Zoos and Landscape Performance

• Landscape performance research

The role of zoos have evolved over the centuries to become complex spaces that blend natural and built landscapes, property operations, and institutional goals. As public institutions, they are redefining their purpose to focus less on entertainment and more on conservation, species protection, and education. How do zoo landscapes support the key roles and functions that zoos have within society and for the environment, and how does their design achieve their institutional goals?

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Landscape Performance and Aesthetics: Lessons Learned from a Career

• Landscape performance research
• Post-occupancy evaluation

Ron Koudys, FASLA, FCSLA, is a landscape architect in London, Ontario and founder of Ron Koudys Landscape Architects, Inc., a practice with projects in southern Ontario and further afield in the United States, the Caribbean, and the United Kingdom. Ron is currently pursuing a Doctor of Design at the University of Calgary, which he sees as an opportunity to reflect on past projects and attempt to capture the essence of what has been accomplished over the course of his career.

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Performance of Forests: WRI’s Better Forests, Better Cities Report

• Landscape performance research

The Better Forests, Better Cities report developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI) is a compelling compilation of the many benefits offered to cities by inner forests (within cities), nearby forests (in the watersheds surrounding cities), and faraway forests (remote and far outside city boundaries).

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Evaluating Urban Trail Needs

by Kelly Mathiesen, SWA Group

• Landscape performance research

Each year, SWA Group awards the firm’s Patrick T. Curran Fellowship to employees who look to challenge thinking in the landscape architecture profession and provide tools and resources for the firm and industry. Landscape designer and 2021 Curran Fellow Kelly Mathiesen took a landscape performance approach, looking at which elements are important in creating successful urban trails for runners and cyclists and how the rise of these recreational communities will affect the future of trail design.

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Vibrant Cities Lab: Urban Forestry Research and Resources

by Lauren Marshall, US Forest Service

• Landscape performance research
• Tools and calculators

Decades of research show that urban forests improve health and quality of life and deliver measurable economic benefits. Yet trees are often an afterthought because many decision makers aren’t aware of these multiple benefits. 

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