Nature-Positive Design and Development: A Case Study on Regenerating Black Cockatoo Habitat in Urban Developments in Perth, Australia

Abstract

The benefits of ecosystem services to cities are well documented; for example, water-sensitive urban design to mitigate stormwater flows and purify run-off, the cooling benefits provided by tree shade, and psychological benefits of urban greening. Cities tend to displace nature, and in urban environments where nature exists it tends to be as highly altered ecosystems. This paper sets out how it is possible to regenerate nature in cities. We outline the principles of how to do this through a study on a new regenerative urban development in Perth, Australia, where urban planning is intended to support the regeneration of a bioregional habitat within the city. The authors, drawn from sustainability, property development and ecological backgrounds, describe how urban regeneration can potentially facilitate the regeneration of endemic habitat within the city. This builds on the original ecosystem functionality to provide an urban ecosystem that enables biodiversity to regenerate. Perth lies on the Swan Coastal Plain, a biodiversity hotspot; it is home to 2.1 million people and numerous endemic species such as the endangered Black Cockatoo. Low reproduction rates and habitat loss through agricultural clearing, fire and urban expansion have greatly reduced the Black Cockatoo’s range and this continuing trend threatens extinction. However, the charismatic Black Cockatoos enjoy passionate support from Perth’s citizens. This paper describes a range of strategies whereby new urban development could potentially harness the popularity of the iconic Black Cockatoo to build momentum for urban habitat regeneration (for the cockatoos and other species) on the Swan Coastal Plain. The strategies, if systematically operationalised through urban planning, could allow city-scale ecological gain. The authors suggest a framework for nature-positive design and development that offers multiple benefits for human and non-human urban dwellers across scales, from individual gardens, to city/regional scale habitat corridors. Collectively, these strategies can increase the capacity of the city to support endemic species, simultaneously enhancing a bioregional “sense of place”, and numerous associated ecosystem services to increase urban resilience in the face of climate change.

Modelling Red–Crowned Parrot (Psittaciformes: Amazona viridigenalis [Cassin, 1853]) distributions in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas using elevation and vegetation indices and their derivatives

“…Cities have often described as "biological deserts" [180]; however, a number of plants and animals (including those of conservation concern) have successfully adapted to the city life. While cities will never support all of the plants and animals that occupied the landscapes wherever cities are found before they were built [155], we might be able to support the development of novel ecosystems in cities that we can appreciate and that can support a number of "desirable" species by approaching the management of urban landscapes from a nature-positive perspective [181]. We found urbanization does not in and of itself equate to Red-crowned Parrot presence in the Texas Rio Grande Valley, but rather it is only those parts of the region's cities that have a diverse array of vegetation (and/or certain defining characteristics) that have a relatively high likelihood of being associated with supporting their presence.…”

Advanced sustainable design and experimental assessment to address climate neutrality in Mediterranean areas

“…It is therefore necessary to redefine the inter-scalar relationship between functioning models and expected impacts, to define the quality of space in terms of functions and well-being, and thus to adopt a regenerative approach with high performances, for which sustainable design is not limited to the reduction of impacts, but produces positive environmental and social performance. In this sense, the concept of "regenerative development", according to which climate-positive development means designing going beyond impacts reduction, to actually repairing the atmosphere through consuming more CO 2 than it produces [8], which first passes through a "restorative" design phase ("environmental design with resources and sustainable design"), is also important. In regenerative terms, levels of "resilience", as the ability of social-ecological systems to adapt to external transformations and pressures, going beyond the concept of sustainability, while continuing to support human quality of life and well-being, also contribute [9].…”