Looking at inclusion in London

A student midway through their Master’s course in Landscape Architecture at UCL reflects on the accessibility of the capital.

Zhe Ji, UCL

I came to London for the first time last September. With curiosity, I went out for a walk almost every day after class to explore the city. Many times I walked for over an hour without it feeling boring or monotonous – the combination of old and new in London’s historic urban environments is appealing. Some old buildings retained their original facades, with interior functions changed. Specifically in the area of Bank, a few newly constructed buildings are standing among the historical architecture and, although relatively modern on their own, do not look out of place overall.

The streets of London are relatively narrow and constantly change their orientations. The materials on the ground are not set in stone – times uneven bricks. As a newcomer to London, the process of going up and down and changing directions continuously along the way can be a bit disorienting, but the whole process of exploration can be enjoyable. When the long-awaited sunlight seeps through the leaves of the trees along the roadside, when the pigeons fly overhead, when the wind near the Thames touches my face, I can always feel the significance of landscape to a city and human well-being. On my first visit to Greenwich, looking towards Canary Wharf with my feet on the meridian, the landscape of the Greenwich Park really impressed me. To design a park during my undergraduate course, we normally make spatial division first based on different functional demands.

However, the undefined lawns in the Greenwich Park can also attract many people to enjoy nature and decide for themselves what they can do there. Coincidentally, my first design project at UCL was also a park design. Initially, I did very complex functional planning, but then my tutor suggested that I pay more attention to designing the rivers, roads, topography, and plantings in the park.

View from the top of Greenwich Park

© Zhe Ji

As an inclusive city, London is already user-friendly in many aspects, but I wonder whether the green spaces could give more care to people with disabilities. Jade Eco Park, located in Taichong, China, incorporates a computational fluid dynamics model, using humidity, temperature, and many indicators to design the whole space. This project minimises the visual impact to the greatest extent, allowing people to experience the difference between various areas with their eyes closed. Visually impaired people may feel more welcomed when everyone in the park enjoys nature without sight. Therefore, the use of multi-sensory may contribute to a more inclusive landscape design in the future.

Zhe Ji is a student studying on the MLA Landscape Architecture at UCL. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in Urban and Rural Planning in Hebei University of Technology in China.