Investigating Design Strategies for Regenerative Development

Abstract

The menace of environmental dilapidation has been an issue of great concern in the built environment since the wake of the industrial revolution. Buildings have been said to be instruments that cut short the natural cycles of resources in both the human and natural ecosystem due to man’s anthropocentric mind-set and activities. Various theories, framework, and models have been proposed to facilitate re-generatively sustainable developments. This paper aims at highlighting strategies that are currently practiced in regenerative development with a view of presenting ideas for the practical application of regenerative sustainability in all its facets and phases. Relevant literature that described the processes of creating a regenerative development and the aspects in which regenerative sustainability principles are implemented were reviewed. The design strategies employed in the studied cases were described as they related to the phases and then grouped into the four facets of regenerative development. The paper, therefore, gives an idea of the various integrative element and practical strategies for the implementation of regenerative design in all its phases and facets. Clarity on the subject of regenerative development is also anticipated as examples of regenerative design element implemented in the cases under study were detailed out. These strategies, when applied with attention to place patterns and potentials in all aspects of the built environment, will help in creating a truly regenerative development in any area.