Landscape architects and ecologists alike are embracing the opportunities urban areas present for restoring biodiversity. Despite sharing this goal, their efforts are rarely coordinated. For landscape architects, aesthetics and programming are at the forefront of design and must be given substantial attention, while ecologists look to scientific research to guide their decision-making. However, the lack of scientific research aimed at developing best ecological practices for native landscaping—particularly at small urban scales—make this difficult at a time when many residents are converting their lawns to more sustainable landscapes (“lawn conversions”). We survey literature from the fields of design and ecology to synthesize relevant information about small-scale urban landscaping projects and to identify instances in which practitioners from both fields are already “speaking the same language,” only with slightly different vocabulary. To further promote transdisciplinary collaborations, we present a new glossary tool to highlight these parallel concepts across fields. We discuss specific situations in which design priorities can be aligned with ecological function and propose that more attention should be placed on traditional principles of garden design, including perception, complexity and repetition, rhythm and order, proportion and scale, and form and structure. Finally, we argue that each new urban lawn conversion presents an opportunity to test ecological theory at the site-scale, conduct much-needed research on the impacts of design principles on habitat potential, and promote a collaborative urban ecological design aesthetic.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.