Designing for more than ourselves

Creating places for people also means thinking about the wider living systems we’re part of.

When we create a place for people, what else are we creating a place for?

We naturally think about neighbourhoods through a human lens.

Homes. Streets. Parks. Shade. Recreation. Places to meet.

But every new community also sits within a much larger living system.

Birds. Insects. Trees. Native vegetation. Waterways. Soil. Habitat.

Thinking about these things isn’t separate from thinking about people. The two are deeply connected.

A healthy natural environment can provide shade, cooler spaces, biodiversity, beauty, sensory richness and opportunities for people to experience nature close to home.

So perhaps the question isn’t whether we design for people or nature.

It’s how we can do both.

The masterplan identifies an ambition to enhance biodiversity and help heal the river landscape through native planting, habitat creation and water-sensitive urban design, while also creating opportunities for people to experience and enjoy the river environment.

The Fairland team saw an opportunity not simply to create a community beside the river, but to strengthen the relationship between the community and the river landscape.

The design approach considers pedestrian connections, native planting, habitat, nature play and places for rest and reflection together. It also specifically considers inclusive and intergenerational use.

Along the river, the proposed trail is intended to sit close enough to encourage greater interaction with the river corridor and make use of existing shade.

Existing remnant vegetation is intended to be retained where possible, while locally native species are proposed within the revegetation area to help strengthen the river system as a biodiversity corridor.

These are environmental decisions.

But they’re also decisions about human experience.

A healthier river environment can become somewhere to walk, listen, discover, pause and develop a relationship with nature over time.