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nectedness is to understand the mutuality of the relationship of human and nature, and the understanding of generating patterns.
10.3.3 Patterns
To be able to assess a place, and to find meaningful and shared phenomena of the place (in essence
understanding and connecting the generating patterns), the first task is to determine the reach of the
place in terms of levels of scale. The levels of scale are formed naturally from the way the whole system brings itself together. In simple terms, the question is: How big is here (the place)? It is not always
immediately apparent and visible; Mang and Reed quote Kelly about how to define a place, and the
latter notes the following in the identification of patterns and place (in Mang & Reed, 2012, p. 32):
Wherever you live, your tiny spot is deeply inter twined within a larger place, embedded fractal like into a whole
system called a watershed, which is itself integrated with other watersheds into a tightly interdependent biome.
At the ultimate level, your home is a cell in an organism called a planet. All these levels interconnect. (Kelly,
2005, in Mang & Reed, p. 32)
Seeing the complexity that surrounds a place can be overwhelming and complex if there is no way
to understand place in its individual and collective connections. Emerging core patterns of a place can
be identified through the order and structure of the whole (Alexander, 2001–2005b; Mehaffy, 2009).
Alexander refers to these core patterns that pull everything together as strong centres. An essential
step in regeneration is thus being able to identify the strong centres of a given place. Key to comprehending place as a living system or whole is to understand the ongoing and distinctive strong centres
and interconnected patterns in which it organises the complex array of relationships that produce its
activities, its growth and its evolution.
These strong centres and interconnected patterns form the framework for the story of place. Just as
traditional storytelling provides the traditional knowledge of the nature of a place, the emergence of a
story of place begins with an assessment of it based on a whole systems approach. This story of a place
includes identifying and understanding the heritage, cultural, economic, geographic, demographic,
climatic and ecological characteristics as part of – THE WHOLE [1].
The narrative structure for the story of place emerges by developing a pattern language to understand how geological, geographical, natural, and human history and culture have interwoven through
time to create the unique character of a place (Mang & Reed, 2012). Out of that understanding a set
of strong centres and organising patterns emerges that provides a science-based narrative through a
generative process, named by Alexander, Neis, Anninau, & King (1987) and Alexander (2004, 2001–
2005a, 2005b, 2005c, 2005d) as the ‘generative code’. Pattern literacy is key to this process, as
described in Chap. 9. This allows for understanding the complex, dynamic relationships that constitute a place. The resulting narrative of the generative code has two dimensions: first the strong centre
creating patterns that depict the working of a place, which reflect its unique character; and second, the
vocation of the place, which has the unique potential to contribute to the larger ecological system
which it is part of, interconnecting and evolving with.
10.3.4 The Generative Code and Regenerative Design
Regeneration in its pure form is
…the process of renewal, restoration, and growth that makes genomes, cells, organisms, and ecosystems resilient
to natural fluctuations or events that cause disturbance or damage. Every species is capable of regeneration, from
bacteria to humans (Carlson, 2007, p. 400).
10.3 Regenerative Design Fundamentals
nectedness is to understand the mutuality of the relationship of human and nature, and the understanding of generating patterns.
10.3.3 Patterns
To be able to assess a place, and to find meaningful and shared phenomena of the place (in essence
understanding and connecting the generating patterns), the first task is to determine the reach of the
place in terms of levels of scale. The levels of scale are formed naturally from the way the whole system brings itself together. In simple terms, the question is: How big is here (the place)? It is not always
immediately apparent and visible; Mang and Reed quote Kelly about how to define a place, and the
latter notes the following in the identification of patterns and place (in Mang & Reed, 2012, p. 32):
Wherever you live, your tiny spot is deeply inter twined within a larger place, embedded fractal like into a whole
system called a watershed, which is itself integrated with other watersheds into a tightly interdependent biome.
At the ultimate level, your home is a cell in an organism called a planet. All these levels interconnect. (Kelly,
2005, in Mang & Reed, p. 32)
Seeing the complexity that surrounds a place can be overwhelming and complex if there is no way
to understand place in its individual and collective connections. Emerging core patterns of a place can
be identified through the order and structure of the whole (Alexander, 2001–2005b; Mehaffy, 2009).
Alexander refers to these core patterns that pull everything together as strong centres. An essential
step in regeneration is thus being able to identify the strong centres of a given place. Key to comprehending place as a living system or whole is to understand the ongoing and distinctive strong centres
and interconnected patterns in which it organises the complex array of relationships that produce its
activities, its growth and its evolution.
These strong centres and interconnected patterns form the framework for the story of place. Just as
traditional storytelling provides the traditional knowledge of the nature of a place, the emergence of a
story of place begins with an assessment of it based on a whole systems approach. This story of a place
includes identifying and understanding the heritage, cultural, economic, geographic, demographic,
climatic and ecological characteristics as part of – THE WHOLE [1].
The narrative structure for the story of place emerges by developing a pattern language to understand how geological, geographical, natural, and human history and culture have interwoven through
time to create the unique character of a place (Mang & Reed, 2012). Out of that understanding a set
of strong centres and organising patterns emerges that provides a science-based narrative through a
generative process, named by Alexander, Neis, Anninau, & King (1987) and Alexander (2004, 2001–
2005a, 2005b, 2005c, 2005d) as the ‘generative code’. Pattern literacy is key to this process, as
described in Chap. 9. This allows for understanding the complex, dynamic relationships that constitute a place. The resulting narrative of the generative code has two dimensions: first the strong centre
creating patterns that depict the working of a place, which reflect its unique character; and second, the
vocation of the place, which has the unique potential to contribute to the larger ecological system
which it is part of, interconnecting and evolving with.
10.3.4 The Generative Code and Regenerative Design
Regeneration in its pure form is
…the process of renewal, restoration, and growth that makes genomes, cells, organisms, and ecosystems resilient
to natural fluctuations or events that cause disturbance or damage. Every species is capable of regeneration, from
bacteria to humans (Carlson, 2007, p. 400).
10.3 Regenerative Design Fundamentals