Greening the 21st century city: The Australian context

A/Prof Linda Corkery, Faculty of Built Environment

Green Roofs, Green Walls, Green Cies Workshop | 04 Dec 2012 | Macquarie University Landscape architects… Greening cies for over 150 years!

Central Park New York City

Frederick Law Olmsted Lessons for Sydney from Central Park . agents of urban health . recovering ‘sordid’ ground, re-naturing brownfields . preserving scenic beauty and creang open space for social interacon . creang a healthy ecosystem: healthy city : healthy cizens

Many of the same issues that landscape architects connue to address today.

Centennial Park, Sydney Greening 21st C cies ... who delivers this outcome?

►Planners eg. statutory, strategic, environmental, community, social, transport, heritage

►Architects building design, eg institutional, commercial, residential, park amenity buildings

►Landscape Architects public domain and open space design, eg. parklands, urban parks, streetscapes, plazas; green roofs/green walls; new residential development; metropolitan open space planning

►Urban Designers comprehensive design of the urban form, ensembles of buildings, development control plans

►Engineers re: infrastructure, eg roads, public transport, water and energy generation and distribution

►Developers site development and building construction collaboraon: the power of (more than) ONE

No one profession or discipline has all the answers. “…landscape is the actual “green” part of the

“green” discussion” (Martha Schwartz in Waugh, 2011)

Landscape architecture is the art and science of analysis, planning, design, management, preservaon and rehabilitaon of the land. The scope of the profession includes site planning and development, environmental restoraon, sustainable design, urban planning, park and recreaon planning, regional planning and historic preservaon. American Society of Landscape Architects, 2002 Ian McHarg

Design with Nature (1969)

…understanding the relaonship of ecological systems of a region with the built form of the city through an integrave, analycal methodology. Searching for the ‘best fit’. the shiing discourse: from ‘environmentalism’ to… • ‘eco-revelatory’ design • sustainability/sustainable development • landscape urbanism • ecological urbanism • climate change adaptaon/low-carbon cies • ‘greening’ cies: green buildings/green infrastructure • urban ecological design… for resilience, regeneraon

“The awareness of landscape as a built piece of infrastructure is crucial to a city’s performance and liveability…” (Schwartz in Waugh 2011)

Palazzo and Steiner, 2011 open space as ‘green infrastructure’ Green infrastructure is a community’s natural life support system, the ecological framework needed for environmental and economic sustainability. (Benedict and McMahon 2003, p4) green open spaces

>Parks and gardens areas of green space designed specifically for public access and enjoyment, combining landscape and horcultural elements with facilies for the public >Semi-natural green space areas of semi-natural habitat, either remnant countryside, naturally colonized, or deliberately created >Green corridors green space occurring in associate with linear features such as railways, roads, and watercourses >Outdoor sports facilies green space designed to accommodate sports, such as cricket grounds, playing fields and golf courses >Producve landscapes and city farms areas ulized for the culvaon of crops or rearing of animals, either publicly occupied or managed grey open spaces

>Civic spaces spaces oen linked to landmark buildings or monuments which act as a meeng place and/or a venue for a range of events and celebraons

>Market squares hard space used primarily for markets, rather than other city events or acvies and le open for public use when market is not in place

>Pedestrian movement areas areas of pedestrian priority that provide something more than a standard roadside pavement, eg pedestrianised streets and precincts >Incidental grey space grey space with no clear recreaon or access funcon, although informal use may develop, eg children’s play; le over space, parcularly around built developments

>Derelict/waste ground disturbed land that has been abandoned, with no funcon, and not yet colonized by vegetaon (sll predominantly hardscape)…but also land that has the potenal to be “remade” into “green” infrastructure It’s about scale, context and connecvity. regional/metropolitan scale metro-scale planning

NSW Department of Planning, 2005, City of Cies, Metropolitan Strategy for Sydney Sydney’s metropolitan parklands

Centennial Park/Moore Park

Sydney Olympic Parklands

Western Sydney Parklands new residenal areas ... integrated, contextual masterplans, neighbourhood-scale design

Planning paradigms: • New Urbanism • Smart Growth • Transit-oriented development (TOD) • Design for Acve Living

Green infrastucture: • Community gardens • Verge planngs • Urban forests • Constructed wetlands • WSUD • “Complete streets” • Greenways Rouse Hill Town Centre OCULUS Landscape Architects/Urban designers Client: GPT Group/Lend Lease town centres

Rouse Hill Town Centre OCULUS Landscape Architects/Urban designers Client: GPT Group/Lend Lease public domain Site-specific green infrastructure

Paddington Reservoir Gardens 1 Bligh Street

“Complete streets”

M Central Roof Garden green infrastructure thinking

► systems thinking: ecological, human/social, economic; built and natural, ► working beyond “beauficaon” or aesthecs (the oponal extra)… but “sustaining beauty” by engaging with whole systems approach and drawing from context ►working collaboravely and across disciplines: no one discipline or profession has all the answers or the whole picture ►working across a spectrum of provision: operang at a range of scales to green the city…“from the rooop to the region” issues/research quesons ► climate change adaptaon: large and small scale design soluons to bolster sustainability, resilience, reduce urban heat island effect, low-carbon living… ► tools for measuring effects and value of green infrastructure: including eg. economic value of open space; trees as valuable and growing urban assets; ecological services for stormwater management, air and water quality control, reduced energy consumpon, increased biodiversity, … ► assessing the social benefits: contribuon to human social, physical and emoonal health, ie well being and aesthec ‘delight’, social capital ► idenfying and overcoming barriers to change and acon… policies, tools, guidelines for acon, at all levels of government and individual posioning On our bikes!

A/Prof Linda Corkery Landscape Architecture Program | Faculty of Built Environment University of New South Wales [email protected]