Introduction
Background & Context
Literature Review
The Design Problem
Design Goals
Key Theories and Concepts
Previous Design Efforts
Design Methods
Presentation of Design Outcome
Limitations of Design Study
Recommendations for Further Work
Works Cited
Throughout our transition from rural to urban areas, urbanization has led to the decrease in biodiversity in urban centers, which is a factor significant to the health and well-being of both ecological systems and humanity. Throughout the exploration of the factors that have led to the decline in biodiversity in urban areas, we discover the significant impacts that urbanization has had, the main one being fragmentation of habitat. However, the available space of privatelyowned residential gardens allows the ability to restore connectivity and biodiversity in the urban center of Chicago when used as a widespread network of bio diverse oasis.
Lack of biodiversity in urban areas has severe impacts on the local ecosystem and ecosystem benefits, which directly impacts city residents. Biodiversity is defined as the “species, genetic, and ecosystem diversity in an area, sometimes including associated abiotic components such as landscape features, drainage systems, and climate” Swingland, 2001. With recent land development and movement to urban areas, over 50% of the population now resides in urban areas, resulting in rapid urban expansion Goddard et. al, 2010.
A significant reduction in biodiversity can be attributed to urban expansion and the increase of highly developed areas. Miller and Hobbs fro the University of Wisconsin noted that in the United States, “urbanization has been identified as a primary cause, singly or in association with other factors, for declines in more than half of the species listed as threatened or endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act” 2002, p 330.
As an urban area, Chicago has also seen the impact of rapid urbanization, with major ecological changes like the reversal of the Chicago River, significant wetland habitat loss, and distribution and allocation of green space.
Chicago Land Use: Open Space Zoning vs. Single Family Residential Zoning
Source: Author, (Boundaries- Zoning Districts (Current) | City of Chicago } Data Portal)
The figure on the left visually depicts land usage in Chicago, with the light green representing single family residential zoning and the dark green representing parks and open space zoning.
Single family residential homes account for a large percentage of land use in Chicago. In Chicago, 41% of land is used for single family residential housing- a much greater category than any other, with planned development being the second largest land use, but only at 13%. Furthermore, this analysis of land use in Chicago also allows us to see the amount and distribution of land dedicated towards green space, totaling at only 7% being zoned for parks and open space.
As the figure shows, Chicago is characterized by many small, spreadout green spaces aside from the mostly connected lake shore portion. While there are many parks spread throughout Chicago, the city is lacking in connected green space corridors that would help protect and restore biodiversity.
However, one key characteristic that sets single family residentially zoned areas apart from other zoning types is the potential and ability for individual residents to create higher quality green spaces. While residents may not have direct control over the open space and parkways in their neighborhood, people with yards can implement bio diverse and native gardens to help improve biodiversity in urban areas. In this case, it is possible that a network of interconnected home gardens could have a considerable positive impact on the urban biodiversity of Chicago. Therefore, the basis of my project lies on this available space, using the connective power of local backyard gardens to create healthy, bio diverse cities.
We benefit directly from having healthy, bio diverse ecosystems. Some ecosystem services that we receive from healthy ecosystems include wastewater treatment and filtration, temperature regulation, erosion prevention, water cycle maintenance, and reduction of heat island effect in urban areas Ooi and Yen, 2009.
Access to healthy green spaces also improves our health and wellbeing, as small green spaces are correlated to having a positive impact on the mental health of nearby residents Ha et. al, 2022.
Biodiversity loss will disbalance ecosystems and lead to loss of ecosystem services which are fundamental for human well-being, and consequently result with increase of habitat degradation, climate change, invasive species spread or pollution
While the urbanization and fragmentation of habitat in cities has led to the demise of biodiversity, intentional use and well managed land strategies can help bring back biodiversity in these areas.
In cities, residential gardens are a major contributor to green spacein Chicago, 57% of green spaces come from residential gardens, totaling at 119,269 m² Mathieu et. al, 2007.
Focusing on implementation of bio diverse gardens on a large, citywide scale has potential for solving this issue. Because pollination and seed dispersal operates at broader scales that the individual garden, it is important to provide solutions on the city wide scale. Therefore, a network of small scale residential gardens has the potential to solve the issue on all scales. The image on the rights depicts the various scales in which biodiversity operates.
While most literature aimed towards the home gardener focuses on the impact of an individual garden, the significance of home gardens comes from the connection and spatial distribution of them within an urban area, forming habitat connections.
Well-managed gardens can be effective for increasing the width and extent of wildlife corridors. Homeowners who live by creeks in New South Wales, Australia, were encouraged to plant native vegetation in order to “enhance habitat connectivity by extending the width of riparian corridors” Goddard et. al, 2010. Similarly, the ecological land use complementation planning approach explains how “publicly and privately managed lands could complement on another to better support biodiversity” Colding, 2007, p. 51.
By promoting biodiversity and green spaces in varying areas, like street corridors, home gardens, and public parks, the spatial distribution of these areas can intentionally be used to “promote landscape complementation/supplementation function and nurture key ecosystem processes essential for the support of biodiversity”Colding, 2007, p. 52.
1 Enhance urban biodiversity by increasing habitat availability
2 Improve urban ecosystem connectivity by designing a product that . helps home garden function as biodiversity “stepping stones” that . . connect fragmented habitats
3 Encourage community collaboration by inspiring collective action . and empowering users with long-term stewardship of gardens and . . the environment
4 Ensure accessibility and affordability by developing a cost-effective . product with straightforward installation to make it accessible for a . wide range of residents
5 Address climate resilience by using native plants and strategies that . promote green infrastructure
Vestre Habitats: an urban street furniture company that highlights how urban design can impact biodiversity and ecosystem health, and has products dedicated to supporting certain species.
Futura
Faded Rose
#B95050 | Pantone 18-1629
Evening Sand
#E1B0AC | Pantone 14-1311
Pale Green
#CBCC92 | Pantone 13-0522
Golden Palm
#AF9831 | Pantone 17-0839
Delphinium Blue
#5EA0B6 | Pantone 16-4519
Kale
#687750 | Pantone 18-0107
Scarab
#333B2E | Pantone 19-5359
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn
Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
Alize
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn
Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
Easy-to-set-up modularity allows for use in small city lots with minimal yard space
The wood is sourced from Horigan Urban Products, local to Chicago, which works to reduce wood waste by upcycling and milling dead trees scavanged from the area.
Small holes in the garden bed sides allow for insects and microorganisms to access the soil
The base support is made from aluminum, which is 100% recyclable and can be recycled indefinetly without loosing quality or value
A recommendation for future work would be to scale up to a community or neighborhood level. The project could be expanded to look at possibilities for community-wide incentives that would help with accessibility issues. This could look like community programs or incentives that would engage people and encourage them to adopt the bio diverse garden, which might lead to larger impacts and success.
Secondly, the project could also be adapted for a region other than Chicago. Because of the need in landscape architecture to have the project focused to a specific site, this project has been developed with the location of Chicago in mind to account for the climate, hydrology, regional species, social institutions, government program, and geographical location. Further work could be done to make this accessible to other locations and geographic areas.