The blog put forward the need of the hour, and it is crucial that we think about the carbon emissions due to designs and how to reduce the impact of the same. But I would also like to mention providing landscape areas is not a feasible solution as landscape architectural projects can add to the existing global warming crisis. If projects aren’t designed and built with their carbon footprint in mind, they may release more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than they can absorb over their lifetime. Projects that can have too much concrete and fewer trees or long-term upkeep may necessitate industrially generated fertilisers, gas-powered mowers, or pruners, resulting in increased long-term emissions. Instead, landscape architects can create projects that are not only carbon neutral, but also “climate positive,” meaning that they trap more greenhouse gas emissions throughout their lifetime than they emit. Nevertheless, there are various innovative tools and apps where we designers can check the carbon footprints of our projects and can know ways of reducing the same. One such tool is Pathfinder. Also, there is guidance issued by the government of the UK known as the MacKay Carbon Calculator (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/carbon-calculator#the-mackay-carbon-calculator) It helps not only designers but common people to understand the ways in which we can reduce carbon emissions and achieve net-zero by 2050.
Urban Design on Urban Carbon Emissions
Urban Design on Urban Carbon Emissions
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Global Climate Status 2020, 2020 is one of the three warmest years on record, with the global average temperature in 2020 being 1.2°C above pre-industrial levels and atmospheric CO2 concentrations already exceeding 410 ppm. Such a temperature rise and its resulting climate impacts could cause such systemic shocks as continued ocean warming, rising sea levels, the risk of cryosphere Such a temperature rise and its associated climate impacts could result in systemic shocks such as continued ocean warming, sea level rise, increased risk of cryosphere and frequent flood and drought events. Climate change is causing an increase in the frequency, intensity and strength of extreme weather events on a global scale, with floods, droughts, mountain fires and extreme temperatures having catastrophic consequences for human societies and natural ecosystems (Afzali, S. F. , Cotton, J. S. , & Mahalec, V. ., 2020). Low carbon design will become a necessary design strategy in future urban design projects.
The composition of urban carbon emissions (UN-Habitat, 2011) includes: transport 13%, industry 19%, energy supply 26%, agriculture and forestry 31%, waste 3% and commercial and residential buildings 8%. It can be seen that a large number of people, industries building production and social activities are the main sources of carbon emissions in cities. The construction of each landscape project as a link in the production and life of the city, from survey and design, construction to later use and management, will generate a large amount of carbon emissions. Therefore, landscape architects should come up with the necessary design strategies for the whole project cycle at the design stage.
Many studies have shown that increasing the area of green space can effectively reduce carbon and increase sinks. Taking Tianjin Water Park as an example, the plant communities in the park can sequester an additional 3202.59 kg of carbon per hectare per year, which is a significant carbon sink during the whole life cycle of the landscape and can have a positive impact on the urban carbon cycle (Chen, G. , Hadjikakou, M. , & Wiedmann, T. ., 2016). On top of that, studies have shown that the carbon sequestration efficiency of broad-leaved species is higher than that of coniferous species, and the higher the proportion of species with high carbon sequestration, the higher the overall carbon efficiency of the community; the diameter at breast height of a single tree is positively correlated with the carbon sequestration efficiency; multi-layered plant communities have higher carbon sequestration efficiency than single structures; the community’s carbon sequestration capacity is strongest at medium planting densities and gradually decreases beyond a certain planting density.
References:
Afzali, S. F. , Cotton, J. S. , & Mahalec, V. . (2020). Urban community energy systems design under uncertainty for specified levels of carbon dioxide emissions. Applied Energy, 259, 114084-.
Chen, G. , Hadjikakou, M. , & Wiedmann, T. . (2016). Urban carbon transformations: unravelling spatial and inter-sectoral linkages for key city industries based on multi-region input–output analysis. Journal of Cleaner Production, 163(oct.1), 224-240.
The blog put forward the need of the hour, and it is crucial that we think about the carbon emissions due to designs and how to reduce the impact of the same. But I would also like to mention providing landscape areas is not a feasible solution as landscape architectural projects can add to the existing global warming crisis. If projects aren’t designed and built with their carbon footprint in mind, they may release more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than they can absorb over their lifetime. Projects that can have too much concrete and fewer trees or long-term upkeep may necessitate industrially generated fertilisers, gas-powered mowers, or pruners, resulting in increased long-term emissions. Instead, landscape architects can create projects that are not only carbon neutral, but also “climate positive,” meaning that they trap more greenhouse gas emissions throughout their lifetime than they emit. Nevertheless, there are various innovative tools and apps where we designers can check the carbon footprints of our projects and can know ways of reducing the same. One such tool is Pathfinder. Also, there is guidance issued by the government of the UK known as the MacKay Carbon Calculator (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/carbon-calculator#the-mackay-carbon-calculator) It helps not only designers but common people to understand the ways in which we can reduce carbon emissions and achieve net-zero by 2050.
Environmental degradation has always been a problem that we have thought about and tried to solve, and all sectors have their own responses to this set of problems, and urban design is no exception. There has been much discussion of carbon emissions and global warming, and it is clear to all that environmental issues are not simply fragmented, but are interconnected and interacting with each other. For example, as mentioned in the blog, the global warming caused by carbon emissions, while changing the temperature of the planet, has triggered another natural crisis, namely the retreat of the cryosphere, which has had the direct effect of reducing the natural habitat of some organisms, and has further led to a rise in sea level, leading to a crisis of survival and development in coastal areas. It can be said that the crisis is born as a continuous and long-term chain reaction. The solution to this series of problems is undoubtedly to address the root cause of carbon emissions. There is a lot that programmers can do to deal with this root cause, including the planning of urban greening in relation to carbon emissions, the design of urban roads in relation to the interaction of traffic volumes and modes, the arrangement of high and low carbon emitting functional areas in the city, and so on. If these tools are used flexibly, urban designers can make a positive contribution to the ecological development of cities and the planet as a whole.