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Scott, Mark J.
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Scott, Mark J.
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Scott, Mark J.
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Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
- PublicationUrban Design and Adapting to Flood Risk: The Role of Green InfrastructureThis Practice Paper identifies and critically examines three alternative approaches and associated design philosophies in response to the problem of urban flooding. It traces the reasons why these three approaches have emerged and discusses the attributes of each. Following this, it examines the potential of the green infrastructure approach as a means to realize 'evolutionary resilience' in designing urban environments for enhanced drainage management. The paper then contrasts the three alternative approaches to flood risk management and identifies some implications of advancing the green infrastructure concept in urban design activities.
479Scopus© Citations 78 - PublicationDelivering ecosystems services via spatial planning: reviewing the possibilities and implications of a green infrastructure approachEcosystem services have been researched and promoted widely as a tool to address biodiversity conservation and as an approach to tackle climate change mitigation/adaptation. This paper explores the potential for delivering ecosystem services through spatial planning, proposing a deepening of an ecological fix in planning theory and practice. Specifically, we examine the emerging literature surrounding green infrastructure to: (1) identify ecological principles to inform planning policies and processes; (2) propose a re-scoping of spatial planning practices to place ecology, ecosystem services and environmental risks as central concerns of planning practice; and (3) examine effective procedures to ensure more ecologically sound outcomes in the planning process.
1007Scopus© Citations 98 - PublicationThe emergence of green infrastructure as promoting the centralisation of a landscape perspective in spatial planning - the case of IrelandThe 'landscape' approach to planning and design has long since advanced a social ecological perspective that conceives ecosystems health and human well-being as mutually constitutive. However, conventional public sector organisational arrangements segregate and discretely administer development issues, thereby militating against the holistic viewpoint necessary to redress the entwined nature of complex planning issues. The emergence and continuing evolution of green infrastructure (GI) thinking seeks to redress this problem by promoting interdisciplinary collaboration to deliver connected and functionally integrated environments. This paper reflects upon the ongoing development and institutionalisation of GI in Ireland as a means to critically evaluate 'if', 'why' and 'how' GI thinking promotes the centralisation of landscape principles in public sector planning. Drawing on a review of local authority practices and interviews with local authority officials, the paper traces and explains the concept’s growth from the 'rebranding' of ecological networks to its current manifestation as a new mode of collaborative planning for multifunctional environments. This material is then employed to discuss the potential benefits and barriers encountered by GI planning more generally. Lessons are subsequently extrapolated for the advancement of landscape principles through innovative GI planning practices in other jurisdictions.
886Scopus© Citations 16 - PublicationDeveloping green infrastructure ‘thinking’: devising and applying an interactive group-based methodology for practitionersRecent years have witnessed a wave of interest in the concept of green infrastructure (GI) as a means of applying an ecosystem approach to spatial planning practice; however, more limited attention has been paid to decision-making processes or tools to enhance GI within spatial plans and guidance. We address this deficit by reporting on the development and application of an interactive group-based methodology to enhance GI ‘thinking’ and interdisciplinary collaboration, drawing on the literature on the sociology of interactions. Our findings suggest that a game-based approach to GI problem-solving was successful in breaking down professional barriers by creating an informal learning arena, providing an enabling opportunity for participants to solve problems in an iterative, non-linear style to develop principles for action with transferability to ongoing plan formation. This style of problem-solving was characterised by shifting norms and routines of interaction, leading to problem re-framing and a search for alternative solutions.
348Scopus© Citations 25 - PublicationThe 'natures' of planning: evolving conceptualizations of nature as expressed in urban planning theory and practiceOver the course of the past century, the idea of nature in the city has become increasingly intricate, evolving from being viewed as a refuge separate from the city to being understood as an essential component of dynamic urban systems. As such, attempts are currently being made to re-nature cities to support local and global ecosystems, increase human well being, and address environmental issues such as climate change. While the literature has examined changing assumptions about society-nature relationships in planning, a dearth of knowledge exists relating to the changing conceptualization of natures relationship with the city and how this has influenced how urban planning with respect to nature has evolved in both theory and practice. In this paper, we address this lacuna by tracing the history of the entwined relationship between nature and city planning. The conceptual framework developed from this review is subsequently employed as an analytical lens through which to investigate an illustrative case study of planning for nature in Dublin City, Ireland. The paper concludes by reflecting on how exploring the natures of planning provides scope for greater critical attention to what we do as planners when we seek to address the challenge of safeguarding nature through policy.
961Scopus© Citations 26 - PublicationEco-Health: Ecosystem Benefits of Greenspace for Health(Environmental Protection Agency, 2020-07)
; ; ; The Eco-Health project explores the health benefits of ecosystems services as a means to supply evidence and tools for developing health promoting environments or ‘healthy places’.225 - PublicationMainstreaming Green Infrastructure as a Health-Promoting AssetDrawing on recent policy and practice in Ireland, particularly as promoted by the National Planning Framework, Mark Scott, Mick Lennon and Owen Douglas look at green infrastructure’s potential as a health-promoting framework.
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