1.2. Blue Green Network

Aus Pattern Language Wiki

Settlements that follow the pattern of a Polycentric Region will also adapt to the terrain of the land, its watershed and vegetation patterns.


01 2 01 Blue Green Network
01 2 01 Blue Green Network


Problem-statement: A region that does not adapt its form to its watershed patterns cannot be sustainable.


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Discussion: Every settlement area, no matter how arid, has a hydrology at some scale. In recent decades, it has been common to pipe over the natural system of hydrology, but this is doubly destructive. First, it fails to allow the natural systems to function as they can to clean the water, recharge the groundwater, and support vegetation with natural irrigation. Second, it deprives the human community of an important quality of life asset, and sense of connection to their own regional ecosystems.


In order to work with a region’s hydrology, it is vital to recognize its network connectivity through mapping, and then to lay out settlement patterns such as streets and infrastructure in response to its “blue-green network” — that is, its network of creeks, watersheds and vegetation corridors. These usually offer segments that can become important blue-green corridors for walking, cycling, recreation and vehicular transportation (with proper mitigation of danger, noise, emissions and other impacts) — see Urban Greenway.


In the 20th century, we failed to understand the importance of these blue-green networks, and their potential role as a “cooperating network” with human movement networks. We failed also to understand the importance of blue-green networks in providing “ecosystem services,” notably the improvement of water quality.² Rather than negotiate a co-existence between these two systems, we allowed human movement systems like streets to dominate and even replace blue-green networks with pipes and concrete ditches. Now we are paying the price for this short-sightedness. We have begun to change our policies and practices to create nested, interacting urban networks incorporating blue-green networks within them.


At the same time we must recognize that, while the blue-green network of an urbanized area must be ecologically functional with regard to its ecosystem services and its role in urban wildlife habitats, the primary function of urban regions is to be urban — that is, to establish a pattern that is sufficiently compact to avoid sprawl and to protect surrounding ecologies. As the British Town Planner Thomas Sharp put it, “the true way to save the countryside is to build true sheerly urban towns.”


02 02 Blue Green Network.jpg


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Therefore:

Lay out the settlement with the pattern of blue (water courses) and green (vegetation corridors and watersheds) networks.



02 03 Blue Green Network.jpg


Identify key corridors of the Blue Green Network as potential locations for an Urban Greenway or Multi-Way Boulevard





¹ See for example De Vleeschauwer, K., Weustenraad, J., Nolf, C., Wolfs, V., De Meulder, B., Shannon, K., & Willems, P. (2014). Green–blue water in the city: Quantification of impact of source control versus end-of-pipe solutions on sewer and river floods. Water Science and Technology, 70(11), 1825-1837.


² This pattern is closely related to Goal 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals on safe water and sanitation (adopted by all members of the UN General Assembly in 2015). There are a number of resources that can be consulted for additional information. See for example the World Bank report on water quality and the role of cities, Quality Unknown, available free for download at https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/32245/9781464814594.pdf?sequence=8&isAllowed=y. As the report concludes, “The world faces an invisible crisis of water quality. Its impacts are wider, deeper, and more uncertain than previously thought and require urgent attention. While much attention has focused on water quantity — too much water, in the case of floods; too little water, in the case of droughts — water quality has attracted significantly less consideration… Water quality challenges are not unique to developing countries but universal across rich and poor countries alike. High-income status does not confer immunity - challenges with pollutants grow alongside GDP. And as countries develop, the cocktail of chemicals and vectors they contend with change — from fecal bacteria to nitrogen to pharmaceuticals and plastics, for example. What we think of as safe may be far from it.” See also a report by the European Union: “Green infrastructure, as defined by the European Union Green Infrastructure Strategy 2013 is 'a strategically planned network of natural and semi-natural areas with other environmental features designed and managed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services’.” https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/greencitytool/resources/docs/guidance/nature.pdf



Mehaffy, M. et al. (2020). BLUE-GREEN NETWORK (pattern). In A New Pattern Language for Growing Regions. The Dalles: Sustasis Press. Available at https://pattern-language.wiki/.../1.2._Blue_Green_Network



SECTION I:

PATTERNS OF SCALE


1. REGIONAL PATTERNS

Define the large-scale spatial organization…

1.1. POLYCENTRIC REGION

1.2. BLUE-GREEN NETWORK

1.3. MOBILITY CORRIDOR

1.4. 400M THROUGH STREET NETWORK

2. URBAN PATTERNS

Establish essential urban characteristics…

2.1. WALKABLE MULTI-MOBILITY

2.2. LEVEL CITY

2.3. PUBLIC SPACE SYSTEM

2.4. BIOPHILIC URBANISM

3. STREET PATTERNS

Identify and allocate street types…

3.1. URBAN GREENWAY

3.2. MULTI-WAY BOULEVARD

3.3. AVENUE

3.4. SHARED SPACE LANE

4. NEIGHBORHOOD PATTERNS

Define neighborhood-scale elements…

4.1. STREET AS CENTER

4.2. PEDESTRIAN SANCTUARY

4.3. NEIGHBORHOOD SQUARE

4.4. NEIGHBORHOOD PARK

5. SPECIAL USE PATTERNS

Integrate unique urban elements with care…

5.1. SCHOOL CAMPUS

5.2. MARKET CENTER

5.3. INDUSTRIAL AREA

5.4. HOSPITAL

6. PUBLIC SPACE PATTERNS

Establish the character of the crucial public realm…

6.1. PLACE NETWORK

6.2. WALKABLE STREETSCAPE

6.3. MOVABLE SEATING

6.4. CAPILLARY PATHWAY

7. BLOCK AND PLOT PATTERNS

Lay out the detailed structure of property lines…

7.1. SMALL BLOCKS

7.2. PERIMETER BLOCK

7.3. SMALL PLOTS

7.4. MID-BLOCK ALLEY

8. STREETSCAPE PATTERNS

Configure the street as a welcoming place…

8.1. STREET AS ROOM

8.2. TERMINATED VISTA

8.3. STREET TREES

8.4. STREET FURNISHINGS

9. BUILDING PATTERNS

Lay out appropriate urban buildings…

9.1. PERIMETER BUILDING

9.2. ARCADE BUILDING

9.3. COURTYARD BUILDING

9.4. ROW BUILDING

10. BUILDING EDGE PATTERNS

Create interior and exterior connectivity…

10.1. INDOOR-OUTDOOR AMBIGUITY

10.2. CIRCULATION NETWORK

10.3. LAYERED ZONES

10.4. PASSAGEWAY VIEW



SECTION II:

PATTERNS OF MULTIPLE SCALE


11. GEOMETRIC PATTERNS

Build in coherent geometries at all scales…

11.1. LOCAL SYMMETRY

11.2. SMALL GROUPS OF ELEMENTS

11.3. FRACTAL PATTERN

11.4. FRAMING

12. AFFORDANCE PATTERNS

Build in user capacity to shape the environment…

12.1. HANDLES

12.2. CO-PRODUCTION

12.3. FRIENDLY SURFACES

12.4. MALLEABILITY

13. RETROFIT PATTERNS

Revitalize and improve existing urban assets …

13.1. SLUM UPGRADE

13.2. SPRAWL RETROFIT

13.3. URBAN REGENERATION

13.4. URBAN CONSOLIDATION

14. INFORMAL GROWTH PATTERNS

Accommodate “bottom-up” urban growth…

14.1. LAND TENURE

14.2. UTILITIES FIRST

14.3. DATA WITH THE PEOPLE

14.4. INCREMENTAL SELF-BUILD

15. CONSTRUCTION PATTERNS

Use the building process to enrich the result…

15.1. DESIGN-BUILD ADAPTATION

15.2. HUMAN-SCALE DETAIL

15.3. CONSTRUCTION ORNAMENT

15.4. COMPLEX MATERIALS



SECTION III:

PATTERNS OF PROCESS


16. IMPLEMENTATION TOOL PATTERNS

Use tools to achieve successful results…

16.1. FORM-BASED CODE

16.2. ENTITLEMENT STREAMLINING

16.3. NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING CENTER

16.4. COMMUNITY MOCKUP

17. PROJECT ECONOMICS PATTERNS

Create flows of money that support urban quality…

17.1. TAX-INCREMENT FINANCING

17.2. LAND VALUE CAPTURE

17.3. EXTERNALITY VALUATION

17.4. ECONOMIES OF PLACE AND DIFFERENTIATION

18. PLACE GOVERNANCE PATTERNS

Processes for making and managing places…

18.1. SUBSIDIARITY

18.2. POLYCENTRIC GOVERNANCE

18.3. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PLACE MANAGEMENT

18.4. INFORMAL STEWARDSHIP

19. AFFORDABILITY PATTERNS

Build in affordability for all incomes…

19.1. INTEGRATED AFFORDABILITY

19.2. COMMUNITY LAND TRUST

19.3. MULTI-FAMILY INFILL

19.4. SPECULATION TAX

20. NEW TECHNOLOGY PATTERNS

Integrate new systems without damaging old ones…

20.1. SMART AV SYSTEM

20.2. RESPONSIVE TRANSPORTATION NETWORK COMPANY

20.3. AUGMENTED REALITY DESIGN

20.4. CITIZEN DATA