How regenerative urban design transforms spaces for people and the planet

Regenerative design is hardly a novel concept, but it has remained a fringe practice compared to the popularity of sustainability. While it can be traced back to Indigenous cultures around the world, a contemporary version of the concept is gaining traction as a holistic approach to move beyond net-zero to net-positive urbanism.

Organizations like the US Green Building Council recently published five key design principles for regenerative building: ecosystem-centric, social well-being, prosperity, circularity, and disassembly. Global companies such as Arup, Holcim and DIALOG have concurrently developed similar principles and case studies on leading-edge ReGen projects – and not a moment too soon.

The “do no harm” approach is no longer enough and hasn’t been for some time. What’s more, the ongoing degradation of the environment is compounded by multiple converging crises: widening inequality, social isolation, community displacements, to name a few. We are in the midst of a poly-crisis that requires a robust systems approach to locally driven regenerative urbanism.

Of critical importance is firstly to avoid the mistakes of the recent past when sustainability was promulgated as a holistic methodology but often got captured by tech-focused environmental solutions. Secondly, overstating the impact of a single building will inevitably backfire, given that one project will rarely if ever be 100% regenerative across environmental, social and economic outcomes.

A better framing might be, does the regenerative design project act as a catalyst for more broadly-based regenerative urbanism? This approach considers the importance of scale across time and place. Ecosystems operate at the scale of watersheds. Social and cultural dynamics are the result of long histories and far-reaching factors. Local economic patterns are influenced by regional and global ones. Cities are extremely complex organisms that create their own unique ecosystems. By recognizing these interdependencies, it is also possible to draw from their strengths:

We have seen the positive reinforcement effect of regenerative urbanism through our work in Calgary, the largest city in Alberta, Canada. Setting the stage at the outset was a master planning process for University District on the edge of the University of Calgary campus. The masterplan enabled the transformation of a sparsely populated area into a diverse, vibrant, walkable mixed-use community – the first plan of its scale to achieve LEED-ND Platinum certification in Canada. Notably, the University District development reversed a decades-long trend of suburban sprawl, enabling a new “heart” in the northwest quadrant of the city to take shape while providing the necessary critical mass for transit, cultural amenities, and economic vibrancy.

The initial buildout of University District overlapped with the largest renovation project undertaken on the nearby University of Calgary campus: the redevelopment of MacKimmie tower, a 1970s-era building that sat empty for more than a decade. A deep retrofit left the concrete shell in place, preventing 8,500 tonnes of carbon from ending up in a landfill. Despite the extreme climate conditions, the building achieved a zero carbon design certification from the Canada Green Building Council, largely due to the “breathing” double façade that interacts dynamically with the environment and proactively regulates heating, cooling, and natural ventilation. While this is clearly important for the environment and the people who benefit from a healthy and comfortable indoor climate, the truly regenerative aspect of the project is the restoration of the heart of the campus from an underutilized zone into a vibrant social hub that has become a powerful teaching tool for the University and the city at large.

Across a thoroughfare from the University of Calgary campus is the recently opened Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre. The complex program for one of the largest cancer centres in North America is designed to support world class research and optimize health, wellness, and recovery. A large central courtyard provides patients with year-round access to a therapeutic outdoor space while flooding indoor common areas with natural light. To foster a sense of place for cancer patients going through a difficult journey, the building orientation prioritizes uninterrupted views of the downtown skyline or nearby mountains from patient rooms within the tower. While many other health and healing elements are embedded throughout, the site is also a catalyst for healing the urban fabric. Built on a former parking lot, the regenerative urban design features native species as well active, multi-modal transit.

To be truly effective, regenerative design and urbanism must consider the following:

The 21^st century poly-crises we face today are not that different from the conditions that historical figures were responding to in the past. Cholera outbreaks in London between 1846-1860 caused the British physician John Snow to map out urban infrastructure and the impact on public health, eventually leading to the establishment of a new paradigm in urban planning.

The Scottish polymath Patrick Geddes developed a holistic theory of cities in the late 19^th century. In response to the unwelcome effects he observed, he conceived an approach to regional planning based on the integration of flora, fauna, climate and topography, as well as social and economic considerations.

Learning lessons from the past about rapid urbanization, ecological and social disruption and widening inequality, it should come as no surprise that holistic, integrated solutions continue to be relevant today.

DIALOG is a member of the Davos Baukultur Alliance. This Alliance unites public and private sector stakeholders around a shared set of principles to improve the quality of our living environments and quality of urban life.