Could city parklands be used to house endangered fauna?
UNSW students have proposed to create research and veterinary labs for native bats, birds and eels. Restored patches of habitat in Sydney’s Centennial Parklands could become sanctuaries for threatened species, they say.
The proposal come from a two-week Sydney Urban Lab studio in January, overseen by US-based landscape architect Professor Richard Weller and Hassell.
“In the case of Sydney, we decided to get a list of the species endangered both in the city and its region and the broader hotspot, which is really the eastern portion of Australia, and ask the question: could we take a piece of land in Sydney and use that as an incubator for these species, and from there the species could be relocated over time back to the regional ecosystem?” says Weller.
The parklands could be a temporary rehabilitation site, with the species relocated over time back to their regional ecosystems, he proposes.
Looking at global threats to biodiversity from urbanisation, Weller says some of the habitats at risk in eastern and southwestern Australia are now exacerbated by bushfires.
“It makes the work a bit more important because we’ve just lost a billion animals. I mean, it’s a wipe out. So why wouldn’t we use landscapes in cities to protect and harbour species?”
Photo: Grey-headed flying-fox, a vulnerable species currently found in Centennial Parklands, by Andrew Mercer, Wikimedia Commons.
Bad urban design is making us miserable
The risks of developing certain mental health issues could be higher for city dwellers than for those living outside cities, writes Andrea Mechelli for Fast Company.
This includes a 20% higher risk of depression, 77% higher for psychosis and 21% higher risk of generalised anxiety disorder.
Critically, she says, the longer you spend in an urban environment during childhood and adolescence, the higher your risk of developing mental illness in adulthood.
So which factors within the urban environment increase the risk of developing such problems? Some issues identified in epidemiological studies include:
Reduced access to green spaces.
High levels of noise.
High levels of air pollution.
Loneliness.
Perceived and actual crime.
Social inequalities.
These are the result of poor planning, design, and management, Mechelli says, and could be reversed.
Landscape architecture and urban design can largely impact the experience of city living, as the incidence of depression within urban areas is lower when people have access to high-quality housing and green spaces, she says.
Urban living is a complex and contradictory phenomenon, with both advantages and disadvantages. Opportunities for education, socialisation and care in cities can also bring great benefits to mental health, for example.
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Greta Thunberg Named Time Person of the Year 2019: The 16-year-old Swedish schoolgirl who inspired a global movement to fight climate change is the youngest person to be chosen by the magazine, in a tradition that began in 1927. “Thunberg began a global movement by skipping school: starting in August 2018, she spent her days camped out in front of the Swedish Parliament, holding a sign painted in black letters on a white background that read Skolstrejk för klimatet: ‘School Strike for Climate’,” Charlotte Alter, Suyin Haynes and Justin Worland write for Time. “In the 16 months since, she has addressed heads of state at the U.N., met with the Pope, sparred with the President of the United States and inspired 4 million people to join the global climate strike …
What is the Future of Concrete in Architecture? According to Lucy Rodgers at BBC News, “if the cement industry were a country, it would be the third-largest emitter in the world – behind China and the US. It contributes more CO2 than aviation fuel (2.5%), and is not far behind the global agriculture business (12%).” At the UN 2018 COP24 Climate Change Conference in Poland, it was highlighted that in order to meet the requirements of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, annual cement emissions must fall by 16% by 2030. Experts and activists at the Architecture of Emergency climate summit in London in September called upon architects to fight climate change by ditching concrete. Niall Patrick Walsh writes in ArchDaily that designers may not need to avoid concrete altogether – but support innovations to …
Prioritising human experience through ‘soft’ cities: In his new book, called Soft City, Gehl creative director and partner David Sim considers how urban design can help a city feel more accessible and connected – that is, ‘softer.’ “For decades, so much urban planning has been focused on devising ways to reorganize human activity into distinct silos, to separate people and things, and, by doing so, reduce the risk of conflict,” Sim writes. “I would like, instead, to focus on how potentially conflicting aspects of everyday existence can be brought together and connected to deliver quality of life.” In a soft city, grocery stores and cafes are within walkable distance from your front door. The street is filled with people walking, biking and catching transit – not only cars. There are places …
