Restorative Commons: Creating Health and Well-Being Through Urban Landscapes

Offers a starting point for a multidisciplinary understanding of Restorative Commons. Focuses on open space and its interface with the built environment. Considers sites restorative if they contribute to the health and well-being of individuals, communities, and the landscape. Individual health includes physical, mental, emotional, and social health.  Community health is considered in terms of rights, empowerment, and neighborhood efficacy, and landscape health is measured by ecosystem function and resilience, all of which act together in a complex web of relationships.

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Table of Contents:

1              Foreword

                 Oliver Sacks

5              Preface and Acknowledgments

11           Introduction

                 Lindsay Campbell and Anne Wiesen

Theory:

26           Landscape Designers, Doctors, and the Making of Healthy                          

                 Urban Spaces in 19th Century America

                 Robert Martensen

38           Biophilia, Health, and Well-being

                 Judith Heerwagen

58           Cultivating Resilience: Urban Stewardship as a Means

                 to Improving Health and Well-being

                 Erika Svendsen

                 Photography by Steffi Graham

Thought Pieces:

90           Re-Naturing the City:

                 A Role for Sustainable Infrastructure and Buildings

                 Hillary Brown

96           Urban Gardens: Catalysts for Restorative

                 Commons Infrastructure

                 John Seitz

Case Studies:

110         Creating Restorative Settings:

                 Inclusive Design Considerations

                 Elizabeth and Nona Evans Restorative Garden, Cleveland, OH                   

                 David Kamp

122         The Benefits of Community-Managed Open Space:

                 Community Gardening in New York City

                 NYC Department of Parks and Recreation

                 GreenThumb Program, New York, NY

                 Edie Stone

138         Environmental and Community Health:

                 A Reciprocal Relationship

                 Fresh Kills Park, Staten Island, NY

                 Jeffery Sugarman

154         From Front Yards to Street Corners:

                 Revitalizing Neighborhoods through

                 Community-Based Land Stewardship                                     

 Urban Resources Initiative, New Haven, CT

                 Colleen Murphy-Dunning

164         Creative Uncertainty

                 Monroe Center for the Arts, Hoboken, NJ

                 Victoria Marshall and Dil Hoda

178         Restoring Lives, Transforming Landscapes:

                 GreenHouse Program at Rikers Island Jail, New York, NY

                 James Jiler

188         Memoryscape

                 The Brian Joseph Murphy Memorial Preservation Land,

                 Westfield, MA

                 Lindsay Campbell

Interviews:

202         Youth Empowerment through Urban Agriculture:

                 Red Hook Community Farm                                       

 Added Value, Brooklyn, NY       

                 Ian Marvy

216         Adapting the Botanical Garden into a Sustainable,

                 Multicultural Resource

                 Queens Botanic Garden, Flushing, NY

                 Susan Lacerte

232         The Re-Greening of Public Housing

                 New York City Housing Authority Garden and Greening Program,                           

                 New York, NY

                 Rob Bennaton

248         Gardens for Peace and Reconciliation

                 American Friends Service Committee, Bosnia-Herzegovina

                 Davorin Brdanovic

Appendices:

266         About the Editors

268         Meristem 2007 Forum Agenda

                 Restorative Commons for Community Health

270         Forum Participants

272         Contributor Biographies

Interviews:

202         Youth Empowerment through Urban Agriculture:

                 Red Hook Community Farm                                       

 Added Value, Brooklyn, NY       

                 Ian Marvy

216         Adapting the Botanical Garden into a Sustainable,

                 Multicultural Resource

                 Queens Botanic Garden, Flushing, NY

                 Susan Lacerte

232         The Re-Greening of Public Housing

                 New York City Housing Authority Garden and Greening Program,                           

                 New York, NY

                 Rob Bennaton

248         Gardens for Peace and Reconciliation

                 American Friends Service Committee, Bosnia-Herzegovina

                 Davorin Brdanovic

Appendices:

266         About the Editors

268         Meristem 2007 Forum Agenda

                 Restorative Commons for Community Health

270         Forum Participants

272         Contributor Biographies

Target audience are people living in urban neighborhoods, where community urban gardens should create opportunities for social engagement, economic empowerment, nature access, and stewardship. The gardens are community-driven, ecologically sustainable, and answer the very human impulse to seek and create beauty in our everyday surroundings. The gardens are a primary foundation for a resilient community and psychological well-being.