Stormwater management challenges as revealed through a design experiment with professional landscape architects

Abstract

Despite a number of potential benefits, using the urban landscape for managing stormwater runoff is spreading rather slowly. As urban planners and landscape architects are considered key protagonists of this trend, the objective of the study was to identify the challenges they confront when asked to retrofit an urban landscape for the management of stormwater runoff. Monitoring a two-week design experiment involving six teams of professional landscape architects identified 11 challenges, including sizing of elements, estimating costs, understanding water dynamics, aspects of biodiversity promotion, and dealing with land administrations and ownership issues. Measures to address the challenges are discussed. It should be noted that all six teams approached the stormwater management challenge in an energetic and focused way, applying their technical, personal and site-specific knowledge, and delivered innovative, flexible and coherent solutions. This emphasizes that the design process constitutes a strong and unique problem solving tool.

Keywords:

• design process
• disconnecting
• observation
• research by design
• retrofitting
• SUDS

Acknowledgements

We thank the landscape architects who dedicated themselves to the intensive two weeks workshop. In particular: Thing og Wainø, Witraz Arkitekter, 1:1 Landskab, Kragh og Berglund, Opland, Sine Rauff, Hanna Rehling, Signe Rabølle, Maiken Zippora Andersen, Karen Traberg Larsen, Karin Sunde Persson and Rikke Thirrmann Thomsen.

Further, we would like to thank Christine Nuppenau (Copenhagen municipality), Prof. Ellen Marie Brae (University of Copenhagen), Gudrun Beneke (University of Hannover), Herbert Dreiseitl (Atelier Dreiseitl, Harvard University), Jes Clausen-Kaas (COWI), Niels Bent Johansen (Copenhagen Engergy) and Peter Daniel Andersen (Vanløse Skole) who engaged in the workshop as external experts, as well as our colleague Ole Fryd (University of Copenhagen).

Moreover we thank the Viva Initiative at the University of Copenhagen for their financial support of the workshop.