Biophilic Urban Design and Planning

Abstract

Natural and biophilic elements need to be central in everything and anything we design and build, from schools and hospitals to neighborhoods and urban blocks, to street systems and larger urban- and regional-scale design and planning. The discussion in this chapter focuses on four primary scales: the region, the city, the neighborhood, and the building. The type and extent of natural features will vary in part depending on the scale of attention (see box 4.1).

Chapter 4

• 1. David Owen, Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability, New York: Riverhead Books, 2009.

• 2. Ibid.

• 3. See Timothy Beatley, Green Urbanism, 2000, and Native to Nowhere, 2005.

• 4. www.bcn.es/turisme/english/turisme/rutes/colls_fr.htm.

• 5. For example, see City of Vancouver, Vancouver Eco-Density Charter, adopted by City Council, June 10, 2008.

• 6. Centre for Innovative Conservation Strategies, Breaking the Barrier: Assessing the Value of Fauna-Friendly Crossing Structures at Compton Road, a report to Brisbane City Council, November 2007.

• 7. See Tim Low, Climate Change and Brisbane Biodiversity, August 2007.

• 8. Nielsen and Hansen, “Do Green Areas Affect Health?” Health and Place 13 (2007):843.

• 9. USDA, 2004.

• 10. City of Brisbane, “Two Million Trees,” found at www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/bccwr/environment/documents/regenerator_summer2008_2009.pdf.

• 11. American Forests, Urban Ecosystem Analysis Atlanta Metro Area, Washington, DC: American Forests, August 2001.

• 12. Blaine Harden, “Tree-Planting Drive Seeks to Bring a New Urban Cool,” Washington Post, September 4, 2006, p. A01.

• 13. See American Forests at www.americanforests.org.

• 14. Maryland Department of Natural Resources, “A Report on Baltimore’s Present and Potential Urban Tree Canopy,” Annapolis: Maryland Forest Service, January 19, 2006.

• 15. See www.smud.org.

• 16. Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, “Tending the Urban Forest,” summer 2006, found at www.pennsylvaniahorticulturalsociety.org/garden/ug_articleslist.html, accessed May 27, 2010.

• 17. For details about the program, see Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, “Tendi ng the Urban Forest,” summer 2006, found at www.pennsylvaniahorticulturalsociety.org/garden/ug_articleslist.html, accessed May 27, 2010.

• 18. For a review of some of these experiences, see Timothy Beatley, Native to Nowhere,Washington, DC: Island Press, 2005.

• 19. “Projects in Progress,” found at www.plantsf.org/FeaturedProjects.html, accessed on November 2, 2009.

• 20. City of San Francisco, “Sidewalk Landscaping Permit, Information Sheet,” Department of Public Works, Bureau of Urban Forestry, 2008.

• 21. See Friends of the High Line, www.thehighline.org/, accessed June 3, 2009.

• 22. From the online slide show, “High Line Design,” found at www.thehighline.org/design/high-line-design, accessed June 3, 2009.

• 23. Salvador Rueda Palenzuela, Barcelona, Ciudad Mediterranea, Compacta y Com pleja: Una Vision de Future Mas Sostenible, Bar celona: La Agencia de Ecologia Urbana, 2007.

• 24. Andrew Revkin, “Peeling Back Pavement to Expose Watery Havens,” New York Times, July 16, 2009.

• 25. City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan, City of Los Angeles, Department of Public Works, April 2007.

• 26. City of Richmond, Virginia, Richmond Downtown Plan, July 2009, p. 3.14.

• 27. Richard Pinkham, “Daylighting: New Life for Buried Streams,” Snowmass, CO: Rocky Mountain Institute, 2000.

• 28. See Timothy Beatley, Native to Nowhere, Washington, DC: Island Press, 2005, for more detail on these projects.

• 29. City of Sydney, Sustainable Sydney 2030, Sydney, Australia, 2008.

• 30. UrbanLab, “Growing Water” presentation, found at www.urbanlab.com/h2o/, accessed May 21, 2009.

• 31. See City of Chicago, “Green Alleys,” found at egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/portalContentItemAction.do?topChannelName=HomePage& contentOID=536946345&Failed_Reason=Invalid+timestamp,+engine+has+ been+restarted&contenTypeName=COC_EDITORIAL&com.broadvision. session.new=Yes&Failed_Page=/webp.

• 32. “A Hyper-Local Wine,” C’ville Weekly, May 2009.

• 33. Cynthia Girling and Ronald Kellert, Skinny Streets and Green Neighborhoods: Design for Environment and Community, Washington, DC: Island Press, 2005.

• 34. See, for instance, Timothy Beatley, Green Urbanism: Learning from European Cities, Washington, DC: Island Press, 2000.

• 35. Chuck Davis and Tim Beatley, The Nature of Cities, documentary film, 2009.

• 36. For an extensive discussion of Vauban, see Timothy Beatley, Native to Nowhere: Sustaining Home and Community in a Global Age, Washington, DC: Island Press, 2005.

• 37. Isabelle Pommereau, Christian Science Monitor, December 21, 2006.

• 38. See Noisette Company, Noisette Community Master Plan, SC, pp. 2–3.

• 39. Noisette Foundation, The Michaux Conservancy: A Noisette Foundation Strategic Initiative for Ecosystem Education and Restoration, Charleston, SC, 2007, p. 4.

• 40. Kent State University’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, Re-Imagining a More Sustainable Cleveland, Cleveland, OH: adopted by the Cleveland Planning Commission, December 19, 2008.

• 41. Ibid., p. 3.

• 42. Kent State University’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, Re-Imagining Cleveland Vacant Land Re-Use Pattern Book, Cleveland, OH: April 2009.

• 43. The classic study is Roger Ulrich, “View through a Window May Influence Recovery from Surgery, Science, 224, April 27, 1984.

• 44. See Judith Heerwegen, “Do Green Buildings Enhance the Well Being of Workers?” Environmental Design and Construction Magazine, January 2001, found at www.edcmag.com/CDA/Archives/fb077b7338697010VgnVCM100000f932a8c0____, accessed March 12, 2010.

• 45. See www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/Environment/CH2/Evaluation/Pages/Evaluation.aspx; also see Timothy Beatley, Green Urbanism Down Under: Learning from Australia’s Sustainable Communities, Washington, DC: Island Press, 2008.

• 46. Bank of America, “Bank of America Tower Project Fact Sheet,” 2007, found at newsroom.bankofamerica.com/…bankofamerica/…/OBP+Project+ Fact+Sheet_040507.pdf, accessed October 14, 2009.

• 47. For more detail about this building, see Bettina von Hagen, Erin Kellogg, and Eugenie Frerichs, eds., Rebuilt Green: The Natural Capital Center and the Transformative Power of Building, Portland, OR: Ecotrust, 2003.

• 48. Mike Archer and Bob Beale, Going Native, Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 2004, pp. 334–335.

• 49. For a very good review of the benefits of green rooftops and a review of research about their environmental effectiveness, see Kristin L. Getter and D. Bradley Rowe, “The Role of Extensive Roofs in Sustainable Development,” HortScience 41 (no. 5, 2006):1276–1285.

• 50. See Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, at www.greenroofs.org/index.php/annualconferences, accessed December 22, 2009.

• 51. Stephan Brenneisen, “Space for Urban Wildlife: Designing Green Roofs as Habitats in Switzerland,” Urban Habitats 4 (no. 1, 2006):31.

• 52. Cliff Kuang, “8-Story Antigravity Forest Façade Takes Root, Wired Magazine, August 24, 2009.

• 53. Kristen Hohenadel, “All His Rooms Are Living Rooms,” New York Times, May 3, 2007, Section F, p. 1.

• 54. Research indicates that this wall is likely to remove half of the benzene in the air and some 90% of the formaldehyde; see University of Guelph.

• 55. The next several paragraphs are drawn from Timothy Beatley, “Toward Biophilic Cities,” in Kellert, Heerwegen, and Mador, eds., Biophilic Design, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2008.

• 56. Kieran Timberlake, “Middle School, Addition and Renovation, Sidwell Friends, Washington, District of Columbia,” found at www.Kierantimberlake.com/pl_education/sidwell_school_1.html, accessed December 16, 2009. The building uses some 90% less water than a typical school of similar size and 60% less energy. See also Rebecca Barnes, “Earth-Friendly School,” The Christian Science Monitor, March 11, 2008.

• 57. Ibid.

• 58. Jane Brody, “Turning the Ride to School Into a Walk,” New York Times, September 11, 2007.

• 59. Auckland Regional Transport Authority, “Walking School Bus,” found at citiesofmigration.ca/the wonders-of-walking-walking school0bus-programme/lang/en, accessed September 7, 2009.

• 60. See Auckland Regional Transit Authority, “Auckland’s Waking School Buses Meet Oceania Stars,” found at www.travelwise.org.nz/NewsAndEvents/index, December 5, 2008; see also Damian Collins and Robin A. Kearns, “Walking School Buses in the Auckland Region: A Longitudinal Assessment,” Transport Policy, 2009.