Reflection on Semester2 Blog Writing Experience: Focusing on Urban Farm and Rain Garden
Continuing on from my writing style from the first term, this term I am focusing on two Nature-based Solutions related topics, urban farm and rain garden. These blogs have prompted me to think about human interaction with the natural environment and how to incorporate eco-efficiency into urban spaces through design. I have become more focused on community engagement and ecological sustainability when selecting topics than before, and I have been more proactive in looking for examples from multiple fields to enrich my content. However, I still face the challenge of time management. In one case, I was delayed in writing about rain garden because I spent too much time looking for information on surface runoff and green space design. This reminded me again that I need to organise the research and writing stages wisely.
Results and Achievements
These two blogs have furthered my ability to combine theory with practical examples. In urban farm, I studied the Hantz Woodlands project in Detroit, and found that by transforming large tracts of abandoned land into urban woodlands, it not only changed the ecology of the community, but also reshaped people’s imagination of ‘urban agriculture’. This case made me realise that urban regeneration is not just a change of physical space, but also a regeneration of social structure and local identity. In the discussion of rain garden, I analyse the Lene-Voigt Park project in Leipzig, Germany, which integrates rain garden with urban green space, enhancing the ecological function and recreational value of public space while improving the drainage capacity. This ‘theory-case-reflection’ writing style allows me to organise my thoughts in a more systematic way, and at the same time enhances my critical thinking ability.
Challenges and Shortcomings
As rewarding as the writing process is, I still encounter some challenges. The most obvious problem remains inspiration management and pacing control. When writing successive ecological thematic contents, I sometimes fell into the predicament of repetitive expressions or overly flat viewpoints. Especially after a long period of research, how to distil a narrative perspective with a personal viewpoint is an ability I need to further strengthen. In addition, when faced with information with high technical or theoretical density, I need to improve my efficiency in filtering and summarising key information to avoid getting lost in the details. How to maintain the clarity and depth of expression within the limited writing time is an issue I hope to address gradually.
Personal Growth and Areas for Improvement
Compared with the first semester, I have paid more attention to the synergistic relationship between space, community and ecology, as well as to the logical structure and clarity of expression. In the future, I would like to further enhance the foresight of my topic selection and try to incorporate data graphs and field observations to make the content more intuitive and persuasive. At the same time, I plan to extend my reading to relevant literature on climate adaptation and eco-cities to broaden my perspective. After completing the analysis of Lene-Voigt Park, I have rethought the issue of stormwater drainage and the use of green space in the Lemington area of the Newburn riverbank in Newcastle upon Tyne, and realised that localised ecological design also needs to be considered in the wider social and environmental contexts of its impacts and possibilities.
