college of engineering daup arct 421 introduction to …

Ecological Urbanism

Dr. Anna Grichting

TA. Luzita Ball

Student: Dina Saleh

ID:201108749

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

DAUP

ARCT 421 Introduction to Urban Design and Planning

Spring Semester 2015

Contents page Definitions and authors -

inventors - origins

Ecological Urbanism quote

Ecological Urbanism Definitions:

• Detailed definition

• Simplified definition

Founders of Ecological Urbanism

Contributors to ecological urbanism

Founder of ecological Cities

Identifying ecological cities

Principles of Ecological Urbanism

Plans, Diagrams and Case Studies

Urban form

Buildings; Case study - Huaxi Model Ecological Building

Biodiversity; Case study- San Francisco Transbay Terminal

Transport; Case study- Plan Envisages Reusing Pittsburgh’s Industrial Past to Bring The City Closer Together

Industry

Economy

Relations to concepts of Sustaianbility

• Definitions

• Case study : The Eco – Village

• Case study : The Eco transitional urbanism in Taiwan

Applications of Site design

• Site design princples

• Case study: the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City:

A Practical Model for Sustainable Development

Relevance to Urban Planning and design in Qatar

• Case study : Lusail City

Benifitis of Ecoogical Urbanism

Conclusions and lessons learnt

Litereature and resources

• References

Definitions and authors -

inventors - origins

Ecological Urbanism - Quote

“Humans’ survival as a species depends upon adapting ourselves and

our…settlements in new, life-sustaining ways, shaping contexts that acknowledge

connections to air, earth, water, life, and to each other, and that help us feel and

understand these connections, landscapes that are functional, sustainable,

meaningful, and artful” (Spirn 1998, 26).

Detailed Definition:

Ecological Urbanism- How can the city, with all its mechanisms of consumption-its devouring of energy, its insatiable demand for food-ever be ecological?

In one sense the "project of urbanism," if we can call it such, runs counter to that of ecology, with its emphasis on the interrelationship of organisms and the environment-an emphasis that invariably excludes human intervention.

And yet it is relatively easy to imagine a city that is more careful in its use of resources than is currently the norm, more energy-efficient in its daily operations-like a hybrid car.

But is that enough? Is it enough for architects, landscape architects, and urbanists to simply conceive of the future of the various disciplines in terms of engineering and constructing a more energy-efficient environment ? As important as the question of energy is today, the emphasis on quantity-on energy reduction-obscures its relationship with the qualitative value of things.

In other words, we need to view the fragility of the planet and its resources as an opportunity for speculative design innovations rather than as a form of technical legitimation for promoting conventional solutions.

By extension, the problems confronting our cities and regions would then become opportunities to define a new approach. Imagining an urbanism that is other than the status that requires a new sensibility-one that has the capacity to incorporate and accommodate the inherent conflictual conditions between ecology and urbanism. This is the territory of ecological urbanism.

Simplified Definition

Ecological urbanism is an evolution of, and a critique of,

Landscape Urbanism arguing for a more holistic approach to the design and

management of cities.

The Ecological urbanism project draws from ecology to inspire an urbanism

that is more socially inclusive and sensitive to the environment, as well as

less ideologically driven, than green urbanism or sustainable urbanism.

Founders of ecological Urbanism

Ecological Urbanism book published in May 2010 by:

Mohsen Mostafavi:

About:

an Iranian-American architect and educator. He is the Dean and Professor at the

Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Gareth Doherty:

About:

Lecturer in Landscape Architecture and Senior Research Associate

Contributors to ecological Urbanism

Mitchell Joachim

About:

• Born February 3, 1972 is

• innovator in ecological design, architecture and urban design

• a researcher and architectural educator

Rem Koolhaas

About:

born 17 November 1944

Dutch architect

Architectural theorist, urbanist

Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architectural_theory

Founder of ecological cities

Richard Register, Founder and Emissary of Eco-city Builders, is one of the

world’s great theorists and authors in ecological city design and planning. He

is also a practitioner with four decades of experience activating local

projects, pushing establishment buttons and working with environmentalists

and developers to get a better city built and running.

He was founding president of Urban Ecology (1975) and founder and past

president of Eco-city Builders (1992-2014),

Ecological Cities

Definition:

Ecological cities enables their residents to live a good quality of life while using minimal natural resources. They do so by:

• using local materials, and local energy, air and water flows (sunlight, wind and rain) to the best advantage.

• Incorporating natural ecosystems into urban areas, to host local wildlife, and to enhance the experience of urban public spaces.

• Using vegetation to control urban microclimates - to stabilize temperature and humidity.

• enhancing the life of the community and relationships between people, by creating convivial social environments.

• supporting an innovative culture which enables people to flourish and develop their creative potential, and use new technologies to improve livability.

Principles of Ecological urbanism :

1. Urban Form : In ecological urbanism, sprawling, low density area are transformed into

networks of high and medium density urban settlements of limited size separated by

greenspace, with most people living within walking or cycling distance of their workplace.

2. Buildings: in ecological urbanism, buildings make the best use of sun, wind and rainfall to

supply the energy and water needs of occupants. Generally multistory to maximize the land

available for greenspace.

3. Biodiversity: Ecological urbanism is threaded with natural habitat corridors, to foster

biodiversity and to give residents access to nature for recreation.

4. Transport: in ecological urbanism, food and other goods are mostly sourced from within the

cities borders or from nearby areas, in order to cut down on transport costs.

• The majority of a city’s residents live within walking or cycling distance of their

workplace, to minimize the need for motorized transport.

• Frequent public transport connects local centers for people who need to travel further.

• Local car sharing allows people to use a car only when needed.

Principles of Ecological urbanism :

5. Industry: the goods in ecological urbanism produces are designed for reuse,

remanufacture, and recycling.

• The industrial processes involve reuse of products, and minimize the movement of

goods.

6. Economy: in ecological urbanism, a city has a labor intensive rather than a

material, energy, and water intensive economy, to maintain full employment

and minimize material throughput.

Plans, Diagrams and Case Studies

1- Ecological Urbanism – Urban Form

In Richard Register's vision of ecological cities, sprawling, low density cities are transformed into

networks of high and medium density urban settlements of limited size separated by greenspace,

with most people living within walking or cycling distance of their workplace.

City Nodes: modify the grid city to

organic field

A public space is conceived on each level, with the ground level reserved for citizens. A new layer of biodiversity is developed at the top level. Urban distribution, parking and

services are planned underground. The development of these levels will provide a set of legal, economic and organizational instruments that will arrange a new status quo and

will be better situated to resolve new challenges brought on by modern society. New buildings must allow for mixed uses and have public establishments on the ground floor.

The buildings must form streets with formal continuity.

This model contains a mixture of uses and functions, and cannot be developed with buildings of a single function repeated over large areas. Therefore, the formal ecological

solutions and practical uses will be unique to each building, and will form an urban network with an extremely important effect on the city model.

The new urbanism, called urbanism on three levels, is composed of three layers (three horizontal planes on an urbanistic scale) set atop each other –

underground, ground level, and above ground. This three-tiered development uses the same precision and detail as that used in current, single layer ground

level urban planning. It is one of the instruments used to manage ecological urbanism.

Ecological urbanism –

Urban Form

1. Ecological Cities – Urban Form

Applications of Urban Forms

2- Ecological Urbanism – Buildings

Eco-city buildings make best use of sun, wind and rainfall to supply the

energy and water needs of occupants. Generally multistory to maximize the

land available for greenspace.

Project: Huaxi Model Ecological Building

Status: Unbuilt

Location: Guiyan, CN

Case study - Huaxi Model Ecological Building

3 - Ecological Urbanism – Biodiversity

Eco-cities are threaded with natural habitat corridors, to foster biodiversity

and to give residents access to nature for recreation.

3 - Ecological Urbanism – Biodiversity Ecology, landscape and Biodiversity | Quebec Park

Case study- San Francisco Transbay Terminal - World's

largest ecological rooftop

• The San Francisco Transbay redevelopment project realizes the world’s

largest rooftop park in the center of one of the world’s most exciting cities.

• The design restructures the existing transport hub in the city center, featuring

innovations such as measures to increase biodiversity, water purification, air

filtration, quality public space and an exhilarating new green space in the

center of the city.

• The trans-bay terminal will be completed in 2015.

• Finally, the world will be able to see that a rooftop park can be more than

potted plants and a lonely olive tree, and become a true ecological entity,

providing spatial quality, health benefits, economic value and biodiversity.

Case study- San Francisco Transbay Terminal

The park as seen

from above


This isometric diagram

shows the vertical

integration of services


Diagram of the various activities

and biodiversity of the park


An exploded view of the

structure of the Transbay terminal

Case study- San Francisco Transbay TerminalDay time in San Francisco - The

park seen as a visitor

4- Ecological Urbanism – Transport

In ecological urbanism, food and other goods are mostly sourced from within the cities borders or from nearby

areas, in order to cut down on transport costs.

• The majority of a city’s residents live within walking or cycling distance of their workplace, to

minimize the need for motorized transport.

• Frequent public transport connects local centers for people who need to travel further.

• Local car sharing allows people to use a car only when needed.

Case study- Plan Envisages Reusing Pittsburgh’s Industrial

Past to Bring The City Closer Together

A plan by Saski Associates envisages re-using this

space to create a green belt, tying the city closer

together.

By adding pedestrian, cycling and light-rail transport

routes, and creating plenty of green spaces, they

hope to tap Pittsburgh’s unrealized potential to be a

river-front city, while encouraging geographical and

social closeness amongst its communities.

Case study- Plan Envisages Reusing Pittsburgh’s Industrial Past to

Bring The City Closer Together

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s

(HUD) Livability Principles organize the Allegheny Riverfront

Green Boulevard study, which link transportation, land use, open

space, ecology, and sustainable development planning.

Sasaki’s open space plan identifies access to the river from a

parallel trail, as well as from surrounding neighborhoods via

priority green streets.

The plan identifies a multi-use bike path integrated into the

Allegheny Valley Railroad right of way and includes landscape

concept plans for three neighborhoods.

Key components of the open space plan are stabilization of the

riverbank, creation of riparian habitat, and separation of storm

water from the numerous combined sewers that flow into the

river.

As part of this last effort, three buried streams are being re-

created as regenerative storm water conveyance streams.

Case study- Plan Envisages Reusing Pittsburgh’s Industrial Past to

Bring The City Closer Together

The commuter rail is incorporated into an active freight rail that will operate at night.

The rail will utilize Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) technology.

The final mile of the corridor is mixed with the East Busway BRT corridor, linking the commuter rail with

downtown.

A new BRT station improves transfers to the East Busway.

The Sasaki team is also looking at other mobility improvements, such as links to bus and rail throughout the city, and

other pedestrian, bike, and truck improvements within the entire study area.

Case study- Plan Envisages Reusing Pittsburgh’s Industrial

Past to Bring The City Closer Together

The Sasaki team is studying up to six station areas, and is focused on the Lawrenceville station—the site of the former

Hepenstall steel mill and current home to the Carnegie Mellon University National Robotics Engineering Center.

A number of small tech start-ups in incubator spaces in the site area are starting to increase housing demand in the

neighborhood.

Sasaki is working with the community on a station area Transportation Oriented Development (TOD) plan to support the

neighborhood development.

5- Ecological Urbanism – Industry

The goods in an ecological urbanism

are designed for reuse, remanufacture,

and recycling.

The industrial involve reuse of

products, and minimize the

movement of goods.

6- Ecological Urbanism – Economy

In ecological urbanism, a city has

a labor intensive rather than a

material, energy, and water

intensive economy, to maintain

full employment and minimize

material throughput.

Relation to concepts of Sustainability

Definitions of sustainability and Ecological

Sustainability

Sustainability: is using our resources responsibly in the short-term so that these

resources will be available for long-term use.

Ecological sustainability: is participating in life, in ways that limit our impact on the

natural environment. This means using our natural resources, such as water, trees, soil

and air, in ways that do not compromise the future use of these resources.

Ecological Urbanism and sustainability

The need for sustainability is unquestionable. In order for humans to thrive for years to come, it is important that we preserve the current environment in which we live.

Ecological Urbanism helps serves the following requirments:

Preserving both the urban environment and the natural environment. As Both of these environments are linked.

Without natural resources, humans would have nothing to eat, drink or build with.

Human lifestyle relies on many elements of the natural environment in order to survive such as :

• Humans use coal to power large industrial machines to give us electricity;

• we use oil to power cars.

• wood to make houses.

Ecological Urbanism and sustainability and

economy

In order to promote sustainability in ecological urbanism, it is important to consider the

following implications of an economy:

Economy that take into account its effect on the surrounding environment.

Humans need to ensure that resources are used wisely and that city developments

provide goods and services that promote a healthy and socially just way of living for

all.

Sustainability, Ecological urbanism, and Economy work together to make sure that all

people are treated fairly and the benefits of the society are shared, and conserved.

Economic sustainability: means ensuring a market for production, distribution and

consumption of goods for the long-term.

Case study- Eco village BIG Wins the International E2 (Ecology +

Economy) Timber Competition in Finland

A conceptual design solution for large-scale

production of wooden multi-story buildings.

A 15,000 m2 prefabricated wooden for adaptable

cost- and energy efficient housing.

Although Finland is a leading producer and

exporter of wood, most of their multi-level

dwellings are made from concrete — and as we

know, sustainably sourced timber has a much lower

environmental footprint than cement.



Concept

BIG’s founder recalls the housing projects of Le Corbusier, which improved life for those living in housing projects but were very

utilitarian, concrete and boxy. By contrast, BIG’s PUU-BO brings style and nature to pre-fab construction while utilizing

sustainable materials.

“Le Corbusier’s DOMI-NO system was developed to industrialize construction with the new technologies of concrete structures,

and improve living conditions for the many. Decades later concrete housing has become synonymous with boxy and boring. By

crossbreeding state of the art building technology and wood construction PUU-BO provides endless variability with infinite

renewability”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corbusier

http://inhabitat.com/the-kubik-is-a-glowing-pre-fabulous-party-venue/



Wood as construction material brings a double benefit: remarkably reduced emissions in its

production and fabrication and improved energy efficiency of the buildings where it is used.

Case study - Eco-Transitional Urbanism in Taiwan, China by

Maxthreads Architectural Design and Planning

Architects: Maxthreads Architectural Design and

Planning

Project: Eco-Transitional Urbanism

Location: Taiwan, China

http://www.max-threads.com/

The project incorporates a

number of sustainability

systems; shown in the

diagams.

Case study - Eco-Transitional Urbanism

in Taiwan, China by Maxthreads

Architectural Design and Planning

The strategies on the

master plan Layers

Case study - Eco-Transitional Urbanism in Taiwan, China by

Maxthreads Architectural Design and Planning

Urban Park - Area view Station platform - Preservation view Station platform - Night view

Ecological park arial viewCultural district view

Applications for Site Design

Site design principles:

A site design of an Eco-City should be built on non-arable land which is short of fresh water. This is to ensure that the Eco-City will

not be built at the expense of farmland or land with rich biodiversity.

The site design of an Eco-City’s development, includes public housing, water management, urban planning and transport,

environmental management, and social development with in the area.

The site design focuses on making the city or area compact, integrated work-live-play-learn environment.

Two key sets of principles guide the development of the site design in ecological urbanism are:

The first is the “Three Harmonies” –

1. harmony between people and the environment

2. between people and the economy

3. between people and people

This means that the development and operation of the area must not be destructive to the environment, must be economically

vibrant and sustainable, and must also foster harmony among residents.

The second principle is the “Three Abilities”. Namely, the site design must be:

1. practicable

2. replicable

3. Scalable

This means that whatever is done in the site design for a particular Eco-City , or Eco Area should be practical, affordable and

replicable in other areas.

The site design should not intend to be a one-off expensive, demonstration project only for wealthy societies.

Case study: The Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City: A Practical Model for Sustainable Development

The Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city is the result of a collaborative agreement between the

governments of China and Singapore to jointly develop a socially harmonious, environmentally

friendly and resource-conserving city in China.

Case study: The Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City: “Three

Harmonies” & “Three Abilities”

Principles used in developing the Eco – city master plan.

1. Land Use Planning Each of the five districts are based on Transit-Oriented Development principles and designed such that

amenities and jobs are located close by.

• Centrally located facilities will be provided to serve the needs of residents in each neighbor hood.

• Industrial and business parks are located close to residential areas to provide employment for residents within easy access of

their homes.

2. Transport Planning with Green transport is a key feature of the Eco-City. The aim is to increase trips via public and non-motorized

modes of transport such as bicycles and walking.

• To achieve this, non-motorised and motorised networks will be separated to minimise conflict between pedestrians, cyclists

and vehicles, with priority given to pedestrians and non-motorised transport, as well as public transport.

3. The Eco-City is planned with extensive green (vegetation) and blue (water) networks in mind to provide an endearing living and

working environment.

The Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City: A Practical Model for

Sustainable Development

The Master Plan is based on the concept of eco-cells. Each cell is a human-centric

400m by 400m module based on comfortable walking distances.

• The eco-cells are designed to maximize accessibility and efficiency, with basic

amenities located within each eco-cell.

• They are also easily scalable across the project area – four eco-cells make an eco-

neighborhood and several of these together in turn form an eco-district. This helps

planners allocate facilities and amenities in a clear hierarchical manner.



The Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City: “Three

Harmonies” & “Three Abilities”

Features of the Eco-City site design include:

Effective Waste Management & Recycling: To promote effective waste management, residents will be encouraged to sort their waste into categories.

• Recyclable waste will be sent to recycling stations located within the Eco-City.

• Non-recyclable waste will be collected via a Pneumatic Waste Collection System and incinerated to generate electricity.

Green Transportation: The Eco-City’s comprehensive public transport system will include a Light Rail Transit system, trams and buses.

• To promote walking and cycling, there will be a 12km Eco-Valley which connects all major centers and nodes.

• There will also be community walkways cutting through estates and wide cycling paths on both sides of the roads in the Eco-City.

Renewable Energy: By tapping on renewable energy sources (e.g. solar PV, solar water heating, ground source heat pumps and wind energy), residents and business owners will be able to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

• The long-term target is to achieve 20% renewable energy utilization in the Tianjin Eco-City.

Clean Water & Water Conservation: Residents of the Tianjin Eco-City will be able to drink directly from taps.

• Rainwater will be harvested and, together with recycled water, will be used for landscaping irrigation and general cleaning purposes.

• With the integration of water-saving technologies into everyday life, residents will also play an important role in conserving water.



Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City Business Park

Relevance to Urban Planning and Design in

Doha

Relevance to Qatar – Lusail City

Lusail City is located 22km to the north of Doha and stretches over an area of 38km² with 28km waterfront.

Lusail city was a low density area that is under development to transform the area into networks of high and medium density urban settlements of limited size separated by greenspace, with most people living within walking distances from their surrounding workspaces.

The buildings high-rise mixed-use, residential and commercial buildlings, located facing north which means maximum shade from solar radiation.

Residence will have access to natural recreations.

walkability

Shading elements to

Reduce the solar heat

Vegetation

Lusail City : serves the 1st, 2nd, & 3rd principle of

ecological urbanism which are – urban form, Buildings,

Biodiversity -


Frequent public transport connects local centers for people who need to travel further.

Lusail smart city is carefully designed to provide connectivity to AlKhor highway and fast

access to Doha and its international airport.

Lusail City : serves the 4th principle of ecological

urbanism which is –Transport-


In Qatar, the new Lusail City has commenced the application of QSAS (Qatar Sustainability Assessment) which promotes sustainable

development to protect the natural environment and the community health.

The city is called the “Smart City” and is the first green city in Qatar.

This approach designs energy efficient and environmentally sensitive buildings in the city by:

• Utilizing underground tunnels to carry chilled water for cooling the buildings.

• It will also create a combination between the Qatari architectural language and meet the sustainability criteria.

• The city will also recycle all the waste which will be carried by underground pipes to be treated and utilized for watering the green open spaces of the city.

Lusail City : serves the 5th & 6th principle of ecological

urbanism which are –Industry & Economy-

Benefits of Ecological Urbanism

Ecological Urbanism considers the city with multiple instruments and with a

worldview that is fluid in scale and disciplinary focus.

Provide the necessary resources and restorative actions for the well-being and

recreation of the citizens.

Brings together the benefits of both bottom-up and top-down approaches to

urban planning.

Demonstrates the benefits of the flexibility and diversity of relations between

the inside and the outside.

Works in parallel with sustainability, and develops from there.

Conclusions and lessons learnt

Sustainable Ecological cities are viable and attractive propositions that need

not be prohibitively costly for developing countries.

There are many cost-effective solutions by ecological urbanism for developing

Eco-Cities, if sustainability can be integrated into the city’s development

plans right from the start.

For example, having a well-thought out master plan can encourage residents

to make choices which are environmentally friendly but not necessarily costly.

This includes building pleasant pedestrian walkways and making public

transport convenient and efficient to reduce reliance on private vehicles and

improving biodiversity.

Literature and Sources

References

http://www.archdaily.com/318246/tianjin-ecocity-ecology-and-planning-museums-ste

http://www.archdaily.com/296813/north-point-harbour-urban-planning-concept-winning-proposal-chris-y-h-chan-stephanie-m-l-tan/ven-holl-architects/

http://www10.aeccafe.com/blogs/arch-showcase/2012/07/31/eco-transitional-urbanism-in-taiwan-china-by-maxthreads-architectural-design-and-planning/

http://scenariojournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/stoss-figure-6.jpg


http://www.archdaily.com/363027/plan-envisages-reusing-pittsburghs-industrial-past-to-bring-the-city-closer-together/

http://www.bustler.net/index.php/article/big_wins_the_international_e2_ecology_economy_timber_competition_in_finland

http://www.archdaily.com/318246/tianjin-ecocity-ecology-and-planning-museums-ste

http://www.archdaily.com/296813/north-point-harbour-urban-planning-concept-winning-proposal-chris-y-h-chan-stephanie-m-l-tan/ven-holl-architects/

http://www10.aeccafe.com/blogs/arch-showcase/2012/07/31/eco-transitional-urbanism-in-taiwan-china-by-maxthreads-architectural-design-and-planning/



http://www.archdaily.com/363027/plan-envisages-reusing-pittsburghs-industrial-past-to-bring-the-city-closer-together/

http://www.bustler.net/index.php/article/big_wins_the_international_e2_ecology_economy_timber_competition_in_finland

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