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As climate change progresses, cities are looking for sustainable strategies to address its impacts. Urban ecology has emerged in recent decades as a field that looks at how humans interact with their environment (Pickett et al, 2008), marking a shift towards viewing cities as social-ecological systems versus seeing a city as a closed ecosystem (Wu, 2014). Urban greening projects are increasingly relevant as cities reconsider planning and development to accommodate climate change impacts as well as citizens’ needs. Cities are both a primary cause of environment degradation and a source of innovative solutions (Urban Ecology History); specifically, Los Angeles has been growing its urban ecology programs since April, 2015 (Sustainable City pLAn). Urban greening projects form a city’s “green infrastructure,” and not only provide environmental benefits, such as temperature decreases, but are positively linked to community building and civic engagement, as well (Bowler et al, 2010, Westphal, 2003, Beatley, 2011). Therefore, urban green spaces provide the opportunity for local social cohesion, while simultaneously addressing a global phenomenon. While there are many forms of green infrastructure, this study looked at the Ballona Creek rain garden. Rain gardens help neighborhoods with storm water runoff, biodiversity, and groundwater recharge, as well as direct citizen engagement and education (Church, 2014). Therefore, the goal of this study was to analyze the perceptions and knowledge of residents surrounding the Ballona Creek rain garden to see if there are correlations between green spaces and wellbeing

Publication Date

2015

Social and Biological Interactions of the Culver City Rain Garden

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