Title: Contemporary Landscape Performance Methods and Techniques: Lessons from the
Houston Arboretum and Nature Center
This book presents a comprehensive framework for integrating landscape performance
into evidence-based landscape architecture practice. Using the redesign of the Houston
Arboretum and Nature Center (HANC) as a case study, it demonstrates innovative methods
for measuring the environmental, social, and economic outcomes of landscape projects.
The book documents the transformation of HANC's 65-acre core following extensive ecological
damage from hurricanes, drought, and other natural disturbances. Through quantitative
and qualitative performance evaluation methods, it assesses outcomes such as biodiversity
enhancement, stormwater management, urban heat mitigation, visitor experience, public
health, and economic impacts. The volume also introduces emerging tools and methodologies
that provide practitioners, researchers, and students with practical guidance for
conducting landscape performance assessments.
By bridging design and scientific evaluation, the book advances landscape architecture
as an evidence-based discipline and promotes performance-driven decision-making for
resilient, sustainable, and equitable landscapes. The methodologies presented offer
a replicable framework that can be applied to future projects, supporting the profession's
growing emphasis on measurable design outcomes and landscape performance.
Landscape Architecture
-
Address
Weeks Hall, 1398 University Ave, Lubbock, TX 79406 -
Phone
806.742.2858 -
Email
larc.admin@ttu.edu