Dealing with Green Gentrification and Vertical Green-Related Urban Well-Being: A Contextual-Based Design Framework

• Published in: Sustainability 2020-12, Vol.12 (23), p.10020
• Main Authors: Ling, Tzen-Ying, Hung, Wei-Kai, Lin, Chun-Tsu, Lu, Michael
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 19th century; Cities; Climate change; COVID-19; Deprivation; Design; Environmental changes; Gentrification; Greening; Land resources; Mental health; Multiple criterion; Neighborhoods; Outdoor air quality; Pandemics; Parks & recreation areas; Population; Psychological factors; Public health; Social factors; Stormwater management; Sustainability; Urban areas; Urban heat islands; Urban planning; Urbanization
• ISSN: 2071-1050; 2071-1050
• DOI: 10.3390/su122310020

Urbanization and climate change have generated ever-increased pressure to the ecosystem, bringing critical resilience challenges to densely congested cities. The resulted displaced and encroached habitat in need of recuperation demands a comprehensive overhaul to the customary urban planning practices; further, the deteriorating public health state of urban residents calls for strategies in dealing with green deprivation and gentrification issues. Frequently, urban greening strategies are envisaged at a macro-scale on a dedicated horizontal track of land, rendering local implementation in a densely built neighborhood a challenged undertaking. Communities lacking green and land resources could promote vertical greening to enable and enhance social and psychological well-being. This study ascertains that vertical greenery closest to the inhabitants could be allocated on a building facade. It can contribute to a more sustainable ecology. The article presents the systemic design approach to urban vertical greening thinking and its role in well-being provision. We propose an interdisciplinary multicriteria contextual-based scalable framework to assess vertical green infrastructure; the prototype requires an innovative approach to balance architecture, human needs, and the local environment. The vertical greening application provides an alternative paradigm in the design implementation for urban green. We proposed the locality and place to be incorporated into the vertical greening design framework. The research concludes the three-tiered consideration framework resulted: (1) in line with the human-habitat ecosystem, the local environment-social dimension is explored; (2) the well-being criteria encourage the design practice’s support for localized driven community vitality; (3) the design paradigm requires integration with the increasing demand for green space as well as taking into account the impact of severe climate; and (4) the framework should achieve the strengthening of health and well-being of the community.