Australian landscape architecture in China

Urbanisation of the Chinese landscape continues at a great pace. Landscape architecture is only a newly recognized profession here, in contemporary practice terms at least, but our expertise is in great demand. However only some Australian companies and a few Australian expats have managed to overcome the complexities of working in the Chinese context. It is worthwhile knowing how some of these individuals reflect on working in China and what they consider to be our strongest areas of expertise here.

Networked aquatic microbial observing systems: An overview

-

Detailed landscape plan for the North section of the Bailang River north of Jiqing Highway, Weifang

International practice-led design research in landscape architecture has identified wetland sites as highly significant and potentially fragile environments in many countries. China has considerable wetland acreage that has been drained and transformed into farmland to address local poverty of farmers. An important gap in knowledge exists as to how to design Chinese public open spaces to reduce water contamination, flood severity and loss of farmland for local villagers as urban development expands. This project responded to the opportunity of introducing a new type of wetland design to Stage 3 of the Bailang River Redevelopment, Weifang City, Shandong Province. The work proposed a range of wetland design innovations for Chinese wetland environments to encourage on-site solutions to contamination and flooding problems.

Xiamen Hai Cang tourism project : landscape planning and design of five islands

International practice-led design research in landscape architecture has identified the need for addressing the loss of biodiversity in urban environments. China has lost much of its biodiversity in rural and urban environments over thousands of years. However some Chinese cities have attempted to conserve what remains and enhance existing vegetation communities in isolated pockets. Island biogeography has been used as the basis for planning and designing landscapes in Australia and North America but not as yet in China, as far as we know. A gap in landscape design knowledge exists regarding how to apply landscape ecology concepts to urban islands of remaining biodiversity being developed for heavy Chinese domestic tourism impacts in the future. This project responded to the demands for harbour-side tourism opportunities in Xiamen City, Fujian Province, by proposing a range of eco-design innovations using concepts of patch, edge and interior to interconnect people and nature in a Chinese setting.

Stage 1 of the Yueyang Urban Water System Project: Landscape planning and design of Wangjia River

Chinese landscape architects are largely focused on objective practical solutions to environmental problems. In the West, theoretical landscape knowledge is largely conceptual and abstract. This research debated how Australian ecological concepts could or should be transposed to Chinese landscapes. This project responded to severe water and soil pollution issues in the estuarine and riparian zones of rivers flowing into Dongting Lake, in Yueyang City, Hunan Province. This work proposed a range of waterfront design innovations that challenged the notion of corridor as habitat, filter, barrier and conduit in a Chinese riparian context.

Shijiazhuang ecological landscape planning and design comprehensive improvement program for the Hutuo River

International practice-led design research in landscape architecture has identified water quality and water availability as two of the most important environmental issues in developing countries. China is particularly focused on improving water supplies for its rural and urban populations. However a significant gap in knowledge exists between urban planning and environmental engineering in China as to how to design Chinese public open spaces to reduce water pollution in urban rivers. This project responded to traditional zoning methods in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, by proposing a range of water sensitive design innovations from lake construction to planting design to modify standardised engineering solutions in a Chinese context.

Reconnecting the interrupted landscape : a cultural landscape approach to Australian open-cut coal mining landscapes

In the late 20th century, a value-shift began to influence political thinking, recognising the need for environmentally, socially and culturally sustainable resource development. This shift entailed moves away from thinking of nature and culture as separate entities - The former existing merely to serve the latter. Cultural landscape theory recognises 'nature' as at once both 'natural', and as a 'cultural' construct. As such it may offer a framework through which to progress in the quest for 'sustainable development'. This 2005 Masters thesis makes a contribution to that quest by asking whether contemporary developments in cultural landscape theory can contribute to rehabilitation strategies for Australian open-cut coal mining landscapes, an examplar resource development landscape. A thematic historial overview of landscape values and resource development in Australis post-1788, and a review of cultural landscape theory literature contribute to the formation of the theoretical framework: "reconnecting the interrupted landscape". The author then explores a possible application of this framework within the Australian open-cut coal mining landscape.

Dryness : the aesthetic condition of landscape design in Australia

Despite having a band of greenness around the edge, Australia is fundamentally a dry country. Australian vegetation has developed a high range of mechanisms to cope with the dryness, but after 200 years of white settlement, Australians still have not really come to terms with the real dryness of their country, and still exploit European paradigms that attempted to transplant European aesthetic conditions, greenness, to the brown land of Australia. Australia is going through serious water shortages that are still and will continue with the Greenhouse effect, to become a major factor in the location and extent of urbanisation, and also Australia's carrying capacity. While such aesthetic concerns might seem ornamental, until the population changes its attitude to the real condition of the country, it will keep using water and operating unsustainably. The design of the public landscape, however, offers the opportunity to contribute to changing people's aesthetic perception of the country, which might in turn help to redirect their water use practices. This essay develops a language for discussion dryness based around the experiences of water. After having developed this sensibility it then discusses a range of different approaches that landscape design in Australia has used to try to develop geographically appropriate design languages, including the Bush Garden and the Mediterranean Garden. It then discusses four design projects, one from the 1970's, the other three from the last five years that demonstrate what such an aesthetic might look like.

From bricks to clicks : hybrid commercial spaces in the landscape of early literacy and learning

In their quest for resources to support children’s early literacy learning and development, parents encounter and traverse different spaces in which discourses and artifacts are produced and circulated. This paper uses conceptual tools from the field of geosemiotics to examine some commercial spaces designed for parents and children which foreground preschool learning and development. Drawing on data generated in a wider study I discuss some of the ways in which the material and virtual commercial spaces of a transnational shopping mall company and an educational toy company operate as sites of encounter between discourses and artifacts about children’s early learning and parents of preschoolers. I consider how companies connect with and ‘situate’ people as parents and customers, and then offer pathways designed for parents to follow as they attempt to meet their very young children’s learning and development needs. I argue that these pathways are both material and ideological, and that are increasingly tending to lead parents to the online commercial spaces of the world wide web. I show how companies are using the online environment and hybrid offline and online spaces and flows to reinforce an image of themselves as authoritative brokers of childhood resources for parents that is highly valuable in a policy climate which foregrounds lifelong learning and school readiness.

The ecological approach to visual perception and the actor performance captured in the gaming landscape

The use of Performance Capture techniques in the creation of games that involve Motion Capture is a relatively new phenomenon. To date there is no prescribed methodology that prepares actors for the rigors of this new industry and as such there are many questions to be answered around how actors navigate these environments successfully when all available training and theoretical material is focused on performance for theatre and film. This article proposes that through a deployment of an Ecological Approach to Visual Perception we may begin to chart this territory for actors and begin to contend with the demands of performing for the motion captured gaming scenario.

Assessing genetic diversity in cultured aquatic species : the Sydney Rock Oyster (Saccostrea glomerata) stock improvement program as a model

Genetic variation is the resource animal breeders exploit in stock improvement programs. Both the process of selection and husbandry practices employed in aquaculture will erode genetic variation levels overtime, hence the critical resource can be lost and this may compromise future genetic gains in breeding programs. The amount of genetic variation in five lines of Sydney Rock Oyster (SRO) that had been selected for QX (Queensland unknown) disease resistance were examined and compared with that in a wild reference population using seven specific SRO microsatellite loci. The five selected lines had significantly lower levels of genetic diversity than did the wild reference population with allelic diversity declining approximately 80%, but impacts on heterozygosity per locus were less severe. Significant deficiencies in heterozygotes were detected at six of the seven loci in both mass selected lines and the wild reference population. Against this trend however, a significant excess of heterozygotes was recorded at three loci Sgo9, Sgo14 and Sgo21 in three QX disease resistant lines (#2, #5 and #13). All populations were significantly genetic differentiated from each other based on pairwise FST values. A neighbour joining tree based on DA genetic distances showed a clear separation between all culture and wild populations. Results of this study show clearly, that the impacts of the stock improvement program for SRO has significantly eroded natural levels of genetic variation in the culture lines. This could compromise long-term genetic gains and affect sustainability of the SRO breeding program over the long-term.

Methodology for evaluating the landscape character of Malaysian heritage urban river corridors

The effects of rapid development have increased pressures on these places exacerbated by the competition between two key industry sectors, commercial base and tourism development. This, in supplement with urbanisation and industrialisation, has posted a high demand for the uses of these spaces. The political scenario and lack of adaptation on ecological principles and public participations in its design approach have sparked stiff environmental, historical and cultural constraint towards its landscape character as well as the ecological system. Therefore, a holistic approach towards improving the landscape design process is extremely necessary to protect human well being, cultural, environmental and historical values of these places. Limited research also has been carried out to overcome this situation. This further has created an urgent need to explore better ways to improve the landscape design process of Malaysian heritage urban river corridor developments that encompass the needs and aspirations of the Malaysian multi-ethnic society without making any drastic changes to the landscape character of the rivers. This paper presents a methodology to develop an advanced Landscape Character Assessment (aLCA) framework for evaluating the landscape character of the places, derived from the perception of two keys yet oppositional stakeholders: urban design team and special interest public. The triangulation of subjectivist paradigm methodologies: the psychophysical approach; the psychological approach; and, the phenomenological approach will be employed. The outcome will be used to improve the present landscape design process for future development of these places. Unless a range of perspectives can be brought to bear on enhancing the form and function of their future development and management, urban river corridors in the Malaysian context will continue to decline.

A changing landscape : The mortgagee's power of sale in Queensland

In Australia, the extent of a mortgagee’s duty when exercising power of sale has long been the subject of conjecture. With the advent of the global financial crisis in the latter part of 2008, there has been some concern to ensure that the interests of mortgagors are adequately protected. In Queensland, concern of this type resulted in the enactment of the Property Law (Mortgagor Protection) Amendment Act 2008 (Qld). This amending legislation operates to both extend and strengthen the operation of s 85 of the Property Law Act 1974 (Qld) which regulates the mortgagee’s power of sale in Queensland. This article examines the impact of this amending legislation which was hastily introduced and passed by the Queensland Parliament without consultation and which introduces a level of prescription in relation to a sale under a prescribed mortgage which is without precedent elsewhere in Australia.