Nature has no waste : how do European landscape architecture studios approach urban sustainability through resource management?

Abstract: In the context of the global environmental crisis, urgent steps need to be taken towards sustainable development. Within the profession of landscape architecture, efficient and far-sighted resource management plays an important role. In the theory and practice of landscape architecture, however, there is a lack of systematic reflection on this topic. This leads to the question of how landscape architecture studios approach sustainable urban design by emphasizing resource management. This thesis suggests a first conceptual framework by developing a typology of sustainable resource management (SRM). Beyond a common core, three types of SRM are differentiated: environmental type, economic type, and social type. The SRM types are illustrated in three qualitative case studies. Firstly, the project Murg-Auen-Park by Staufer&Hasler Architekten follows the environmental type. Secondly, the project De Ceuvel by DELVA Landscape Architects and Space+Matter follows the economic type. Thirdly, the project Skanderbeg Square by 51N4E follows the social type. The cases lend support to the usefulness of the SRM concept. This thesis, therefore, represents a first step towards a better theoretical understanding of SRM in urban landscape design. It also invites practitioners to reflect on how they can implement SRM.