According to the architect and researcher Patrícia Akinaga, ecological urbanism emerged at the end of the 20th century as a strategy to create a paradigm shift with regard to the design of cities. With this, urban projects should be designed from the potential and limitations of existing natural resources. Unlike other previous movements, in ecological urbanism architecture is not the structuring element of the city — the landscape itself is. In other words, green areas should not only exist to beautify spaces, but as true engineering artifacts with the potential to dampen, retain and treat rainwater, for example. With ecological urbanism, urban design becomes defined by the natural elements intrinsic to its fabric.
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In the same text, Akinaga quotes the architect and landscaper researcher Douglas Farr when she says that ecological urbanism creates a scenario for a new, more balanced lifestyle, with a higher quality of life and with the fulfillment of daily needs. In order to achieve an ideal of ecological urbanism, Farr sets out five basic guidelines:
- Densification: releasing the soil and decreasing displacements.
- Sustainable corridors: sustainable travel through a network of public transport and intermodal ecological corridors.
- Ecological neighborhoods: neighborhood units with diversified commerce, civic areas and public spaces connected by a road system, allowing access to basic needs via short walks.
- Access to nature: creation of qualified green spaces such as sports fields, squares, parks and community gardens.
- High-performance buildings and green infrastructure: infrastructures that have low energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, either through technology, or through specific strategies such as rain gardens, bioswales, intense afforestation, among others.
In academic terms, the Ecological Urbanism Symposium, by the Graduate School of Design, at Harvard University, in 2009 can be considered an important milestone in research on ecological urbanism, with the organization of Mohsen Mostafavi and Gareth Doherty, who brought together several contributions in a book of the same name.
Despite the well-established theory, in practice ecological urbanism has been criticized for often configuring a vaguely defined idea materialized in a set of flashy projects. Expensive works for commercial rather than environmental purposes, satisfying a one-off ambition to invest in technology and sustainability without representing a globally applicable approach. All criticisms are valid in order not to be seduced by the idea of sustainability, however, far from being generalized, there are very interesting projects that approach ecological urbanism as a reconciliation of the city and its environment. Check out some examples below:
Rainwater Spring Park in China
“How can an almost extinct wetland be preserved in the middle of the city, while its ecological and biological processes have been impeded by the urban context? And what is the most economical way to deal with such a great landscape? The solution was to transform the spring into a multi-functional rainwater park that will collect, filter, store rainwater and infiltrate the aquifer, while proving productive and pro-life, providing new recreational and aesthetic experiences for the city.”
Green Corridors in Colombia
“To deal with the warming, the Colombian city authorities turned 18 streets and 12 waterways into green havens. The Green Corridors project promoted the afforestation of these routes, which allowed reducing the accumulation of heat in urban infrastructure in Medellín, Colombia".
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Guaíba Orla Urban Park in Porto Alegre
"This landscaping project is designed in relation to the ecological aspects of this riverine habitat and seeks to reintroduce native species to the environment, promoting its regeneration. The remaining native vegetation remains respected by the built elements deployed around it. For each sector (for example, areas subject to natural floods or higher dry areas), specific species were selected. In general, the project works not only as a regeneration plan, but as an open, living and permanent environment for environmental education".
Sydney Park Water Reuse Project in Australia
"This initiative is part of the City of Sydney's largest environmental project to date, built with the Australian Government through the National Urban Water and Desalination Plan. It is an integral component of the Sustainable Sydney 2030 project which seeks to ensure that 10% of the water can be suppressed through water collection and reuse in the park".
This article is part of the ArchDaily Topics: The Road to Net Zero Architecture presented by Randers Tegl.
Randers Tegl aims to take responsibility and think sustainable as a part of reaching the goal of Net Zero. Both in terms of how building materials impact the climate and how the materials age, but also with a focus on architecture. That is why Randers Tegl created their sustainable series GREENER, which comes with full documentation in the form of EPD, so it is possible to use the product in technical calculation programs.
Every month we explore a topic in-depth through articles, interviews, news, and projects. Learn more about our ArchDaily topics. As always, at ArchDaily we welcome the contributions of our readers; if you want to submit an article or project, contact us.
