Landscape performance : Ian McHarg's ecological planning in The Woodlands, Texas

300 Pages·2019·12.211 MB·English

by  Bo Yang

Landscape Performance
Ian McHarg’s ecological planning approach has been influential since
the 20th century. However, few empirical studies have been conducted to
evaluate the performance of his projects. Using the framework of landscape
performance assessment, this book demonstrates the long-term benefits
of a renowned McHargarian project (The Woodlands town development)
through quantitative and qualitative methods.
Including 44 black and white illustrations, Landscape Performance
systematically documents the performance benefits of the environmental,
social, and economic aspects of The Woodlands project. It delves into
McHarg’s planning success in The Woodlands in comparison with adjacent
Houston developments, which demonstrated urban resilience after
Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Lastly, it identifies the ingredients of McHarg’s
ability to do real and permanent good.
Yang also includes a number of appendices which provide valuable
information on the methods of assessing performance in landscape
development. This book would beneficial to academics and students of
landscape and planning with a particular interest in Ian McHarg.
Bo Yang is an associate professor of landscape architecture at the University
of Arizona, USA.
Routledge Research in Landscape and Environmental Design
Series editor: Terry Clements
Professor and Chair, Virginia Tech
Routledge Research in Landscape and Environmental Design is series of
academic monographs for scholars working in these disciplines and the
overlaps between them. Building on Routledge’s history of academic rigor
and cutting-edge research, the series contributes to the rapidly expanding
literature in all areas of landscape and environmental design.
Melancholy and the Landscape
Locating Sadness, Memory and Reflection in the Landscape
Jacky Bowring
Cultural Landscapes of South Asia
Studies in Heritage Conservation and Management
Kapila D. Silva and Amita Sinha
A History of Groves
Edited by Jan Woudstra and Colin Roth
Reimagining Industrial Sites
Changing Histories and Landscapes
Catherine Heatherington
Landscape Performance
Ian McHarg’s Ecological Planning in The Woodlands, Texas
Bo Yang
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/
Routledge-Research-in-Landscape-and-Environmental-Design/book-series/
RRLAND
Landscape Performance
Ian McHarg’s Ecological Planning
in The Woodlands, Texas
Bo Yang
First published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2019 Bo Yang
The right of Bo Yang to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Yang, Bo, 1979– author.
Title: Landscape performance : Ian McHarg’s ecological planning in
the Woodlands, Texas / Bo Yang.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2019. |
Series: Routledge research in landscape and environmental design |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018030346 | ISBN 9781138640115 (hbk) |
ISBN 9781315636825 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: City planning—Environmental aspects—Texas—
Woodlands. | Land use—Environmental aspects—Texas—
Woodlands. | Landscape architecture—Texas—Woodlands. |
Sustainable urban development—Texas—Woodlands. | Woodlands
(Tex.)—Environmental conditions. | McHarg, Ian L., 1920–2001.
Classification: LCC HT168.W58 Y36 2019 | DDC
307.1/21609764—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018030346
ISBN: 978-1-138-64011-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-63682-5 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
I dedicate this book to my family
Shujuan, Jon, and Haoran

Contents
ContentsContents
List of figures ix
List of tables xiii
Preface xvii
Acknowledgments xx
PART I
Introduction to landscape performance 1
1 Overview of landscape performance scholarship 3
2 Ian McHarg: a pioneer in performance evaluation 14
PART II
Recent development of performance assessment 27
3 Premier research programs 29
4 Social benefits 37
5 Economic benefits 46
PART III
Performance evaluation: The Woodlands versus Houston 61
6 The Woodlands: an exemplary case for performance
assessment 63
7 Planning and design process 69
8 Resilience to flood 82
viii Contents
9 Runoff volume 90
10 Stormwater quality 98
11 Urban heat island 103
PART IV
The Woodlands performance post-McHarg 115
12 An evolving ecological plan 117
13 Modeling development and runoff scenarios 126
14 Stormwater performance 143
15 Safety perception 167
16 Major players and barriers 185
PART V
Ecological wisdom and urban resilience 203
17 McHarg’s ecological wisdom 205
18 Urban resilience and contemporary relevance 212
Appendices 225
Index 276
Figures
1.1 Scholarly contributions to the Landscape Performance
(LP) track of the Council of Educators in Landscape
Architecture (CELA) annual conference 2013–2017. 5
3.1a Triangulation of relationships in the Landscape
Architecture Foundation landscape performance
research: (a) contents of assessment. 30
3.1b Triangulation of relationships in the Landscape
Architecture Foundation landscape performance
research: (b) participants and collaborators. 30
3.1c Triangulation of relationships in the Landscape
Architecture Foundation landscape performance
research: (c) supporting system and feedback loop. 30
3.2 Example of before and after images of Cascade Garden
Residence, Colorado. 34
3.3 Example calculation from the National Tree Benefit
Calculator. 35
4.1 Status of social benefits assessment in the Landscape
Architecture Foundation Case Study Investigation program. 41
5.1 Economic benefits assessed by metric categories in
Landscape Architecture Foundation’s Landscape
Performance Series. 48
6.1a A neighborhood street view in Grogan’s Mill, the first
subdivision village of The Woodlands. 64
6.1b A street view of The Woodlands Parkway. 64
6.2 Regional study of the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers
underlying Houston and The Woodlands, Texas. 68
7.1 Flow chart of the ecological planning process in
The Woodlands. 70
7.2 Location map of The Woodlands, Texas. 71
7.2a Community-scale analysis of The Woodlands (a) Design
synthesis. 71
7.2b Proposed land use plan. 71