal, Estonia, and Greece. While some chapters attempt to conceptualize the interconnections between cities and nature, others clearly have an empirical focus. Efforts such as the use of ornamental helophyte plants in bioretention ponds to reduce and treat stormwater runoff, the recovery of a poorly constructed urban waterway or participatory approaches for optimizing the location of green stormwater infrastructure and examining the environmental justice issue of equative availability and accessibility to public open spaces make these innovations explicit. Thus, this volume contributes to the sustainable cities goal of the United Nations.

With illustrative and detailed examples drawn from throughout the country, Green Infrastructure advances smart land conservation: large scale thinking and integrated action to plan, protect and manage our natural and restored lands. From the individual parcel to the multi-state region, Green Infrastructure helps each of us look at the landscape in relation to the many uses it could serve, for nature and people, and determine which use makes the most sense. In this wide-ranging primer, leading experts in the field provide a detailed how-to for planners, designers, landscape architects, and citizen activists

Covering agriculture, resources, energy, communication, transportation, manufacturing and waste, this volume explores all the major ecosystems of the modern industrial world, revealing what the structures are and why they're there and uncovering beauty in unexpected places. Photos.

Green infrastructure integrates human and natural systems through a network of corridors and spaces in mixed-use and urban settings. Austin takes a broad look at green infrastructure concepts, research and case studies to provide the student and professional with processes, criteria and data to support planning, design and implementation. Key topics of the book include: The benefits of green infrastructure as a conservation and planning tool Requirements of ecosystem health Green infrastructure ecosystem services that contribute to human physical and psychological health Planning processes leading to robust green infrastructure networks Design of green infrastructure elements for multiple uses. The concept of ecosystem services is extensively developed in this book, including biological treatment of stormwater and wastewater, opportunities for recreation, urban agriculture and emersion in a naturalistic setting. It defines planning and design processes as well as the political and economic facets of envisioning, funding and implementing green infrastructure networks. The book differs from others on the market by presenting the technical issues, requirements and performance of green infrastructure elements, along with the more traditional recreation and wildlife needs associated with greenway planning, providing information derived from environmental engineering to guide planners and landscape architects.

Introduction -- Landscape planning, design, and green infrastructure -- Green infrastructure in practice -- Case studies: Green infrastructure at the regional scale (Cleveland and Northeast Ohio: Green infrastructure for a city in transition -- North Texas: returning to the trinity) -- Green infrastructure in large cities (Philadelphia: making the greenest city of America -- Seattle: a city’s journey toward sustainability) -- Green infrastructure in smaller communities (Lancaster, Pennsylvania: managing stormwater pollution and enhancing community through green infrastructure -- Lenexa, Kansas: rain to recreation -- Onondaga County, New York: save the rain) -- Parks, greenways, river corridors as green infrastructure (Birmingham, Alabama: a green infrastructure movement -- Los Angeles River: using green infrastructure to revitalize a city -- Louisville Metro, Kentucky: application of green infrastructure from region to site -- Menomonee Valley Park and Redevelopment, Milwaukee) -- Summarizing the case studies -- Appendix: a model regulatory framework for green infrastructure.

This book addresses the nuts and bolts of planning and preserving natural assets at a variety of scales--from dense urban environments to scenic rural landscapes. A practical guide to creating effective and well-crafted plans and then implementing them, the book presents a six-step process developed and field-tested by the Green Infrastructure Center in Charlottesville, Virginia. Well-organized chapters explain how each step, from setting goals to implementing opportunities, can be applied to a variety of scenarios, customizable to the reader's target geographical location.