It’s not just planting a tree. 1
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Final Major Project Report Yin Yu Chen
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Is nature necessary for living in the urban environment?
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Introduction
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Final Output Development Brand Story Brand Concpet Brand Strategy Audience Analyse Brand Output
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Critical Reflection
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Conclusion
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Nowadays, with the expansion of city areas, numerous natural spaces have been transformed into a built environment. Urban planners faced tough decisions about where they stood, either protecting the natural resource or promoting economic growth (Campbell, 1996). Nature and city seemed to be two opposing concepts. Lately, however, preserving and building natural space in cities has gained the upper hand. The sustainable city has indeed become a tendency around the world. Elements of urban nature such as public parks, gardens, squares, cemeteries, and other informal green spaces are valued as more crucial and have become essential components for designing urban plans in global cities.
Nature, Human, City Since people have increasingly moved from natural to urban areas to pursue a higher quality of life, this phenomenon poses a question: “Is nature necessary for living in an urban environment?� If humans built cities to survive apart from the natural world, then the purpose of bringinig nature back into urban environments is confusing. Accordingly, this project aims to identify the role of nature in the urban environment and will focus on using the brand as a tool to explore the relationship between humans and nature in the urban environment. The goal of the brand is to provide the maximum benefits for city dwellers and help them improve their quality of life. 17
In this postmodern era, humans have become disconnected from nature because we enjoy the comfort and convenience of high technology. As nature disappears piece by piece in the cities, people ignore their bond to the natural world. Some people asked the question: “Do we still need nature in our daily lives?” However, evidence has shown that living without nature led to environmental, social, and health problems. Flooding, pollution, slum creation, crime, physical disease, mental illness and social isolation happens more frequently in urban areas.
People move to the city because they dream of a better life, but then lack the natural spaces needed for a high quality of life in that urban landscape.
Brand Story Why should people care?
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Nature could be a solution for these urban problems. It has a less tangible, but still critical impact on different aspects of a peron’s life. Since we all pursue a higher quality of life, nature should be a part of an individuals’ every day life. Therefore, the brand should inspire urban dwellers to coexist with nature. It endeavours to bring nature back to the urban environment and create a relationship between human, city and nature.
The brand is about passionate ideas aimed at creating a future where humans can coexist with nature in their cities. The brand should convey that nature can be a part of individuals’ every day life, for example, conveying the idea that living with nature is the new lifestyle for urban dwellers. This vision has led to a tree planting service being offered. The brand would provide urban dwellers with the guidance on selecting a tree species, which not only fits wtih the urban environment, but also reflects the connection between them and the tree. This particular tree serves a role in creating a the sense of place in the urban environment so that individuals can develop a sense of belonging in their community. Then, the service includes assisting the customers with planting their tree and providing information on aftercare. The participation through physical and mental investment brings people into a deeper level of experience, which creates a closer person-plant relationship. Most important of all, the brand also produces specially-designed tree grates with the customer’s name.
Concept What do I do?
The tree grates not only protect the tree roots and keep pedestrians from tripping, but also are a tangible object to link urban dwellers with their trees. By extending the city residents’ emotional tie from the tree to the space, people can enhance their place attachment to their living areas. It is not just planting a tree. It is creating a meaningful place to bring people together. It is an act that commits to putting down roots in the city for themselves and their families for the future.
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Vision The brand envisions a future where people coexist with nature in the main cities around the world. The vision holds that living with nature will become a new popular lifestyle. City dwellers should consider nature a part of their everyday lives. The brand inspires them to dream about their future and that of the next generations.
Mission The brand mission is to bring nature back to the urban environment and strengthen the relationship between humans and urban nature. It will help city residents understand that they are not alone, build their attachment to their living area, and create the urban community by shaping their sense of place.
Brand St Value
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Sustainability To make one’s lifestyle sustainable.
Inspiration To inspire city dwellers to pursue their dreams.
Connection To forge a meaningful connection between humans, nature, and the city.
Goodness To benefit individuals by benefiting the cities and benefit the cities by benefiting nature.
Essence Belonging to the city There are two layers of meaning in the brand core. The first one is that nature belongs to the city, and the second is that urban dwellers should develop a sense of belonging to the city. It is the purpose of the brand, which is to create a harmonious relationship between city, nature, and people.
Personality The brand is a caregiver. After accessing the brand, the audiences feel cared for, connected, empowered, and hopeful. Accordingly, the brand’s personality is welcoming, friendly, natural, and inspiring. The tone of voice sounds reliable, passionate, empowering, and approachable instead of judgemental, harsh, or forceful.
trategy
Who am I?
Positioning To urban dwellers, it is not only planting a tree. It is to create a bond between you, nature, and city. It supports you to put down the root in the city. Grow a family tree for your future.
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Audience A There are five types of city dwellers: the cosmopolites, the unmarried or childless, the ethnic villagers, the deprived, and the trapped (Rose, 1972). The cosmopolites and the unmarried are the target audiences. They are the dominant group in the cities. They live in the city to be near better amenities and special cultural facilities that can be only located near the centre of the city (Rose, 1972). They live in the city for seeking a better lifestyle.
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So the urban dwellers are likely to be younger than before. Almost half of the residents are aged between 20 and 29 in the large cities. For example, residents in London are mostly aged between 20 to 45. As residents are likely to be younger, the majority of city centre residents are single (Centre for Cities, 2015). Students are the leading group of residents in city centres. In large cities, students account for 44 percent of all urban residents, while employed residents consist of only 35 percent of the total.
Analyse Compared to large cities, London has the most significant share of employed residents, with 49 percent. Moreover, the urban dwellers are more highly educated. Over half of them have at least A-level or equivalent qualifications. Therefore, urban dwellers are also most likely to have highly skilled professional jobs. London, in particular, has 66 percent of residents who are managers or senior officials, professionals or associate professionals (Centre for Cities, 2015).
Who needs to know?
Furthermore, the share of immigrants is significantly higher in the cities. For example, central London has 45 percent international migrants of the total resident population (Centre for Cities, 2015). People of various ethnic and religious groups are more common in urban areas than rural areas. Consequently, the target audiences are young adults who are highly educated professionals and come from different cultural backgrounds. They value their lifestyles and want to pursue a better quality of life.
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It’s not just planting a tree. 24
How do they find out?
The brand does not have a name. The concept of the brand output focuses on its slogan: It is not just planting a tree. It creates a meaningful place for urban residents. The trees enhance the bond between humans, nature, and city. It turns the house into the home. It fosters the family and urban community from generation to generation. The brand supports city residents to achieve their own ambitious lifestyle goals. The brand output aims to deliver this profound purpose behind the tree. So, it endeavours to communicate the brand’s spirit, which is that a tree serves a role to create an essential place for the urban residents.
As a place is identified as an interaction of human activity with the physical environment, the tree turns some leaves into the word showing the activities occurring in people’s living areas. Each page represents human life and emotion at different times; for example, eating a slice of watermelon with kids in the summer, catching fireflies in jars at night, or having a barbeque party with neighbours. The book can be considered as communicating the individual’s life in this place or different peoples’ lives in this urban community. It inspires urban dwellers to imagine a future with the trees in their living areas.
The primary output is a book. It is a 360-degree book with a laser cutting of the typographic tree on all sheets. When the book is opened upright in 360-degree, it becomes a complete tree. Then the tree tells the story of the general life of the residents in this urban community.
Another output are the stencil boards for promotion. Because the target audience is young urban dwellers, promotion will be carried out through green, nonpermanent graffiti street advertising in the urban environment to attract their interests in the urban tree. Furthermore, the stencil board will also be used for projection. The typographic tree will be projected in the urban environment as a tree shadow in order to raise people’s awareness about the role of the tree in the urban community.
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Critical Reflection
This brand has the potential to develop further and eventually be implemented. As a service it already exists, so there is significant evidence to show that this concept has a positive effect on urban dwellers. SWOT and PESTE analysis1 has shown that it provides a realbenefit for both the individual and society. Some of these benefits include: pollution reduction, cooling ambient temperature,and making the environment aesthetically pleasing. It also fulfills ones personal needs, such as improving physical and mental health, as well as providing a place identity and sense of belonging. Green spaces can also increase property values and reduce healthcare and energy costs. Besides the personal benefits gained from urban tree planting, it also enhances community cohesion and has a positive impact on crime reduction. Overall, it improves the urban quality of life. According to biophilia theory, it is an innate desire of human beings to connect with nature. More people seem to appreciate the addition of green spaces in a city.It is an excellent time to help people appreciate the numerous benefits of urban trees. Therefore, it is a fabulous opportunity for this brand. However, the brand also faces some problems. Some people
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dislike urban trees because the leaves or fruit falling cause a mess or slippery surfaces, and the honeydew that is associated with some species forms a sticky layer on cars. Sometimes, people avoid trees because wide-girthed trees can block light or narrow footpaths for pedestrians. However, most of these problems can be overcome by choosing the right species of tree for the adequate location and maintaining proper tree management. Additionally, large urban trees are often misunderstood to be a cause of buildings subsidence and other risks. The perception of risk is far higher than the reality. The risk is minor in areas where the subsoil is not shrinkable clay. It is true that trees occasionally cause foundation movement to structures in built-up areas on clay soil, mostly during times of drought. This issue can be solved by following the relevant building standards and professional advice and will help to protect the buildings against the predicted effects of climate change, as well as from potential problems with tree roots. Moreover, although national and local policy now tends to encourage planting trees in urban areas, new development often makes it impossible to accommodate
larger trees because the layout has not been planned to support them. Especially in high-density developments, there may be less room for tree roots and canopies by design, as trees are often considered to be far less important than these other aspects of the development, and so are then left out. The solution to this problem might need the local council’s support. A tree strategy would help to ensure the importance of trees is recognised in the development process. Lastly, the brand is not an innovative service. On the positive side, people might accept the service more easily because they have a basic understanding of trees. On the contrary side, they might misunderstand the urban tree because the tree is often stereotyped as a symbol of wild nature. Also, the brand has to compete with other tree planting brands. Still, the brand focuses on the urban tree. Unlike the trees in the countryside, it has a distinct core value which is creating a meaningful place for urban residents to have a better life. Compared with other brands that are selling trees by promoting their benefits for the environment, this brand aims to fulfil urban residents’ most fundamental desire. It is more personal and could be the essential reason to win over other
brands. Therefore, it is crucial to communicate the brand’s spirit correctly by using its visual language to help the audience recognise the difference of the urban tree. However, the final concept is based on theory, and has not been tested on large target audiences. It may have some problems. For example, the leaves and grass in the images in the book may not show accurately the uniqueness of a real urban tree. Therefore, it would be beneficial to examine this further. If successful, this brand has countless opportunities to perform well.
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Visual Summary Page 158-160 33
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In summation, the project has proven that nature is necessary for an urban environment, and that human and nature can coexist in cities. Green areas help to solve many urban issues and provide many benefits to the city’scitizens. Among all the green infrastructures, the tree is the dominant part of the urban natural landscape and the most suitable element for people to create the connection between nature and urban area. It plays the essential role of creating a sense of belonging and fostering community cohesion. Although it will have to overcome weaknesses and threats, the brand overall has many positive influences on individuals living in the city.
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