The Urban Future: Relating Garden City Ideas to the Climate Emergency

Anastasia Nikologianni,Peter J Larkham

doi:10.3390/land11020147

Abstract

Climate emergency, landscape connectivity and rapid urbanization are among the major challenges of the 21st century. This paper discusses ways in which cities can respond to the changing climate and put in place a sustainable vision. It uses the garden city concept as a vehicle to investigate the future of our cities in relation to the climate emergency and the elements that urban centres need to provide. Cities and their wider regions are recognised as key actors in supporting systemic change and climate change governance, and therefore the scope of this paper is to explore contemporary models of garden cities and the ways in which these might be able to address climate emergency as well as the concepts of zero carbon and sustainability. The study uses the 2014 Wolfson Economics Prize, which was based on a garden city question. Taking an environmental perspective on the delivery of future cities, and using the competition essays and masterplans, this study produces analytical drawings aiming to unpack the concepts of sustainability and low carbon. This research concludes that the garden city concept can support the future needs of our settlements, but a 21st century approach needs to be developed. The social and economic ideas originally introduced at the end of the 19th century need to be updated as a holistic vision, including nature and biodiversity, climatic conditions, climate emergency adaptation and mitigation processes as well as community health and wellbeing, to be able to fully respond to the needs of the future.

Highlights

The challenges of this century appear in many shapes and forms, related principally to climate emergency and biodiversity or social and community cohesion, health, wellbeing and economic instability
Using garden city models submitted to the 2014 Wolfson Economics Prize competition, it identifies urban zero and low carbon characteristics as well as design objectives in current practice, and the ways in which these are understood, interpreted and communicated by experts in the landscape design field
It is followed by close examination of three finalists of the Wolfson Economics Prize exploring climate related ideas and the ways in which these have been spatially interpreted in a landscape scheme

Summary

Introduction

The challenges of this century appear in many shapes and forms, related principally to climate emergency and biodiversity or social and community cohesion, health, wellbeing and economic instability. The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) has just come to an end, securing the commitment to a maximum 1.5 ◦C temperature rise [2], COP26 s outcome is insufficient to ameliorate the greater climate emergency challenge [3]. Cities and their wider regions are recognised as key actors in supporting systemic change and climate change governance [4,5] and they need to be at the forefront of sustainable development dealing with real environmental challenges [6] and enhancing aspirations for the future.

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion