1.) Sustainability in Urban Spaces

What is Sustainability

What is sustainability; According to Ramsey, Jeffry L. (2015) “Sustainability is a societal goal that relates to the ability of people to safely co-exist on Earth over a long time.” When considering this in relation to the urban environment, what can be done for people and nature to co-exist, to allow them to re-connect with their green roots and around nature again. As suggested in the book The Well Gardened Mind 2020 (Sue Stuart-Smith) “Gardens have been recognised as restorative since ancient times. Quintessentially, caring for a garden is a nurturing activity and caring for a garden is a nurturing activity, the process of tending a plot is one of the most significant things in their lives.” With this in mind, the focus on the animation will be the sustainability of planting trees in urban areas.

Visual Examples of Sustainability

Figure 1; Photo by Caroline Arnott. Garden Village, East Hull. This street boasts an abundance of trees and greenery, which creates habitats for local wildlife and creates colour and contrast with the changing seasons of the plants.

Figure 2; An example of the symbiosis of the urban and natural environment, displaying a colourful and flourishing landscape amongst the terraced housing.

This project will seek to highlight many issues regarding sustainability in urban areas. As a keen gardener myself, not only can planting trees be beneficial physically and mentally, but it benefits the local environment in many ways too. Some of these benefits include reducing pollution, reducing water run-off, providing habitats for insects and animals, releases oxygen and absorbs carbon dioxide, providing shade and many more.

Figure 3; A poster demonstrating some of the benefits of a tree in an urban environment,

As suggested in the study by Colleen E. Reid (Is All Urban Green Space the Same? A Comparison of the Health Benefits of Trees and Grass in New York City) “Cities could improve resident health by planting trees, a relatively affordable and simple intervention. These health benefits would be in addition to the numerous environmental benefits of urban tree planting related to mitigating, through sequestering carbon dioxide and reducing the need to cool buildings, and adapting to, through reducing the urban heat island effect, climate change.”

With this in mind, the animation will focus on the contrasting ideas of concrete urban environments versus planted green urban areas with trees and green spaces. The visuals will feature a depression in nature, with grey and muted colours of the environment and people living in the concreted areas. A seed will spiral through the air, landing in a crack in the concrete, and grow and flourish, bringing with it insects, birds and fruit. The visuals after the growth of the tree will be colourful and lush, in high contrast to the urban environment.

References

Sustainable Forests; Home : Online: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2018/07/what-is-a-sustainable-forest/ [Accessed 7 Feb. 2023]

Book : Ramsey, Jeffry L. (2015). “Not Defining Sustainability”. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics. 28 (6): 1075–1087. [Accessed 9 Feb. 2023]

Book: Sue Stuart Smith. 7 July 2020. The Well Gardened Mind. [Accessed on 2 February 2023]

A Plea for Trees. Janet Marinelli. Apr 01, 2019. Online: https://www.nwf.org/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2019/April-May/Gardening/Urban-Forests [Accessed 24 Feb. 2023]

Journal: Colleen E. Reid (2017) “Is All Urban Green Space the Same? A Comparison of the Health Benefits of Trees and Grass in New York City” Online : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5708050/ [Accessed 13 Feb 2023]

Home : Available Online: https://www.earthcorps.org/blog/the-benefits-of-trees/ [Accessed 19 Feb. 2023]