Understanding and designing nature experiences in cities: a framework for biophilic urbanism (original) (raw)
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What makes a city 'biophilic'? Observations and experiences from the Wellington Nature Map project
Back to the future: The next 50 years, 51st International Conference of the Architectural Science Association 2017, pp. 1–10. ©2017, M.A. Schnabel (eds.), The Architectural Science Association and Victoria University of Wellington., 2017
Despite clear benefits of maintaining human relationships with nature, people increasingly live in urban settings and spend high proportions of time indoors. Both of these trends are increasing globally. This means it is vital to ensure that future cities are designed, created and managed to enable meaningful human / nature connections. Cities that are examples of urban environments where human / nature relationships are innately encouraged and are part of residents' daily experiences have been termed 'biophilic cities'. Wellington, New Zealand is one of a select few cities internationally that has been identified as a biophilic city. In order to test the validity of that claim, this research set out to use GIS mapping to determine specific areas, sites and buildings that could be identified as being biophilic within Wellington. In order to do this, a unique biophilic cities framework was devised where 30 unique characteristics of biophilic cities were identified and used to map Wellington. Results from this mapping research are examined. Key findings include that when several identified aspects of biophilic design are nearby in urban settings, experiencing these through time while moving through a city enhances the positive effects of these elements.
Sustainability, 2021
Global health emergencies such as Covid-19 have highlighted the importance of access to nature and open spaces in our cities for social, physical, and mental health. However, there continues to be a disconnect between our need for nature and our daily lived experience. Recent research indicates that our connectedness and relationship with nature, and in particular biophilic design, may be key for improving both health and quality of life. Rather than relying on abstract universal ideas of “nature”, using evidence-based biophilic design and policy at a building, neighborhood, and city scale, to link our daily lives with biodiversity, may encourage sense of place and make environmental action more meaningful. Then, improving our natural capital in the urban built environment might help address the current climate and disease crisis, as well as improving our physical and mental health. Drawing from emerging research and innovative practice, the paper describes key research and design p...
What Is Urban Nature and How Do We Perceive It?
Cities and nature, 2020
This chapter discusses the complexities and apparent contradictions in defining 'nature' and 'urban nature' in the context of human-nature interactions. It explains why urban nature is so important to human health and well-being at this point in the twenty first century, focusing particularly on why considering nature perception is crucial if we are to plan, design and manage urban nature to prioritise people's aesthetic appreciation, health and well-being. Nature-perceptions are then framed in relation to diversity in nature: the role of varying biodiversity, perceived biodiversity and different aesthetics of nature (specifically flowering and colour, structure and care). The significance of varying socio-cultural and geographical contextual factors in nature perception is then highlighted (Fig 1). The chapter closes by addressing implications for policy and practice and future research directions in relation to urban nature perception. The author draws extensively from her own and related research. Fig.1 Urban nature perception: The roles of diversity in nature (Biodiversity and aesthetics), socio-cultural and geographical contextual factors in people's perceptions of urban nature.
People usually think about biodiversity and nature in terms of national parks, reserves and wildlife. Yet humans have a growing urban footprint across the planet. More than 50 per cent of Australia's threatened species and ecosystems occur within the urban fringe. As Dr Richard Fuller points out, it's not just a problem for plants and animals-it seems that nature is key to the wellbeing of people in cities too. Credit: Ed Yourdon, wikimedia commons under CC BY-SA 2.0 licence Like many of us, I live in a small suburban unit with a backyard the size of a postage stamp. While this is arguably a good urban design for minimising biodiversity impacts, there is mounting concern that our modern urban lifestyle disconnects us from nature. This is worrying because nature experiences seem to provide important benefits to many aspects of our lives, including our mental and physical health, social relationships and even our spiritual well-being.
2019
Cities will face many challenges over the coming decades, from adapting to a changing climate to accommodating rapid population growth. A related suite of challenges threatens global biodiversity, and many species face potential extinction. While urban planners and conservationists have long treated these issues as distinct, there is growing evidence that cities not only harbor a significant fraction of the world's biodiversity, but that they can also be made more livable and resilient for people, plants, and animals through nature-friendly urban design. Urban ecological science can provide a powerful tool to guide cities towards more biodiversity-friendly design. However, current research remains scattered across thousands of journal articles and largely inaccessible to practitioners. Making Nature's City fills this gap, synthesizing global research to develop a science-based approach for supporting nature in cities. We identify seven key elements of urban form and function that work together to maximize biodiversity, and we illustrate these elements through a case study in California's Silicon Valley. Using the framework developed in this report, urban designers and local residents can work together to link local parks, greenways, green roofs, street trees, stormwater basins, commercial landscaping, and backyards to support biodiversity while making cities better places to live. As we envision the healthier, and more resilient cities, Making Nature's City provides practical guidance for the many actors who together will shape the nature of cities. §
A Dimension of Biophilia in Urban Design
IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 2020
Erich Fromm coined the terminology of Biophilia in his book The Heart of Man. Hence, the concept was interpreted and established by Edward O. Wilson. It was described as human passionate of life and promoting well-being through natural elements. Throughout the years, the researchers show shreds of evidence of the positive benefits of nature interaction into human's life towards sustainable built environments. Biophilic is the terminology concept of design by integrating nature and natural elements, materials, and form in the built environment. The underpinnings theoretical frameworks are human experiences and the need for nature (Biophilia) through design principles and approaches (biophilic design) in the city built environment (urban design). This review paper will focus on the concept of Biophilia and biophilic by these two scholars, including Stephen Kellert and Elizabeth Calabrese that search through upon creating sustainable cities and restorative environment. The results ...
Enabling Relationships with Nature in Cities
Sustainability
Limited exposure to direct nature experiences is a worrying sign of urbanization, particularly for children. Experiencing nature during childhood shapes aspects of a personal relationship with nature, crucial for sustainable decision-making processes in adulthood. Scholars often stress the need to ‘reconnect’ urban dwellers with nature; however, few elaborate on how this can be achieved. Here, we argue that nature reconnection requires urban ecosystems, with a capacity to enable environmental learning in the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains, i.e., learning that occurs in the head, heart and hands of individuals. Drawing on environmental psychology, urban ecology, institutional analysis and urban planning, we present a theoretical framework for Human–Nature Connection (HNC), discuss the importance of nurturing HNC for children, elaborate on the role of property-rights and the importance of creating collective action arenas in cities for the promotion of urban resilience b...
Redesign of Urban Parks to Improve Users’ Perception of Nature through Biophilic Design
2019
Biophilic design is an innovative and sustainable aspect in architecture and urban design that connects people with the natural environment. The biophilic design has been implemented in developed countries, although in developing countries like Madagascar have not yet implemented this new concept. Besides, Antananarivo city has a program "Plan Vert" which is a tool for urban development and beautification focusing on public health based on natural systems. This paper focuses on the users' perception in urban parks in Mahamasina area, where a restricted qualitative assessment has been conducted on users' perception with nature and its phenomenology. Assessments were made on the users' perception in urban parks through initial observation, surveys, and behaviour observation. Findings across all research methods suggested that each park in Mahamasina area was designed for some dominant activities such as relaxation, recreation and as meeting places. These places are perceived as pleasant to users due to calm and shady. To highlight the phenomenological aspects of the perception of nature, parks should be redesigned to maintain the original design. The new experience will focus on adding numbers and types to fauna-flora. Additionally, there will be provisions for shading, a change in the elevation and the circulation flow. It is important that urban parks are maintained to improve the experience of the place. This is done by providing new material in the roundabout that links urban parks.
Contemporary urban design thinking, 2020
This series will investigate contemporary insights in urban design theory and practice. Urbanism has considerably changed and developed over the years and is about to undergo a transformation moving into a new era. In the 1990's and early 2000's economic driven urban design was prevalent in many countries around the world. Moving forward it is no longer feasible to continue to develop in the same way and new ideas for creating urbanism are urgently required. This series will publish titles dealing with innovative methods of urbanism including, sustainability driven urbanism, smart urbanism, population driven urbanism, and landscape based urban design. The series will include books by top researchers and leaders in the fields of urban design, city development and landscape urbanism. The books will contain the most recent insights into urbanism and will provide actual and timely reports filling a gap in the current literature. The series will appeal to urbanists, landscape architects, architects, policy makers, city/urban planners, urban designers/researchers, and to all of those interested in a wide-ranging overview of contemporary urban design innovations in the field.
More-Than-Human Future Cities: From the design of nature to designing for and through nature
Media Architecture Biennale 20, 2021
This paper examines ways in which media architecture and information design can contribute to multispecies wellbeing and coexistence in urban and peri-urban environments. It argues that a radical shift is needed, from looking at design as a tool to plan tamed nature into urban fabric towards design actions for understanding and working with the unruliness of the natural world in its manifold forms. We present a review of existing literature and an analysis of a selection of projects-in-progress from the CUBIC research group at Lancaster University, UK. In doing so, we aim to propose a new approach for how we think of, and design for, more-than-human future cities. Media architecture is core to this endeavour because we need to find new ways to communicate these new knowledges and contribute toward a better understanding of the complex issues of multispecies coexistence and flourishing. Far from providing an established framework or guidelines, we share this provocation from the outset as a catalyst for emerging collaboration and through which further open-ended questions can be explored. CCS CONCEPTS • Contribution Statement: This paper calls for the need for designers to prioritise intentional processes of direct engagement with place, to understand its rhythms, complexities, and multi-species interactions;