Speaking at COP 16 in the session on: Rethinking Urban Landscapes - Equity, Restoration and Resilience in Arid Regions. Amongst all the theory and policy discussions I wanted to present a practical example of the role of landscape architecture in the discourse. I shared the Caledonian Inner City Park, Pretoria, South Africa. A project approved by Council but as yet unbuilt. To make the point of our role as visionaries I quoted from Anne Winston Spirn’s 1984 book: The Granite Garden, Urban Nature and Human Design. An excellent book which never ages and was way ahead of the Nature Based Solutions buz ( every single presentation I heard included this phrase 😉). Here is her quote: ‘If cities are to become more liveable, it will be by design: not just through the design of built projects – homes and workplaces, gardens and parks, streets and sewer systems – but also through visions that may never be realised. …… Without visions to guide their development, cities will be shaped by the politics of expedience’
Kavita Jain
3mo
Politics of expedience - so rightly captures the times
Monica Albonico
3mo
Keep spreading the idea that without experimentation and execution of provocative urban agendas and projects we trap urban dwellers into mediocricity and despair…we can do much better than that!.well done Graham.
Amen: "Without visions (and design) to guide their development, cities will be shaped by the politics of expedience...." AWSpirn
Architect, PhD
3moThis is why you are such a great mentor, your vision brought together with knowledge and practice!