1. Public Realm as
Sustainable Design
HMD Design . www.hmddesign-china.com . 12 April 2012

2. The Public Realm is:
• Any place, space or facility accessible to
all members of the community
whether publicly or privately owned.
• It includes parks, public plazas, civic
buildings, sporting venues, town
squares and roads and streets.

3. Historical Perspective
• Between the 1860’s and 1930’s
public open space became integral
to city planning as a reaction to the
squalor of cities of the era
• Foundations laid in America by
Olmstead and other landscape
architects after the Civil War
• Public open space was seen as
‘hygienic’ and available to all; not
just the wealthy
• Practicality and beauty were key
considerations
• It was a social and democratic ideal
founded on social reform

4. Sustainable design is:
•Socially stable
•Economically successful
•Environmentally responsible
economic
social environment
• A different perspective…

5. Social Sustainability
• Equal access for all
• Serves the relevant demographic profile
• Community participation
• Community identity
• Human contact and activities
• Healthy lifestyle
• Represents local culture and history
• Safe, friendly environment

7. …access for all?

8. Economic
Sustainability
• Higher property values
• Higher tax revenues
• Higher standard of living
• Lower social costs
• People care about their community
• Lifestyle attracts higher level jobs
and industries
• Lower maintenance and capital
costs

10. Environmental
Sustainability
• Water
• Energy
• Ecosystems
• Waste
• Conservation
• Preservation

12. Examples

13. Central Park, NY
• Serves all socioeconomic groups
• Equal access to all
• The lungs of the city
• High real estate values

14. Living Waters, Chengdu
• Educational
• Unique environmental attraction
• Open and usable for everyone
• Mitigates river pollution
• Provides useable space for all
residents
• Tourism attraction

17. Post-Sydney Olympics
• Functionally sustainable
• Economically sustainable
• Environmentally responsible
• Valuable post-Olympics community asset

18. •640-hectare site Homebush Bay
•Ideal for picnics & bike riding
•Numerous parks
•Bicentennial Park:
oLake Belvedere
oBBQ facilities
oChildren's playgrounds
oBoardwalk
o8 kilometres of paths and cycle ways
oWalk your dog
oBird watching
oBike hire
•Sydney Olympic Park:
oThe Sydney Royal Easter Show
oSydney Festival
oBig Day Out
oRugby Union
oNational Rugby League
oAustralian Football League
oAustralian Rugby League
oGames at ANZ Stadium
oAthletics and Swimming events

20. Athletes Village - Newington
• Purpose built 90 hectare new town with
retail, office and residential zones
• Residential was athletes village and is
now housing
• Each home with 12 PV panels on the
roof sufficient to power all 2,000 homes
• Passive energy saving through
orientation and landscaping
• Proximity to public transport
• Dual water source – one potable and
one reuse with wetland recycling
• Construction recycling of 90% of hard
waste and 60% of soft waste

21. Environmental Remediation
•Restored and protected more than 15 miles of continuous waterfront along
the Parramatta River and Homebush Bay
•Produced over 4,600 mega liters of recycled water over 7 years, providing
irrigation and grey water for the parklands.
•Treats contaminated soils. Roughly 35 mega liters of leachate have been
collected and transferred to a waste treatment facility. Groundwater
contaminated with 750kg of hydrocarbons, including 430kg of benzene, has
been successfully degraded by microorganisms
•Provides habitat for more than 180 native species of birds. The once-
endangered Green and Golden Bell Frog population in the parklands is now
one of the largest populations
•Provides venues for 2.5 million people annually, primarily those from
Sydney’s western suburbs. Visitation grew from 750,000 in 2002 to 2.3
million in 2007.
•Provides educational opportunities for nearly 20,000 children annually,
with 18,600 students participating environmental education programs

22. HMD Projects

23. Guizhou, China
Sustainability Goals:
• Cultural context
• Education
• Tourism/economic
growth
• Water conservation
• Ecosystem protection
• Wildlife habitat
• Locally sourced
materials

24. Guizhou, China
Project Program
• Hotel/conference center
• Bird watching
• Hiking
• Landscape reflective of the local
character
• Treat all wastewater on site in a
natural system

25. Master Plan

26. Sections

27. Perspective

28. Huang Shan, China
Sustainability Goals:
• Cultural context
• Tourism/economic
growth
• Ecosystem protection
and enhancement
• Preserve farm land
• Locally sourced
materials
• River protection

29. Huang Shan, China
Project Program
• Sales center/future
restaurant
• Landscape reflective of the
local farmland
• Overland storm water
drainage
• Retain farm irrigation
• Simplicity of form/design

30. Site Photos

31. Master Plan

32. Sections

33. Tianjin, China
Sustainability Goals:
• Public open space
• Education
• Economic growth
• Green space
• Cultural relevance
• Health and fitness
activities

34. Tianjin, China
Project Program
• Underground retail mall and
above ground public park
• Performance space
• Multi-purpose open lawn
• Fitness trail
• Botanic gardens
• Landscape connects to and
extends existing park open
space
• Capture storm water on site

35. Concept

36. Master Plan

37. Sections

39. General Techniques
• Use a recognized rating system
• Locally source materials
• Water efficient design
• Energy efficient lighting design
• Heat island effect reduction
• Reflective paving materials
• Rain and waste water capture
• Increase in water quality
• Low maintenance design
• Landscape improves air quality
• Incorporate local context into planning and design

40. Rating Systems

41. Systems
•USGBC LEED
•UK BREEAM
•Green Globes
•China 3 Star
•Energy Star
•Japan CASBEE
•Hong Kong BEAM
•New Zealand NZGBC
•Australia GBCA Green Star
•LEED Brazil
•And so on….

42. Advanced Guidelines
Principles of Public Realm Design
Abu Dhabi Public Realm Design Manual
•Livability
•Identity
•Access
•Connectivity
•Place making
•Environment Stewardship
•Inclusive
•Activated

43. Advanced Guidelines
Community Rating System
Abu Dhabi Estidama Pearl Rating
System
• Integrated Development Process 10
• Natural Systems 14
• Livable Communities 38
• Precious Water 37
• Resourceful Energy 42
• Stewarding Materials 18
• Innovative Practice 3
*All projects must meet at least the 1 Pearl
Standard

44. Advanced Guidelines
Green Infrastructure Guide
Cambridgeshire Council, UK
•Green corridors, such as hedgerows, ditches, rivers
and watercourses, disused railway lines and verges
•Commons, village greens, churchyards and
cemeteries
•Natural and semi-natural habitats for wildlife
•Country parks and playing fields
•Woodlands and hedgerows
•Historic parks and gardens, historic landscapes and
ancient monuments
•Local Nature Reserves and County Wildlife Sites
•Sites of Special Scientific Interest
•Wetlands, including flooded quarries
•Allotments
•Public rights of way, cycle ways and other
recreational routes

45. Rating System Positive Elements
•Assess the environmental impacts
•Provide rating tools for different
land uses and building types
•Relate ratings to global, local and
internal environments
•Allow regional variations
•Optimize performance
•Minimizing environmental
impact
•Credible standards
•Global application
•Improves facility management
practices

46. Rating System Weaknesses
•Complicated and convoluted
•“Points driven” ratings
•No accounting for social,
cultural or historical elements
•Expensive to implement
•Wide variations between so
called ‘equivalent’ systems
•Large gaps coverage
•No globally accepted minimum
•Most are voluntary not
mandatory
•Difficult to compare across
systems

47. Conclusions

48. Conclusions
• The Public Realm adds significant
social, financial and environmental
benefits to modern society
• Equal access to public green space is
a right and not a privilege
• The educational potential of
sustainable design is significant
• Sustainable design methods should
override compliance with any rating
standard
• Public green space enhances quality
of life for all and builds community
• Use common sense in design

49. An observation…. What we
• Recommend 20 SM of open need
space per person
What we
• Shanghai population is about have
23 million
• At 20 SM per person, Shanghai
needs 460 million SM of open
space.
• Shanghai has less than 7 SM
per person poorly distributed
• Deficit of 300 million SM of
open space
…do you wonder why the parks
are so crowded?

50. HMD Design
www.hmddesign-china.com