Talk:Planting Design 2013 - Working Group 24

Very complete and well structured lecture concept map.

Case Study A - Afforestation in Ca Mau, Vietnam

Extremely interesting case study. It has a very intense natural dynamic vs. cultural dynamic and it’s very rich in terms of historical, economic, social and ecological context.

You have done interesting and useful reflections, specially about:

(1) The use of vegetation and the importance of its good application (“I started realizing that nature soon takes over our country. I believe cautiously interacting with nature, using plants as critical materials”). Yes, we agree that it’s certainly important to use the right type of plants, in the right places and in the right amounts. Nature is unpredictable and the more we respect the existing/original ecosystems the more chances of successful interventions we have.

(2) The dependent relations between economic, social and ecological aspects of your case study: due to recent interventions economic and social factors are improving (increasing production) but ecological and other social aspects are decreasing (social disparities – poverty; lower water quality, biodiversity and access to water). The challenge, we think, is to discover how to balance those factors.

Questions maybe you could reflect on:

(1) Were the trees used in the process of forestation the right ones? Did they respect the previous existing species of vegetation? You say that nature is taking over the South part of the country. Why is that happening? When you say this “invasion” is occurring it’s a bad thing because of:

a) Natural dynamics (those places on the South shouldn’t have trees);

b) Cultural dynamics (the growth of vegetation in those places is affecting people and the economy);

c) Both.

d) Other reasons.

(2) What future do you see to this scenario? How do you think balance between economic, social and ecological aspects can be achieved? Do you think the existing legal tools of protection applied to the delta are efficient?

Liked your work! :)

Case Study B - Vacaresti Lake in Bucharest, Romania

Interesting case study since it explores a very common problem to most of the cities worldwide: natural places vs. urbanization lobbies.

Questions that may be interesting to reflect about:

(1) The “natural place”, is not really that “natural”, since it was artificially created: before it was a terrain used to agriculture, now it is something completely different - a big lake with an incredible variety of vegetation that provides habitat to a great amount of protected animals and that plays an important role in terms of air and water purification. Do you think the current created scenario has more value than the previous one? Why? In what aspects?

(2) Real estate development is threatening this place. You, as an urban planner and landscape architect, can see this problem, but what is the general point of view of the population of Bucharest? What is the image of the people about the place? Do they like it? Do they see it a place that belongs do them and do they use it regularly? Are they against the real estate development that is occurring?

Liked your analytical and projective drawings! The philosophy of allowing some permeability between the lake and the urbanized areas in the edges, while guarantying a more protected area in the center of the lake, seems really nice! Liked the idea of creating different grades of protection (1, 2, 3).

Liked your work! :)

Case Study C - Arboreto Luis Ceballos. A Botanical Garden in a landscape protected area.

Very interesting and very well documented case study that covers an interesting problem (conflict between heritage preservation and environmental education and urban growth).

We think that your ideas of using Environmental Education and Public Use strategies to improve the place are great and that the Arboreto could in fact become an inspiration to establish ecological criteria.

Liked your work! :)