SOCIAL VALUE OF URBAN LANDSCAPES: PERFORMANCE STUDY LESSONS FROM TWO ICONIC TEXAS PROJECTS

Abstract

Urban landscapes are highly contested, often most visible, and perhaps the most valued components of landscape architecture practice. Most projects are products of any combination of socially, environmentally, and economically driven goals and objectives for their respective urban context. Yet the value they bring to urban environment through their functional and aesthetic qualities have not been typically attested and rigorously communicated up until the rise of the performance studies in landscape architecture in 21st century. This paper reports on the value generated through two urban landscape projects, Sundance Square Plaza in Fort Worth and Elaine and Charles Sammons Park at AT &T Performing Arts Center in Dallas, completed as centerpieces representing decades of district-level efforts within the two largest cities of North Texas. This research is a product of a performance study completed as part of the Landscape Architecture Foundation Case Study Investigation Program in 2014. The paper, primarily, focuses on excerpts of social performance indicators, methods and findings, while exploring the implication of project qualities, typologies, and their direct and indirect impacts on their urban settings. In-depth focus on these two iconic projects is believed to have provided a critical look at the landscape performance within the context of changing urban landscape and urban form, while communicating the social value of landscape architecture with society as a whole.

Keywords

Landscape Performance / Social Performance / Social Value / Urban Landscape / Evaluating Benefits / Survey and Observation Methods / Case Study

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2016 Higher Education Press