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Ryan C.

Harb
March 7, 2009
Green Urbanism, Seminar
How will our future urban landscapes
compare to the landscapes of today?
Landscape urbanism aims to transform the
way that our urban environments look
and function. It is a new approach to
designing and planning that involves
multiple disciples working together
to help solve our world's most pressing
issues.

www.newsday.com

Landscape Urbanism:
Transforming our

Future Urban Landscapes


By: Ryan Harb
M.S. candidate in Green Building,
University of Massachusetts Amherst

Introduction:
The suffix ism has been used for centuries to describe religious concepts, political movements,
prejudice or bias, and numerous philosophies and theories. In the 1990's, a new theory (and likewise a
new ism) emerged as a result of the wasteful land practices of suburban sprawl (Saffron, 2007).
Landscape urbanism is an interdisciplinary and holistic approach to urban development which seeks
solutions to the problems created from our built environments (Weller, 2006). Proponents, such as
Mohsen Mostafavi, Dean at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design, describe landscape
urbanism as, "[dealing] with the variety of issues that are connected with the urban condition. Its the way
in which our cities are changing in response to global changes (Hempel, 2008). One basic principle

Ryan C. Harb
March 7, 2009
Green Urbanism, Seminar
behind landscape urbanism is collaboration. Planners, designers, economists and ecologists must work
together rather than individually to create a more successful urban landscape. Landscape urbanists must
also concentrate on the organization of human activities within the natural landscape. As the world's
population continues to become more urbanized, landscape urbanism strives to improve our built
environment with some patience, persistence, and a vision for the long term.
What is landscape? What is urbanism?
Traditionally, landscape was defined as, "the art of organizing horizontal surface" says Stan Allen,
Dean of the School of Architecture at Princeton University. Allen now sees landscape as a model for
modern urbanism. Landscape urbanism is, "uniquely capable of responding to temporal change,
transformation, adaptation, and succession," says Charles Waldheim. It is an emerging and prevailing
practice that includes on the "leftover" or void space located in and around urban areas.
KEY ISSUES WITH LANDSCAPE URBANISM:
Although landscape urbanism seems ideal in theory, many changes must be implemented for it to
become a success. First, we must recognize that our built environment is in need of a complete makeover.
For decades, short-term thinking and narcissism have dug us into a deep hole and we are trying to
desperately climb our way out to this day. Professionals must put aside their personal ambitions and think
in terms of the future rather than short-term gains. But how does this change happen? It largely involves
patience and selecting the right team of professionals. Collaboration between planners, ecologists, and
designers is an essential tool for the success of any development. This will be frequently mentioned
throughout the essay. Also worth mentioning are the clashes that can leave potential groundbreaking
projects at a standstill. Clearly stating the project's objectives and selecting an educated team will help
lead to future successes in the landscape urbanism field.
The built environment:
There is no denying that our contemporary buildings produce a lot of unnecessary waste and an
excessive amount of carbon emissions. Fontenergy, a consulting firm located in the United Kingdom,

Ryan C. Harb
March 7, 2009
Green Urbanism, Seminar
found that buildings are responsible for nearly half of all UK's carbon dioxide emissions (Fontenergy,
2007). The United Nation's International Panel on Climate Change has also stated that, "the built
environment offers the largest potential for significantly reducing global emissions" (King, 2008). Simple
techniques such as passive solar design and energy efficient standards along with better use of renewable
energy technologies can help minimize the environmental impacts for our future landscapes.
Change is not easy. It is often difficult and time consuming to alter what has "worked" in the past.
For landscape urbanism to succeed, our built environments must be held to higher standards than are
currently in place. The Energy Information Administration forecasts growth in building energy
consumption by 34 percent in the next 20 years (ScienceDirect, 2007). Professionals have an important
role to fulfill over the next few decades to recreate how our built environments look and function. If they
are unwilling to part from old habits, landscape urbanism will never succeed beyond just a few scattered
projects.
Form following finesse:
In her 1996 publication Postmodern Urbanism, Nan Ellin critiques architects for engaging in
"archi-speak." Postmodern urbanism is viewed by some as being narcissistic, with many professionals
acting in their own self interest to achieve fame and fortune instead of solving some of society's most
pressing issues. (Ellin, 2007) This critique of "form following finesse" rejects postmodern projects as,
"being progressive and instead illustrates them as making cities less affordable and less accessible to
middle class citizens" (Ellin, 2007). Landscape urbanism counteracts the personal ambitions of some by
diversifying the concentration of power to a team of collaborators. Selecting the right team members is
the most critical part of any landscape urbanism development.
Education:
Professionals who are selected to develop a particular site must first learn about the site's history.
If a brownfield or drosscape is being developed then planners, ecologists and designers must first learn
what land use existed before the "waste". Likewise to professionals, a landscape's occupants must also be

Ryan C. Harb
March 7, 2009
Green Urbanism, Seminar
educated about the project at hand. If a residential community is designed to be net zero energy then the
occupants need to learn how to live a net zero energy lifestyle. This again comes back to the most
important aspect of any planning process; selecting the right team. It is imperative that professionals be
from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines as groupthink can be the downfall of any planned project.
Collaboration; The new role of the designer:
Traditionally, an architect or urban designer was king of the equation when it came to developing
an urban landscape. The idea behind landscape urbanism is that there is no lead role. Instead, each
professional has an equal share in the success (or failure) of a project. Teamwork and collaboration
between planners, ecologists, economists, and designers are essential components of landscape urbanism
and this idea will be a focal point of the essay. Not surprisingly, some designers feel threatened and
choose not to participate in some of these emerging projects. Despite their role change, many designers
are participating and this cooperation has led to some outstanding results (see Parc de la Villette and
Koolhaas/OMA mentioned later in the essay).
In general, landscape urbanism projects can cause two outcomes. First, a project can be
successful and each person will benefit equally. Second, a project can fail and everybody, together,
accepts an equal part of the blame. Equal is the operative term. A paradigm shift has occurred surrounding
our built environments and this has created an egalitarian model unlike anything seen in the past.
Landscape urbanism and the dimension of time:
Time is a crucial component of landscape urbanism. All landscapes take time to mature and it is a
common occurrence for landscape projects to seem unfinished or unimportant immediately upon
completion. The success of a landscape project is often unknown for the at least 5, 10, or even 20 years
later. Immediate recognition must therefore not be expected. If it is fame someone is looking for,
landscape urbanism is not the field to achieve it in. The dimension of time associated with landscape
urbanism discourages many professionals from involving themselves in such projects.
LIVING IN AN URBANIZED WORLD:

Ryan C. Harb
March 7, 2009
Green Urbanism, Seminar
Recent demographic trends show that the world's population is becoming more urbanized each
year. According Jianguo Wu, the total world population living in urban areas now exceeds 50 percent for
first time in human history. More surprisingly is that cities, although comprising just 2 percent of earth's
land area, produce 78 percent of the world's carbon emissions and are responsible for 60 percent of
residential water use and 76 percent of the wood used for industrial purposes (Wu, 2008). Fighting
urbanization is no longer an option as this trend has progressed beyond any one person, business, or
government organization. How, then, can we best utilize the limited landscape that our modern cities have
available?
Drosscape:
In general, landscape architects see contemporary North American cities as having an abundance
of "dross," or wasted landscape. In 2005, "[There were] more than 600,000 abandoned and contaminated
sites identified within U.S. cities [alone]", says Alan Berger, associate professor at MIT. One reason for
this is urban sprawl. The second reason is the abandonment of land after economic and industrial
processes have ceased (Berger, 2006).
In 1995, Lars Lerup divided the urban world into two parts;
1. stim, the deliberate, developed urban areas, and
2. dross, the polluted and unprofitable voids that planners gave up on (Newscientist.com, 2006).
These drosscapes (large tracts of abused land on the peripheries of cities and beyond), have been
contaminated by industrial sites, mineral workings, garbage dumps, and polluted river banks (Berger,
2006). Critiques have been directed toward architects and urban designers for paying little attention to
these neglected plots of land.
Landscape urbanism concentrates on the development of these drosscapes, as they are still very
much a part of our contemporary cities. It is nave to think that urban environments can thrive without
producing waste. Urbanists must therefore, "integrate inevitable dross into more flexible aesthetic and
design strategies" (Berger, 2006). Berger also argues that growth cannot happen without waste and that,

Ryan C. Harb
March 7, 2009
Green Urbanism, Seminar
"Waste landscape is an indicator of healthy urban growth." Creative and unique approaches must
therefore be formulated by planners, ecologists, and designers to deal with this void space located in and
around our highly populated landscapes.
THE SUCCESS OF LANDSCAPE URBANSIM:
The success of landscape urbanism depends on many factors. In addition to overcoming the key
issues previously mentioned, a successful urban landscape is enduring, adaptive, and transformative in
addition to being aesthetically pleasing. Resilience, sustainability, and adaptive capacity are imperative
strategies to utilize when developing our future built environments. Numerous other considerations will
be mentioned under the subheading, "landscape urbanism formula."
Sustainability:
In 1987, The United Nations General Assembly defined sustainability as, "meeting the needs of
the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (U.N.
General Assembly, 1987). Professionals from all over the globe agree that the world's space is not
limitless. In order to meet the needs of our increasing population and retain a high quality of life, our built
environments must be planned, designed, and built more sustainably. How does this relate to landscape
urbanism?
Charles Waldheim, editor of The Landscape Urbanism Reader, describes landscape urbanism as
highlighting the leftover void spaces in modern cities and transforming them into potential commons.
Many of the "unseen" areas in a city, also called residual terrain vagues, are found in between buildings
and likewise in places that otherwise go overlooked (Waldheim, 2006).Transforming these terrain vagues
into thriving public spaces, or other types of urban "landscape" is a slow process that involves years of
collaboration. To cultivate this new urban form, landscape urbanism concentrates on self renewal, a key
attribute of sustainability. Resilience and adaptive capacity are the lifeblood of a successful built
environment. Landscape urbanism, in essence is building sustainably and should therefore be
incorporated into our planning and designing practices.

Ryan C. Harb
March 7, 2009
Green Urbanism, Seminar
Always consider the scale:
The world is undeniably interrelated. Small decisions affect large decisions, the largest species
depend on tiniest microorganisms, and humans rely on other humans. In the past, architects and urban
designers rarely took into account the effect a development would have on its surroundings. Will species
be forced out of their centuries-old habit? Will rental rates increase and affect those living a few blocks
away? How will the soil quality be affected and what about air pollution? Some of these questions deal
with small scale issues (soil, topography, zoning). Large scale issues such as ebffects to a nearby
watershed, neighborhood, political system and social system must also be considered. Landscape
ecologists become extremely important during this stage of the development process as environmental
issues will most certainly arise. Economists must also express their opinions as they will differ greatly
from the opinions of ecologists. For landscape urbanism to work effectively, a great deal of thought must
go into every decision that is made. All sides must also be willing to compromise or else the project will
never even get past planning phase.
What is the landscape urbanism formula?
All cities are unique in their own way. People, landscapes, economies, histories, and climates
differ in each location and make creating a standardized landscape urbanism formula impossible. Instead
of focusing on a single definitive strategy for all urban areas, landscape urbanism notes how individual
places are unique and considers the local ecological (and other) processes of the past, present and future.
The success of landscape urbanism relies heavily on creativity and the critical thinking of
everybody involved (the stakeholders, decision makers, and professionals). The following
recommendationsas well as what has been previously mentionedshould be taken into consideration
for any new landscape project. It is, however, imperative that everything described be adapted sitespecific.
1. Talk with the community and stakeholders. Learn how the community functions; what are its
best attributes vs. what needs changing? What would the community members like to see

Ryan C. Harb
March 7, 2009
Green Urbanism, Seminar
improved, but also what should remain the same? What was it like in the past? A landscape
architecture student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst thoughtfully mentioned using
senior citizens as part of the information-gathering process. These folks have lived in the
community longest, know its history, and may offer the best future strategies and solutions to
current problems.
2. Be creative. Emphasize small-scale, experimental approaches that are considered "safe-to-fail."
"Given the importance of multiple perspectives at various ecosystem scales [an appropriate
first step], "toward a flexible, adaptive, and responsive design, planning or management is to use
a diversity of approaches" (Lister, 1996).
3. Consider alternatives. Creativity spawns new projects and new ways of thinking. The best land
use for a particular site might not yet be proposed. Brainstorm elements and structures that can
serve multiple purposes. For example, permaculture uses the attributes of many plant species to
create a system in which everything plays multiple roles.
4. Durable, long-lasting, adaptable structures with minimal maintenance. Maintenance is vital
to the preservation of any built environment or landscape. Self renewal is also a desirable
characteristic and a key attribute of sustainability. Consider how a project will respond to change,
especially in weather patterns. Climate change is real and it is occurring at a rapid pace. Projects
that address this issue will be most successful in long-term.
PARC DE LA VILLETTE:
Landscape has only recently emerged as the most relevant medium through which to construct a
meaningful and viable public realm in North American cities (Waldheim, 2006). One of the first projects
to allow landscape "to operate as a model for urban process" was not produced in North America but
rather in Europe" (Waldheim, 2006). In 1982, a competition was held to transform a 125-acre site, once
home to Paris's largest slaughterhouse, into a postmodern urban park unlike any other. Parc de la Villette,
blended urban infrastructure with public activities to create a landscape that interacted with the city

Ryan C. Harb
March 7, 2009
Green Urbanism, Seminar
around it. Bernard Tschumi received the commission for Parc de la Villette just barely edging out the
Office of Metropolican Architecture and Rem Koolhaas. Both entries were highly influential and led to
further design competitions in other parts of the world.
Parc de la Villette, Paris, France

Nouveaux loisirs-Guide Gallimard, illustration M. Hubault et Th. Giac

"An unknowable range of future uses"


In his most notable work "Delirious New York," Rem Koolhaas described prominent landscapes
as having an "indeterminate and unknowable range of future uses over time" (Waldheim, 2006).
"It is safe to predict that during the life of the park, the program will undergo constant
change and adjustment. The more the park works, the more it will be in a perpetual
state of revision . The underlying principle of programmatic indeterminacy as a
basis of the formal concept allows any shift, modification, replacement, or
substitutions to occur without damaging the initial hypothesis." (Koolhaas, 1978)

In 1999, Koolhaas/OMA submitted the winning design scheme for Downsview Park located in Toronto,
Ontario. For years he has been a leader in the landscape urbanism field and was even listed in Time

Ryan C. Harb
March 7, 2009
Green Urbanism, Seminar
Magazine's top 100 Most Influential People of 2008 (source). His influence on urban landscapes is
undeniable and will be seen by many generations to come.
CONCLUSIONS:
Planners, ecologists, and designers argue that landscape, as opposed to architecture, is more
capable of organizing urban cities and environments. Charles Waldheim describes landscape urbanism as,
"a lens through which to see and describe the contemporary city" (Waldheim, 2006). It took years of
faulty designs and unplanned consequences to accelerate the landscape urbanism movement to where it is
today. Waldheim and Corner are among the many theorists and practitioners who have jump started this
emerging practice. As new projects appear and older projects evolve, the world will begin to see what a
team of visionaries can achieve through simple corroboration. Over time, landscape urbanism projects
will begin to emulate natural systems without the customary intervention by designers.
For years, planning our urban environments has been done one buildings at a time. This strategy
is truly shortsighted and is need of a massive paradigm shift. To efficiently design our future urban
centers, we must now think of cities in terms of a landscape of infrastructure and systems. Landscape
urbanism operates in the spaces between buildings, infrastructural systems and natural ecologies. These
"unseen," residual terrain vagues require patience and slow growth in cultivating a new urban form. To be
successful, it must focus on reducing waste and consumption while integrating resilience and adaptive
capacity into its numerous functions.
The organization of human activities in the natural landscape is another integral piece of
landscape urbanism (Shane, 2003). Urbanization has transformed many natural landscapes and
contributed significantly to biodiversity loss and deterioration of ecosystem services (Wu, 2008). Instead
of trying to halt this trend we must instead accept it and create systems that work harmoniously with
nature. We have the knowledge and capabilities to do all of this. Now, it is about selecting the right team
of professionals that can make more of these projects flourish.

Ryan C. Harb
March 7, 2009
Green Urbanism, Seminar

References:
Berger, Alan. "Drosscape" in the Landscape Urbanism Reader. Alan Berger, Ed. 2006. Princeton
Univ. Press. NY. Pp 197-217

Ryan C. Harb
March 7, 2009
Green Urbanism, Seminar

Congress for the New Urbanism. Charter of the New Urbanism. In: The Urban Design Reader. M
Larice and E MacDonald, Eds. 2007. Routledge, NY. Pp. 308-311
Ellin, Nan. "Themes of Postmodernism" in: The Urban Design Reader. M. Larice and E.
MacDonald, Eds. 2007. Routledge, NY. Pp. 204-214.
Hempel, Carlene. 2008. The Boston Globe. New Harvard dean has designs on our future. May 8,
2008. Lexis Nexis Academic. February 22, 2009.
King, Paul. 2008. The Built Environment Offers the Potential for Significantly Reducing Global
Emissions. The London Times. April 16, 2008. Lexis Nexis Academic. February 26, 2009.
Long Island and New York City news. http://www.newsday.com/classified/jobs/ny-jobsgreenjobs,0,7190857.photogallery?index=15. March 4, 2009.
Nouveaux loisirs-Guide Gallimard, illustration M. Hubault et Th. Giac. http://www.citesciences.fr/francais/ala_cite/villette/site.htm. March 4, 2009.
Saffron, Inga. 2007. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Architects Visit their Foes' Citadel. May 18,
2007. Lexis Nexis Academic. February 23, 2009.
Shane, Grahame. 2003. Harvard Design Magazine. The Emergence of "Landscape Urbanism"
Reflections on Stalking Detroit. Fall 2003/Winter 2004, Number 19. February 26, 2009.
United Nations General Assembly. 1987. Report of the World Commission on Environment and
Development. December 11, 1987. http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/42/ares42-187.htm
Waldheim, Charles. "Landscape as Urbanism" in the Landscape Urbanism Reader. Charles
Waldheim, Ed. 2006. Princeton Univ. Press. NY. Pp 37-51
Wilson, Nick. 2007. Business Day, South Africa. Trend to Mixed Use Part of the Local
Landscape. November 12, 2008. Lexis Nexis Academic. February 22, 2009.
Wu, Jinguo. 2008. Towards a Landscape Ecology of Cities: Beyond Buildings, Trees and Urban
Forests" in M.M. Carreiro et al. Eds. Ecology, Planning and Management of Urban Forests:
International Perspectives. Springer, NY. Pp. 10-25.

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