CAPTURING CORNERS NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION THROUGH ECOLOGICAL DEMOCRACY

Andrew Clarke Brett Shoffner

University of Missouri-Kansas City

WHAT IS CAPTURING CORNERS?

Corners are gateways to neighborhoods
First thing people see when entering; last thing seen when leaving.

Anchor for:
Community Connectedness Perceptual Inclusiveness Green Infrastructure Sense of Place Economic Vitality

The Greatest Urban Spaces are Street Corners. William H. Whyte

ECOLOGICAL DEMOCRACY
Ecological Democracy (Hester, 2006)
Government by people emphasizing direct, hands-on involvement. Actions guided by understanding natural processes and social

relationships within locality and larger environmental context.

Causes us to creatively reassess individual needs, happiness, and

long-term community good

Changes the form cities take which creates a new urban ecology

Urban design builds ecological democracy

or destroys it

ECOLOGICAL DEMOCRACY
Residents form must be
Enabled
Get to know neighbors Get to know land Get to know self

Tenants of Ecological Democracy

Centeredness Connectedness Sacredness Particularness Selective Diversity Limited Extent Adaptability Naturalness Reciprocal Stewardship

Resilient
Diverse Adaptable Interconnectedness of urban ecosystems

Impelled
Make a city to touch peoples hearts

HOW CAPTURING CORNERS WORKS

Neighborhood Revitalization through

Community Sustainability
Five Es (Randolph, 2004)
Equity Socially just Economy Resourcefully profitable Environment Ecologically responsible Engagement Committedly accessible Eternity- Adaptably sacred

HOW CAPTURING CORNERS WORKS

People are attracted by other people! (Whyte, 1988) Corners are natural crossroads
Bulk of conversations occur within pedestrian flow (Gehl,1987)

Good places need pedestrian connections Corners must be designed to capture people.

HOW CAPTURING CORNERS WORKS

Integrating Sustainability into Urban Design Community Connectedness
Equity Socially just

Perceptual Inclusiveness
Engagement Committedly accessible

Green Infrastructure
Environment Ecologically responsible

Economic Vitality
Economy Resourcefully profitable

Sense of Place
Eternity- Adaptably sacred

CAPTURING CORNERS SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

Community Connectedness
Sense of Place Social Equity
People are treated fairly regardless of cultural background

Environmental Justice
People are not unjustly subject to health hazards

CAPTURING CORNERS SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

Symbolic Ownership Perceptual Inclusion Identity, Structure, & Meaning (Lynch, 1960) Symbolically meaningful and keenly felt relationships with our environment resonate through all cultures (Tuan, 1974) People are equally concerned with the social, land use, and physical design aspects of streets (Mehta, 2007) Identity vs. Image (Montgomery, 1998)

CAPTURING CORNERS ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Green Infrastructure Ecologically Responsible
Vegetative Swales Rain Gardens Rain Barrels Trees Green Roofs Pervious Pavements Open Green Spaces Urban Agriculture
The City must be recognized as part of nature and designed accordingly. Anne Whiston Spirn

GI is two components
-Hubs -Linkages (Benedict and McMahon, 2006)
Capturing Corners can act as both.

CAPTURING CORNERS ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY

Economic Vitality Property Tax Value Increases Housing and Commercial City/State Tax revenue Cultural Context Easy/Low Cost to maintain native Green Infrastructure

CAPTURING CORNERS COMMUNITY SUSTAINABILITY

Sense of Place Face to face relationships have a geographical basis and are foundation for neighborhood definition (Cooley, 1909) (Park, 1952)
Residents form must be enabled, resilient, and impelled.

PEOPLE DEFINE PLACE!

CAPTURING CORNERS DESIGN

Corners must be designed for everyone Intentionality (Husserl, 1913) (Pepper, Perkins, & Youngs 1984) (Relph, 1976) Provide Identity (Von Meiss, 1990)
Responsive to users needs/values, community participation in

design process, adaptable environments

Accessible
Walkable, Bike Friendly, Mass Transit Corridors

Natural beauty using landscape aesthetics

Gateways for Neighborhoods Reflection on City as whole

CAPTURING CORNERS - INTEGRATION

Social, Environmental, & Economic Sustainability Ecologically Democratic Accessible, Adaptable, & Aesthetic Equitable, Engaged, & Enabled People are attracted to place, in turn attracting

Professional Cooperation
Urban Administrators Urban Planners Architects Civil Engineers Community Organizers Landscape Architects Social Psychologists Educators Elected Officials

other people, creating sustainable communities.

REFERENCES

Benedict, Mark A., and Edward McMahon. 2006. Green Infrastructure: Linking Landscapes and Communities. Washington, DC: Island. Cooley, CH. 1909. Social Organization: A Study of the Larger Mind. New York: Charles Scribners Sons. Gehl, Jan. 1987. Life between Buildings: Using Public Space. New York:Van Nostrand Reinhold. Hester, Randolph T. 2006. Design for Ecological Democracy. Cambridge, MA: MIT. Husserl, Edmund.1913. Ideen Zu Einer Reinen Phnomenologie Und Phnomenologischen Philosophie: Erstes Buch, Allgemeine Einfhrung in Die Reine Phnomenologie. trans. Kersten, F., 1982. The Hague: Nijhoff. Lynch, Kevin. 1960. The Image of the City. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mehta,Vikas. 2007. Lively Streets: Determining Environmental Characteristics to Support Social Behavior. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 27 (2), 165-187. Montgomery, J. 1998. Making a City: Urbanity,Vitality and Urban Design.Journal ofUrban Design 3 (1), pp 93-116. Park, RE. 1952. Human Communities:The City and Human Ecology. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press. Pepper, David, John Perkins, and Martyn J.Youngs. 1984. The Roots of Modern Environmentalism. London: Croom Helm. Randolph, John. 2004. Environmental Land Use Planning and Management. Washington: Island. Relph, E. C. 1976. Place and Placelessness. London: Pion. Spirn, Anne Whiston. 1984. The Granite Garden: Urban Nature and Human Design. New York: Basic. Tuan,Yi-fu. 1974. Topophilia: A Study of Environmental Perception, Attitudes, and Values. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Von Meiss, Pierre. 1990. Elements of Architecture: From Form to Place. London:Van Nostrand Reinhold. Whyte, William H. 1988. City: Rediscovering the Center. New York: Anchor.