The Power of Landscape Design for a Resilient Future

Whether in urban or natural environments, landscape design aims to create a harmonious relationship between people, nature, and the built environment. This not only enhances human well-being but also improves the aesthetics and functionality of neighborhoods, promotes ecological balance, and boosts urban adaptability. Today, this profession plays a crucial role in addressing global challenges like the climate crisis, urban heat islands, and sustainable development, playing a key role in building more resilient cities. This includes tackling issues such as embodied carbon, urban revitalization, and environmental risk protection.

These interventions go beyond aesthetics, becoming essential tools to promote social cohesion and reconnect people with nature. Green infrastructure—such as parks, green roofs, and urban forests—plays a critical role in mitigating the effects of heat islands, managing stormwater, and improving air quality, thus contributing to residents' well-being and creating spaces more adaptable to climate change. From the choice of sustainable materials to designs that respect and enhance nature, professionals in this field are leading the transformation of the built environment toward resilience. Initiatives like reducing embodied carbon in public spaces and converting concrete-dominated urban areas into well designed green roofs are great examples of how nature-based solutions are gaining traction. Projects, such as those led by the Batlleiroig office, highlight the urgency of restoring nature in urban areas where it has been lost.

In this edition of the Building Future Newsletter, we will explore the role of landscape architecture in the cities of the future and how it can be a key ally in creating more sustainable and resilient urban environments. Below, you'll find a selection of articles on this topic. See you in the next edition!

Eduardo Souza, Senior Editor, Brands & Materials

Why Landscape Designers Will Be Key to the Future of Our Cities

Explore how green infrastructure, resilience, and sustainable urban planning can shape healthier, more livable environments.

From Concrete to Green Canopies: Revitalizing Cities Through Natural Design

Discover how cities worldwide are reclaiming urban spaces with nature, enhancing sustainability and livability.

What Does It Mean to Future-Proof a City, Landscape or Building with AI?

The prospect of a mostly urban world, along with the alarming onset of climate change, both raise warnings regarding living conditions in the future.

Construction Materials that Increase Resilience to Natural Disasters

Natural disasters have become more frequent and severe, and will continue to intensify. As architects, are there ways of mitigating this?

“Our Goal is to Recover Nature in The Places Where it has Disappeared”: Joan Batlle, from Batlleiroig

An interview with Joan Batlle Blay, Architect and landscaper, focused on the relationship between materials and public projects and landscape.

How Landscape Architects are Taking on Embodied Carbon

How landscape architects are leading the shift towards low-carbon materials and decarbonizing projects by 2040.