New Landscape Urbanisms: Promising New Paths for Urban Design

摘要

In many ways this is a curious debate to still be having. As Matthew Heins' (2015) paper suggests, both New and Landscape Urbanists have imagined this as a territorial battle over urban design, and one with enormous consequences. However, in reality this is not an either-or proposition; no hero from either side will emerge victorious, because both movements have effectively played themselves out. New paradigms for city-making are already supplanting them. These new directions are where the field of urban design should set its sights, but to get there some tidying up is required. Much can still be learnt from the successes and failures of the latest urbanisms so that what emerges is a paradigm that supports both human and natural systems. It is argued here that this will not be what Heins envisions-a collaboration based on commonalities. Rather, promising new paths will explore what the movements failed to address-a deeper understanding of the social ecologies that make sustainability and civic vitality possible in the first place.