88
7.1 Introduction
Glaciation, lava flow, reef, mountain range, rainforest, mallee, desert,
river and lake, mangrove swamp. Coastal wallum, wildlife habitat, ancient cremation site, rock engraving,
mimi figure, wandjina, quinkan, dreaming track, scarred tree, fish trap, landing point, contact site, primitive cottage, barrack. Penal settlement, church, custom house, bank building, poppet head, miner’s hovel, gold town,
homestead, woolshed, shepherd’s hut, log gaol, silo, machine shop, bottle kiln, pub. Parliament, opera house,
government domain, housing estate, company town, civic centre, public square, parkway, regional park, redevelopment project, new town (Yenken, 1981, cited in Freestone, 2010, p. 2).
As an introduction in Urban Nation: Australia’s Planning Heritage (2010), Freestone used
Yenken’s list of generic landscapes from the remnants of ancient glaciers to the Sydney Opera House
as demonstrations of the rich history of Australia (Freestone, 2010; Yenken, 1981). In the context of
generative processes of design and planning, this list reflects the inherent patterns that we need to
acknowledge in design and planning methods for creating our settlements and cities. It encompasses
the spectrum of Aboriginal natural and cultural places, values and phenomena that collectively help
define the distinctive character of places in Australia (Freestone, 2010). Planning and design have had
a considerable impact upon the structure and evolution of settlements and urban cities worldwide and
in Australia. Much of Australia has been planned by way of survey, plan and subdivision. Planning has
had a complex evolution; the term means different things to different people, and this meaning has
changed in history (Freestone, 2010). Planning has evolved over time, from around the third millennium BC by Egyptian civilizations to recent modern urban planning movements. The ideology of
planning in the 1800s to late 1900s evolved from a focus on social and political control (Gridiron
town), to town and country planning (Garden city), to energy efficiency, land economy and networked
cities (Compact city, Polycentric city), into the 2000s where the importance of liveable, walkable
communities, as well as affordability, compactness, and solar access (New Urbanism, Ecologically
sustainable development, Master planned community) have become key themes. Although there was
some focus in the 1970s on environment-led design methods (Ecological planning), it seems that the
need for looking after our natural environment was replaced by the urgent need to enable the rapid
expansion of twentieth century cities due to unprecedented population growth. Planning movements
focused on urban renewal and tried to grasp issues brought about by increasing populations due to city
migration and internal growth.
In the narrative of this book, the concept of ‘planning’ is regarded as one of the ingredients in a
collective approach to the practice of design and planning of the built environment and its interconnectedness with nature at the intersection of the disciplines of architecture, urban design and landscape architecture. Further, the concept of a ‘sustainable human settlement’ and how it functions (that
is, a human settlement that will be sustainable and resilient alongside its natural environment, where
the settlement does not deplete the natural resources) can be abstract (Fig. 7.1).
Arguments have been put forward that small European towns in the Middle Ages and prehistoric
hamlets that evolved through vernacular growth were ‘sustainable’ (Ruano, 2002). These ancient
settlements, however, were based on a natural resource use paradigm; they extracted resources from
the environment and dumped waste back into it. They were considered ‘sustainable’ as their disruption to the natural environment was minor. The fact that they were small and did not over-consume
their natural resources does not necessarily make them sustainable. The habit of consuming natural
resources by these settlements escalated as they evolved into today’s urban civilizations, with very
little regard for the protection of the environment. Large cities (due to rapid urbanisation), the concentration of large urban populations, and the sprawl of cities into wider geographical areas have resulted
in the rapid growth of mega-cities and the most significant transformations of Earth’s human settlements. With the addition of issues of climate change, as designers and planners we face a challenge to
plan for more sustainable, adaptable human settlements in the future.
7 Design and Planning with Nature
7.1 Introduction
Glaciation, lava flow, reef, mountain range, rainforest, mallee, desert,
river and lake, mangrove swamp. Coastal wallum, wildlife habitat, ancient cremation site, rock engraving,
mimi figure, wandjina, quinkan, dreaming track, scarred tree, fish trap, landing point, contact site, primitive cottage, barrack. Penal settlement, church, custom house, bank building, poppet head, miner’s hovel, gold town,
homestead, woolshed, shepherd’s hut, log gaol, silo, machine shop, bottle kiln, pub. Parliament, opera house,
government domain, housing estate, company town, civic centre, public square, parkway, regional park, redevelopment project, new town (Yenken, 1981, cited in Freestone, 2010, p. 2).
As an introduction in Urban Nation: Australia’s Planning Heritage (2010), Freestone used
Yenken’s list of generic landscapes from the remnants of ancient glaciers to the Sydney Opera House
as demonstrations of the rich history of Australia (Freestone, 2010; Yenken, 1981). In the context of
generative processes of design and planning, this list reflects the inherent patterns that we need to
acknowledge in design and planning methods for creating our settlements and cities. It encompasses
the spectrum of Aboriginal natural and cultural places, values and phenomena that collectively help
define the distinctive character of places in Australia (Freestone, 2010). Planning and design have had
a considerable impact upon the structure and evolution of settlements and urban cities worldwide and
in Australia. Much of Australia has been planned by way of survey, plan and subdivision. Planning has
had a complex evolution; the term means different things to different people, and this meaning has
changed in history (Freestone, 2010). Planning has evolved over time, from around the third millennium BC by Egyptian civilizations to recent modern urban planning movements. The ideology of
planning in the 1800s to late 1900s evolved from a focus on social and political control (Gridiron
town), to town and country planning (Garden city), to energy efficiency, land economy and networked
cities (Compact city, Polycentric city), into the 2000s where the importance of liveable, walkable
communities, as well as affordability, compactness, and solar access (New Urbanism, Ecologically
sustainable development, Master planned community) have become key themes. Although there was
some focus in the 1970s on environment-led design methods (Ecological planning), it seems that the
need for looking after our natural environment was replaced by the urgent need to enable the rapid
expansion of twentieth century cities due to unprecedented population growth. Planning movements
focused on urban renewal and tried to grasp issues brought about by increasing populations due to city
migration and internal growth.
In the narrative of this book, the concept of ‘planning’ is regarded as one of the ingredients in a
collective approach to the practice of design and planning of the built environment and its interconnectedness with nature at the intersection of the disciplines of architecture, urban design and landscape architecture. Further, the concept of a ‘sustainable human settlement’ and how it functions (that
is, a human settlement that will be sustainable and resilient alongside its natural environment, where
the settlement does not deplete the natural resources) can be abstract (Fig. 7.1).
Arguments have been put forward that small European towns in the Middle Ages and prehistoric
hamlets that evolved through vernacular growth were ‘sustainable’ (Ruano, 2002). These ancient
settlements, however, were based on a natural resource use paradigm; they extracted resources from
the environment and dumped waste back into it. They were considered ‘sustainable’ as their disruption to the natural environment was minor. The fact that they were small and did not over-consume
their natural resources does not necessarily make them sustainable. The habit of consuming natural
resources by these settlements escalated as they evolved into today’s urban civilizations, with very
little regard for the protection of the environment. Large cities (due to rapid urbanisation), the concentration of large urban populations, and the sprawl of cities into wider geographical areas have resulted
in the rapid growth of mega-cities and the most significant transformations of Earth’s human settlements. With the addition of issues of climate change, as designers and planners we face a challenge to
plan for more sustainable, adaptable human settlements in the future.
7 Design and Planning with Nature