Landscape Planning for a suburb can be tricky when considering the needs of people and plants.
The problem!
You are the lead town planner for a new suburb in western Sydney. In your town design, you must include the key components of a suburb, a large remnant of Cumberland Plain Woodland, and four smaller patches of remnant woodland vegetation. You must also consider the needs of the following stakeholders:
- The development company who want to maximise the number of people in the town
- The rangers who want to conserve and protect the Cumberland Plain Woodland
- The family of four who want to live in a nice area, and require a place to work, shops, schools and parks
Think!
Before you start design, think about the following questions:
- How can you plan around the existing vegetation? Remember, where the edges of bushland meet urban areas, they are exposed to weeds, feral predators, rubbish and fertiliser run-off.
- How can you minimise the impact people have on the edges of bushland?
- Whose interests will you prioritise the most?
- Are there any features of your own town that you will exclude?
Plan!
Create a draft of your town plan using the grid. First, create symbols for each feature of your town - e.g. houses, bushland, schools, roads, etc. Record these symbols in the legend.
Next, use your symbols to draw a bird’s-eye view of your town on the grid.
Produce!
Create your final town plan. You may choose to use the same grid template, build your town using materials, or digitally create your town using 3D-design software or programs such as Minecraft! The choice is yours!
Pitch!
Write a ‘marketing pitch’ of your town plan to the ‘local council’ (the class). Back up your decisions by explaining how you have catered your designs for each stakeholder.
