by Brad Buschur The City of Lawrence, MA, has three very distinct rivers flowing through its boundaries. The wide Merrimack River flows through the heart of Lawrence’s Mill districts. The Shawsheen River flows northward through a small river floodplain forest. The Spicket River has been engineered to flow through residential neighborhoods, and the process of…
Urban Landscaping
Greening the Greenway
by Stu Shilaber The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway is Boston’s only organically maintained public park and one of a handful of organically maintained urban parks in the United States. The Greenway was built atop the main north/south tunnel of the Central Artery by the State of Massachusetts, which replaced a 1950s era elevated highway in…
Site Considerations When Reclaiming Previously Developed Land
by Anja Ryan Throughout New England’s cities and towns there are many uncovered opportunities to reclaim previously developed land. Forgotten over the years, old railroad beds, burned-out mill foundations, and vacant lots have become overgrown with successive vegetation, been vandalized, and used as dumping grounds. Sometimes structures remain, beckoning us from a not so distant…
Planning for Resilient and Sustainable Communities
by Jack Ahern An original method for planning resilient and sustainable cities is presented here. The method builds on established planning methods and models. The method has five themes: (1) goal-oriented and exosystem-services-based, (2) strategic, (3) scenario-driven, (4) transdisciplinary, and (5) adaptive. Each of these five themes is discussed in the following sections.
Incorporating Vegetables into the Urban Landscape
by Jessie Banhazl Incorporating vegetables into the urban landscape is not as difficult as it may seem. As with ornamental and perennial plants, placement, light, and spacing between plants are critical to the success of a vegetable garden. What is great about working in urban spaces is that you can take an untraditional approach to…
Establishing Resilient Urban Landscapes Using Native Plants
by Claudia West Imagine yourself strolling along a typical metropolitan street. What vegetative characteristics might you experience? Are window boxes and containers bursting with seasonal color? Do low growing sedges tickle your ankles as you walk past a lushly planted tree pit? Are you enticed to run your fingertips through the Panicum seed heads as…
Quantifying Sustainability: Santa Monica’s “Garden/Garden” Project
by Owen Dell Amid a sea of talk about the benefits of sustainable landscaping, there is precious little information to prove that it actually makes sense, environmentally or economically. Landscape professionals have long operated on a hunch that sustainable landscapes save water, reduce labor, minimize fossil fuel use, and offer other benefits over conventional turf-and-flowerbed…
Can Cities Rise to the Challenge?
by Jennifer Chesworth Urban landscapes are going green to fill an important role in food production, habitat provision, and conservation of wildlife. Can the built environment, with its vast impervious surface areas, treacherous roadways, and neighborhood “nuisance” ordinances adapt to create a truly green future? The answer to that question is a conditional yes; It…
The Mandarin Project – Green Roof Garden on a Parking Garage
By Tobias Wolf Boston’s Prudential Center has been transformed in recent decades with the construction of new buildings, shopping arcades, and landscapes.
