waves crash against the concrete sea wall hugging the shoreline along chicago’s calumet park. sections of the gray boundary between land and lake are crumbling against the constant pressure of the elements.

with over 25 miles of glistening blue water, chicago’s lakeshore, composed of lake michigan beaches, faces a significant threat. erosion is the shrinking of a shoreline that is slowly worn away by waves, wind, currents and other natural factors, and it is affecting the city’s shoreline at an exacerbated rate due to climate change. 

chicago beaches are narrowing at a rate of nearly 100 ft. per year along parts of the coastline, meaning less space for recreation and the loss of habitats for shorebirds and other beach animals.

“in a warming climate, there’s more intense precipitation events, which also tend to facilitate higher rates of erosion,” max berkelhammer, a climate and atmospheric scientist and professor at university of illinois at chicago, said. “the primary cause is coastal management. like building right along coastlines and not maintaining basically wetlands or or natural shore ecosystems that absorb the action of the lake. so i think it’s primarily a human or urban development issue.”

berkehammer said the primary action in question is the rising lake levels exposing more of the sand to water, wind and the increase in runoff — when it rains faster than the sand or soil can absorb the water and it runs off a surface, increasing the rate of erosion.

erosion causes damage to infrastructure (roads, buildings and parking lots) and natural habitats. it can also threaten public health by increasing the risk of algal blooms, quick growing areas of algae that can produce harmful toxins. 

edgewater environmental coalition (eec) — a nonprofit organization focused on action, advocacy and education for environmental stewardship — has a shoreline protection program aimed at restoring the natural ecosystems of the lakeshore using nature-based solutions. the organization has used successful strategies of green infrastructure like building dunes, planting native plants and removing invasive ones to mitigate erosion. eec, in conjunction with the loyola university student environmentalist alliance, has planted 300 native grasses and 1,500 marram grass stolons that act as anchors that strengthen dunes across the shore.

natural solutions can often be more cost effective, visually in tune with the natural landscape and equally as durable as traditional gray infrastructure like the concrete ground and walls that make up most of the chicago shoreline, according to eec advisory board member john laswick. he said the main goal of the organization is to reestablish dunes, which are nature’s original protection system.

“what we do is go out every last sunday of the month in the summertime and pull out invasive plants, pick up trash, plant new grasses to extend the dune plantings because if you don’t have the sand anchored with grasses and trees, then it’s just gonna blow away or wash away,” laswick said.

while the organization focuses on dunes and native plants, they also promote other natural resources to combat erosion.

natural solutions to erosion

1. beach nourishment and restoration: replenishing eroded beaches with sediment like sand to protect against wave energy.
2. dune restoration and protection: stabilizing dunes with plants and shrubs to help them last longer and protect the land against erosion.
3. natural shorelines: adding vegetation, oyster reefs and aquatic vegetation to trap sediment and diminish wave energy effects.
4. green infrastructure: adding green infrastructure in urban areas to manage stormwater runoff, like permeable pavement to retain and filter stormwater.
5. coastal vegetation management: adding and preserving native grasses, shrubs, and trees to anchor sediment.
6. integrated coastal zone management: using an integrated approach to coastal management by understanding the interaction of land, water and human activities. 

friends of the parks (fotp), which provided the seed grant that enables eec’s stewardship services along the shore, is a nonprofit organization focused on protecting chicago’s lakefront and ensuring an equitable, ecological park system. they have enacted policy changes — such as partnering with the state and chicago park district to implement the illinois clean harbors program — and educate local residents on park stewardship. 

gin kilgore, interim executive director of fotp, is a former resident of hyde park, a south side neighborhood a few miles from the lakeshore. she says she grew up observing the power of lake michigan to batter the shoreline during big storms, which she notes are more frequent and intense in recent years due to climate change. during long runs along the lakefront she has seen the limitations of “gray infrastructure” to protect against erosion, such as crumbling sidewalks in front of the calumet beach fieldhouse.

fotp is closely monitoring the u.s. army corps of engineers’ general reevaluation report (grr), a study that will evaluate the risk of flooding, erosion and storm damage along lake michigan’s coast in areas of chicago. the study, cost-shared with the city of chicago and the chicago park district, is set to be completed in 2025, at which time solutions will be shared to combat these issues.

according to kilgore, the corps’ mandate is to use the lowest-cost solutions, prioritizing the highest property values. 

“do we only measure cost in terms of how much it costs to put down the concrete? okay, maybe that’s cheap. but, what’s the cost of compromising habitats, or what’s the cost of human access to the lake?” kilgore said. 

fotp also sees the study as an opportunity to complete chicago’s lakefront parks and paths system which currently falls short two miles at both the north and south ends, due in part to private properties that hug the shoreline, kilgore said. creating a buffer between the buildings and water’s edge provides flood protection and allows for public use.

eec also wants to ensure that the report’s proposed solutions are nature-based, and are raising awareness of their work to influence the army corps’ approach.

“a huge part of what is physically chicago and culturally chicago is this lakefront and these parks and the lakeshore drive, and these decisions [about the shore] are going to have an effect for decades,” laswick said. “we got to get started on the right path.”

to be sure, effective green infrastructure is more complex than simply planting more trees as trees have ecosystem disservices as well: roots can interfere with sewer pipes, tree pollen can exacerbate allergies, and branches can fall over in storms. but even if no one ends up volunteering to water trees or weed tree pits, subway announcements can still bring awareness of and appreciation for city trees to show how the urban environment is not just buildings and people but a multidimensional ecosystem.

sediment, runoff, and nutrients all deposit into the gulf of mexico, sometimes originating as far north as minnesota. the large number of pollutants entering the outlet causes massive problems, sometimes in ways that one would not expect. for example, it might be surprising to learn that a large inflow of nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus have adverse consequences for the ecosystem of the gulf of mexico.

when an excess of nitrogen and phosphorus enter a large body of water, an algal bloom occurs. as these algae blooms grow, two things happen: the algae on the surface prevent light from reaching aquatic plants below the surface, causing these plants to die, and the algae also die. bacteria break down the dead organisms, a process that requires the use of oxygen. this results in a deficit of oxygen, creating a dead zone where plants and animals cannot exist.

such a dead zone exists in the gulf of mexico, and it is at its largest size since measuring began in 1985 — roughly the size of new jersey. the large size is concerning considering the massive impacts the dead zone has on the gulf of mexico and the gulf coast area.

besides disrupting the ecosystem, the dead zone poses economic problems to the area. seafood is a large industry in the region, and fish kills represent a major threat to this industry.

the dead zone is projected to grow, and it certainly will not shrink without some sort of change occurring.

one way to reduce the amount of nutrients that reach waterways is to implement nutrient removal techniques in wastewater treatment facilities.

in washington, d.c., dc water has introduced enhanced nitrogen removal facilities that allow the blue plains treatment plant to significantly reduce the amount of nitrogen discharged into the potomac river; they claim that these new facilities have prevented over 144 million pounds of nitrogen from entering the potomac river.

dc water is also constructing a new tunnel system that will prevent sewer overflows from being flushed into waterways without first being treated. with rising concerns over excess nutrients in water ecosystems, wastewater treatment facilities around the united states are facing pressure from local, state, and federal governments to implement nutrient removal processes similar to those utilized by dc water.

besides discharges from wastewater treatment plants, runoff also represents a major source of nutrients in waterways. phosphorus and nitrogen are the main components of fertilizers and make their way into rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water as a part of agricultural runoff. runoff is classified as a non-source pollution and is therefore unregulated, so it has been difficult to track and prevent the amount of nutrients entering waterways through this route.

however, this does not mean that it is impossible to reduce the amount of runoff that reaches bodies of water.

investing in green infrastructure can prevent an abundance of nutrients in waterways and has other benefits like reducing flooding. green infrastructure includes rain gardens, bioswales, permeable pavements, and rainwater harvesting. incorporating green infrastructure alongside traditional infrastructure can help reduce the amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus reaching waterways.

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citations:

“gulf of mexico ‘dead zone’ is the largest ever measured.” national oceanic and atmospheric administration. august 2, 2017. https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/gulf-of-mexico-dead-zone-is-largest-ever-measured.

“removing nitrogen from wastewater protects our waterways.” dc water. 2017. https://www.dcwater.com/nitrogen-reduction.

“tunnel dewatering pump station and enhanced clarification facility.” dc water. 2017. https://www.dcwater.com/projects/tunnel-dewatering-pump-station-and-enhanced-clarification-facility.

“what is green infrastructure?” environmental protection agency. july 03, 2018. https://www.epa.gov/green-infrastructure/what-green-infrastructure.

if rainfall is especially high, the surge of water into a traditional stormwater system can cause overflows. this is especially problematic as in many cities, including syracuse, stormwater is combined with sewage water. when these stormwater systems overflow, both sewage and stormwater is spilled into nearby creeks and lakes. between the months of january and august in 2017, the city of syracuse boasted 50 combined sewer overflows.

this likely doesn’t come as a surprise to those familiar with syracuse’s environmental history. the city has struggled with issues of water pollution and environmental justice for decades, a situation complicated by formidable social and economic issues facing the city.

a place called skunk city

skunk city is one of many places commonly affected by combined sewer overflows.  located on the west side of syracuse, the neighborhood received its unique name from the abnormal number of skunks in the area. skunk city has long been defined as a working-class neighborhood, but recent economic hardships and suburbanization have depleted the population and left the area largely disenfranchised. a profile of the neighborhood published by the city listed median household income as less than $20,000, far below the median for both the entire syracuse metro area and onondaga county.

the report additionally notes that the vacancy rate has been “growing for decades,” mirroring a greater trend in the syracuse area. a 2012 survey found more than 3,500 vacant parcels in the city of syracuse, many located in disadvantaged neighborhoods like skunk city. as well as being visually displeasing, vacant lots can lead to decreased property values in the area and may be targeted as sites of crime and arson.

beyond the social issues faced by skunk city, the stormwater management practices in the area have long been unsatisfactory. sewer overflows are common and many residents note that their roads and household basements are more prone to flooding than other areas.

the green infrastructure project

stormwater management and vacant lots may seem unrelated, but a study being conducted at syracuse university and the state university of new york college of environmental sciences and forestry (suny-esf), in conjunction with atlantic states legal foundation is linking the two issues. the team has focused their attention on the recent greenifying of city infrastructure, in particular, more environmentally sustainable ways to manage increased stormwater runoff. over the next few months the team, which includes elizabeth vidon, mary collins, christa kelleher, lauren tarr, and crystal burgess, will be studying how the installation of rain gardens affect the biophysical and social conditions of skunk city.

traditionally, “gray infrastructure” has been used in syracuse to manage stormwater. this method includes traditional wastewater treatment plants and water storage facilities and often has created environmental justice issues for disadvantaged communities.

“having a sewage plant next to you — it gives off a smell and it just gives neighborhoods, especially disadvantaged neighborhoods, a lower quality of life,” says burgess, a graduate student working on the project. “green infrastructure is working toward having a more natural system, a more beautifying system that also treats water.”

green infrastructure seeks to create solutions by mimicking natural processes. rain gardens capture rainwater before it enters drains and pipes, decreasing the probability of a sewer overflow. in addition, chemical reactions taking place in the soil clean the water of many pollutants before it is cycled back into creeks and lakes.

beyond water

“everything that happens in the city is very directly related to human impacts and human values. and, so it doesn’t make sense to have environmental projects that don’t consult the humans that are a part of this environment,” says tarr, a doctoral student working on the project. the green infrastructure project reflects this perspective and distinguishes itself from similar ecological engineering projects by combining a traditional biophysical research approach with a social science perspective.

“the goal is to create an adaptive management approach,” tarr says. she has been conducting surveys with community members in skunk city. “that way, as the project goes on, it can be changed based on what’s working for the actual people living next to (the rain gardens).”

the researchers hope that the project will foster a voice that outlives their presence in the community.

“this may be like a jumpstart,” burgess says. “they get involved in these rain gardens, they’re going to want to be involved in the new store being built down the street. it just lets them know that they can have a say, a voice over what happens in their community.”

tarr agrees: “i would hope that…the community can feel like they’re being heard and see the impacts, see their voice represented in what’s happening in these lots, so that even if the community itself no longer legally owns the lot, it still is reflexive of what their values are.”

while the green infrastructure project addresses the area of hydrology, it also directly addresses the environmental justice issues that have plagued syracuse for generations and paves a sustainable path for the future of syracuse and other metropolitan areas.

it ends with a community

the green infrastructure project is still in its beginning stages, but the results already are promising. the first rain gardens are currently scheduled to be installed in april of this year, and both tarr and burgess are enthusiastic about the future of the project. with any luck, the coming spring showers will encourage the growth of these new rain gardens, and allow skunk city, and the realm of stormwater management to grow with them.

in fact, water conveyance — the transportation of water — is one of the largest energy consumers, accounting for about 8% of the entire country’s energy usage. and it turns out that we are conveying a lot more water than we need.

according to mark kovscek, founder and ceo of conservation labs, most of the infrastructure supporting water transportation is more than 50 years old, and faulty.

“most of our infrastructure was built in 1970 or earlier and needs to be replaced or repaired,” he said. “that cost in the next 10 plus years will be about 4.7 trillion dollars.”

water leaks generally account for about 15% of your monthly water bill. kovscek’s newest product, h2know, helps find those leaks to fix them. h2know is a smart water meter that connects to an app on your mobile device and saves you about $250 annually in water bills.

how h2know works

you can install h2know in less than 10 minutes to your own main pipeline, where the device takes live readings, thousands of measurements per second, of the pipe’s water flow.

every water-using device: washing machines, faucets, toilets, and even leaks, have a unique water signature, meaning that the rate of water flowing through the main pipeline changes according to which device is being used, and through advanced data analytics and machine learning algorithms, these measurements are converted into useful information for homeowners. this data will tell you exactly which device is using water and when, and also identify leaks as they happen. the real-time response is important, according to kovscek, because otherwise homeowners tend to ignore problems like these.

the example kovscek gives is of a homeowner with a leaky toilet. the homeowner notices a leak from the toilet’s connecting pipe after a few days, but puts a container under it and decides to take care of it later. after three consecutive months of a water bill $30 higher than usual, she finally calls a plumber. by that time she already has lost $90, plus the cost of the plumber.

an h2know device would have notified the homeowner as soon as the leak started and also offered her the contact information for a local plumber, and diy instructions on how to stop the leak.

h2know encourages the behavior of taking care of problems as they happen, resulting in less water loss and money down the drain.

according to kovscek, the app “casually reminds folks that there is this broader issue that’s out there of conservation.”

the app part of h2know aims to “gamify conservation,” kovscek says. it aims to compare a homeowner’s water usage to an average, or to a household with a same number of people living in it. this makes it a competition to conserve water. in other words, it provides incentive for people to begin changing their water use habits. the app also provides suggestions for ways to cut back on water usage.

kovscek’s conservation labs recently won one of the eureka parks climate change innovator awards at the consumer electronics show in las vegas — the first year they’ve given this environmental award — for its h2know, and the company has an indiegogo campaign running in order to bring their product to market.

h2know market projections 

according to kovscek, hexa research estimates the smart water meter market space to be about $2 billion. his own estimations came in at about $1.5 billion, although this market analysis was made before the smart water meter existed at all. kovscek explains that this projection is driven primarily by four factors:

the first is homeowners’ adoption of connected smart home devices. markets and markets estimates the smart-home industry will be worth $137.91 billion by 2023.

the second factor is increasing water rates. circle of blue estimates that in the past five years, water rates have increased by 40% in 30 major u.s. cities. kovscek says that his own bill is projected to rise 17% in the next year. these rising rates are due to old infrastructure being used to transport water, an estimated $4.7 trillion job for repairs and replacements that citizens are seeing in the form of rising water rates and taxes.

the third market-driving factor is climate change. citizens in california were mandated to reduce their water consumption by 20% during the most recent drought, a feat determined by habit and identifying leaks, both things which h2know addresses. similarly, extreme weather events and temperatures cause pipes to freeze and unfreeze at unprecedented rates, causing decaying pipes and water damage.

the fourth factor is the increasing public awareness of sustainability and environmental issues. people want to buy the most sustainable product and are becoming more conscious of consumer responsibility and dollar voting. all of these factors are driving a $2 billion product market, fit for h2know.

what sets h2know apart from its competitors is its lower price point — and its potential for investment returns for the homeowner. the appliance and app cost less than $100, and could save the homeowner as much as $250 a year. kovscek also estimates his product has a shelf life of 10-plus years, so customers don’t have to spend money replacing or repairing the device on a routine basis.

kovscek said h2know is able to operate at such an affordable price due to the research and care that the team at conservation labs put into it. kovscek himself has an impressive background in data analytics, with a degree in mathematics from carnegie mellon university, and having worked for a long time solving big problems using advanced mathematic techniques. he is a numbers guy at heart, and sees what he does as “fun exercises in data science” that he is passionate and excited about, rather than as work.

with his expertise, conservation labs has invested the time and money into machine learning in order to sift through the messy and complicated data that their low cost sensor produces. kovscek said this is different from other products on the market that use expensive sensors, which need to be installed by a plumber, and are invasive to the water infrastructure design. while some of these other products are fitted with an application that is capable of directly turning off the water supply as soon as a leak is detected, these technologies are entering the market at about $500. products at this price might save water, but probably won’t save much money. 

the future of water conservation

in the future, kovscek hopes to produce a product that works in tandem with h2know and will directly turn off the water supply when a leak is detected. he hopes to customize one of these products that already is on the market to work compatibly with h2know and provide homeowners with this additional feature.

while the primary focus of conservation labs right now is on homeowners, and shipping out the first 1,000 h2know devices by the end of the year, kovscek sees the possibility of bringing h2know to commercial spaces in the future.

there is a “need and market with commercial places too,” he says, but “it is hard to scale with wi-fi being the primary communication protocol.” it would be hard to have a wi-fi network responsible for reaching the area included within a city’s limits, not to mention the problems associated with wi-fi security, passwords, and privacy protection.

in order to bring h2know to universities, towns, and cities, they would need to use a different communication platform. however, it is doable, and would help to identify leaks and trouble spots in city infrastructures that need replacement, ultimately saving tax dollars and increasing water rates.

conservation labs is still looking for partners with similar values with whom they can go to market, and is looking forward to having many of those conversations this year.

unlike a dense forest where there are layers of understory and continuous cycles of new growth from saplings, urban trees are often surrounded by impervious pavement and need human intervention just to survive. urban trees don’t naturally regenerate when they are confined to small spaces and are more susceptible to human interference. for these reasons, our urban tree population is aging and suffering the impacts of land development across the city.

an innovator, by the name of betty brown casey, read of the decline of d.c.’s tree canopy — 35% in 2011 compared to 50% tree canopy in 1950 — and decided to act on it. in 2002, she founded the organization casey trees to “restore, enhance and protect the tree canopy of the nation’s capital.”

since then, casey trees has planted more than 23,000 trees — 4,003 trees in 2016 alone — and is committed to partnering with other stakeholders to achieve a 40% tree canopy by the year 2032, as outlined in sustainable dc. aside from advocating for better tree policies in the district and offering classes to the public to enhance urban forestry education, casey trees mobilizes hundreds of volunteers each year to plant in public spaces and schools. additionally, casey trees has recognized the power of banning together; they have partnered with the urban forestry administration to increase the number of d.c. street trees and with the dc department of environment, through the riversmart homes program, to plant trees on residential property.

thanks to the dedication from everyone at casey trees, and all their partners, d.c. has made significant progress towards the 40% canopy goal in the past decade. though it hasn’t been a straight path to success, casey trees is well-regarded for their partnerships, commitment to tree care, enriching educational classes, and on-going advocacy for our urban forest.

based on calculations from casey trees, the city needs to add 2,031 acres of canopy to reach the goal, which translates to 216,300 total new trees to be planted over the next 20 years — that means 8,600 trees per year split among all partners. and you can be a valued partner as well, sign up to volunteer, grab a shovel, and help plant a tree in the nation’s capital.

prior to the joseon dynasty around 600-years-ago, the cheonggyecheon ran naturally through seoul, known then as the city of hanyang. under king taejong, seoul became korea’s capital, and, and shortly after, taejong decided to dredge the stream to help regulate flooding. this decision transformed the stream’s natural, winding form drastically, and the cheonggyecheon became a managed, urban channel. over the centuries, slums developed along its banks, and it became a major conduit of sewage out of the city. from the late 1950s to the 1970s, the stream was gradually buried beneath concrete and highways with the cheonggye expressway eventually running most of its length. for decades following, the cheonggyechon lay beneath the ground, dried-up, and largely forgotten.

the cheonggyecheon was not the only green space in seoul that was converted to accommodate urban development during the mid-1900s. in the wake of the decades-long japanese occupation and the ravages of the korean war, 1960s south korea refocused its energy on the future and successfully ushered in an era of economic growth. yet to facilitate this rapid development, many of seoul’s already limited parks and natural spaces were built upon to accommodate the needs of its booming industrialization. by the 1980s, however, this trending loss of allocated parks and natural landscapes began to change. the 1988 seoul summer olympics kick-started beautification efforts in the metropolitan area, and the drive to create more accessible green space in seoul gained momentum throughout the 1990s – 2000s.

breakthrough designs in land reclamation soon followed. by the time the city had completed the cheonggyecheon restoration in 2005, a variety of other green spaces had already opened. in 2002, world cup park transformed the surface of a 15-year-old landfill containing 92 million tons of garbage, a project that took a total of seven years to complete – six years to stabilize the waste and one to build the park itself. that same year, the city unveiled seonyudo park located in the han river, the site of a former filtration plant converted into a water purification park. in 2005, seoul forest opened providing an eco-forest, wetlands, and a center for nature field study.

the cheonggyecheon stream restoration started in the early 2000s, when seoul’s then-mayor, lee myung-bak, and urban planners began advocating to unearth the cheonggyecheon, long buried beneath the cheonggye expressway. the expressway was in a state of decline; the area around it known for its noise and pollution. thus the city faced the decision of whether or not to invest in repairs or tear it down. lee offered yet another possibility – remove the expressway to resurrect the stream beneath it.  the proposition was a risky one.  in 2003, around 180,000 vehicles used the cheonggye expressway daily, and ramifications in terms of traffic and displaced shops could be substantial. however, if implemented successfully, the project would be a keystone of seoul’s dedication to urban renewal and reintroduce natural scenery into one of the city’s most heavily developed areas.

the project pressed forward. no design to this magnitude had been attempted in the city before. seoahn total landscape created the design, yet its success relied heavily on the support of seoul’s citizens to see the venture to fruition. its construction was not easy and took a total of two years and three months to build. civil engineers orchestrated the first phrase of the project’s construction, and landscape architects managed the final two phrases, overseeing teams of civil engineers, bridge designers, and lighting designers. not only was the project enormously expensive, costing around $900 million dollars, but also hundreds of thousands of tons of water needed to be pumped into the city to revive the stream. there were rampant concerns in regards to safety and gentrification, and over 4,200 meetings were held to pacify alarmed business owners. all in all, it was a massive undertaking to construct, but, after the completion of the project in 2005, many have lauded the cheonggyecheon stream restoration as a resounding success.

it is important to mention, however, that an endeavor of this magnitude and complexity is rarely without flaws. since water is only naturally present in the cheonggyecheon during the summer’s rainy season, consistent pumping of water from the han and other sources is required to keep the stream filled year-round.  key accessibility measures, such as elevators, were not installed on-site until public demands necessitated them, highlighting the importance of designing for all user groups from the onset of a project.

in spite of these critiques, the results of the cheonggyecheon stream restoration are nothing short of staggering. detailed in a case study published by the landscape architecture foundation (laf) landscape performance series, the amount of biodiversity has improved dramatically. from 2003 to 2008 alone, there was a 639% increase in area’s flora and fauna, cited in the study as follows: “overall biodiversity of plant species increasing from 62 to 308, fish species from 4 to 25, bird species from 6 to 36, aquatic invertebrate species from 5 to 53, insect species from 15 to 192, mammals from 2 to 4, and amphibians from 4 to 8.” the stream offers protection in the instance of a 200-year flood and reconnects the cheonggyecheon to the han river and jungraechon stream. pollution levels have dropped – an accomplishment of particular merit due to fact that prior to the redesign, area residents in this part of seoul were twice as likely to contract respiratory disease compared to the rest of the city. temperatures due to urban heat island effect have dropped, and notable social and economic benefits are readily apparent. the cheonggyecheon draws in around 64,000 visitors daily, and the influx of tourists to the area contribute to seoul’s economy. frequent events are hosted along the stream, a popular example being the annual lantern festival celebrating korean culture and heritage.

the cheonggyecheon stream restoration project and seoul’s other reclaimed landscapes play a valuable role in promoting environmental and social health in the south korean capital. the construction of the cheonggyecheon in particular demonstrates to seoul’s citizens and the rest of the world the limitless benefits that come from dedication to creating urban green space. there is an increasing recognition of the landscape architecture field, and i firmly believe that this discipline stands at the forefront of this reformed relationship between urban environments and natural spaces. with monumental precedents such as the cheonggyecheon already successfully implemented, it is exciting to see what the future will bring to revitalized cities around the world.

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sources:

“back to a future seoul: cheonggyecheon restoration project.” seoul metropolitan government, 2005.

“cheonggyecheon stream restoration project.” landscape performance series, landscape architecture foundation.

lah, t.j. “the huge success of the cheonggyecheon restoration project: what’s left?” citizen participation: innovative and alternative modes for engaging citizens: cases from the united states and south korea. rutgers, the state university of new jersey, 2011 (97-117).