UC Berkeley

Stormwater management has long existed as a daunting task for many cities. Within recent decades, a novel landscape design approach to effectively and sustainably manage urban stormwater known as Low Impact Development (LID) was initiated in the United States. Unfortunately, the LID projects, although holding ecological benefits, have often fallen short of achieving public recognition and satisfaction because of their illegible and unkempt looks.

Concerning this onerous problem, the tenet that stormwater knowledge can play a role in stimulating aesthetic appreciation of LID landscapes has been reiterated. This study, accordingly, intends to provide information and insight regarding public appreciation of and education about the LID design. San Francisco Bay Area was chosen as a study area due to its unique and critical stormwater management situations. Eight projects, which demonstrate a range of LID designs, were selected as the test sites. In addition, other eight places representing a range of conventional landscape designs, the non-LID sites, were also selected as the control sites. The questionnaires were developed and distributed to visitors of these 16 selected study sites using the street intercept method. Results from the analysis of 502 responses demonstrate that, in most of the cases, the LID facilities were well recognized and appreciated by the respondents, compared to the conventional-designed landscapes, thereby suggesting that these LID cases can serve as good models for the ensuing projects and, besides, the implementation of LID design in San Francisco Bay Area can be continued without serious concern about public resistance. Nonetheless, because some LID facilities were unlikely to receive positive public responses, making better designs and advancing stormwater literacy are both considered key strategies. The analysis results also reveal that respondents thought they were not quite knowledgeable about sustainable stormwater management, yet they were open to information and knowledge, especially through reading the interpretive signs at the facilities, leading to the recommendation that LID projects in the Bay Area be developed in a manner that they can facilitate stormwater education.

This dissertation concludes by highlighting the role that landscape design can play in making successful and meaningful LID facilities and, ultimately, establishing desirable relationships between aesthetics and ecology. Based on the review of design strategies proposed in relevant literatures and used in existing projects along with the insights derived from the survey results, an innovative set of design criteria for creating the LID facilities which can enrich aesthetic experience and enhance stormwater knowledge of their visitors is developed. These design criteria include 1) visibility and legibility, 2) accessibility, 3) functionality, 4) attractiveness and interest, 5) cultural aesthetics, 6) ecological revelation, 7) interactive activities, 8) interpretive signage, 9) water features, and 10) application and replication. In addition, this dissertation also develops the guidelines for designing the prominent stormwater management features, which include 1) water tank/ cistern, 2) street gutter/ storm drain/ runnel, 3) pavers/ permeable pavement, 4) lawn/ grass/ turf, 5) rain garden/ bioretention planter/ bioswale, 6) stormwater pond/ constructed wetland, 7) green street/ green parking lot, 8) green roof, 9) green wall, and 10) scupper/ downspout. Even though these criteria and guidelines are developed based on the situations of San Francisco Bay Area, they are considered applicable to other geographical areas.