Promoting goal-driven performance evaluation: a case study of an urban park in Florida, USA

ABSTRACT

The Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF) advocates evaluating built landscape projects’ performance and collecting evidence to guide future practice. However, in the first few years of landscape performance research, various case studies, while quantifying a number of desirable outcomes, failed to evaluate projects’ performance against their original goals. Therefore, they did not sufficiently establish relationships between goals, design solutions, and performance. This paper aims to demonstrate the need for goal-driven performance evaluation through an urban park study in Florida, USA. We evaluate Depot Park’s level of accomplishment regarding four design goals and discuss experiences and lessons learned during the process. The results show that although it is feasible to conclude whether a project is making progress towards its goals, determining whether the goals are achieved or the level of accomplishment can be difficult. Precisely defined goals, performance benchmarks, and comparative studies are needed for future performance studies.

KEYWORDS:

• Landscape performance
• benchmark
• pedestrian connectivity
• user experiences
• survey
• adaptive reuse
• brownfield
• redevelopment

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Landscape Architecture Foundation under the Case Study Investigation Program.

Notes on contributors

Yi Luo

Yi Luo, Ph.D., PLA, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Florida. Prior to joining the University of Florida, Yi taught at Texas Tech University and Texas A&M University. Yi received her Bachelor of Architecture from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China, Master of Landscape Architecture from Utah State University, and Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Science from Texas A&M University. Her areas of interest are landscape performance evaluation, sustainability assessment, performance evaluation metrics and methods, therapeutic landscapes, and stormwater management and low impact development. Yi’s research has been funded by various agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Landscape Architecture Foundation, and Jessie Ball DuPont Fund. Before pursuing her Ph.D. at Texas A&M University, Yi practiced landscape architecture and architecture in multidisciplinary firms in the United States and China with efforts to promote green building and sustainable development. She is a licenced landscape architect (Utah). Besides research, teaching, and practice, Yi is also the secretary/treasurer of Sigma Lambda Alpha – the Honor Society of Landscape Architecture and the Co-Track Chair of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) Conference (Research by Design and Implementation Track).

Michael Volk

Michael Volk is a Florida registered Landscape Architect, partner at Volk Design Consultants, LLC (www.volkdesign.com), and Research Assistant Professor in the University of Florida Center for Landscape Conservation Planning, Department of Landscape Architecture. He has a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Florida and a degree in Architecture from the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. Michael’s work with the Center for Landscape Conservation Planning (http://conservation.dcp.ufl.edu/) includes applied research with conservation partners throughout Florida on land use, regional conservation planning, and urban green infrastructure; the impacts of sea-level rise on natural resources and coastal communities; and climate change adaptation strategies and information needs for landscape architecture students and professionals (https://dcp.ufl.edu/landscapechange/). Michael is also a partner with Florida Resilient Cities (https://dcp.ufl.edu/frc/), an initiative which works with communities across Florida to be more prepared for and resilient to increased risk and future changes.

Kanglin Chen

Kanglin Chen is pursuing her Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning and a master’s Minor in Statistics at the University of Florida. She obtained a Bachelor of Landscape Gardening from Beijing Forestry University in China and a Master of Geography (Urban and Regional Planning) from Peking University in China, graduating with the highest distinction. Her recent research interests include community resilience, public health, and travel behaviour. She also has research experience in landscape performance, social media analysis, world heritages, and national parks in China and the US.