Contemporary Landscape Performance Methods and Techniques: Lessons from the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center (Routledge Research in Landscape and Environmental Design)

This book defines, illustrates, applies, and explores current and future tools and methods for measuring landscape performance using the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center (HANC) as a case site, providing the most extensive, comprehensive description and application of existing landscape performance tools in the current literature to date. Landscape performance is a measure of the effectiveness with which landscape solutions fulfill their intended purpose and contribute to sustainability.The design of the HANC is a prime case for measuring landscape performance as the site has undergone a pervasive transformation of its 65-acre core as an initial phase of improvements.The massive six-year effort has reconfigured arrival, circulation, and parking, developed new educational facilities, constructed a network of walks and trails, and established sustainable ecologies of prairie, savannah, riparian woods, and upland woods across the northern half of its property.This book uses landscape pe