Module 3 — Principles of Sustainable Urban Design
Lesson 6 of 14Ecological Design by John Todd & Nancy Todd

John Todd and Nancy Todd’s urban design theory by ecological design that is presented here is based on their book From Eco-Cities to Living Machines: Principles of Ecological Design. In this video you will know a little about both authors’ backgrounds, followed by the design concepts which emerged from their practice and observation into what they refer to as precepts of biological design that serve to teach such concepts and make them replicable in different settings. 

© Course Author(s) and University of Waterloo.

Nadine Ibrahim. (2019, June 6). Ecological Design by Todd and Todd. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZwm14R9M5U

John Todd and Nancy Todd develop the idea of eco-cities, which integrates agriculture and water in green urban settings, and they introduce living machines, which are technological interventions that are grounded in the principles of biodiversity and systems-wide ecological thinking. Their designs, whether applicable to cities or machines are made on the basis of the nine precepts of biological design.