Great post. This frustration with the urban landscape is what inspired me to get out in the country and learn about what really grows in California versus what is planted here for ornamentation. California is kind of making some moves in this area. Mostly because of drought but also because of thoughtfulness about where our precious water goes. There are lots of typical green grass lawns being replaced by native, low water/drought resistant plants in beds of rocks or bark. Unfortunately there are also others being replaced by artificial grass. Yuck.
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yes after living in california for a year i learned much of the dilemmas facing the ecosystem. it's also quite exciting because you can grow so much, especially in southern california. it's a truly unique ecosystem and i would love to live there (except for the water issues, which will likely just keep getting worse). i do know of a booming permaculture community in LA teaching people many of these things which is really exciting. see: http://www.permacultureacademy.com/
and yeah native drought landscaping is a HUGE step up!!! any way humans can shift away from the green grass thing is a 100% shift in my book.
like i said, i'm not against turf, i just don't think everyone needs their individual lawns to prove their impeccability and "keep up with the joneses". there are much more creative, purposeful and healthy ways to tend a landscape. thanks and glad to hear you made a shift with eyes open!
California is actually making big moves to add more nature in the city, in particular in places like San Francisco. It is going to take time for them to really get to where they need to go, but at least there is movement in the right direction.
This post is the essence of my "Urban Plantasy" movement. Beyond the individual approach to growing food and adding more circular systems individually, we need to get the group level. There is absolutely no reason to build the traditional suburban sprawl homes anymore with the knowledge we have today. Biomimicry and Circular Economy can teach us how to build our homes up to "Living Building Challenge" levels with massive long-term savings. Our neighborhoods can become areas of community gardens, rain-water collection, and so many other techniques that are not only great for the environment, they create solidarity on a physical and emotional level. And when it comes to office spaces, there is a whirlwind of amazing designs that create buildings that make you want to go to work!
We are on the brink of a whole new era of urban planning, architecture, design, and social innovation, but to make it happen, we have to dream big and build together!
Love what you bring up here. I'm familiar with the LBC and have been around some of the building that took part in it. Beautiful stuff folks are creating within such strict guideline.
You're right, we have the knowledge, skills and capacity to do A LOT better on the planning side of human existence and design that we currently are. Thanks for your input.
In part, it has been a materials problem. Up until recently, it was much cheaper to build using "standard" materials that didn't really allow the flexibility to create solutions that matched the location and the people. Now that is changing. We have a greater understanding of biology to see that nature builds things in much different ways than we do, and with 3D printing, we are seeing the material that will give us the flexibility to do the right thing without worrying about the price.
All designers, whether they be artists, architects, or engineers, should have a biologist at the table, because nature knows how to build pretty much anything!