
#53: Nina Chase - It's Not For You
From How Humans Work Podcast by Jef Szi
November 15, 2025 · 56 min · Season 5 · Episode 53
About this episode
Nina Chase discusses her work in landscape architecture and its impact on social cohesion and community design.
Episode Summary Landscape Architect Nina Chase , sits down with Jef Szi for a terrific exploration of her work imagining and designing public spaces. Nina’s easy and honest expertise deepens our view on what fosters Social Cohesion . She helps surface the amazing, often understated, network of relationships connected to an everyday discipline shaping our lives. With an abundance of talent and inspiration, Nina teaches us the important role architects of public spaces play in our history and our future. With her unique understanding of cities and communities across Middle-America, she exemplifies the powerful capacity landscape architecture has to subtly re-imagine and redefine the common spaces that anchor us. What we ultimately find in Nina’s work are the seeds for better-connected communities, healthier and more well-adjusted humans, and a closer connection with the natural world—especially the crucial role of trees . In It’s Not For You , we find a refreshing power in good-hearted folks like Nina, and her colleagues, who are endeavoring to shape what comes next, designing with clear-eyed care for the web of life and a sensible commitment to the needs of future generations. We…
People in this episode
Host: Jef Szi
Guest: Nina Chase
Topics covered
- landscape architecture
- public spaces
- social cohesion
- community design
- environmental impact
Keywords
- landscape architecture
- public spaces
- social cohesion
- community
- environment
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Merritt Chase
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