Cabanek et al. Sustainable Earth (2020) 3:7 Sustainable Earth https://doi.org/10.1186/s42055-020-00027-0 RESEARCH Open Access Biophilic streets: a design framework for creating multiple urban benefits Agata Cabanek*, Maria Elena Zingoni de Baro and Peter Newman Abstract Biophilic urbanism is bringing new perspectives to how natural systems need to be integrated into the fabric of cities. This paper shows how biophilic streets can be the front door to biophilic urbanism by integrating nature into a new street design, benefiting a range of economic, environmental and social functions. A theoretical integrated Biophilic Streets Design Framework, is outlined and evaluated through the analysis of four street revitalisation projects from Vitoria-Gasteiz, Berkeley, Portland and Melbourne. Its practical applications and multiple urban benefits will be of value to street designers globally. The Biophilic Streets Design Framework demonstrated that the four case studies meet the main design categories, which is favourable since multiple additional benefits are likely to be obtained. Future research is needed to monitor and quantify the performance of biophilic streets design to address the increasing effects of climate change, environmental degradation and biodiversity loss in a cost-effective way. Introduction address the need for a theoretically and practice in- Streets have been the focus of public life in cities since formed design framework to enable more effective deliv- they were first built [1, 2]; they provide the space and ac- ery of biophilic urbanism. cessibility for close communal activity. The rediscovery of the social and economic value of streets since the Biophilia and related emerging concepts work of Jane Jacobs [3], groups like Project for Public The emerging concepts of biophilia, biophilic design and Spaces, and the detailed designs of Jan Gehl [4, 5], have biophilic urbanism are primarily concerned with human enabled them to be seen as much more than spaces for inclinations to affiliate with nature in urbanised environ- mobility. This research seeks to integrate biophilic elem- ments such as cities, as suggested by Wilson [9], Kellert ent into the design of new streets and the renewal of Heerwagen and Mador [6] and Beatley [7]. traditional ones to enhance the environmental compo- The term biophilia was first used by the German psy- nent in the mix of benefits associated with streets. choanalyst Erich Fromm in 1973 and defined as ‘love of Biophilic urbanism has emerged as a way to bring na- life’. The American biologist E.O. Wilson advanced stud- ture more purposefully into cities, not just between ies on this subject, expanding and popularising the con- buildings and infrastructure, but into and onto them in cept of biophilia as the innate affinity of human beings ways that increase the connectivity between people and with all forms of life and their inherent tendency to nature and derive benefits from natural services and focus on lifelike processes in his seminal book, Biophilia functions [6–8]. Although the application of biophilic (1984) [9]. Further studies demonstrated that this human urbanism to streets has been present in the literature for inclination to affiliate with nature appears to be critical some years and has informed the work of biophilic de- for human physical and mental health in the modern signers, it has not been formally developed into a design urbanised world due to humanity’s origins in nature [8, framework demonstrating how it can be delivered and 10–12]. Salingaros [12] studied this relationship in what its multiple benefits are. This paper seeks to depth, also studying how humans developed their sen- * Correspondence: [email protected] sory space. He suggested that there are particular and Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute, Perth, Australia very specific geometrical properties found in the © The Author(s). 2020 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Cabanek et al. Sustainable Earth (2020) 3:7 Page 2 of 17 structure of nature and in the built environment which health [7, 16–19]. Table 1 below outlines the multiple have a positive and uplifting influence on human phys- benefits of biophilic design to the environmental, socio- ical and mental conditions. These properties applied to psychological and economic aspects of urban life. design can therefore enhance the quality of life in urban Biophilic theorists Stephen Kellert and Elisabeth Calabrese centres. This process, called the ‘biophilic effect’ by Sal- [10] have formulated a range of biophilic experiences and ingaros, relies on an intimate informational connection attributes (Table 2) to facilitate the application of biophilic between humans and nature, and supports the need to design theory to practice that delivers buildings and urban introduce natural systems into the design of built envi- spaces that facilitate direct and indirect experiences of nature ronments [12]. Kellert [6] defined and described six bio- for urban dwellers in their daily lives. These experiences and philic design elements and seventy attributes that were attributes serve as principles to inform the balanced design later summarised for practical application in architec- of biophilic urban spaces. Some of these experiences are diffi- tural and urban design. Kellert and Calabrese considered cult to encounter in conventional streets; however, they can biophilic design as a means for sustainable development be incorporated into the renewal of conventional streets and because it could promote care, stewardship, and attach- the design of new ones by biophilia-literate designers. ment to place [10]. To ensure ongoing exposure to and interaction with Biophilic design attempts to achieve the benefits of nature, both bond and commitment to place are needed. contact between people and nature within the modern In order to achieve these, a design must be founded on a built environment [6, 10, 11] by integrating nature, in- sound understanding of urban nature and its ecosystems ternally and externally, into buildings, built infrastruc- as well as a sense of place. This is likely to lead to more ture and across the urban space [7]. By adopting the frequent interactions between people and nature, strategies of this design principle, creating habitats for thereby nurturing the bond between them and increas- people, as biological organisms, that restore or enhance ing the likelihood that residents will protect and save their physical and mental health, fitness and well-being urban green spaces [20]. Some scholars argue that a rela- becomes viable [10]. In addition to anthropocentric goals tionship to place is needed to develop intimacy and re- and benefits, biophilic design is a recognised solution to sponsibility for nature and the living world [21, 22]. a spectrum of environmental challenges including urban Streets are an important part of any human settlement heat island effect, particulate matter filtration and car- and, hence, this approach will be used to create a Bio- bon dioxide sequestration, rehabilitation and restoration philic Streets Design Framework presented in this paper. of lost habitats and increase of urban biodiversity. It pro- motes ecologically interrelated design solutions at mul- A brief history of streets tiple scales and enables regeneration of natural systems Urban designers, planners and civil engineers have con- in the urban environment [8, 13–15]. ceived and developed regulatory frameworks for streets Beatley (2011) extended the concept of biophilic de- to enable efficiency, security and, most of all, the rapid sign to the urban scale, imagining and encouraging bio- conveyancing of traffic, both public and private. How- philic cities. Biophilic urbanism was presented as an ever, the modernist tendency in the twentieth century, emerging planning and urban design approach that which saw the rise of automobile dependence, created aimed to systematically integrate nature into the urban rigid regulations that focused on efficiency and traffic fabric, igniting the potential to transform barren urban control and directly contributed to the detachment of spaces into places that are restorative and conducive to nature from urban ecologies, bioregions and climate dy- life [7, 13]. Biophilic urbanism focuses on ecological sys- namics [23]. By creating barriers in the form of dense tems and human activities delivered by biophilic inter- networks of freeways and highways, the remaining urban ventions and projects. The main goal of biophilic natural areas became fragmented and isolated, along urbanism is to improve the connection between urban with the social neighbourhoods that they physically di- dwellers and urban nature