Respect for Natural Forces Inspired Urban Spontaneous Community Improvement Design Experiment

In the design and management of urban artificial plant communities, the inhibition of site natural forces and community succession process has increased the maintenance cost while weakening the ecological service function of the community. Urban spontaneous plants that respect the site’s natural forces have good ecological value and potential. Its appearance is not accepted by the public. Is there a feasible community design method that can coordinate the contradiction between the price of restraining natural forces and the problem of respecting natural forces? The study begins with combing the revelation of respecting the natural forces to the ecological design of urban plant communities: respecting self-healing power, using site spontaneous communities, respecting the process, introducing succession into the community design, respecting natural forces, and reducing weeding in management. Secondly, the solution to the contradiction lies in respecting the natural forces, introducing cultivated plants to improve the spontaneous community and reconstructing a balance between new species. Finally, the self-healing force succession experiment and spontaneous community improvement design experiment were designed based on the theoretical approach of “succession of self-healing - artificial improvement - natural force succession - manual management and maintenance”, and an experimental study was conducted on the urban site. The two-year observations show that the improved design approach based on natural succession can effectively coordinate the contradiction of “respect for natural forces”, significantly improve the aesthetic value and species richness of communities, and reduce the maintenance costs of planting, weeding and watering.