Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
It was not a one-off project by any means but a new approach to mediat-
ing the tensions between humans and nature in the city through creative
engineering intervention. The subsequent projects were selected not only
for their potential to upgrade existing infrastructure networks but also
their promise for improving the biological integrity of downstream wa-
terways. 65 Furthermore, the NDS approach represented a signifi cant shift
in the governance of urban nature with design and public involvement as
central components.
The Grid and the Swale: The High Point Redevelopment
Three of the subsequent NDS projects—110th Cascade, Broadview Green
Grid, and Pinehurst Green Grid—are similar to SEA Street in their focus
on reorienting public rights-of-way in residential neighborhoods, but they
expanded the model to include larger areas. Two of the projects are in the
Piper's Creek watershed and the third is located just east in the Thornton
Creek Watershed; all are in areas with ditch-and-culvert drainage networks
and are justifi ed as infrastructure upgrades. The fourth project, the High
Point Redevelopment, is much more ambitious in scale and represents a
signifi cant departure from the other projects.
The High Point Redevelopment project is a complete redevelopment of
a 129-acre site in the Longfellow Creek watershed of West Seattle. High
Point was originally built in 1942 as temporary housing for workers in
the burgeoning local war economy and in 1952 was converted into a
716-unit public housing development owned and managed by the Seattle
Housing Authority (SHA). In the early 2000s, SHA decided to redevelop
the community and initiated a master planning process to create a walk-
able, multiuse, New Urbanist neighborhood with modest green building
strategies. 66 As luck would have it, SPU staff members were just coming
off their initial success with SEA Street and were looking for an oppor-
tunity to scale up their approach to a larger project. They saw the High
Point Redevelopment, encompassing almost 10 percent of the Longfellow
Creek watershed, as an ideal opportunity and approached SHA about a
possible collaboration.
SHA agreed to incorporate the NDS approach at High Point under three
conditions. First, SPU would pay the difference between the conventional
drainage network cost and the upgraded NDS network. SPU was willing to
pay for this performance upgrade because it would partially fulfi ll the goals
of the Urban Creek Legacy Program for Longfellow Creek and would serve
as another example of the effi cacy of the NDS approach. Second, SHA
Search WWH ::




Custom Search