Flexibility and Ecological Planning: Gregory Bateson on Urbanism (original) (raw)
Gregory Bateson’s ecological aesthetics - an addendum to urban political ecology in vol4-issue1 Field Journal Special Issue on Ecology (whole issue as pdf) Goodbun, Jon, 2010, Journal Article, Gregory Bateson’s Ecological Aesthetics - an addendum to Urban Political Ecology Field Journal, 1 (4). pp. 39-47. ISSN 1755-068 Following a paper given at the 2008 Architectural Humanities Research Association (AHRA) 'Agency' conference, Goodbun was invited to submit a paper to the peer-reviewed international AHRA online architectural journal 'Field'. The paper was accepted for publication in the fourth issue of the journal, which was on 'ecology'. The published paper is a synopsis of key aspects of his PhD research, which informed his contribution to the SCIBE research project and the AD ‘Scarcity’ publication. This paper was the first publication of much of his thinking with regard to this material, and is referenced in recent PhDs (eg Jody Boehnert and Doug Spencer), and university reading lists (including the Bartlett School of Architecture, and the seminars of Peter Harries-Jones, a leading Bateson scholar). The paper considers how ecology – a term that emerged into popular consciousness in the 1960’s as a byword for holistic/ systemic thinking – has returned to prominence in recent years across disciplines beyond its original terms of use, including design theory and practice. Within the natural sciences, ecology is above all characterised by a holistic approach that focuses on organisation and the internal/external relational dynamics of ‘wholes’ or ‘assemblages’ such as ecosystems. Goodbun reviews how the concept of ecology has developed historically, and defines ecology by drawing together the ecological aesthetics in the work of Gregory Bateson, and the urban political ecology of contemporary neo-Marxist geographers such as Erik Swyngedouw, David Harvey and Matthew Gandy. He adds to a growing body of research relating political conceptions of ecology at an urban and planning scale to the possibility of an aesthetics of ecology more directly related to architectural and design-based thinking.
Bateson, the City and the Plan
circolobateson.it
In Ecology and Flexibility in Urban Civilization (1972), Bateson argues that an advanced urban civilization is one that has the highest degree of flexibility, able to harmonize with the flexibility of the environment to create a single, complex dynamic system, open to gradual changes ...
The interest of architectural and urban design in ecology is in part a recent interest, matured in the wake of a lengthy phase of "auto-conscience" at the end of which the disciplines of design achieved a certain level of awareness regarding their objective responsibilities in relation to achieving the objectives of sustainable development through the design of the city. A new ecological ethic now appears to pervade the actions of designers, coupled with a sincere and passionate tension, in some cases naïve, towards the real problems being faced by the planet, re-read through the lens of architecture and design.
ECOLOGY IN PUBLIC OPEN SPACE PLANNING AND DESIGN SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY OR IDEOLOGY
International Conference“ Architecture and Ideology“, 2012
| Today, at the beginning of the 21st century, ecology is not "only" a science or a rationale for "green" philosophies and political actions. Due to global recognition of environmental crisis, and the role that cities play in it, ecologically sound urban development became institutionalized. "Ecology" becomes a buzzword for urban development and "re-imaging" the cities in competition for new inhabitants and investments. It starts to be interpreted as a new planning and design ideology. Being a place where urban and natural systems meet and interact, public open spaces are important both as a reflection of environmental problems and as a part of their solution. Besides their ecological importance, public open spaces have various roles in urban life and are constituents of urban identity. As well, as a social scene, they are places of special importance for the social and cultural interaction and integration. This multifaceted nature of public space keeps open the debate on the quality of public space, and the role that ecology should play it their planning and design. This paper aims to contribute to the debate by using case study methodology to explore the ways in which ecology conceptually relates to public open space planning and design and by critically evaluating material consequences of this relations. We argue that the way the meaning and content of ecology is conceptualized, shapes the way it is integrated in planning and design theory, which consequently, shape our urban environment. Since ecology as a science evolves over time, it is important to keep its relation to planning and design open for new interpretations. Therefore, ecology should not be integrated to public space planning and design as a "solution" but as a way of approaching public space quality problems. Interpreted in that way, integration of ecology to planning and design theory opens up the space for creative practice.
Developing Urbanism and Its Application with Systems Thinking and Ecology
"""The world is urbanizing. Urban landscapes are changing faster than expected, which can cause environmental deterioration in global scale. This emerging recognition on geophysical phenomena entails the response toward unprecedented environmental issues and complex urban systems. As an advocate of efficient urban development, urban planning should reconsider its static mindset and make use of synthetic tactics to deal with urbanization, ecological imperatives, and systems paradigm in the urban setting. In this regard, a decoder of the big paradigm and sharable theoretical framework such as systems thinking and ecology are examined to prepare the mind shift on planning ideal and to perceive this background for developing theories and practices of urban professionals. Main objectives of the study is to make progress on understanding of (1) City as a system: the metaphoric use of urban systems, (2) Ecology of system: the metabolic meaning of ecosystem, (3) Environmentalism to urbanism: the paradigm shift in urban planning, (4) System-oriented planning strategies: the application of urban ecosystem planning. Consequently, the progress will bring on developing landscape system theory to find the meaning of ecology for urbanism. Approach of the study is (1) to review the inquiry of systems thinking intellectuals, (2) to make categories of systems concepts, and (3) to interpret them with contemporary research and practice cases. By tracing the flow of systems ideas development from scholar to scholar and linking this with landscape researches and practices, the paper will provide the further understanding of urban ecosystem planning strategies described in the discussion. In conclusion, the study will find the clues for improving urban ecosystem planning, lessen the gap between systems thinking, ecology, environmentalism and urbanism, then imply further research ideas to foster urban resilience. Keywords: Urban ecosystem, systems thinking, urban planning and design, landscape architecture, ecology, resilience, systems concepts"""
Ecological Design for Dynamic Systems: Landscape Architecture's Conjunction with Complexity Theory
Jounal of Biourbanism, 2013
"Ecological design adequate to help resolve current social environmental problems will have to engage organisms, ecosystems, and cities as far-from-equilibrium, open, self-organizing systems. Because these systems are inherently dynamic, with elements co-constituting one another, the goal of ecological design should not be a specific condition or end state. Rather, the entire network of processes, especially the positive feedback loops from which a given system’s self-organizing capacity emerges, needs to be maintained. Thus, the task of fully ecological design is to avoid interrupting or impairing a system’s ability to maintain or transform itself; or, as is increasingly necessary, enhancing or helping restore damaged ecosystem dynamics. Thankfully, landscape architecture and allied design disciplines and practices are developing greater capacity to facilitate dynamic adaptive processes—substantially contributing to a transition from a first to a second phase of ecological design that operationalizes the new paradigm of complexity theory. In order to continue the transformation we need to make explicit and integrate the fundamental dimensions of this shift and the implications for design. To present a clear description and analysis that also emphasizes the actual physical changes that make an ecological difference the essay uses examples concerning hydrologic flow regime and flooding."
2020
Ecological design adequate to help resolve current social-environmental problems will have to engage organisms, ecosystems, and cities as far-from-equilibrium, open, self-organizing systems. Because these systems are inherently dynamic, with elements co-constituting one another, the goal of ecological design should not be a specific condition or end state. Rather, the entire network of processes, especially the positive feedback loops from which a given system's self-organizing capacity emerges, needs to be maintained. Thus, the task of fully ecological design is to avoid interrupting or impairing a system's ability to maintain or transform itself; or, as is increasingly necessary, enhancing or helping restore damaged ecosystem dynamics. Thankfully, landscape architecture and allied design disciplines and practices are developing greater capacity to facilitate dynamic adaptive processessubstantially contributing to a transition from a first to a second phase of ecological ...
Ecological Urban Design theory, research, and praxis
2019
The Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) provides a cogent political and geographical context in which to locate a critical evaluation of the intersections between ecology, social justice, and urban design. • This critical intersection provides a basis for a new theory on the metacity that integrates ecosystem, social justice, and design thinking. • The metacity is motivated to understand the functional role of urban heterogeneity as a linked network of neighborhood patches that work together to achieve urban resilience and social equity at regional scales. • Academic urban design studios establish a foundation for incorporating interdisciplinary, project-and action-based urban design research into ecological science, where patch dynamics provided a metaphorical and practical tool shared by ecologists and designers to integrate built, ecological, and social criteria into research projects. • Research on new forms of critical ecological urban design praxis employed a novel urban land cover classification system called HERCULES as a way to understand hybrid built and vegetated urban systems.
Nature and Cities: The Ecological Imperative in Urban Design and Planning
Nature and Cities: The Ecological Imperative in Urban Design and Planning A new compilation of essays and work from a number of leading landscape architects, architects, and planners is slated for publication in June 2016. Nina-Marie Lister contributes a chapter on resilience. Nature and Cities will be published by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, in association with the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, and George F. Thompson Publishing.
While climate change, sustainable architecture, and green technologies have become increasingly topical, issues surrounding the sustainability of the city are much less developed. The premise of this book is that an ecological approach is urgently needed as an imaginative and practical method for addressing existing as well as new cities. Ecological Urbanism considers the city with multiple instruments and with a worldview that is fluid in scale and disciplinary focus. Design provides the synthetic key to connect ecology with an urbanism that is not in contradiction with its environment. The book brings together practitioners, theorists, economists, engineers, artists, policymakers, scientists, and public health specialists, with the goal of providing a multilayered, diverse, and nuanced understanding of ecological urbanism and what it might be in the future. The promise is nothing short of a new ethics and aesthetics of the urban. This book is also part of an ongoing series of research projects at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design that explore alternative and radical approaches between ecology and architecture, landscape architecture, planning, and urbanism.
Analysing Gregory Bateson’s ‘Ecological Intelligence’: Where Bateson and Aristotle Meet
2012
Gregory Bateson’s ideas have infiltrated various academic disciplines, providing insights into the nature of mind in nature and society. Bateson’s reformulation of mind as being immanent in nature is the cornerstone of his paradigm. Bateson was also concerned by rampant ecological degradation to the planet. For Bateson, humanity’s treatment of the environment reflected deeply entrenched behavioural patterns which needed to be changed. To this end, he encouraged individuals to live with a sense of earth’s sacredness. Bateson foregrounds the importance of connectedness found in nature as characterised by his famous mantra, “the pattern which connects”. In this paper I examine Bateson’s notion of ecological intelligence and consider how this concept accords with Aristotelian ecological thought.
Frontiers in urban ecological design and planning research
Landscape and Urban Planning, 2014
• The application of ecosystem services. • The adaptation of settlements for natural disasters. • The ecological renewal of degraded urban places. • The ability of people to link knowledge to action to affect positive change.
Urban Nature and Human Design: Renewing the Great Tradition
Journal of Planning Education and Research, 1985
This article calls attention to the importance of nature in city design. Anne Whiston Spiro asserts that most planners and designers have viewed natural forces as apart from, rather than as an integral part of, the city. Thus, with few exceptions, cities have failed to use the full potential of nature in creating healthy, economical, and beautiful urban environments. Spiro states that "existing knowledge about urban nature would be sufficient to produce profound changes in the form of the city, if only it were applied" (p. 485). "Once we can accept that the city is as natural as the farm and as susceptible of conservation and improvement, we work free of those false dichotomies ofCity and country, artificial and natural, man versus other living things. " Kevin Lynch (1981)
Urban Ecology as Model and Method: Collaboration and Multidisciplinary Work
106th ACSA Annual Meeting Proceedings, The Ethical Imperative, 2018
Despite two decades of landscape urbanism theory suggesting the possibility of a shared project and a new hybrid discipline, the fields of landscape and architecture retain distinct pedagogies and practices. Many architects and landscape architects aspire to design within an expanded field of practice, but there is still quite a lot that architects and landscape architects misunderstand about each other's methods, techniques, and intellectual projects. Among these divisions, an over-reliance on objects has resulted in an underemphasis on systems, interactions, and context. Outdated conceptions of "nature" have limited both disciplines' agency to operate on socio-ecological designed landscapes. A shift in emphasis from objects to systems, and from pattern to function, may enable these disciplines to pursue a more functional design collaboration. Complex challenges facing tomorrow's cities will require the expertise of both architecture and landscape. Rather than merging into a hybrid discipline, architecture and landscape each have unique skills, modes and methods to offer. The real challenge is finding synthetic and radical forms of collaboration. The emerging field of urban ecology offers insights into how disparate disciplines may productively collaborate on a shared project of exploration and intervention without losing their disciplinary core, culture, methods, or perspective. With the urban environment increasingly recognized as a complex ecosystem of socio-ecological-technological relationships, urban ecology also offers new vocabulary and methodology for collaborative and interdisciplinary work on urban sites, with goals like ecological function, high performance, and ongoing long-term design engagement.
How can an ecological perspective be used to enrich cities planning and management?
urbe. Revista Brasileira de Gestão Urbana
This conceptual article presents a comprehensive overview of principles, new urban descriptors and analysis methods that provide relevant ecological information, which can be fully incorporated into the planning process, by connecting ecological perspectives to planning and management issues. Section one summarizes the different notions of ecological urbanism and explores what concepts and basic assumptions can constitute a guide to implement an ecological perspective into urban planning. Section two covers what frameworks exist for planning and managing the city under an ecological perspective; and what methods and tools are being used by different stake holders to implement an ecological vision today. As a synthesis, the paper suggest that ecological urbanism applies through six concepts (ecological networks, nestedness, cycles, flows, dynamic balance and resilience), which can be covered by three principles: I) an eco-systemic understanding and management of the city; II) a biore...
Cities as Sustainable Ecosystems
"Cities as Sustainable Ecosystems advances an important idea about the relevance of systems thinking to design at the community and urban scale. Scaling up is a critical aspect to how we all need to be thinking; this book is an excellent guidepost."-William McDonough, William McDonough + Partners "Perhaps just in time, Newman and Jennings provide us with all the theory and practice we need to salvage urban civilization. Their excellent book is now the best available guide to the reinvention of cities as sustainable regional ecosystems, human settlements that thrive on much-reduced eco-footprints."-William E. Rees, professor, School of Community and Regional Planning, University of British Columbia CITIES AS SUSTAINABLE ECOSYSTEMS shows how cities and their residents can begin to reintegrate into their bioregional environment, and how cities themselves can be planned with nature's organizing principles in mind. Taking cues from living systems for sustainability strategies and drawing from examples from all corners of the world, Newman and Jennings reassess urban design by exploring flows of energy, materials, and information, along with the interactions between human and nonhuman parts of the system. A powerful model for urban redevelopment, Cities as Sustainable Ecosystems describes aspects of urban ecosystems from the visioning process to achieving economic security to fostering a sense of place.
Ecological approaches to urban planning
An urban policy that includes ecological concerns should target in 2 basic directions: a) each city as a system should be evolving within the limits of the bigger ecosystem that supports the 'real' needs of people (mental, social, financial, technical) and b) there should be an inner ecological restructure of the developing urban planning for the preservation and the promotion of its architectural cultural heritage, redesign of its deprived areas and the application of the principles of the eco-design in the new areas of expansion. The ecological city has the direct democracy as their foundation. Democracy can't be meant without community. For the fulfillment of this goal, a community organization of the space of the city is needed, using as a foundation the neighborhood as the smallest cell of community organization according to the cultural tradition of each country. For Greece, this cell is the neighborhood-parish, a place where all the mental, social, financial and technical needs of its habitant must be fulfilled according to the principles of greek tradition scientific ecology. For an ecological transformation of the society in each city, active citizens with ecological conscience are needed. For the application of the principles of an ecological urban policy, mainly in the transitional stage, the specialized scientists play a major role (planners, architects, sociologists etc).
Ecological Reasoning and Architectural Imagination
2004
By 'ecology' here I refer not just to the science of ecology (landscape ecology or cultural ecology) today, but also to the holistic, open-system and dynamic/process orientation the science ecology takes. By 'ecological' I mean a life-based, environment-oriented, evolution-directed reasoning and outlook. I like to therefore 3: Tulip Fields 4: Korean Wrapping Cloth So, as I talk about 'landscape' and 'design', both a 'Dutch subject' and Dutch strength, I like to talk more specifically about the unresolved tension between Modernity and Environmentalism. I believe that this tension needs to be explained and resolved to ensure Dutch leadership in 'integrative' and 'sustainable' environmental design. void here all ideological, fundamentalist, deterministic, conservative and even totalitarian characterization of the ecological approach to architecture and landscape architecture (as for instance in the case of rejection of 'foreign' or 'invasive' plants). Science is neutral, and art, as the aesthetician Herbert Read correctly noted, is a biological phenomenon. 3 (Cohen, ; Koh,1978). 4 Fitch, 1968 10: Attacking the modernist destruction of the ancient urban fabric of Paris, F.J. Batellier 11: Seoul, Korea 4. The cost of modernity, however, has been far more disastrous in East Asia than Europe, particularly in many rapidly industrializing nations without participatory democracy. This is in stark contrast to how the West has successfully assimilated Eastern philosophy and aesthetics in the beginning phase of Modern art and architecture towards the late 19 th century and early 20 th century. 5. Searching alternatives to Modernity, architects and landscape architects had engaged natural and social scientists in a lukewarm manner in the late 1960's and 1970's. Out of frustration of not getting out of their own 'box', and their inability to find a proper aesthetic language and design strategy, to go beyond Modernity, some of them went back to Modernist art with its self-referential and elitist attitudes. This is then the 'new modern', or 'soft modern'. 6. Without new language of design to effectively displace the old, in this case Modernity, even Ian McHarg, a pioneering proponent of the ecological approach in landscape architecture, was anti-architecture and anti-city, and favored the 'Romantic' English 'picturesque garden' and rustic,