How do you incorporate social and ecological networks into your urban design practice?

Understanding the urban design context for sustainability requires considering several key factors including local climate and microclimate, carbon policy and grid factors, walkability and accessibility, green spaces and biodiversity, density and compactness, renewable energy and rainwater collection potential, mobility, waste and resilience.

Urban design should be forward-looking. Stakeholder interviews, while important, tend to ignore emerging global forces that shape cities. Depending on interviews too early makes the design process backward-looking and limits its scope and effectiveness. The global forces that shape cities, as well as their root causes, are the primary context for design. For example, cities must accommodate climate change and mass migrations. Those forces trace back to energy use and land use—root causes that urban design has a unique opportunity to address economically at scale.

Social relationships shape how people interact with urban spaces, adapting cities according to their practices and customs. Mobility dynamics also reflect regional particularities, influenced by factors such as accessibility, transportation options, and the presence of green spaces, which not only facilitate circulation, but also directly impact the urban microclimate and quality of life.

Creating objectives for cities and urban areas, ensures long-term environmental, social, and economic well-being while minimizing negative impacts on the planet and future generations.

The goal definition stage is a time for dialog, education and stakeholder engagement (see “Engage the Stakeholders” below). Failing any of the four essential parts of that discussion, goal definition will bog down in contention and obstruction, forcing concessions with a high opportunity cost.

The context identified in the previous stage serves as the foundation for setting urban design goals, recognizing the characteristics of a region and establishing clear and, preferably, measurable objectives that reflect the population's demands and their socioeconomic traits. At this stage, social participation is crucial, bringing the community closer to the proposed solutions while aligning with environmental and sustainability aspects.

Simulation and analysis methods are used for exploring options to receive quantitative feedback. A typical workflow may start with establishing existing conditions to define a baseline, identify design options, select evaluation criteria, gather data, and assess impact.

Incorporating social and ecological networks into urban design practice involves integrating green infrastructure like parks, green corridors, and urban forests to enhance biodiversity and ecological connectivity. Social networks can be fostered by designing inclusive public spaces that encourage community interaction and engagement, such as plazas, community gardens, and recreational areas. Prioritizing connectivity and accessibility ensures equitable access to amenities and services. Engaging stakeholders in the planning process reflects diverse community needs and values. Using data-driven tools to map existing social and ecological networks helps identify gaps and opportunities for enhancement.

Architects, engineers and designers love this kind of work, so they often have concepts ready far in advance of public discussions. While the existence of sketches, simulations and other media may encourage citizen advocates, it’s a mistake to spring them on other stakeholders in advance of a thoughtful, inclusive goals discussion (see comments above and below).

Among the various alternatives and options for urban design, it is important to consider factors such as technical feasibility, environmental impact, and social impact. Any urban intervention will inevitably affect the lives of the residents and users of a city. Therefore, options must be carefully evaluated before implementation, considering and analyzing their potential impact, prioritizing more sustainable and efficient solutions.

Stakeholders focus on problems such as crime and traffic, often with valuable insights about the shaping role of local geography. But they can lack whole-systems understanding. For example, crime elicits calls for more spending on police and social services. It seldom prompts investments in equitable housing and transportation. Designers should familiarize the public with frameworks and indicators that clarify those issues. How? (1) Understand people’s fears and frustrations, (2) show them past projects that resolved the same issues, (3) generalize those solutions to the framework at hand, and (4) use the framework collaboratively to envision what’s possible. This way, stakeholders feel heard and gain a sense of ownership of the process.

Engaging the people who will be affected by the project, as well as decision-makers, is crucial for effective urban planning. It is important to maintain an open and transparent channel with residents, community leaders, and local authorities, whether through regular meetings or online platforms. However, it is essential to filter and analyze the demands expressed, prioritizing the collective good and the technical feasibility of the proposed solutions.

Implementing urban design solutions involves translating design concepts into tangible actions and physical changes in the urban environment. We often do this using a context twin, a digital platform that gathers three dimensional models from various architects and evaluates them against a pre-established design code.

People rightly fear new costs, but often don’t often account for the economic, social and environmental costs of the status quo. For example, commuters may fear losing a car lane to a proposed bike lane. Shopkeepers may fear losing parking. But a bike lane may carry far more people per hour than a car lane, alleviating congestion. A single car parking space can accommodate many bicycles, allowing far more parking near a shop than would be possible otherwise. The macro parameters (congestion, store traffic) should be modeled and expressed clearly, along with empirical results, early in the goals dialog (above). Proper accounting for opportunities and externalities is paramount to preempting future legal and financial hurdles.

This is the moment to put the designed strategies and interventions into practice, requiring a careful coordination of resources, logistics, and monitoring to achieve the desired outcome. Even a localized urban intervention can have significant impacts on an entire region, highlighting the importance of clear communication with the population and constant monitoring of the changes and situations caused in the urban environment.

One of my favourite case studies in the way urban and social networks come together is the Amaravati Masterplan. https://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/amaravati-masterplan. A strong urban grid and clearly defined green spine runs through its length, providing the foundation of the masterplan’s environmental strategy, where at least 60% of the area is occupied by greenery or water. The city has been designed for liveability and sustainability, with including the latest technologies, such as photovoltaics and future mobility. The transportation strategy includes electric vehicles, water taxis, and dedicated cycle routes, along with shaded streets and squares that will encourage people to walk through the city.

Sharing experience is perhaps the single area of greatest need among cities. For example, US cities seldom use proven housing and transportation solutions found elsewhere in the world. Even simple traffic elements such as turbo roundabouts and continuous sidewalks at pedestrian crossings are rare and often opposed due to a lack of stakeholder engagement (see above). Fortunately, movements such as Strong Towns, and YouTube programs such as Not Just Bikes, RM Transit and CityNerd are building audiences of millions who understand these concepts. Urban designers could benefit from incorporating these and similar popular resources formally in a continuous program of public engagement.

What is the impact of the urban intervention? What changes have occurred in people's daily lives and the environment? These are some of the questions that need to be answered after the implementation of an urban intervention, by closely monitoring and evaluating the solution. This process helps validate whether the goals were achieved and the demands met, as well as how mobility, quality of life, and the environment were affected. This stage is crucial for learning from the successes and mistakes of the interventions, making adjustments when necessary.

I wouldn't approach green-blue systems as something you "integrate" into planning, but rather vice-versa. Let's be radical and first assess how local eco-morphology works (topo, watershed, migration patterns, bio-topes, etc,). Once that is set, let's design cities around them, reducing negative impact as much as possible. Let's even explore how to enhance or regenerate what has been damaged.

The creation of safe and successful urban space is at the intersection of density, available transport and an architecture that support’s openness, connectivity, and amenity. Without one of these elements, we see many examples of large open urban spaces without the footfall, falling prey to unsafe occupation. An example of a successful urban space with all three elements is Crossrail Place at Canary Wharf. Central to the scheme, was a new enclosure unifying the station and other elements including new retail units and a park, as well as furthering the main aim of the Crossrail project – to open up London from east to west with a series of high quality projects.

Understanding the existing: Analyse existing social connections (community centers, parks) and ecological systems (green corridors, natural habitats). Prioritizing connections: Design to facilitate social interaction and movement through walkable streets, plazas, and mixed-use development. Encourage ecological connectivity with green infrastructure green roofs, and urban forests. Participatory design: Involve diverse communities in the design process to understand social needs and environmental concerns. Promoting biodiversity: Integrate diverse plant life and create habitats for beneficial insects and pollinators to enhance ecological health. Long-term vision: Design for the future, consider climate change and population growth.

Certainly! Incorporating social and ecological networks into urban design involves understanding existing networks, engaging stakeholders, integrating considerations from the beginning, designing with adaptability, and implementing monitoring and feedback mechanisms to ensure effectiveness. As an very simple example, developing the design of the sidewalks and public parks will definitely do so. “what’s better than connecting humans and nature”

It is essential to integrate social and environmental networks into an urban intervention, considering human interactions and the natural environment as guiding factors for the project. The solutions should address the population's needs while promoting the preservation or restoration of green spaces and public areas, encouraging walkability and active mobility.