10 Attributes of a Living Precinct

Landscape architects share the conviction that urban planning and design should enhance ways for people to interact with nature.

 This connection is often unlearned yet instinctive, and we continually chase opportunities to integrate natural processes within the built environment. But we are often challenged. The barriers are endless – maintenance costs, safety concerns and legal hurdles abound. There has always been an excuse.

 But one just needs to look at the award-winning Barangaroo Reserve in Sydney, which has been open for just a month, and how bringing nature into our cities engages our curiosity and interest. We love being connected to nature, and Barangaroo Reserve is an exemplar of our opportunity to embrace nature and the human delight it can cultivate.

 These relationships vary through time, both on the human scale, ranging from children in natural playgrounds to seniors with the opportunity to see birds approach their homes, and on the annual scale, as the seasonality of our physical environment changes what we can expect and enjoy from our interactions.

 The inherent human attraction to all things that are alive and vital must now be at the centre of our design of urban environments. I refer to such developments as living precincts, where a connection with nature is at the heart of the design brief.

 Here are 10 key attributes of the living precinct, a playbook of opportunities for next generation urban development...

 You can read the full post in Sourceable.net here