Landscape Design: Sowing the Seeds of Community and Connection

Community landscape design is an elegant antidote to many of life’s problems. Feeling stressed? Stroll around a tranquil lake, enjoy the shade from a grove of trees, or cloud watch from an immaculate green space. Needing social interaction? Take your kids (or dog) to the park, meet your friends at a neighborhood gathering place, or visit with neighbors on an after-dinner stroll. Ready to have some fun? Gather on the green for a community celebration or some friendly competition.

Effective community landscape design creates beautiful outdoor spaces that encourage these experiences. At Harvest by Hillwood, our landscape design fosters a sense of community, enhances well-being, and creates a strong sense of belonging. Simply stepping outside offers a figurative (and literal) breath of fresh air. 

Defining Community-Centric Landscape Design

Historically, many landscape architects and urban planners designed spaces with individuals in mind. They used grand stairways to announce “important” buildings, tall hedges to ensure privacy and even separate entrances to demonstrate exclusivity. 

Community landscape design takes a different approach. It recognizes that individual well-being is deeply connected to the health of the broader community. It emphasizes user needs, inclusivity, and shared spaces—all concepts that bring people together.

Key Principles of Landscape Architecture Community Design

Landscape design for community follows principles that create vibrant, sustainable communities. These include:

• Accessibility: Community landscape architecture prioritizes accessible design and may incorporate Universal Design principles—ensuring everyone, regardless of ability, can use the same routes and spaces.
• Flexibility and Adaptability: A versatile gathering space easily accommodates a neighborhood picnic one day and a summer concert the next. Landscape architects design for flexibility, creating spaces that evolve with the community’s needs.
• Safety and Comfort: Good community landscape design enhances residents’ safety by providing clear sightlines, effective lighting, and intuitive pathways that prevent accidents. It fosters comfort through features like shade, seating, and refreshing green spaces.
• Sustainability: Good community landscape design promotes sustainability by integrating native plants that require less water and maintenance, reducing reliance on irrigation and harmful chemicals. It also strategically incorporates shade trees and other natural elements to mitigate urban heat island effects, fostering healthier ecosystems and conserving resources.
  

How Landscape Design Fosters Community: Tangible Impacts

Good community landscape design offers a multitude of tangible benefits that directly enhance the lives of residents and the health of the environment.

Creating Spaces for Interaction and Engagement

Imagine you need to exercise your dog. Now imagine that to do so, you stroll down a tree-lined path to a community dog park. Along the way, you pass teens playing basketball and retirees on their way to the fitness center. At the dog park, you run into friends who ask you to meet them later at the pool around the corner.

This kind of spontaneous engagement doesn’t happen by accident—it’s the result of thoughtful landscape design. Top-notch design incorporates these elements:

• Gathering Places: Landscape design for community includes both formal and informal gathering areas. At Harvest, for instance, the Event Lawn hosts concerts and holiday festivities, while The Back Porch offers a relaxed, intimate space where neighbors can chat or fire up the outdoor pizza oven.
• Open Lawns and Activity Zones: People need places to play—and places to unwind. Community landscape design includes spaces for active play, like Harvest’s Fun Fields and Barn Park, and spots where people can relax, like the Adirondack chairs on The Dock.
• Pathways to Connection: Community landscape architecture connects neighborhood amenities with inviting pedestrian walkways that encourage spontaneous meetings and builds neighborhood social ties that bolster well-being and social capital.

Promoting Health and Wellbeing

Social connection is one vital aspect of community wellness, but there’s even more to it. Community landscape design also supports physical and mental health. Here’s how good landscape design can make us feel better in many ways.

• Green Spaces that Support Mental Health: It’s a well-known fact that contact with nature increases happiness, boosts cognitive functioning, offers a sense of meaning and purpose, and decreases stress.
• Physical Activity Opportunities: At Harvest, walking trails, sports courts, playgrounds, and fitness zones are woven throughout the community, making movement part of daily life.
• Community Gardens: Community gardens like the one at Harvest Farms provide food for individuals and neighbors (and pollinators!). They foster shared responsibility, build intergenerational connections, and offer environmental, physical, and mental health benefits—all while beautifying the neighborhood.

Enhancing Local Identity and Pride

Community landscape design also strengthens the social fabric of a neighborhood by respecting its history, while designing spaces that will become a point of community pride in the future. 

Harvest, for example, has a rich farming history. That’s why we feature a six-acre working farm with a community garden and orchard at the heart of the neighborhood.  We also incorporated the historic building on the property, which now houses Farmhouse Coffee & Treasures, our neighborhood coffeehouse and gift store, that links the community’s present with its past.

FAQs about Landscape Design for Community

What are the social goals of landscape architecture?

Landscape architects design outdoor spaces that create community, encourage health and well-being, and promote equity and inclusion.

How does a landscape architect influence the community? 

Community landscape architects consider the needs of the entire community (rather than just an individual client). They consider how humans interact with their environment, and how the environment impacts health and behavior, and design spaces for the well-being of the entire community.

What are the benefits of community-driven design in landscape projects and how does this enhance inclusivity? 

By engaging a cross-section of users in the design process, community-driven landscape design addresses diverse needs and desires. The result is a more inclusive and welcoming environment.

How do landscape architects help the environment? 

Landscape architects better the environment by creating environments that reduce reliance on cars, increase biodiversity, better withstand extreme weather events, and increase the amount of green space.

How can landscaping help the environment? 

Thoughtfully planned green spaces can moderate temperatures, reduce flooding, improve water and air quality, support biodiversity, and act as carbon sinks.

The Future of Community-Centric Landscape Design

As more planners recognize the role landscape design plays in promoting connection, inclusivity, and sustainability, community landscape design should become the norm. At Harvest, it already is.

Experience the Benefits of Community Landscape Design at Harvest By Hillwood

At Harvest by Hillwood, we take community—and the landscape—seriously. That’s why people love living here. They love walking their kids to the great schools nearby,  enjoying our unique amenities and award-winning lifestyle program, and relaxing in the beautiful green spaces throughout Harvest. They also love our new homes, which are built to last, so they can truly put down roots. 

You’ll love living at Harvest, too. Our builders have available homes, and many are offering incentives, so now is a great time to buy!