Every week, we bring you the latest news in placemaking, landscape architecture and urban planning, the nature-mental health link, and much more. Check back each week for new roundups and items.
A Natural Match: Drexel Research Team Connects Urban Design to Public Health
“As inner-city school kids climb and swing at a state-of-the-art playground with a rain garden and trees, will their surroundings make a difference in their health and social well-being? At urban community gardens nearby, will the fresh produce and a greener view help local residents breathe easier? Such questions, connecting urban design and natural systems with public health, are the focus of a new convergence of research and community engagement efforts at Drexel. A new team of faculty from the School of Public Health and Westphal College of Media Arts & Design is bringing together research on these interdisciplinary questions within community-based projects in West Philadelphia—some of which are already underway, and some that have yet to begin.”
First Ladies support new Healing Garden at Children’s National
“First Lady Michelle Obama and five former First Ladies announced their support of the first-ever Healing Garden at Children’s National on Monday. According to the website, The Healing Garden will provide “inspiring views of the nation’s capital” and “energizing elements of art, music and nature.” The garden will take up the 7,200-square-foot hospital rooftop, giving families a safe and healthy space for healing.”
“Is there a dose of nature that can help make city dwellers’ lives healthier and more productive? Research suggests that the answer is yes, but also that the issue is more complex than that simple formulation. Mounting evidence connects human health and urban green spaces, but uncertainty remains about the characteristics of those links and, more practically, how cities can be designed to take advantage of them. In a report summarizing recent findings, investigators at the Center for Health and the Global Environment at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health call for an acceleration of research on the issue. When it comes to urban design, they point out, the clock is ticking.”
A Beautiful Motorway Intersection? Gardening the Metropolis’ Overlooked Areas
“Enric Batlle, founding principal of Barcelona-based Batlle i Roig, believes landscape architects should not be afraid of to use the term ‘garden.’ Early in his career Batlle never used the word to describe his projects. He called them parks because he felt it elevated their status. But Batlle has embraced the notion of the garden, titling his book and recent lecture at the University of Virginia, ‘The Gardens of the Metropolis.’ The title is intriguing because it connects two scales: the intimate garden and the immense metropolis. Batlle showed us a map of the edges between Barcelona’s built environment and open spaces. His projects are bridges that connect the two. He presented a few examples of his work in Barcelona. Trinitat Park occupies an inaccessible location common to many major cities: the middle of a highway interchange. These spaces left over from large-scale infrastructure projects are almost uniformly forgotten. Here, his firm used rows of trees, grade changes, and a large circular ‘mountain’ to sonically and visually shield the park from surrounding traffic.”
