Effects of Green Stormwater Infrastructure on Residential Landscape Care and Social Cohesion in Stressed Neighborhoods

green infrastructure;social cohesion;landscape care;legacy cities;School for Environment and Sustainability

Leonard, RachelPimental Walker, Ana Paula ;

University of Michigan

关键词: green infrastructure;    social cohesion;    landscape care;    legacy cities;    School for Environment and Sustainability;   

Others  :  https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/145162/Leonard_Rachel_Thesis.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

Non-uniform abandonment of urban areas results in patchy networks of underused and vacant space that if left unmanaged can contribute to social and environmental problems. When vacant land is repurposed as green stormwater infrastructure (GSI), these formerly problematic spaces are transformed into neighborhood assets. This study establishes links between landscape care and social cohesion through a literature review, and addresses whether installing green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) on vacant land contributes to social cohesion in stressed neighborhoods as evidenced in the spatial distribution of landscape cues to care. In 2015, GSI in the form of four bioretention gardens was installed on vacant lots Detroit’s Warrendale neighborhood. To analyze changes in landscape care before and after garden installation, I conducted surveys of parcel care within an 800ft buffer of the bioretention gardens in 2013 and 2017 and used GIS to identify any clusters of care within the buffer areas. I hypothesized a relationship between the installation of well-maintained GSI on vacant lots and increased social cohesion nearby as measured through increased clustering of well cared for parcels on blocks with bioretention gardens.Results did not support the hypothesis, though patterns of abandonment and the dynamic nature of landscape change in the study area pointed to the presence of multiple forces at play. High and variable rates of abandonment and vacancy may counteract or hide the stabilizing, improving, or maintaining effects, if any, of well-maintained GSI. The data do offer insight into the interaction between GSI and residential landscape care. For many occupied parcels, care improved or was consistent between surveys. Future research may focus on these parcels to discern whether the installation of GSI has had an effect on residents’ landscape maintenance behaviors. Clusters of these instances of stability and improvement could be seen as strongholds of care and used as anchors for the spread of positive cues to care via GSI installation at their edges. Parcels that exhibited decreased care between surveys may signal further disinvestment or abandonment in the future.