Resilient Operation System for Large Parks

Abstract

Urban large parks are the ecological places that affect to urban ecology and are affected by urban ecology. At the same time, these places perform societal role and receive various actions. In this way, large parks where complex integration of ecological and social processes raises need interdisciplinary and integrated thinking from planning to management. This research explores the concept of resilience in the field of landscape architecture, and suggests new park operation management system to work social and ecological process simultaneously. Landscape architecture has tried to harmonize among ecology, aesthetics, and humans in the park. However, landscape architects have often met boundaries to integrate these three elements. Such limitations proceed from perspective that distinguishes between domain of ecology and human activities including aesthetics. Such separate thinking exposes limitations and problems in not only landscape architecture but also many other academic fields. And, to surpass the limitations, there are some movements that require interdisciplinary new thinking. Social-ecological system explains the need of new system combined ecology and society. This integrated system stresses that since ecosystem is not isolated but always related with human society, separated thinking causes many problems and meets boundaries, at last. Social-ecological system that requires interdisciplinary integration could be realized through the concept of resilience that changes conventional perspectives. According to C. S. Holling, who introduces the concept of resilience, points out holes of existing view on ecosystem, and calls for conversion of view through new concept. He said that existing stability view understands ecosystem as equilibrium and predictable states. It focuses on maintaining these stable conditions. On the other hand, resilience view that has very different approaches comparing with stability view gives heeds to the element's attraction than the element itself and the need for maintaining attraction. This new view understands the ecosystem as a complex and unpredictable system. Resilience as social-ecological system emphasizes the world we live is closely connected with each other. In other words, when we see the system surrounding us as the one big, and do not handle each factor of society or ecology separately, we could understand each factor correctly. It was not until that time that sustainability could be realized. Resilience that draws integration of social and ecological processes through change in the mindset has great implications for landscape architecture. This new concept evokes importance of considering incorporations of society and ecology in planning, design, and management phases. These two factors have been handled in landscape architecture. However, up to now, this integration is just used rhetorically for concept setting up or concept development. Rather, it has been divided in phase of space zoning and organizing programs. Especially, in management phase, various problems have been occurred because society and ecology is managed individually. This thesis redefines the concept of resilience in landscape architecture, and sets up elements of both society and ecosystem of large parks. I suggest new operational system, the panarchic system, for large parks. This system helps us to consider both social and ecological process at the same time from planning to management phases of parks. It shows unstable cycles suggesting directions based on social-ecological resilience elements. These irregular cycle loops show that feedback in management phase goes back to the planning or design process in comparison with existing inflexible top-down system. This back loop in panarchic system is resilient movement that follows unpredictable ecosystem, not repeat caused by system's failure. Furthermore, it emphasizes the roles of experts and leaders in each phases. In planning phase, they will gather knowledge of interdisciplinary. In design phase, they will transform gathered informations to fit on the site. In management phase, they will perform regular monitoring and feedback to adapt to unexpected situations. To verify panarchic system, it is applied to Seoul Forest Park that has most resilience elements among large parks in Seoul City. Through panarchic system, obstructive factors to park resilience are found. First, there is separation phenomenon of social-ecological system in several parts. With the separation in the phase of planning and design, separation in operation management of ecological and cultural program makes both ecological problems and ineffective management. Second, there are defective relationships between management institutions. Seoul Forest Park has been managed by two institutions, Seoul Metropolitan Government and Seoul Forest Conservancy. Relationships of two groups have greatly impact on park resilience. However, Seoul Forest Park shows top-down structure that is hard to have feedback between management institutions. Also, there are no legal methods or stipulations for mutual communications between them.