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SUSTAINABILITY Lifestyle and well-being considerations Community cohesiveness and capacity building Enhanced local natural resources
Creating diversity and complexity in the landscape Notable development strategies
Using vegetation to improve sustainability Other effects and benefits of planting
Addressing the economic welfare aspect of sustainable regeneration of high density urban communities
Lessons and ideas from recent inner city urban regeneration
Some sources of additional information and references
Lifestyle and well-being considerations Community cohesiveness and capacity building Enhanced local natural resources
Creating diversity and complexity in the landscape Notable development strategies
Using vegetation to improve sustainability Other effects and benefits of planting
Addressing the economic welfare aspect of sustainable regeneration of high density urban communities
Lessons and ideas from recent inner city urban regeneration
Some sources of additional information and references
Lifestyle and well-being considerations Community cohesiveness and capacity building Enhanced local natural resources
Creating diversity and complexity in the landscape Notable development strategies
Using vegetation to improve sustainability Other effects and benefits of planting
Addressing the economic welfare aspect of sustainable regeneration of high density urban communities
Lessons and ideas from recent inner city urban regeneration
Some sources of additional information and references
Lifestyle and well-being considerations Community cohesiveness and capacity building Enhanced local natural resources
Creating diversity and complexity in the landscape Notable development strategies
Using vegetation to improve sustainability Other effects and benefits of planting
Addressing the economic welfare aspect of sustainable regeneration of high density urban communities
Lessons and ideas from recent inner city urban regeneration
Some sources of additional information and references
Lifestyle and well-being considerations Community cohesiveness and capacity building Enhanced local natural resources
Creating diversity and complexity in the landscape Notable development strategies
Using vegetation to improve sustainability Other effects and benefits of planting
Addressing the economic welfare aspect of sustainable regeneration of high density urban communities
Lessons and ideas from recent inner city urban regeneration
Some sources of additional information and references
Lifestyle and well-being considerations Community cohesiveness and capacity building Enhanced local natural resources
Creating diversity and complexity in the landscape Notable development strategies
Using vegetation to improve sustainability Other effects and benefits of planting
Addressing the economic welfare aspect of sustainable regeneration of high density urban communities
Lessons and ideas from recent inner city urban regeneration
Some sources of additional information and references
Lifestyle and well-being considerations Community cohesiveness and capacity building Enhanced local natural resources
Creating diversity and complexity in the landscape Notable development strategies
Using vegetation to improve sustainability Other effects and benefits of planting
Addressing the economic welfare aspect of sustainable regeneration of high density urban communities
Lessons and ideas from recent inner city urban regeneration
Some sources of additional information and references
Lifestyle and well-being considerations Community cohesiveness and capacity building Enhanced local natural resources
Creating diversity and complexity in the landscape Notable development strategies
Using vegetation to improve sustainability Other effects and benefits of planting
Addressing the economic welfare aspect of sustainable regeneration of high density urban communities
Lessons and ideas from recent inner city urban regeneration
Some sources of additional information and references
Lifestyle and well-being considerations Community cohesiveness and capacity building Enhanced local natural resources
Creating diversity and complexity in the landscape Notable development strategies
Using vegetation to improve sustainability Other effects and benefits of planting
Addressing the economic welfare aspect of sustainable regeneration of high density urban communities
Lessons and ideas from recent inner city urban regeneration
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Sustainable local greenspaces - considerations in the development of a District Greenspace Plan DRAFT DISCUSSION PAPER
PREPARED BY FRANCES WELLS & ANNE BEER - MAP21 LTD -
MARCH. 2001 "BRAINSTORMING" - DEVELOPING MORE SUSTAINABLE APPROACHES TO THE SPACES AROUND MEDIUM AND HIGH RISE URBAN DWELLINGS IN OVERVECHT
SECTION 2- continued Notable development strategies
Collaboration between residents and designers was high in the development of the courtyards
Some ground floor flats were allocated private gardens, lightly screened so as to give a good interplay with a common central space. (Comment: although this may seem to use up valuable outdoor space for the few, it may also be necessary to give privacy to ground floor dwellers).
Good attention to detail - but not over-designed
Valued existing features were incorporated where possible
Designs and materials chosen were robust enough to withstand (with reasonable wear and tear) young children's games, social gatherings, etc
The spaces developed seem to preclude rowdy ball games.
The main space for common recreational use was in the central area - this was then sub-divided into spaces with different characters and functions/amenities
The central space(s) are more open; smaller, more intimate spaces lead off the main central area
In some courtyards the sequence of spaces is complex and diverse (see below)
Direct views into some courtyards were screened from passers-by (but presumably not in a way to bar entrance if desired)
Sculptural landforms in one courtyard seemed to inhibit rowdy ball games (presumably by older children) but give opportunities for imaginative play (presumably by younger children)
Extensive use of edible plants: fruit trees and currant shrubs for structure (dividing and sheltering) planting, herbs and fruits for decorative use, especially around outdoor barbecues, sitting areas, etc.
Climbing plants used to soften the impact of necessary hard or ugly features, such as waste stations and bicycle sheds
Climbing plants also used to connect surrounding buildings to the landscape
Standardising certain materials, furniture and colours seemed to unify the feeling across courtyards, balanced by the informality created by the abundance and diversity of plant material used
Children's pets given space as an experiment in one courtyard
Space available to experiment with temporary green play structures such as willow sculpture
Observations
Making informal community surveillance of activities possible and encouraging constant community use is a hallmark of the most successful sites
Real community involvement in the use of outdoor space and sense of intimacy less apparent in courtyards that were closed to general public access. (Comment: this may have something to do with closing off a courtyard community from its neighbourhood).
Courtyards may be more successful when there is a complex and diverse sequence of spaces. This seems to be the case especially where private spaces, around the edge for example, are adding to the diversity.
SECTION THREE
Using vegetation to improve sustainability in the urban residential landscape of Overvecht
Courtyard planting
One of the main considerations is the manipulation of the microclimate and local air quality to make conditions more comfortable and pleasant for users so that they use the outside, and to reduce energy loss from surrounding buildings.
Manipulation of microclimate takes account of the interplay of light, wind, temperature and moisture. The dominant characteristics of these features will depend on local conditions, such as the height and orientation of surrounding buildings, the height and distance between surrounding buildings. Light, air movement and moisture all work to regulate temperature - temperature in turn affects air movement, since hot air expands and rises and cool air sinks.
Some analysis of requirements will be needed to assess the conditions to be addressed. For example, a narrow space between tall buildings may be a wind tunnel. However, if there is little lateral through flow of air it may be a sink for cold, dank air, with little recirculation of fresh air.
Light
Need to consider if there is too much or too little shade for human comfort. Plants and planted structures can provide shade for users and for other plants. In darker areas shade tolerant plants should be used.
Air movement
Wind and air eddies can prevent certain courtyard uses. In general a regular turnover of air is important, as air can become stagnant in courtyards. Planting can provide shelter from stiff breezes funnelling in from outside. Permeable shelters give more even shelter from strong wind (impermeable ones are liable to cause eddies on the leeward side).
Planting on roofs tends to reduce the heat in the air above them, causing it to drop rather than rise as a conventional roof would - this may help to ameliorate air stagnation problems in shady courtyards below.
Moisture
Considerations: Walls create a drought zone of typically 500 mm at their base. This may be more depending on the orientation of the wall and the prevailing wind direction. In a courtyard this can amount to a large amount of drought zone. Plants in this area need to be chosen to cater for these conditions and/or irrigation (probably of the leaky pipe type) needs to be installed.
Because air temperature in small courtyards rarely drops sufficiently to form dew, the ground across the whole space will be relatively drier than outside areas and this also needs to be considered.
Plant cover will help the space to retain moisture that becomes available through rain and artificial watering. In addition, through evapo-transpiration it will give off moisture slowly into the surrounding air, to create a more comfortably humid microclimate compared with one where bare, reflective surfaces evaporate water into the air quickly, which is then lifted out of the space as it heats up.
Temperature
Where courtyards are uncomfortably hot through being heat traps, planting can help to reduce the temperature by providing shade, preventing glaring heat and light reflection, helping to retain moisture in the ground and increasing ground level humidity.
Other effects and benefits of planting in courtyards
Planting can also:
- be used to define and enclose the whole space as well as the smaller spaces within it, without taking up too much of the space itself
- Improve air quality by absorbing dust particles
- Improve run-off quality by absorbing pollutants
- Provide sensual stimulation and pleasure through smell, colour, texture, form and light scattering reflections
- The changes in sensual effects through the year can help residents keep in tune with natural rhythms often submerged in urban life.
- They can produce useful leaves, flowers and fruits - this may lead to improved health for residents if they can be harvested and enjoyed or consumed in sufficient quantities, but most likely this will be another factor in helping people stay in tune with seasonal rhythms and engendering a feeling that good things can be available in the nearby and highly accessible urban space. Consumption of these plant products could literally help people to develop a sense of ownership over the space around their dwellings.
- Some plants will attract insects such as bees and butterflies, water plants will support visible plant life, damp and shady conditions will support other invertebrates. Larger plants, especially shrubs and trees but also grasses with seed heads, will attract birds for feeding and perhaps nesting. This can be supplemented by feeding stations and nesting boxes. Diversity of planting between courtyards will add to the overall biodiversity of the local area, but this effect will be supported by green links of common vegetation types that will carry birds, butterflies, etc into the area and then along routes into individual courtyards. All wildlife is potentially educational for children to observe, but contact with larger, more conspicuous wildlife has been shown to help adults make emotional links with outside environments. (See research by Harrison, Burgess and Limb in the 1990s).
Green roofs: these are well proven as a practical approach to insulation, humidity control, air quality improvement, improved air circulation, habitat provision and amenity provision. Established examples exist in high density residential districts in the Netherlands and Germany. There are two main types of green roof - the extensive or ecological kind which requires no special roof strengthening and little or no maintenance but cannot be used for recreational purposes, and the intensive kind that may often require special roof strengthening to cater for deeper planting mediums, irrigation systems and larger plant stock but which can provide high recreational and visual amenity.* Source of information: Building Green by Johnston and Newton, London Ecology Unit, 199?
Green walls: Plants grown extensively up walls can give a variety of benefits:
- they are helpful for regulating temperatures inside the building by their insulating effect, since they reduce heat loss to the outside in winter (in the case of evergreen plants) and passive heating in high sun. This saves energy use in running the building and makes living conditions more comfortable for the inhabitants. The effects are more or less significant depending on the level of insulation in the walls already. Where insulation is poor and temperatures are dropping to freezing, a layer of planting may produce an insulating effect of up to 30% (Johnston and Newton).
- heat loss is also reduced by keeping walls drier during rain, so preventing conductivity of heat through walls when they are wet
- the insulating effect can reduce noise levels penetrating in and out of the building. In high density residential areas this is a significant factor in the overall quality of life.
- they have been shown to absorb a high proportion of air born dust and other particles
- they reduce flash run-off of rain water but instead help to increase surrounding air humidity
- they offer feeding and nesting habitats for wildlife
- their aesthetic value is to give colour variety to the built environment, soften the lines of buildings, and produce scattered reflected light instead of harsh glare or high light absorption, both of which can be a problem in courtyards, depending on materials used and orientation of walls.
- they can reduce weathering of walls and thermic tension within the structure and usually only require minimum maintenance of trimming around doors, windows and vents. Trimmings can be used for green composting.
Practicalities:
Where decay has already set in to wall materials, plants that grow directly onto walls should be avoided, as they will accelerate the process. Where walls are in good condition, a choice can be made between those that take root in the substance of the wall itself (often small herbaceous species) and those that are adept at climbing on structures and objects. For coverage of large and high wall areas, supporting structures are recommended. Choice of plant will depend on aspect and other conditions. In turn, choice of plant and the effect required will dictate the type of support. Excellent information available in Johnston and Newton.
Addressing the economic welfare aspect of sustainable regeneration of high density urban communities
Community-based business development opportunities
- Wet waste management: e.g. running Living Machines - Recycling and re-use of materials and goods - Composting - Growing plants for regeneration purposes - Provision of direct labour for regeneration projects - Provision of direct labour for maintenance of landscape and premises - General laundering service - Nappy laundering service - Child-minding - Bicycle hire and repair
Community owned businesses
- Training organisation for intermediate labour market - Credit Union - Advice and information centre
Lessons and ideas from recent inner city urban regeneration
Case study: Hulme regeneration, Manchester, UK
Key feature: community buy-in to the process and resulting scheme
Context: regeneration of inner city residential area of 10,000 population, 1.5km from Manchester city centre. High rise housing stock replaced by low rise stock with more private green space associated with dwellings.
The scheme is cautiously considered to be a success, although it is recognised that it is still too early to analyse outcomes realistically.
The regeneration developed and adopted a model that increased tenant influence over design of replacement housing stock. Interest was maintained by offering a guarantee that all existing tenants would be offered places in the new scheme. Community involvement was intense and presumably reached a point where it gathered its own momentum.
Crucially the scheme also involved the buy-in of several other tiers of stakeholders, notably: the local authority, the developers, statutory agencies and local politicians at local and national government level.
Clear aspirations were set out for the urban design:
- the landscape should include family and individual human sized elements - there should be clear demarcation between public and private space - there should be a well defined and high quality public realm connecting individual and private spaces. (In practice this meant that diversity could flourish, e.g. within courtyards, whilst a strong sense of high quality identity was developed in the connecting spaces. This also helped to delineate the public from the private).
Other considerations:
The scheme not only provided a mixed use neighbourhood, including provision of essential services such as medical and educational, it also generated a local economy of benefit to residents. This began with the recruitment of up to 20% of the workforce on the initial regeneration works from within the area and continued with on-going management of facilities and provision of local community services.
Buildings followed sustainable design principles to make them energy and water consumption efficient.
Management of the scheme
Initial development was by two large housing associations, but post development the management has been devolved to 6 smaller, more localised housing associations.
The housing associations are able to set low rents (presumably because they are not for profit organisations) and in addition the properties are cheaper to run by residents, thus helping to break the poverty cycle that many experienced in the old housing stock.
Some sources of additional information and references
- Green roofs: ref. Johnston and Newton, London Ecology Unit, 199?
- Wetlands in urban areas: Run-off treatment Grey and black water recycling Amenity
Best source of expertise would be Peter Worrall of Penny Anderson Consulting
- Energy from PVs in roof top applications: technical consideration of likely energy demand v. supply potential. Load bearing. Business plan considerations and funding options - capital investment payback period, annual revenue costs, cost savings and pros and cons of national grid connection.
Best sources of information in UK: Solar Century (Jerry Leggett), University of Northumberland, Rob Clark (Earth Centre)
- Passive solar heating of water on roof tops
- Solar and wind pumps for localised energy requirements such as fountains, moving water about a site
- PV powered street and security lighting: costs, reliability and maintenance, lifespan issues
- Energy from small windmills in rooftop applications: load bearing, investment return, energy storage, grid connection
Small-scale renewable energy source information: Ecotech, University of Northumberland, IT Power, Rob Clark (Earth Centre)
- Living Machine: numbers catered for and space requirements, capital and revenue costs v. cost savings in sewerage and water supply charges, business plan and funding option
Information from Living Machine website, Bern Hoermann (Living Machine manager at Findhorn and Earth Centre) and John Todd.
- Local Traffic Plan promoted by NOVEM. Contact: Albert Jansen, Project Leader, LTP, NOVEM
- Sustainable materials and approaches in landscape schemes: Nigel Dunnett and Andy Clayden in Landscape and Sustainability, Benson and Roe, 2000
SECTION SEVEN
Sustainable community and quality of life in city urban areas
Sustainable development at the level of local communities involves finding a balance between social equity, environmental enhancement and protection and economic welfare.
Looking at this in its constituent parts, it is also recognised by some that potentially there can be a symbiosis between natural and social processes and that this is part of the wider concept of sustainability. It may be suggested that this interplay works best when the economic welfare of the community is also addressed, since poor economic welfare is a huge detractor from other considerations of quality of life and tends to distort attempts to bring things into balance.
The economic considerations of sustainable development sometimes seem to be the most elusive part, once one moves away from scenarios such as savings made in industry through waste reduction and energy efficiency. But running a community is actually something of an industry - the difference is that in Northern Europe it tends to have its interests based in the public sector.
There is economic value and cost associated with almost every aspect of community life and many related functions fall within the control and responsibility of local authorities and other publicly funded bodies. These include a wide array of functions and services, including supporting the unemployed, treating and caring for the sick and the elderly, providing services for young families, public health information, social services, dealing with crime and the fear of crime, repairing and maintaining landscape and buildings, waste disposal, sewerage and energy provision in the public realm. Despite their diversity, all of these services, and doubtless many others, need to be assessed holistically and dealt with in ways that add up to a more sustainable whole.
It is likely that the demands on health and social services would reduce in many communities, were employment and self-reliance levels to rise. Employment opportunities might be created by looking at different approaches to waste management, regeneration and maintenance product and service provision within local areas, with local people doing local jobs for the benefit and service of their own community.
To apply this approach to a whole District would require a complex analysis of the interplay between a myriad of factors and the construction of a fairly long-term, flexible economic model and practical development plan. This would need the communities concerned to be involved in contributing to the analysis and a frank assessment by consumers, providers and regulators of the value, quality and need of service currently provided by central organisations. The process of considering what functions might be organised in different ways, including handing control and provision over to the consuming communities, would necessarily involve addressing the support that the communities would need, new approaches to business planning and funding, new methodologies, techniques and technologies. The analysis and overall plan must add up to a cohesive and cogent set of arguments to the authorities concerned and political will must be won at all stages. This is especially difficult since the plans will span many cycles of political turnover.
The most constant factor in this scenario may be the needs and aspirations of the communities, individually and collectively, themselves. Community engagement, a certain amount of cohesiveness, processes for gaining knowledge and ways of effecting and managing change may need stimulating and encouraging. Although physical attributes in a neighbourhood cannot guarantee community cohesiveness they may help to stimulate and facilitate it. Whereas the local public service providers may need to make the first move in offering help with changes to physical aspects, ultimately it will be the community that will lead the way. The process that results will be a constant iteration of ideas and approaches, changing the outcomes and balance at every stage.
The ideas in this report are some outline suggestions of elements that might either start the process of moving to a more sustainable local area and community and engage the community in the process. Some of them may prove to be keystones in a complete and integrated long term plan for Overvecht District.
References and sources of information and ideas
Building Green, Jacklyn Johnston and John Newton, London Ecology Unit, not dated
City as Landscape, Tom Turner, E & F N Spon, 1996
Greening the Built Environment, Maf Smith, John Whitelegg and Nick Williams, Earthscan, 1998
Landscape and Sustainability, John F Benson and Maggie H Roe, Spon Press, 2000
Landscape Design - series of articles on urban space including Courtyards for living by Nigel Dunnett and Andy Clayden (pp. 27 - 29), No. 263, September 1997
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