Bridging the Form and Function Gap in Urban Green Space Design through Environmental Systems Modeling

Abstract

Using a case study approach from past projects in Singapore, Australia, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, we examine the benefits, but also some of the challenges, to implementing green space in urban design. Green space can have multiple physical and psychological wellbeing benefits, as well as environmental benefits, including urban runoff quantity and quality management, urban heat island abatement, air quality improvement, and noise reduction. Water sensitive urban design (WSUD) can be an important element of green space design and here we explore how modeling of ecosystem services and dynamic modeling of WSUD can help to facilitate sound planning and management decision making in support of green space implementation. As we illustrate with examples for Australia, Singapore and Cambodia, we believe that application of an urban ecosystem services modeling approach can elucidate environmental benefits of urban green space that otherwise may not be considered. Engineers may include dynamic modeling of WSUD in support of an urban master plan, or urban redevelopment, but generally urban planners are less conversant in applying models. We discuss some of the challenges to integrating multidisciplinary visioning and modeling of green space design and performance evaluation through our experience with a stormwater and wastewater design study for Cha Am, Thailand, that included landscape architecture and engineering classes at Thammasat University, Mahidol University, and AIT. Through a case study of Phnom Penh, we illustrate how modeling and 3D visualization can be used to effectively explore the benefits of green space. We conclude that a user-friendly decision support system is needed to integrate modeling and visualization tools and thereby bridge the gap between form and function in urban green space design.

Ageing Design of Urban Park Landscape Based on Computer Virtual Simulation Technology

“…Examples from Phnom Penh illustrate how 3D visualisation and modelling might help people better comprehend the benefits of green space. For urban green space design to be successful, we believe that a decision support system that is easy to use is essential [ 8 ].…”

Smart City Thailand: Visioning and Design to Enhance Sustainability, Resiliency, and Community Wellbeing

“…The majority of respondents had experienced both fluvial and pluvial flooding, and it appears that while flood assistance was available in different forms, individuals generally absorbed a large proportion of the flood damage. Green space and WSUD could be an effective pluvial flood management measure, while at the same time providing a more livable urban environment [81][82][83][84][85][86]. As such, increased green space and WSUD features underpinned many of the designs for this project.…”

“…Certainly, there was an important emphasis on connectivity and the flow of people, water, and environmental systems to enhance livability. The performance, cost, and benefits of the designs must be further evaluated through conceptual, deterministic modeling (e.g., hydrologic/hydraulic/water quality modeling) and ecosystem service valuations of both individual features and the system as a whole [84,86,135] to optimize design. The models can be calibrated through expanded IoT data collection, consistent with technology and governance aspects of a Smart City.…”

“…A greater amount of connected green space should be designed and constructed as part of the Smart Environment pillar. Not only would this space improve community wellbeing, connectivity, and public health, it would serve to increase community resiliency to flooding, improve water quality, and mitigate air quality, noise, and the urban heat island [86], which are issues of community concern that were generally noted through the surveys. It is important that the performance of the green space is assessed so that the superblock can serve as an incubator or prototype of sorts for the effective implementation of the Smart Environment ideals throughout Thailand.…”

Assessing the health benefits and burdens of urban greenspace

“…This explorative strategic scenario study (sensuBörjeson et al, 2006), aims to answer 'what-if' questions regarding UGS design for a concrete, specific case (the city of Maastricht, the Netherlands), but also to generate broader insights concerning effective urban greening strategies with respect to health. With its integrated approach, the study fills a gap left by recent scenario studies on UGS design (i.a Irvine et al, 2021;Kadaverugu et al, 2021;Kim & Kwon, 2021;Lauf et al, 2016;Zhang et al, 2019),. which focussed on specific benefits of UGS, such as reducing heat stress(Kadaverugu et al, 2021;Koopmans et al, 2018), promoting active transport(Rayaprolu et al, 2020), or facilitating management of urban flooding(Koopmans et al, 2018;Liu et al, 2020; Majumdar et al, 2020;Mikovits et al, 2018;Miranda et al, 2016;Rayaprolu et al, 2020).…”