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Resilience in Ecology and Urban Design pp 269–287Cite as

Storyline and Design: How Civic Stewardship Shapes Urban Design in New York City

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Part of the book series: Future City ((FUCI,volume 3))

Abstract

Urban environmental stewardship groups are examined in an effort to better understand how organizations to respond to a change across the urban landscape. Urban design and storyline are explored as a discursive strategy to advance urban planning in New York City. The first case features a greenway project in Brooklyn where neighbors united with local government to reclaim waterfront access. The second case involves Manhattan’s High Line Park, and, demonstrates how industrial era design is reinvented through art and nature. The last case centers upon the South Bronx and how charismatic leaders championed the cause of social justice using urban design and a unique storyline. The chapter concludes that the adaptive and resilient capacity of stewardship groups depends upon a repertoire of actions that includes the deliberate use of urban design and a clear project narrative, or storyline, that centers upon a particular interpretation of the natural world.

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Acknowledgements

All interviews were conducted over the course of 3 years from 2007 to 2009 by the author as part of her dissertation, “Civic Environmental Stewardship as a Form of Governance in New York City,” Columbia University, October 2012.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. USDA Forest Service, New York, NY, USA

    Erika S. Svendsen

Authors
  1. Erika S. Svendsen
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Correspondence to Erika S. Svendsen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Sharon Turnpike 2801, Millbrook, 12545-0129, New York, USA

    S.T.A. Pickett

  2. , Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Shields Avenue 1, Davis, 95616, California, USA

    M.L. Cadenasso

  3. , Sch Constructed Environments, Parsons the New School for Design, East 13th Street 25, New York, 10011, New York, USA

    Brian McGrath

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Svendsen, E.S. (2013). Storyline and Design: How Civic Stewardship Shapes Urban Design in New York City. In: Pickett, S., Cadenasso, M., McGrath, B. (eds) Resilience in Ecology and Urban Design. Future City, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5341-9_13

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