Corridors for change: Exploring a multifunctional corridor concept for climate change mitigation, adaptation, and justice in Iowa

Thumbnail Image
Date
2021-01-01
Authors
Shoemaker, Carissa
Major Professor
Carl Rogers
Mimi Wagner
Advisor
Committee Member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Authors
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Organizational Unit
Landscape Architecture
Landscape Architecture is an environmental design discipline. Landscape architects actively shape the human environment: they map, interpret, imagine, draw, build, conceptualize, synthesize, and project ideas that transform landscapes. The design process involves creative expression that derives from an understanding of the context of site (or landscape) ecosystems, cultural frameworks, functional systems, and social dynamics. Students in our program learn to change the world around them by re-imagining and re-shaping the landscape to enhance its aesthetic and functional dimensions, ecological health, cultural significance, and social relevance. The Department of Landscape Architecture was established as a department in the Division of Agriculture in 1929. In 1975, the department's name was changed to the Department of Landscape Architecture and Community Planning. In 1978, community planning was spun off from the department, and the Department of Landscape Architecture became part of the newly established College of Design. Dates of Existence: 1929–present
Journal Issue
Is Version Of
Versions
Series
Department
Landscape Architecture
Abstract

Corridors are usually designed for a specific function, yet are inherently multifunctional. These additional services are sometimes listed as co-benefits, but are rarely planned in the United States, nor are they leveraged to build cross-disciplinary teams, appeal to more diverse stakeholders, secure additional funding, or connect with local initiatives. If corridors were billed as vital infrastructure, if they were valued for their ecosystem services and contributions to climate change mitigation and adaptation, perhaps they would be easier to implement. This is especially true of areas where the dominant catalysts for corridors—wildlife and recreation—aren't as salient. In Iowa, for example, a state physically and politically dominated by agriculture, anything that occupies otherwise productive land is a hard sell. The following StoryMap asks what would happen if we were to bolster Iowa's de facto corridors, starting with rivers. Could this modest transformation pave the way to more resilient landscapes, economies, and communities?

Comments
Description
Keywords
Citation
DOI
Copyright
Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 UTC 2021