COMMUNITY BASED APPROACHES TO STORMWATER DESIGN IN A BALTIMORE NEIGHBORHOOD

Abstract

This interdisciplinary research-design thesis explores the role of resident engagement in developing a design criteria for urban stormwater runoff design solutions, urban greening, and activating public spaces in the urbanized McElderry Park neighborhood of Baltimore. Drawing upon stakeholder and resident interviews, community workshops, resident working groups, and site observations and analysis the designer developed design criteria for site interventions as well as neighborhood-wide programming elements.

Residents identify jobs, safety and health as primary concerns. Beyond harvesting stormwater, site interventions must provide safety, education, entrepreneurial opportunities, exercise, etc. Building on community input, the design interventions proposed by the designer are site specific, but the intervention types are readily adaptable. The overall design process and programming strategies apply to a variety of urban sites. Given the amount of stormwater managed by the interventions, the potential jobs created by the interventions, and other benefits provided to residents, the model merits field testing at the neighborhood scale.