A Social-Ecological Approach to Architecture and Planning

Sustainable design has failed to fundamentally transform the performance of the built environment in the most critical indicator: social-ecological impact. Design has focused on making systems more efficient, instead of redesigning the system to continually enhance natural processes and center the welfare of the people who live, work, and experience the built environment. Buildings, neighborhoods, and infrastructure must be reimagined using a social, ecological, and technological systems approach connecting the social needs of the community within the constraints of biophysical systems. We present an approach in the evolution of sustainable design, one that builds on green design and regenerative design, but advances a social-ecological design methodology - one that is sensitive to scale, adopts a systems approach, is futureoriented, and centers social needs in design.

Keywords: Regenerative, Social-Ecological Systems, Design, Planning, Ecosystem Services.