Environmental Design Commons^™

Sustainability Initiatives In East Bayside Neighborhood Portland, Maine, Garvan Donegan, Henry Heyburn, Caitlyn Horose, Matt Klebes, Jennifer Riley, Damon Yakovleff, New England Environmental Finance Center

Planning

This is a bundle containing research on sustainability initiatives that could be implemented in the East Bayside neighborhood of Portland, ME. These six essays were prepared by the Spring, 2010 Sustainable Communities Class known as CPD 602 at the University of Southern Maine. The class is part of the core curriculum of the Community Planning and Development program of the Muskie School of Public Service at the university. The instructor for the class was Samuel Merrill, Ph. D. who is also director of the New England Environmental Finance Center at the University. These papers were prepared in conjunction with Alan …

Leisurescape: A Pan-European Spatial Assessment Of Tourism Between Cities, Nature And Landscape, Dirk M. Wascher, Rini Schuiling, Nick Hazendonk, Bart Looise

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

Part of the project initiative Landscape and leisure, launched by the Dutch Government Advisor on the Landscape, is the development of a European map on the basis of a standard methodological approach for presenting the spatial relations between leisure and tourism on the one hand, and landscape and nature conservation other hand. Due to the increasing need of European institutions for harmonized, reliable data on the state and trends of the environment – and meanwhile on the allencompassing policy domain of sustainability which includes the social, economic and environmental dimension – the production of European data sets has become a …

Green Structure Planning. A Norwegian Approach, Kine Halvorsen Thorén, Renata Aradi

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

Greenway planning has long traditions in Norway (Bruun 1991), and from the late 1980s we have developed the concept further into what we have mentioned as “green structure planning”. Green structure is defined as a multi-functional urban system, where “the green” in the city is attributed to different values and functions inspired by the landscape ecological thinking. Examples of important values and functions of the urban green structure could for example be: 1) Cityscape and aesthetic conditions, 2) Recreation, play and quality of life, 3) Nature and biodiversity, 3) Biological production related to forestry and agriculture, 4 ) Technical matters …

Importance Of Gis Databases In Management And Planning Of Public Green Spaces – Case Study Of The Budapest Zoo And Botanical Garden, Katalin Takács, Vince Zsigmond

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

The development and long term quality maintenance of public green spaces requires various kinds of knowledge. Most of the onsite information (development history, current state of the garden, ground plan, plant stock, etc.) has to be in the mind of the specialist in charge; however, with the growing quantity and complexity of the data there is a limit to traditional personal expertise. Developing and managing GIS databases creates new assets for documentation (data analysis, queries, reporting, etc.) as well as further practical applications based on them: supplying data for constructors, decision makers and visitors; supporting decisions with accurate derived information; …

Plan-It: A Method Enabling Regional Stakeholders To Design A Green Climate Corridor: The Groningen Case, Eveliene Steingröver, Sabine Van Rooij

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

In this paper we present the implementation of a newly developed method to integrally plan for nature and water measures required to adapt to climate change, together with stakeholders. The identification of required nature adaptation measures is based on metapopulation theories.

The climate is changing and this has a pronounced effect on biodiversity (Van den Hurk, B. et al., 2006; Vos, C. et al., 2008). Researchers expect that a significant part of European biodiversity might be lost in several decades. The shifting climate zones and more frequent extreme weather events, combined with the small and highly fragmented nature areas in …

University Urban Design Centers In The Planning And Implementation Of Urban Greenways. – Possible Strategies For The Umass Amherst Design Center In Springfield, Ma., Frank Sleegers, Michael Dipasquale

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

University supported community design centers in the United States provide an institutional alternative for urban design and planning. They are a link between the innovative and educational milieu of the university and professional practice. Design centers provide the infrastructure that allows faculty and students’ research opportunities and projects that intersect with the practice of urban design and planning, with the goal of improving the physical and consequently, the social environment.

This paper assesses the following goals that nascent community design centers should pursue in the planning and design of greenways: 1. focus on developing a collective vision and a tangible …

Urban Greenways Planning. A Vision Plan For Milan (Italy), Giulio Senes, Natalia Fumagalli, Alessandro Toccolini

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

Greenways are “green infrastructure” to link people and places (Fabos, 1995) and can be planned at different scales (from national to municipal) and for multiple purposes, “including ecological, recreational, cultural, aesthetic” (Ahern, 1995), “to provide people with access to open spaces close to where they live” (President's Commission on Americans Outdoors, 1987), in order to “enhance both the environment and quality of life” (European Greenways Association, 2000).

At the municipal scale, the urban greenways network can help to reshape the city, making it more livable; urban greenways represent “at once the parks for the 21st century and a part of …

Ursynów Escarpment Linear Park Design In The Scope Of A System Of Linear Parks Of The Southern Areas Of Left Bank Warsaw, Katarzyna Rędzińska, Przemysław Wolski

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

This article presents the concept of the greenways (linear parks) system in the southern region of left-bank Warsaw. This system is based on linear environmental structure of the terrain.

The methodical basis for the study is the project interpretation of natural landscape features, on which the city’s urban composition should be based.

Natural lines and border zones, such as edges of high plains, river valleys, etc. should present the fabric to city planning. Those natural landmarks should be the places where important visual symbols will be located. They also may play the role of recreation areas or ecological corridors, as …

Recreation In Swedish Agricultural Areas – Public Attitudes To Multifunctional Greenway Designs, Anna Peterson, Mats Gyllin, Christine Haaland, Anders Larsson

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

Recreation in the agricultural landscape of SW Sweden is limited in several ways. There is little else than agricultural fields and urbanised areas, and outdoor recreation is limited to a few, small areas. Although the Swedish Right of Public Access allows for accessing the agricultural fields by foot, this is not allowed during periods when there is standing crop. Apart from this, the fields are not particularly inviting, since the winds are continuous and often harsh, and walking on the muddy fields is not comfortable. It should be stressed that this is the everyday landscape for a growing peri-urban population. …

Open Space System As An Armature For Urban Expansion: Evaluation Of Landscape Ecological Spatial Concepts As A Model For Improving Resilience In Urban Systems, Homero Marconi Penteado

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

Urbanization alters several attributes of natural resources, degrading ecosystems and causing them to lose their ability to maintain their structure and function. As a result, native ecosystems in territories subject to urban expansion lose qualities important to their self-organization and may, in certain cases, disappear altogether. Actions that protect or strengthen the resilience of these native ecosystems in the face of urban development may offer increased capacity for these native ecosystems to survive and endure.

Landscape ecology aims to understand the relationship between spatial patterns and ecological processes across scales (Wu, 2008) considering the interaction with human activities (Naveh & …

Water Greenways. A Case Study In Milano North Area: “V’Arco Villoresi” (Villoresi Gate - Bow), Elvira Pensa

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

The northern part of Milan, even if it is formed of many medium and small Municipalities, is considered a big metropolitan area. It’s uncontained growth, has caused intense soil consumption and territory capillary fragmentation. Fortunately, natural and agricultural areas survive thanks to some political regulations, on different scales, that have limited damage and protected part of the most significant territory. Most of these are parks, historical agricultural landscape, historical hydraulic system works and architectural emergences. Currently, the principal requisites are, first, to preserve the residual areas, avoiding speculation, and, then, to reconnect a large system that is separated by urbanization …

The New Umbria Regional Landscape Plan, Roberta Panella, Endro Martini

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

Umbria is a region of central Italy located in the heart of the peninsula. It is one of the smallest Italian regions. It is the only region of Italian peninsula not washed by the sea. It is bordered to the east and northeast with the Marches, west and northwest with Tuscany south and south-west with Lazio. The regional capital is Perugia. It is interesting to point out that because of its geomorphology, during the centuries, this region has always been a land of connection but even of contention.

The Correlation Between The Urban Heat Island And The Different Land Use Types, András Béla Oláh, Ildiko Dobi, Janos Mika, Eniko Lelovics, Zsuzsanna Dezső, Rita Pongrácz, Judith Bartholy

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

In the following study the local climate modifying impact of the man modified environment is to be discussed in detail. Such studies have come in demand nowadays, since the meteorological forecasts have just recently become detailed and accurate enough for this purpose. Furthermore the number and extension of huge sized artificial areas has also radically increased.

The appearance of these highly diversified artificial surfaces to such an extent can modulate the local climate so significantly that it can not be neglected. However, at the same time this extreme diversity of the surfaces and materials makes it very hard to analyse …

Greenway Landscape Design: River Torrens Linear Park, Adelaide, South Australia - A Process Rather Than An End State, Damien Mugavin

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

This paper addresses the ongoing landscape design of the River Torrens Linear Park, which is the first and largest greenway within the metropolitan area of Adelaide, South Australia. This greenway is a 30 km long recreation and conservation open space, linking the Mount Lofty Ranges with Gulf St Vincent, and envelopes the River Torrens throughout its length. The planning and design of the greenway has previously been reviewed in detail by the author (Mugavin, D., 2004). The initial planning, design and implementation stages were undertaken in 1982 and have been ongoing through to 2010. River corridor management including water quality, …

Model For The Optimal Localisation Of Linear Landscape Elements Based On Functional Assessment, Burghard C. Meyer, Ralf Grabaum, Torsten Wolf

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

In the last decades a multitude of assessment methods for landscape functions have been developed (Marks et al. 1989, Bastian and Schreiber 1994). The methods include detailed knowledge from the fields of different sciences and result in maps of landscape risk surfaces. GIS-based models are used to analyse and to asses the landscape functions. New ways are explored by the combination of mathematical methods and spatial data. The assessment of landscape functions is a suitable approach in land uses decision making, especially if a number of different and opposing function assessments are available for the same region. For opposing aims, …

Evaluating The Demands Of Green Infrastructure Development: People, Policy And Practice, Ian C. Mell, Maggie Roe

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

The past decade has seen major development in green infrastructure research and planning practice. The principles of green infrastructure, first articulated by Benedict & McMahon (2006), have permeated into landscape planning in the UK prompting responses from national, regional and local government to the desire for more sustainable and multi-functional landscapes. However, in England, problems are still apparent in determining the focus for green infrastructure planning in particular contexts. There is considerable difficulty in relation to the existing restrictions of landscape policy and legislation. National landscape designation, including SSSI’s (Sites of Special Scientific Interest), is one area that lacks flexibility …

Greenway Planning From An Environmental Justice Perspective: The Development Of The East Bay Greenway Concept Plan, Alameda County, Ca, Katherine Melcher

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

The environmental justice movement emerged over 20 years ago, but only recently have planners, environmental advocates and community organizers begun exploring the connections between greenway planning and environmental justice. Projects like the South Bronx Greenway are driven by environmental justice perspectives, conferences like the New York City Greenway Summit are convening communities interested in the topic, and books like Designing Greenways are extolling environmental justice as one of the key benefits of greenway planning (Transportation Alternatives, 2007; Hellmund and Smith, 2006). Despite this recent interest, published theories and perspectives on how environmental justice can inform greenway planning are lacking.

This …

Public Schools As Open Space And Recreational Resources In Massachusetts, Stella Lensing

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

In the United States, public school land provides valuable and accessible open space and recreational resources to the communities in which they are located, contributing to the existing network of greenways. There are 351 towns and cities within Massachusetts with 1,934 schools and approximately 980,459 students (www.educationbug.org). Massachusetts is 5,284,440 acres (2,138,536 ha ±) in area and has a population of slightly over six (6) million people according to the 2000 Census. The existing bicycle and long distance trail network in Massachusetts comprises approximately 1,483 miles (927km) (MassGIS, 1999, 2004) and there are 1,382,723 (560 000 ha ±) acres of …

More Than A Trail: Greenways And Heritage Tourism, Elisabeth Lardner, Jim Klein

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

Three recent projects demonstrate how communities have built supportive coalitions and expanded the value of their physical resources by layering and connecting linear corridors - greenways, roads, creek valleys and trails-- with heritage tourism and recreational, historic and interpretive opportunities. In this era of limited public resources, each project demonstrates a distinct and differing approach to leveraging a place’s assets with physical realities that, in combination, build a stronger community.

These projects are located in very different geographic regions in the eastern United States, from the rural, historic landscape of the Piedmont to the urban waterfront of southeastern Washington, D.C. …

The Potential For Development Of An Integrated Network Of Greenway Trails On Medieval Hedgerows Landscapes In The Czech Republic, Peter Kumble, Kristina Molnarova, Petr Sklenicka, Elizabeth Brabec, Blanka Kottova, Katerina Pixova, Miroslav Salek

Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

Today in the Pilzen region of the Czech Republic, remnants of medieval fields known as “pluzinas” represent an extremely valuable historical landscape pattern. The character of a pluzina landscape is in many aspects comparable to the hedged field (bocage) landscapes that are well known as a symbol of some parts of Europe, e.g. Belgium (Flanders), England, Scotland, Wales, France (Brittany and Normandy) or the Irish highlands. The character of preserved pluzinas in the Czech Republic differs from that of typical bocage landscapes in some respects, especially in spatial composition. In pluzinas, long parallel plots connected to the individual farmsteads of …