Urban Development that Serves the Aggregate Urban Nature and Public
Joshua Campbell Larch 362 Final Project Summary
The urban environment is a collection of different people cultures, plants and environments. This collection of different elements makes up the “Urban Aggregate”. My project looked at the development of Downtown Bellevue and how that development has addressed the Aggregate of social and ecological needs that exist in that area. I found that while many of the areas are very attractive and clean as well as having abstracted elements of nature, the designers turned their backs on the needs of the ecology and people who use and live in the area. The spaces appear natural and friendly to people, but when one looks at the ecological processes that occur in the area, as well as the social interaction in the spaces and streets of the newly redeveloped areas one would find spaces that do not serve the public and disregard the natural processes that should be happening on the site. There is, however, Bellevue’s Downtown Park, which is starkly different in the way that the public and nature are treated. In the park, spaces are designed for a variety of uses and have plants and spaces where nature can be natural, as well as places where nature interacts with the more urban areas of the park. The park was designed and built before the newly developed area around Lincoln Square, and Lincoln Square could have taken the lead from some of the case studies in the local area, like SEA Streets, and the Streets of Portland. Though the design doesn’t respect the urban aggregate the area could be improved upon by implementing some of the new natural technology for dealing with city infrastructure this would vastly improve the ecological function of the area, as well as have a positive effect on the social effectiveness of the area.
Location of the Bellevue Square/Lincoln Square section of Bellevue Way and Bellevue Downtown Park:
No comments:
Post a Comment