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Designing Low Carbon Societies in Landscapes pp 73–86Cite as

Landscape Design for Urban Biodiversity and Ecological Education in Japan: Approach from Process Planning and Multifunctional Landscape Planning

Part of the Ecological Research Monographs book series (ECOLOGICAL)

Abstract

The design of open and seminatural spaces in urban areas for urban biodiversity and ecological education is an important issue. There has been rapid decrease in the amount of open or natural space, in especially in urban areas in Japan, because of the development of housing areas. Thus, preserving these areas as wildlife habitats and spaces where children can play is a very important issue nowadays. This project, to design a park in Kitakyushu-City in the south of Japan, started in 2008. The aim of this project is to create an area for children’s play and ecological education that can simultaneously form part of an ecological network in an urban area. The present projects have illustrated the importance of introducing natural environments into an urban park and thus enriching the learning environment for the children. Process planning and multifunctional landscape planning (MFLP) has been used for this project. Process planning would appear to be well suited for a long-term project such as a city park and school biotope. MFLP is thus considered suitable for the planning of a project such as a children’s playground, which takes a long time to become established. The project mutually will serve as an example for future planning and development of children’s environment in urban areas. Furthermore, the children learned about the existence of various ecosystems through playing there and their participation in 60 workshops related to the park for 3 years. They have also actively participated in the development of an accessible environment and have proposed their own ideas for the management of that place.

Keywords

  • Accessible environment
  • Ecological education
  • Ecosystems
  • Natural space
  • Park design
  • Urban area

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Acknowledgments

We wish to express our gratitude to all those who gave us the chance to write this paper. We are indebted to all students in Keitaro Ito’s laboratory in Kyushu Institute of Technology and the children, teachers, and parents in Tenraiji primary school. This study was supported by Kakenhi, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (No. 19300264) in 2007–2010, and Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) (No.) in 2011–2013.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Environmental Design, Department of Civil Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, 1-1 Sensui, Tobata, Kitakyushu, 804-8550, Japan

    Keitaro Ito

  2. Telemark University College, 3679, Notodden, Norway

    Ingunn Fjørtoft

  3. Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History, 2-4-1 Higashida yahatahigashi, Kitakyushu, Japan

    Tohru Manabe

  4. Tokushima University, 2-24 Niikura, Tokushima, Japan

    Mahito Kamada

Authors
  1. Keitaro Ito
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  2. Ingunn Fjørtoft
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  3. Tohru Manabe
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  4. Mahito Kamada
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Keitaro Ito .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan

    Nobukazu Nakagoshi

  2. Mindanao State University, Marawi, Philippines

    Jhonamie A. Mabuhay

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Ito, K., Fjørtoft, I., Manabe, T., Kamada, M. (2014). Landscape Design for Urban Biodiversity and Ecological Education in Japan: Approach from Process Planning and Multifunctional Landscape Planning. In: Nakagoshi, N., A. Mabuhay, J. (eds) Designing Low Carbon Societies in Landscapes. Ecological Research Monographs. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54819-5_5

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