Green Urban Design

The Institute participated in development of a Metro sponsored Greenstreets Handbook which provides transportation planners with design guidelines that will reduce the negative impacts of stormwater on wetlands, streams and rivers; improve the aesthetics of the transportation system; and assist in recharging the water table.

The Institute works with architects, landscape architects, parks and greenspace planners, and stormwater management agencies to promote better integration of the built and natural environments in Portland and the metropolitan region. The Institute is represented on advisory committees at the local and regional levels where policies related to green urban design are established. We also co-lead field tours with the Audubon Society of Portland’s Wild in the City field trip series, and conduct workshops to bring together design professionals and the public to promote green urban design.

Retrofit infiltration cells such as these on SW 12th Avenue on the west side of the Portland State University campus take stormwater that would otherwise wind up in the city’s stormwater system and, instead, infiltrates significant amounts of urban runoff into the ground, thereby relieving the stormwater system of potentially billions of gallons of stormwater capacity and recharging the water table

Curb extensions such as this one on NE Siskiyou Street allow for infiltration of stormwater that would otherwise end up in pipes, while also provide traffic calming and small greenspaces to the neighborhood.

"Fifth Principle of Urban Design: Build lighter, greener, smarter, cheaper. Every dollar spent on pavement creates one dollar's worth of damage to the environment."

-- Patrick Condon, University of British Columbia
Chair, Landscape and Livable Environments