Design Visioning: Interplay of Nature-based Solutions in a Sustainable Design Framework for Future Productive Landscape Community Planning and Design of Wuhan Peri-urban Region

Abstract

The impact of Wuhan’s urbanization leads to degradation of the natural peri-urban landscape where the shift from green and blue areas and farmlands to monocultural gated communities results in water management and food security issues. Sponge City initiatives are promoted to alleviate water quantity and quality challenges in urban environments; however, this approach is absent in peri-urban areas. Furthermore, the lack of a framework to support landscape planning and design to preserve local productive landscape communities in Wuhan peri-urban areas is a gap that urgently needs to be addressed. To overcome the limitations of Sponge City initiatives, this study introduces Nature-based Solutions (NbS) as an umbrella concept to encourage holistic approaches that could inform a new design framework for peri-urban development. The study aims to formulate a sustainable design framework for productive landscape community design in peri-urban regions. The framework categorizes NbS by types and its applications that are interconnected to the food system framework and the utilization of the landscapes. In conclusion, the interplay of NbS in the framework demonstrates the design solutions that apply theoretical insights into landscape design and planning. With the Research Through Design approach, a new construct of innovative future vision for Wuhan’s peri-urban development is proposed.