Reports from the Field: Urban Planning and Design, Rural Landscape, Landscape-Land Use Planning, Water Conservation, Reclamation and Restoration, and Context-Sensitive Solutions in Transportation PPNs
This is the final article in our series highlighting the work PPN members are doing in their practice specialty.

In this last report, we focus on several PPNs whose members’ work often involves planning and design for a variety of public projects. The Urban Planning and Design PPN advocates for excellence in landscape design, construction, and maintenance in urban areas, while the Rural Landscape PPN focuses on issues related to the preservation, conservation, and development of the rural landscape. The Landscape–Land Use Planning PPN aims to balance social and environmental responsibility by reconciling the public’s land use needs with preservation of natural systems. The critical role of landscape architecture in water-resource planning, design, and watershed management is addressed by the Water Conservation PPN. Members of the Restoration and Reclamation PPN are concerned with processes for assisting the recovery of ecosystems that have been degraded, damaged, or destroyed. The Context Sensitive Solutions in Transportation PPN supports a multidisciplinary, participatory approach to transportation projects, while bringing the special expertise of landscape architects to the planning and design of these projects.
 
Urban Planning and Design PPN
Andrew C. Theokas, Associate ASLA, says that his interest is in the public realm. To this end he extensively researched a methodology of urban design that is unique to Europe: the garden festival. Garden festivals typically are built in blighted areas, last for about six months, and usually result in some sort of permanent transformation of the site, such as the development of a park or affordable housing. Liverpool University Press published Theokas’ 2005 book Grounds for Review: The Garden Festival in Urban Planning and Design.

Nawfal Wathiq Al-Khudhairy, International ASLA, of Omrania & Associates, designs landscapes for interiors, exteriors, private gardens, major infrastructure works, and public and business parks. He specializes in international work in Europe and the Middle East. One of the projects he worked on, Salam Park in the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was completed at the end of 2003. The award-winning park forms part of a greenbelt of development throughout the city. Another recent project is the Al-Warsan Lake in Dubai. The lake is in an area well known to both local and foreign bird-watchers. The surrounding area is being developed as part of the International City Project, and includes residential and commercial development that will cover an area of 650 hectares and house 80,000 people.

Samuel F. Dennis Jr., ASLA, of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, is interested in urban open spaces “broadly defined.” One of his interests is exploring the relationship between public space and power, particularly as it relates to young people. Another has to do with the child in the city given the "new" sociology of childhood. His article, “Claiming Open Space: Youth Identity and the Challenge of Meaningful Participation,” was presented at the Open Space Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, and published in Proceedings (2004) of Open Space: People Space—An International Conference on Inclusive Outdoor Environments.

James Hencke, ASLA, LEED AP, of PB PlaceMaking in Portland, Oregon, works nationally on transit oriented developments (TOD), town centers, corridor plans, sustainable community development, and provides charrette facilitation. He is a contributor to the new EPA publication "Using Smart Growth Techniques as Stormwater Best Management Practices" (2006), and recently provided urban design services for the West Hyattsville TOD (AASHTO Smart Growth Award) and Baltimore State Center TOD Strategies in Maryland. The State Center project envisions redevelopment of 110 acres of land in the heart of Baltimore’s historic midtown to create a vibrant cultural, residential, and employment center served by the existing light rail and Metro systems. Mr. Hencke recently delivered a presentation about State Center at the 2005 Rail~Volution Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Rural Landscape PPN
Richard K. Sutton, ASLA, is a faculty member at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln landscape architecture program. Sutton says, “The rural landscape is under tremendous pressure from intensive agriculture for biofuels and urbanization. I am interested in the visual and design qualities of rural landscapes and those qualities’ interaction with landscape ecological structure and function.”

Michael P. Stineman of Shoemaker & Haaland is involved with the design of rural county parks and areas used for environmental education. He is also working on the development of his 70-acre farmstead. Projects include native grasses and forb meadows, streambank stabilization, timber management, and wildlife habitat.

Landscape–Land Use Planning PPN
John A. Nelson, FASLA, of the Mitchell Nelson Group LLC, works with small rural communities and Indian tribes in revitalization planning and design, and in preparing land-use strategies. In 2005 the firm completed several projects that appeared in local media and regional business publications. One project, a complicated and costly 10-year master plan for a small tribal town in central Oregon, will begin with the development of a community marketplace, where space will be made available to local businesses and artisans. The first phase of the project is intended to involve minimal costs, with tangible results.

Christina Martens, ASLA, is employed by Atwell-Hicks Inc. She works with private developers, doing land planning for a wide range of projects. Says Martens of her work, “Land use planning is a daily occurrence, along with the occasional urban planning and design project. Sustainable design is something that I would like to learn more about.” A recent project is Fairlane Green in Allen Park, Michigan. The site is a closed clay landfill that was developed into a commercial center, with big box stores, outlets, and a strip mall. The site includes a park, walking trails, and bioswales, and is seeking LEED certification.

Water Conservation
Michael J. Astram, Affiliate ASLA, works for the irrigation consulting and design firm Northern Designs LLC. He is involved in commercial, residential, and golf course projects. Astram points out that the LEED movement has really pushed the use of stormwater and gray water for irrigation. He is involved with a few green roof projects in New York City using gray water and with several parks using stormwater for irrigation.

Bruce K. Ferguson, FASLA, is the author of the book Porous Pavements, published in 2005 by CRC Press. The 577-page work involved eight years of research.

Reclamation and Restoration
The firm of Colin A. MacLachlan, ASLA, Bray Hill LLC, is active in ecological restoration, bioengineering, and natural system assessment. Recent successes include several "soft" shoreline stabilization projects using stone and coir fiber logs to create offshore sills and planting behind for toe stabilization. Costs and disturbance of shoreline stabilization were kept to a minimum by relying on natural deposition of sediment and seed in a tidal environment.

Alissa Salmore, Student ASLA, at Utah State University, is a research ecologist acquiring an a master’s degree in landscape architecture in order to pursue a career in restoration, land conservation, and sustainable design. She has written peer-reviewed scientific publications in plant and soil ecology as well as environmental microbiology. Current projects include a native species revegetation plan for a sagebrush interpretive trail and a proposal for a constructed mudflat wetland. Says Salmore, “It’s exciting that the government agencies that I've worked with so far have been very supportive of projects that use native plants and enhance ecological habitat connectivity.”

Kevin Eddy, ASLA, of WestLand Resources Inc. works on habitat restoration projects that are often done by mining companies as mitigation to compensate for new or expanded pits. Usually the mitigation restores riparian habitat.

Context-Sensitive Solutions in Transportation
Douglas R. Decker, ASLA, of Claire Bennett Associates is involved with several streetscape and context-sensitive projects. One such project is on Historic National Road (U.S. 40) in Indiana. Decker also anticipates initiating a project on the Ohio River Bridge on Interstate 65 in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

Jeff Caster, ASLA is the State Transportation Landscape Architect for the Florida Department of Transportation. His responsibilities range from developing environmental legislation, policies, design standards and standard specifications, to conducting research and training. Caster helped author a chapter on Context Sensitive Solutions in the Florida DOT’s Project Management Handbook. He is excited to see that the emphasis of the DOT’s beautification program is shifting away from "decoration" and towards "conservation," and looks forward to seeing a commitment to promote beauty integrated into all department processes and programs.

ASLA thanks all of the members of the PPNs who shared reports of their exciting work and achievements. We know that many more of you have exciting news to share, so we encourage all PPN members to be prepared to respond when the Second Annual Survey goes out in February 2007. In the meantime, turn to your PPN Listserv and newsletter to exchange information, swap stories, and share achievements with your PPN colleagues.

For more information on ASLA's PPNs, please contact Jennifer Strassfeld, ASLA's professional practice manager, or visit the PPN website.