• Home
  • Why Greenstone
    • Sustainability
    • Sensory gardens
    • Health & Well-being
    • About us
  • Services
    • Therapeutic gardens for health and well being >
      • Active ageing
    • Commercial / public space >
      • Urban design >
        • Air quality
      • Care Homes | Dementia gardens for the elderly >
        • Social and therapeutic horticulture
        • Healing gardens
    • Natural playgrounds >
      • Natural Play
      • Inclusive play area design
  • News
    • Award-winning design
    • Community projects
  • Links
  • Contact Us
  • Gallery
  • Books I Media
    • Reviews
GSD NZ - Sustainable, healthy landscape architecture + design
BUY the book! Landscape and urban design for health & well-being
         About us | Contact us | Our Blog |  Like us on  Facebook

Landscape and Urban Design for Health and Well-Being - Routledge Press, August 2014

3/10/2014

8 Comments

 
In 2012 Greenstone Design was newly launched in New Zealand. Founder, Gayle Souter-Brown, had a dream to build a team of passionate people to serve the needs of communities across Australasia. She had started with Greenstone Design UK and was keen to use her experience of UK, Europe, and Africa at home. First though, she needed to get the message out that we need to re-evaluate the landscape component in our development schemes. New housing, affordable housing, schools, hospitals and care homes have been designed and built with low cost amenity strips that do little to lift mood, alleviate social isolation, raise aspiration. Some people would say there was no money to do anything else. How could a garden, a patch of grass or a tree do anything other than look pretty, let alone boost health and well-being? Gayle Souter-Brown would say "you don't need a bigger budget, you just need to think a little, to see the connections and create the opportunities". 

After a lengthy scientific peer review process of the book proposal, in November 2012 a contract with Routledge Press, London, was signed. It detailed that a book would be researched and written, within 12 months, explaining to academics and practitioners why it was worth their while rethinking their approach and their expectation of what was achievable. It had to be 100,000 words long and include 200 full colour images, +/- 10%, or the contract would be forfeited. The title took a while to finalise but the editor decided the more key words the more likely it was that people would find the book, read it, and act. Landscape and Urban Design for Health and Well-Being: Using Healing, Sensory and Therapeutic Gardens was delivered as a manuscript, late, on the 6th January 2014. 

It took 8 months of Routledge Press's editing, copy editing and typesetting, checking and double-checking, to bring the book to fruition as a 318 page paper and ink reality. On 6th August 2014 it was released into the European market. 6 weeks later it was printed simultaneously in New York and Toronto and released in Canada, the US, NZ and Australia. 

Meanwhile, the real work has continued. The design team has grown. Greenstone Design UK has flourished, with new projects in Russia, Tanzania and of course, nationally around the UK. Enquiries for an eco resort project in Azerbaijan are responded to with as much dedication as a small London charity in need of a community space. Greenstone Design in NZ has grown to become recognised as providing leading research-based design and review services. Public space - the gritty streetscapes, hospitals, schools, dementia care and aged care, Early Childhood centres and social housing have all been subjected to the Greenstone Design signature salutogenic design appraisal. Examples from these projects fill the book, sitting alongside research and discoveries from the world's greatest thinkers.

There is a blog by Gayle Souter-Brown, about Salutogenic Design, on Routledge's website . Biophilia, bio-diverse planting, planting for health and well-being, soft landscapes and sensory-rich spaces are all part of the recipe for a healthy dose of Landscape and Urban Design for Health and Well-Being: Using Healing, Sensory and Therapeutic Gardens. 
Landscape and Urban Design for Health and Well-Being ; Using Healing, Sensory and Therapeutic Gardens
8 Comments

Urban design for health and well being

22/9/2014

19 Comments

 

This week I'm travelling the length of NZ with the NZIA. I and 2 other urban designers - Steve Thorne and Dr Angelique Edmonds - are presenting the 2014 urban design speaker series.

It is interesting to see who comes along. The 3 presentations all come from different perspectives but each reach the same conclusion. Urban design for health and well being is more than just an interesting topic of research , more than a soon-to-be short-lived 'new fangled idea' . Urban design for health and well being offers architects, planners and policy makers an opportunity to contribute to the liveability ratings and functional wellness of a community.

It requires big thinking and a collaborative approach. If we take responsibility for our designs we acknowledge the impact environmental design can make. Community gardens, roof top gardens, parks and pocket green space combine with the built environment to affect mental health, stress and depression. These problems occur within education, social housing and the workplace, in fact wherever there are people who are stressed by their environment. In these situations salutogenic design interventions become cost effective, achievable goals.

We are getting the message out but more people need to join the conversation. We have both a challenge and an opportunity to fundamentally make a difference to the health and well being if our client communities. Care to join us?

19 Comments

Natural Play Grounds in Schools

5/3/2014

0 Comments

 
Today I blogged about natural play in schools. Biophilia and living cities rely on us as designers and you as clients to work together to create natural play opportunities so young and old can connect with nature. If we are to effect social, economic and environmental change we need opportunities to create landscapes for health and well-being, in schools and early years settings, around social housing, and in public gardens. Children, and their parents, need accessible, convenient nature connection points. 

Sustainable, playable, urban design can be used to create resilient communities. Urban trees, street trees and natural play opportunities combine to protect and enhance the mental health of our people. We cannot stop the hubris of the modern world, but we can design environments that afford spaces for quiet contemplation, places where we can pause and reflect.

Over the years I have set up a variety of blogs. Some are updated more frequently than others. The Blogger blog is an oldie but a goodie. Rather than rewriting today's post here I thought I would just share the link. I hope you enjoy it. 
Greenstone Design natural playgrounds in schools, design consultants
Natural playground design in schools can be worked to fit any budget. Design consultants can save you money. We work with you to ensure you get what you need not what a salesman thinks you want
0 Comments

Feeling the health benefits of nature, through "Forest Bathing" 

16/7/2013

23 Comments

 
Forest bathing in a biophilic city, Wellington, NZForest bathing in a biophilic city, Otari reserve, Wellington, New Zealand
Forest bathing or Shinrin-yoku refers to time spent walking in forests. In Japan the practice has been studied by forestry, agriculture and health officials. The rest of the world is now catching on to the idea that rather than being a nice-to-have feature, urban forests are vital to balance the health effects of modern life.

Walking in forests (shinrin-yoku) may prevent the onset of chronic illnesses like cancers, reduce blood pressure, heart rate and stress hormones (which may have a preventive effect on hypertension).  It is also credited with creating calming psychological effects through changes observed in parasympathetic and sympathetic nerves. 

Forest bathing appears to increase the level of serum adiponectin--a hormone that in lower concentrations is associated with obesity, type 2 DM (diabetes mellitus), cardiovascular disease, and metabolic syndrome, among other metabolic disorders. A combined study found shinrin-yoku reduces anxiety, depression, anger, fatigue and feelings of emotional confusion.

For the full study findings, click here

23 Comments

Risk in Play

25/11/2012

1 Comment

 
"It's important that play environments are as safe as necessary, not as safe as possible," Dr. Sandseter says.

There is increasing press coverage of the benefits of risk in play. Last week there was an article in the Wall Street Journal. When we give our children opportunities to play outdoors, freely interacting with nature and the environment around them they develop an awareness of and a very healthy connection to that environment. Where and how we play as children shapes who we are as adults.

As our cities aim to intensify their urban form it is ever more important to remember to provide for the children who live in our communities. Many children in New Zealand and Australia are growing up in apartments designed for 'singles' or 'couples', not families. Children are mandated for in some countries as requiring 15sqm of outdoor play space, per child. There is no such requirement in Australasia, yet.

When we look at the numbers of children and their needs for risky, natural play we need to look closely at the availablity of urban open space. We need to look at how many urban forests or groves of trees and grassy or limed patches are there within our cities, within a 5 minute walk from home?

Providing abundant  'safe as necessary' play opportunities requires developers, city planners and designers to acknowledge the mental health impacts, the public health impacts of children's sensory development and their need for natural play.
1 Comment

Urban trees, 1001 uses around your town

18/11/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
While a collection of trees do not an urban forest make, they do make a wonderful home for birds and beneficial bugs and a setting for sitting out, playing in the shade, playing in, eating from. These trees were retained, and some new mature specimens added, when the social housing blocks were redeveloped by Wellington City Council.

These trees transform what would otherwise be a  fairly bleak, open space

Picture
Contrast the courtyard area above with this purpose-designed care home space and you can immediately see the difference trees make to a living environment. 

Trees take an institutional setting and make it 'home'. We have been brought in to transform this space and bring it to life, both to enhance the lives of residents, and the local environment. A real win:win. 

0 Comments

Urban Forests Urban trees for health & well being

23/10/2012

1 Comment

 
Tomorrow I'm meeting with Christchurch's city arborist. We're going to discuss the role the urban forest can play in the health & well being of a redeveloped Christchurch. In the UK GPs are already prescribing a 'green' treatment for early stage depression, whereby people are given a prescription not for expensive medication but for a walk in a forest for 20 minutes, 3 times a week.

Landscape architecture has an important role to play in the sustainable design of the city. Sensory gardens are those gardens that are designed to stimulate the senses, to do more than just look good, but to function on a human scale, providing food, shelter, habitat and employment. Urban forests can be the ultimate sensory garden, when planted with mixed natives, fruit and nut trees, and designed for year round interest, to attract native birds and invertebrates.

Urban trees represent an irreplaceable asset for cities, and unlike most municipal infrastructure a trees’ value will increase over its life span. In technical terms, an urban forest refers to the trees located within a city’s limits, whether planted or naturally occurring.

Check out the link to the Danish Architecture Centre's article on Edmonton's trees.


1 Comment

A Healthy Green Environment

17/10/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
As much as being stuck in depressing places and losing your way can diminish healthcare objectives, so can the wrong type of green spaces.

Over the last 50 years or so, shopping centres and office lobbies have demeaned the value of natural features with their plastic plants and feeble fountains. Such token greenery has rendered nature invisible - a virtual green wallpaper we no longer see, or benefit from.

A study by Massey University found that to be effective in reducing stress and countering depression / improving mood in hospital, retail and office based settings, greenery needs to be real and it needs to be placed sympathetically. " "Street" style navigation is logical, allowing services to be grouped together, with access and waiting areas pleasantly defined by greenery.

0 Comments

Gardens and green space are good for you!

31/7/2012

0 Comments

 
We've known it sub consciously but now we're being told it. In this age of science and technology we seemingly don't believe anything unless it can be proven.

So now we have proof.

Recent studies employing land-use data and satellite technology have reported that access to green space within a kilometre of one's residence is associated with improved mental health. Indeed, large population studies show that those with the least green space within one kilometre of home have a 25 per cent greater risk of depression and a 30 per cent higher risk of an anxiety disorder. 

Multiple studies from Japan show spending time in forests can lower stress, improve mental outlook, and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Separate studies have shown similar cognitive-enhancing effects of short periods spent in natural settings. 

Spending just 20 minutes in vegetation-rich nature has been shown to improve vitality. Given that vitality is defined in psychological lexicon as emotional strength in the face of internal and external oppositions, and living life with enthusiasm and zest, the implications for personal and planetary health are enormous. 
0 Comments

    Author

    Gayle Souter-Brown founded Greenstone Design in UK in 2006, serving Europe, Africa, Asia, South and North America. Since 2012 the expanding team is delighted to offer the same salutogenic landscape architecture + design practice from NZ to the southern hemisphere, giving a truly global reach.

    Archives

    July 2016
    April 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    March 2014
    December 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012

    Categories

    All
    Anxiety Disorder
    Bio Diverse Planting
    Bio-diverse Planting
    Biophilia And Living Cities
    Care Home Design
    Cognitive Functioning
    Depression
    Food Waste Initiatives
    Garden Design Seminar
    Garden Design Workshop
    Gardens For Health & Well Being
    Gardens For Health & Well-being
    Green Roofs
    Green Space For Health
    Healing Gardens
    Health And Well Being
    Health And Wellbeingb994dbc193
    Hospital Gardens
    Landscape Architecture
    Landscape Design
    Local Landscape Architect
    Local Landscape Designer
    Mental Health
    Mental Health And Exercise
    Natural Play
    Resilient Community
    Salutogenic Design
    Sensory Gardens
    Social Housing
    Stressed Execs
    Sustainable Design
    Sustainable Design Workshop
    Sustainable Living
    Sustainable Urban Design
    Sustainable Urban Drainage
    Unroc Article 6
    Urban Agriculture
    Urban Design
    Urban Farms
    Urban Food Growing
    Urban Trees

    RSS Feed

Disclaimer | Privacy | Copyright Information
Why Greenstone
  • Sustainability
  • Sensory Gardens
  • Health and Well-being
  • About us
Services
  • Gardens for health
    > active ageing
    > therapeutic horticulture
  •  > sensory gardens

  • Commercial/Public Spaces
          > urban design   
          > care homes / dementia care
          > resorts                 
  • Play area design
          > natural play
          > inclusive play
         
  • Education
          > outdoor learning
          > special needs
          > school grounds design
          >
Professional Development   
News and events
  • award winning design
  • community projects

Links


Resources


Contact us



Greenstone Design Limited is a for-purpose company registered in New Zealand No 373 2566
Registered Office: 384 Minchins Rd, Sheffield, NZ 7580.
GST registration No 108 766 034


Corporate Social Responsibility | Diversity & Equality | Environment al Policy
Quality Management Statement

© Greenstone Design Limited 2001-2023 All rights Reserved