The term “landscape” invokes images of environment and surroundings for the average person. But landscapes are not a photo or image to serve only aesthetic purpose, nor the fauna or engineering a mere prop within a larger setting. Landscapes are also the planes on which people must navigate by many means, and many modern landscapes have shifted purpose and appearance in order to facilitate human navigation. The different types and layouts of transit options within a landscape often determine the way humans will interact with and perceive the environment around them.
Until humans develop teleportation, there will always be a need to transport bodies within an environment. Often times, large groups or people must be moved to the same location within a short period of time. It is the role of the landscape architect to incorporate efficient means of human mobility within the environment to assure humans can interact with their surroundings in the best way possible. This is especially important in urban landscapes and congested areas. Sometimes a stone walkway serves the purpose best, but other times vast mobile infrastructure must be implemented so humans can navigate the environment with vehicles.
Landscapes in the modern world have leaned increasingly toward facilitating mass transit by means of large fuel consuming vehicles, which cause pollution, congestion, and require much energy. Landscape architects must look to simpler means, when at all possible, to provide necessary options for human transit without these negative side effects. Solutions must be incorporated into the landscape allowing the necessary transit without harming the environment, without taking up unnecessary space for unoccupied vehicles, and without wasting valuable energy.
The bicycle was invented so long ago, that many fail to consider implementing its use in human transit across and throughout landscapes. From my experience living in Davis, CA, sometimes labeled the bike capital of the world, I know first had the efficiency and overall ease of using bikes as a valuable asset within a community. Many of the citizens of the city will refuse to use anything but a bike to get to and from within the city limits. Not only does it save money but it allows its users to get a work out and save money at the same time. If the people of Los Angeles were forced to commute to work every day I guarantee we would see a huge impact on the health of our culture. When considering an urban city, why is it that planners and architects have turned away from a transit solution, which requires far less space than cars while requiring zero energy and releasing zero emissions? The sad reality is that these planners and architects had little choice in the matter. They knew that the environment they were commissioned to design would be inhabited by a population, which has grown accustomed to the luxury of waste through automobile use. The landscape architect must evaluate how humans will interact with the environment and choose the best means possible to move humans throughout, and bicycles are not the only sensible option. I believe it’s time to break out of the molds that we have been stuck in and force architects to design in a way that will develop our cities and states for the future.
As new advances in technology arise I feel that our cites and municipal organizations should put a much greater emphasis on alternative transit methods. This may include electric cars, subway/rail systems, increased usage of bike paths, etc. By starting to think and plan for the issues of over population and forced demand of public transit we will alleviate many issues in the next twenty years. High-speed rail, energy saving human conveyors, and other means must never be ruled out of thought when developing an environment. The advantages provided allow more room to be designated for alternative use, allow more energy to be conserved, and allow efficient means for transiting bodies without the cumbersome side effects of automobiles. Part of the major issue with our cities is the fact that there is very little emphasis put on developing regions strictly for public transit. In southern California, many people require automobiles to get to and from work. If gas prices were to go through the roof many people would be forced to use public transit, however, do we have enough public transit systems to support our population?
Even environments, which are inclusive and require little human traffic, can be burdened by the negative effects of inefficient transit pathways of landscapes that surround and interact with them. A hypothetical arboretum was well designed and constructed allowing an efficient flow of tourists within, who were transported on a slow speed but energy efficient tram system. Even this arboretum, which was designed to properly facilitate the transit of bodies within its bounds, will still be subject to dedicating much space in order to accommodate the mass of unoccupied vehicles of the visitors within. In addition, the negative environmental factor provided by the exterior transit means is sure to have a detrimental effect on the fauna located within the arboretum walls. Had the planner for the environment surrounding the arboretum considered logical alternatives to automobiles, these detrimental effects of the transit could have been avoided.
This view on transit within a landscape is idealistic; yet, not unachievable. Many landscapes, even those in urban environments, could benefit greatly from considering alternative means of human transit over the inefficient space wasting status quos, which often involves automobiles. Where a highway once towered, taking up space and polluting the environment, a high speed rail system could have better facilitated the landscape. Where a network of roads and parking lots within a business park dominated the landscape, a simple network of bike paths would have allowed far usable space. Landscape architects of the future must weigh in the detrimental effects of tired means of human transit, and look to smarter options for humans to move themselves about an environment.
Author: bushe
