Ecological and Social Linkages in Urban Design Projects: A Synthesis

Abstract

What are some of the key modes of operation that designers might use to realize and integrate ecology and society into their designs? It is hard to imagine a top-down, reductive guidebook for such an enterprise. Art and science are much too complex and dynamic. An alternative, bottom-up approach is to examine designs where the ambition is to incorporate ecology and society and consider what general lessons can be observed.

In this chapter, we adopt a bottom-up approach by summarizing and reflecting upon the ecological and social science linkages described in the designs of the preceding chapters of Part V, “Bridging Ecology and Design in Practice: Plans and Projects.” We first examine how ecological and social linkages are used to organize and direct these designs. We consider the ecological and social insights that are incorporated into the designs. We conclude with a discussion of how the designs advance urban sustainability.