Harvard's campus plan hints at promise, problems January 12, 2007 - The 50 year plan released yesterday by Harvard University for its Allston Campus has enormous potential – for good, and for bad. Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) has been working with Harvard planners for over two years as this plan has evolved, and was pleased about some elements of the plan, but surprised about others. “The Charles River virtually surrounds Allston,” said Robert Zimmerman, Executive Director of CRWA. “The best science – and the best economics – have taught us that urban development needs to mimic nature and restore degraded environments. That kind of design is good for people, good for the river, and good for developers, whose property values go up. Harvard’s draft plan shows some movement in that direction, but they’ve missed some important basics.” Several elements of the plan have already attracted widespread attention, especially Harvard’s ambitious plan to bury a portion of Soldiers Field Road and develop an expanded park along the banks of the Charles abutting the campus. This concept could significantly improve the parklands in the area, stabilizing the crumbling banks, reducing erosion, and creating more and better managed public parkland. But the design in the draft plan makes the parkland seem like part of Harvard’s own campus, and shows little effort to link Allston’s residential neighborhoods to this new parkland. The plan is also vague on obvious opportunities to improve the environment, such as extensive use of “green roofs,” and linked green corridors that allow water and wildlife to exist in an urban space. Frederick Law Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace, only a few miles away, is a world-renowned example of this approach. While some renderings and text from the draft plan hint at these ideas, they are far from detailed. Moving forward, CRWA will continue to work with Harvard, as well as neighborhood groups, city planners, and local and state officials to find designs and approaches that will meet the needs of the neighborhood, the river and Harvard. “This doesn’t happen very often in a city’s history,” said Kate Bowditch, Director of Projects at CRWA. “Hundreds of acres of land, right in the heart of an existing neighborhood and right next to a nationally treasured river, are going to be radically transformed. Everything about it needs to be done right. Some parts of Harvard’s draft plan look good, with some pocket parks and water features, and the suggestion of a daylighted stream corridor. But there’s a lot more that should be there. Harvard has hired consultants who know how to do really good urban and landscape design work. They should be more ambitious.” In addition to developing specific plans for a campus design that works with nature rather than against it, CRWA will continue working with river and parkland users and the Massachusetts Historical Commission to ensure that the many new student dorms slated to be built along the Charles are designed to minimize visual and wind impacts on the river. “There has been a revolution in the design of dense urban landscapes in recent years,” said Zimmerman. “Harvard’s master plan gets it partly right, but partly right isn’t good enough. This is the Charles River in the 21st century, and we know that partly right carries the price of ignored restoration, a price simply far too high.” For more information, contact Kate Bowditch or Pallavi Mande at CRWA. Click here for contact information.
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