Bio-Corridors: Linking Habitats For Ecological Connect

Shaurya Singh

UR3005

The project redesigns the inner street networks to connect disparate ecological and productive ensembles into continuous biodiverse corridors. Gandhinagar has approximately 40% under green cover. The study attempts to club these lands under different ensembles such as Forest, Park, Planned, Agricultural, and Wilderness. Mapping these revealed they are fragmented and sparsely distributed. The project thus redesigns street networks to connect disparate ecological and productive ensembles into continuous biodiverse corridor systems. The tertiary streets are proposed to become six continuous green filaments connecting peripheral ecological ensembles to the city center while Introducing various bio-retention strategies on streets. This is achieved by continuous medians and bioswales/rain gardens. The Primary streets are for people to engage with biodiversity, The city ring road becomes a green buffer for pollution control, and green thickets on adjacent lots are identified for conservation. These strategies at the city scale will build a continuous habitat, introduce a larger range of survival, provide food for fauna, enable water percolation, and reduce the urban heat island effect while contributing towards ecosystem services and climate change. Click here for an extended Portfolio.

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Gandhinagar has majority of the city area under public domain, out of which 40% consists of green cover. What green means is defined by land attributes such as its use, planting and management. The study then attempts to clubs these lands under different ensembles. Mapping them revealed that they are fragmented, sparsely distributed. Considering this, the project aims to reconnect the different ensembles through streets into a continuous biodiverse corridor.

The layers of landscape evident from gandhinagar are an integral strategy for the green filament. All species of this layered landscape will heavily contribute in hosting and sustaining various forms of life on streets and in the proposed bio-diverse pockets.

Following the planting strategy from the previous slide, several bio-retention strategies have been introduced for primary streets, R.O.W of 100 mt, 85 mt and 65mt. Bio-swales, green medians and rain gardens act as permeable surfaces for water percolation while a continuous sidewalk and bicycle-lane network hosts the pedestrians and cyclists.

The inner streets of all sectors are re-designed to become six continuous bio-corridors in SE- NW direction, connecting the larger ecological ensembles in the periphery of the city. One part of which is demonstrated for Sector 4 where streets of 20mt, 13mt, and 10mt are redesigned to connect and host biodiversity. This is done through a continuous green network introduced on streets primarily with medians and bioswales. Besides the green cover, all streets have a proposed footpath and Identified green thickets on adjacent lots for conservation.

The above drawing addresses the landscape character developed for the dense tertiary filament that brings and hosts biodiversity from the ecological ensembles from the city periphery. Storm water management, bio-retension elements, incentives for residents to include green buffers, porous concrete roads, strategic placement for under-street services and materiality of elements are the major proposals that together contribute towards a bio-diverse corridor. This tertiary street network strongly discourages the movement of vehicular traffic, where they are only permitted during emergencies. The street however supports pedestrians and bicyclists, this will reduce the hustle making the tertiary streets to be more dense and calm for fauna to move and navigate their way into the city fabric. A continuous sidewalk runs while also opening up access to all public lands. The thicket marked on the adjacent plots will fall under preserved green cover.

The bio-corridors will provide a habitat for biodiversity but it also supports and accelerates endless ecosystem services for humans while also providing other social, cultural, environmental and economical perks of being associated with streets and neighborhoods that have preserved and conserved the rich landscape of native flora and fauna. Some of these benefits are shown in a conceptual storyboard above.

Cultivating a dense landscape is not an overnight process, therefore the above policies and phasing strategies shall contribute towards a smooth run in achieving a bio-diverse corridor. Different conditions such as re-wilding the tree plantation areas, cultivating vacant plots and re-development of streets as green corridors are addressed and a suitable phasing plan is proposed for each.

Seasonal Changes on Street of R.O.W 10 mt: Autumn The biodiversity that thrives in swales and other bio-retension methods will undergo seasonal changes that will be evident with a drastic change in street characters and fauna behavior including the relationship of humans with the ever-changing landscape. Seasonal Changes on Street of R.O.W 10 mt: Monsoon With a change of season the biodiversity will thrive and take over streets, giving nesting and breeding habitats to a plethora of fauna while also providing opportunities for humans to engage with landscape. The monsoon might also invite various migratory species beneficial for eco-system services while maintaining and supporting a healthy food-chain.

Analyzing the above native species for a brief study revolving around the species’s maintenance, blooming season, water requirements, sunlight requirements, flowering color, foliage size and other characters.

Envisioning the future once the bio-corridors are introduced…