This neighborhood proposed for the rural timberlands of southwest Arkansas employs resilient design to mitigate social and ecosystem disturbance regimes (housing deficiencies, wildfire, and erosion) structuring its context. The region’s rural economy is driven by low-margin industry, including resource extraction and the poverty associated with commodity-based industries like timber. Forests cover 56 percent of Arkansas, and the state is the third most timber-dependent economy in the U.S. Thus, our neighborhood proposal combines remediation of ecosystem damage from clear-cut timber harvesting with urbanization that addresses chronic stressors associated with ecological and social fragility. Last year alone, 44,000 wildfires in the U.S. consumed more than 5 million acres—the size of New Jersey—and the cycle is accelerating due to unpredictable weather patterns now common with climate change.
Awards
2022 Green GOOD DESIGN Sustainability Award
Client
Hopson Real Estate Holdings LLC