Ecological urbanism is a productive approach to city development that emphasizes environmental systems both as structuring mechanisms for urban form, and as environmental, social and economic resources. This studio explored an environmental design practice that focused on the expansion of social and environmental justice through the development of interventions in the North Saint Louis Harlem watershed.

Rigorous analytical methodologies structured by the concept of ecological urbanism were deployed to develop site-specific, environmentally just interventions within the Harlem watershed. The results of this studio were shared with the City of St Louis to feed directly into the wider research currently being undertaken by their Urban Ecology and Vitality Initiative (UEV).

The UEV is a group of organizations, institutions and individuals who have been brought together to assist in the development of pilot projects, a City of St Louis biodiversity atlas and a natural resource inventory and analysis. This loose confederation of experts includes faculty from Wash U’s master of landscape architecture and environmental studies group.

The studio engaged in research-by-design methodologies to explore opportunities for the design of ecological and public open space networks. Additionally, it identified key locations for re-investment through the strategic re-intensification of the urban fabric. Results of this studio were fed back into UEV’s wider research initiatives.