Knowledge graph-enhanced pattern language for biodiversity integration in architectural education – Nature

Report on the Knowledge Graph for Pattern Language in Urban Biodiversity (KG-PLUB)

Executive Summary

This report details the development and validation of the Knowledge Graph for Pattern Language in Urban Biodiversity (KG-PLUB), an educational framework designed to address critical gaps in architectural education concerning ecological integration. Rapid urbanization has intensified biodiversity loss, posing a direct challenge to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and SDG 15 (Life on Land). The KG-PLUB framework leverages pattern language theory, knowledge graphs (KGs), and large language models (LLMs) to provide a structured, AI-assisted approach for integrating biodiversity criteria into architectural design. Through a five-phase mixed-methods study, the framework was developed, implemented, and validated. Results from participatory workshops and expert evaluations confirm its effectiveness in enhancing students’ capacity to design for urban biodiversity, thereby contributing to SDG 4 (Quality Education) by promoting education for sustainable development.

1.0 Introduction: Urbanization and the Sustainable Development Agenda

The global crisis of urban biodiversity loss, driven by accelerated urbanization, directly undermines the resilience of cities and threatens progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Urban centers are significant contributors to environmental degradation, impacting global sustainability targets.

1.1 The Challenge to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

• SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities): Rapid, unplanned urbanization jeopardizes the goal of making cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. The decline in urban green spaces and biodiversity weakens urban ecosystems, affecting human well-being and environmental quality.
• SDG 15 (Life on Land): Urban expansion is a primary driver of habitat loss, directly contributing to the decline of terrestrial species and ecosystems. Halting biodiversity loss (Target 15.5) requires integrating biodiversity values into urban planning processes (Target 15.9).
• SDG 13 (Climate Action): The loss of urban green infrastructure diminishes cities’ capacity for climate change mitigation and adaptation, as healthy ecosystems play a crucial role in carbon sequestration and regulating local climates.

1.2 The Role of Architectural Education

A significant gap exists between ecological knowledge and architectural practice, particularly within educational curricula. This deficiency limits the ability of future architects to design built environments that support, rather than degrade, urban ecosystems. Addressing this gap is essential for advancing the SDGs. This study introduces the KG-PLUB framework as a pedagogical tool to bridge this divide, aligning with SDG 4 (Quality Education) by embedding principles of sustainable development into higher education.

2.0 The KG-PLUB Framework: An Innovative Approach to Sustainable Design Education

The KG-PLUB framework was developed to overcome the limitations of traditional architectural education by providing a structured, data-driven tool for integrating complex ecological knowledge into the design process. It combines three core components to create a scalable educational model that supports the SDGs.

2.1 Core Components

1. Pattern Language (PL): Based on Christopher Alexander’s work, a PL for urban biodiversity was created to document recurring design problems and proven solutions. This component democratizes ecological design knowledge, making it accessible for practical application.
2. Knowledge Graph (KG): An ontology was developed to structure the PL into a semantic network. This KG organizes design patterns, problems, solutions, and their explicit alignment with specific SDGs, enabling complex queries and logical inference.
3. Large Language Model (LLM): An LLM interface allows users to interact with the KG using natural language, receiving context-specific design recommendations. This enhances usability and supports personalized learning pathways, contributing to SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) by applying advanced AI to solve sustainability challenges.

3.0 Methodology

A five-phase, mixed-methods approach was employed to ensure the framework’s empirical grounding, practical applicability, and technical robustness.

3.1 Research Phases

1. Systematic Literature Review: A review of 1603 publications was conducted using the PRISMA methodology to identify and code 44 empirically validated design patterns for promoting urban biodiversity.
2. Pattern Language Development: The identified patterns were structured into a coherent PL, forming the knowledge base for the framework.
3. Ontology and KG Construction: An ontology was created to formalize the relationships between design patterns. A key feature is the `alignedWithSDG` property, which explicitly links each design solution to relevant Sustainable Development Goals. The KG-PLUB was then constructed using a Neo4j graph database.
4. Participatory Workshops: Two workshops with a total of 49 architecture students and professionals were conducted to validate the framework’s practical utility in a design studio context. Pre- and post-test evaluations measured knowledge gains.
5. Expert Evaluation: A panel of 10 experts with experience in architecture, urban planning, and biodiversity assessed the KG-PLUB for scientific accuracy, usability, relevance, and adaptability.

4.0 Results and Validation

The KG-PLUB framework was successfully validated through both technical evaluation and empirical testing with users, demonstrating its potential to advance education for sustainable urban development.

4.1 KG-PLUB System Evaluation

The KG was assessed against 18 criteria, confirming its structural integrity, data quality, and scalability. The ontology effectively organizes 368 pattern nodes, ensuring domain specificity and thematic concentration on urban biodiversity. The system’s architecture supports flexible exploration while maintaining semantic coherence.

4.2 Participatory Workshop Outcomes

Statistical analysis of pre- and post-test results from the workshops showed significant improvements in participants’ ability to integrate biodiversity into design.

• A Wilcoxon signed-rank test confirmed statistically significant improvements (p
• The results indicate that KG-PLUB effectively enhances both theoretical knowledge and practical design skills, equipping users to create urban environments aligned with SDG 11 and SDG 15.

4.3 Expert Evaluation Findings

The expert panel rated the KG-PLUB framework highly, with a strong consensus on its effectiveness (Kendall’s W = 0.610, p

• Strengths: High scores were given for Ease of Use (mean 4.90/5) and appropriateness of Technical Language (mean 4.60/5). Experts praised its ability to integrate interdisciplinary knowledge and its potential for practical application in educational settings.
• Areas for Improvement: Feedback indicated a need for greater depth in responses and enhanced adaptability to specific local ecological contexts.

5.0 Discussion and Implications for Sustainable Development

The KG-PLUB framework represents a significant advancement in architectural knowledge representation, transforming Alexander’s PL into a dynamic, computational tool. By formalizing the links between design actions and ecological outcomes, the framework provides a data-driven bridge between architecture and environmental sustainability, directly supporting the implementation of the SDGs.

• Contribution to SDG 4 (Quality Education): KG-PLUB serves as a replicable model for interdisciplinary education, embedding sustainability principles into the core of architectural training. It shifts design thinking from intuition-based approaches to evidence-informed, ecologically responsive practices.
• Advancing SDG 11 and SDG 15: The framework equips architects and urban planners with the necessary tools to design cities that enhance biodiversity, restore ecosystems, and build resilience. By translating abstract ecological goals into actionable design patterns, it helps operationalize sustainability at the project level.
• Leveraging SDG 9 (Innovation): The integration of KGs and LLMs demonstrates an innovative application of AI to address complex urban challenges, fostering a new paradigm for architectural reasoning grounded in semantic precision and environmental accountability.

6.0 Conclusion and Recommendations

This study successfully developed and validated the KG-PLUB framework as an effective tool for integrating urban biodiversity criteria into architectural education. The framework achieved its objectives of creating a PL, developing an ontology, constructing a KG, and implementing an LLM interface, with validation confirming its utility and robustness. KG-PLUB contributes to a paradigm shift in architectural education, promoting a more integrated and sustainability-oriented discipline.

6.1 Recommendations for Future Development

1. Enhance Contextual Specificity: Incorporate region-specific ecological and sociocultural data to improve the framework’s applicability in diverse global contexts, thereby supporting localized implementation of the SDGs.
2. Expand Validation: Conduct further testing in professional practice settings and with larger, more diverse user groups to strengthen the generalizability of the findings.
3. Promote Open-Source Adoption: Migrate the system to open-source platforms to foster wider adoption, collaboration, and integration with other sustainable design tools, maximizing its impact on achieving global sustainability targets.

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

1. SDG 4: Quality Education

   The article is fundamentally centered on improving architectural education. It identifies a “gap in integrating ecological knowledge into design practices” and proposes an “educational framework” called KG-PLUB to enhance “ecological integration in architectural teaching.” The entire study is designed to develop and validate this tool to improve how architecture students learn about and apply principles of sustainable development, directly aligning with the goal of providing quality education that equips learners with skills for sustainability.

2. SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

   The core problem the article addresses is “urban biodiversity loss and rapid urbanization.” It aims to make cities more sustainable by integrating ecological principles into urban design. The text discusses key elements of sustainable cities, such as “green infrastructure,” “eco-city development,” “nature-based solutions,” and creating resilient urban environments. The proposed framework is a tool for “urban planning” and “urban design” that promotes biodiversity and human well-being within cities.

3. SDG 13: Climate Action

   The article links urbanization to climate change, stating that cities are “responsible for 75% of carbon emissions.” It also mentions “bioclimatic design” as a key intervention. By educating architects to incorporate ecological principles and nature-based solutions, the framework contributes to climate change mitigation (reducing emissions through better design) and adaptation (creating more resilient urban ecosystems).

4. SDG 15: Life on Land

   This goal is directly addressed through the article’s focus on halting “the accelerated loss of urban biodiversity.” The introduction highlights a “73% decline in species populations” and emphasizes that urbanization threatens the “survival of countless species.” The proposed KG-PLUB framework is designed to help architects create built environments that support, rather than hinder, terrestrial ecosystems by fostering “ecological connectivity,” restoring “key habitats,” and incorporating “strategies for wildlife.”

5. SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

   The article demonstrates the importance of partnerships in achieving its objectives. The development of the KG-PLUB framework is an interdisciplinary effort combining architecture, ecology, and artificial intelligence. Its validation process involved “participatory workshops with students” from different countries and “expert evaluations” from various professional backgrounds. This collaborative approach to creating and sharing knowledge and tools for sustainable development is central to SDG 17.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• SDG 4: Quality Education

  • Target 4.7: “By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development…” The article’s primary objective is to create and validate the KG-PLUB framework, an educational tool specifically designed to provide architecture students with the “ecological knowledge” and skills to integrate “biodiversity criteria into architectural design.” The workshops directly test the framework’s effectiveness in helping learners acquire these skills.

• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

  • Target 11.3: “By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management…” The article addresses this by developing a framework that supports “integrated” planning (combining architecture and ecology) and mentions “participatory community design” as a key design intervention. The workshops themselves are a form of participatory engagement.
  • Target 11.7: “By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces…” The framework promotes the design of “blue and green infrastructure” and “green systems linked to ecosystem services,” which are essential components of urban green spaces that enhance biodiversity and human well-being.

• SDG 13: Climate Action

  • Target 13.3: “Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction…” The article’s educational framework directly builds the capacity of future architects to address climate change. By teaching them to integrate “bioclimatic design” and create resilient ecosystems, it enhances their ability to contribute to both mitigation and adaptation efforts.

• SDG 15: Life on Land

  • Target 15.5: “Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and… protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species.” The article’s focus on reversing “urban biodiversity loss” and its proposed solutions, such as creating “ecological connectivity” and restoring habitats, directly align with this target.
  • Target 15.9: “By 2020, integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local planning, development processes…” The KG-PLUB framework is a practical tool designed to achieve this integration at the local level of architectural and urban planning. The article explicitly mentions that its ontology includes an “alignedWithSDG property” to ensure design solutions are guided by “global sustainability targets.”

• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

  • Target 17.17: “Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships…” The methodology of the study, which includes “participatory workshops” with a diverse group of students and professionals (one national, one international) and collaboration with “a panel of 10 experts,” exemplifies the multi-stakeholder partnerships needed to develop and validate effective solutions for sustainable development.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• For Target 4.7 and 13.3:

  Mentioned Indicator: The article provides a direct, measurable indicator through its pre- and post-test evaluation of the participatory workshops. The “statistically significant improvements between pre- and post-test scores” (Table 3) serve as a quantitative measure of the increase in knowledge and skills among learners regarding sustainable design and biodiversity integration. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test results (e.g., Q1, W = 210, p

• For Target 15.9:

  Mentioned Indicator: The article describes a feature within its KG-PLUB ontology called the “alignedWithSDG property.” This property “ensures alignment with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), guiding solutions toward global sustainability targets.” The presence and use of this property within design projects can be tracked as an indicator of the extent to which biodiversity and sustainability values are being formally integrated into the planning process.

• For Target 11.3:

  Implied Indicator: Progress can be measured by the adoption and application of the KG-PLUB framework in architectural curricula and professional practice. An indicator would be the number of academic institutions or design firms that use the tool for integrated, sustainable planning, as well as the number of projects developed using its participatory and ecological principles.

• For Target 11.7 and 15.5:

  Implied Indicator: While the article does not measure this directly, it discusses interventions like “blue and green infrastructure” and “ecological connectivity.” The success of these interventions would be measured by indicators such as the percentage increase in green space in urban areas, metrics of habitat connectivity, and biodiversity indicators like species richness and population counts within cities where these design principles are applied.

• For Target 17.17:

  Mentioned Indicator: The article provides data on the partnerships formed for its validation. Indicators include the number and diversity of participants in the workshops (27 students in Colombia, 22 international participants) and the number of experts on the evaluation panel (10 experts with diverse backgrounds). This demonstrates the formation of multi-stakeholder partnerships for knowledge sharing and validation.

4. Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: nature.com