Every week, we bring you the latest news in placemaking, landscape architecture, the nature-mental health link, and much more. Check back each week for new roundups and items.
Is Our Disconnect From Nature a Disorder?
“Somewhere during the American experience, between Teddy Roosevelt and color TV, being outdoors and maybe even working up a sweat started to lose its universal appeal. There remain those who fetishize the outdoors, from Ted Nugent to REI shoppers, and the urge to connect with nature never vanished. But as Americans became more urban and more cocooned in their cars and air conditioning, the values of nature were honored more by their absence than in their activities.”
Pictures: Green Walls May Cut Pollution in Cities
“A living wall bursts with vegetation at Paris’s Musée du Quai Branly — a type of green wall that’s catching on in some big cities. These vegetated surfaces don’t just look pretty. They have other benefits as well, including cooling city blocks, reducing loud noises, and improving a building’s energy efficiency. (See a complete list of green wall benefits.) What’s more, a recent modeling study shows that green walls can potentially reduce large amounts of air pollution in what’s called a “street canyon,” or the corridor between tall buildings.”
Shaping the City with Horticulture: Parks and Plazas
“Urban parks were originally conceived to provide an escape from the city. Today, [Philadelphia] urbanites generally consider the city an attractive and livable place. Green infrastructure is no longer developed in opposition to the urban landscape, but rather as an integrated and meaningful component of it.”
Mature Trees Significantly Reduce Energy Use in Urban Areas
“New research that assessed the energy conservation merits of a residential Toronto tree planting program found an average tree conserves 435–483 kWh of electricity over 25 years post planting. Research findings also indicate that densely settled urban neighborhoods should prioritize tree survival over shading potential, as the energy conservation benefits of a mature tree often outweigh the benefits of a strategically planted one.”
