Protecting More with Less: More Nature in Cities with the Science of Strategic Conservation

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By combining the benefits of structured decision-making with optimization, harnessing the power of markets, and the nuances of human behavior, we can achieve more nature in cities.

Not long ago, cities and nature were usually seen as two separate things. Thankfully nature and cities are now being acknowledged as inextricably linked, and an exciting and expanding movement is emerging to invest in green infrastructure that helps make cities sustainable, resilient, and livable.

Billions are spent annually around the world to support nature in cities. One investment strategy is to protect nature next to cities—creating defined edges or transition zones between developed areas and their surrounding natural areas and working landscapes. Another investment strategy is to integrate nature into cities—purposefully protecting and restoring green infrastructure inside urban areas, including the reuse of vacant and underutilized lands.

Despite the countless opportunities to implement each approach, very little attention has been paid to how cost-effective these investments are and whether governments and communities are getting the most “bang for their buck”. For over 10 years, Dr. Kent Messer (Unidel Howard Cosgrove Chair for the Environment at the University of Delaware and Codirector of the USDA-funded national Center for Behavioral and Experimental Agri-Environmental Research) and I have been on a journey to apply promising approaches that are commonly used in the business world, scientific inquiry, and policymaking areas outside conservation that help ensure more strategic and cost-effective outcomes. We are committed to bridging the “implementation gap” between academia and the conservation profession to use the best available tools from economics, operations research, behavioral science, decision analysis, and computer science to support cost-effective conservation and environmental stewardship of natural resources. We have successfully applied these tools in a variety of project contexts, leading to more strategic conservation, more acres protected, and shrewd use of available financial resources. Now we have completed our new book, The Science of Strategic Conservation: Protecting More with Less, as an effort to help publicize these efforts and scale the core principles of strategic conservation.

Significant advancements have been made in the theory and practice of conservation science to strategically identify the most important urban lands for biodiversity, ecosystem services, and other conservation objectives. Landscape ecology, conservation biology, and land use planning are some of the fundamental disciplines of strategic conservation planning that have been effectively applied to help achieve on-the-ground successes. We have attempted to harness these tools through the development of optimization decision support tools and applied projects that demonstrate how the comprehensive integration of these scientific disciplines into strategic conservation can help ensure the best conservation outcomes at a given level of financial investment—or, how specific conservation goals can be achieved at the lowest possible cost.

As a conservation planner, I am engaged in advancing structured decision-making tools able to quantify the benefits of potential conservation investments that result in better project selection and implementation. As a behavioral economist, Kent is engaged in cutting-edge research and outreach efforts related to efficient and effective environmental conservation. Our book highlights many of these advances in integrating these techniques into a variety of conservation contexts.

We provide examples in the book on how nature can be incorporated both “next to” and “into” cities. For instance, we showcase the development of regional forest conservation and restoration models for the Mid America Regional Council (MARC). MARC is the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the Kansas City region, so it oversees investments in transportation infrastructure. MARC was interested in forest conservation and restoration opportunities to avoid and minimize potential impacts to forested lands and to identify strategic mitigation opportunities when impacts were unavoidable. We built a GIS model that quantified the benefits of forest conservation and restoration within four categories: clean water (quality and quantity), clean air (carbon storage, pollution), quality of life (recreation, protected lands), and wildlife habitat (green infrastructure network). The resulting maps provided a spatially explicit framework for MARC and other partner organizations to optimize their investments in forest conservation and restoration projects.

Figure 1. Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) forest conservation and restoration prioritization model Credit: The Conservation Fund

We also showcase how the Upper Neuse Clean Water Initiative in North Carolina is using strategic conservation to creatively protect land parcels that support clean drinking water for the region’s municipalities. The Upper Neuse Clean Water Initiative is a collaboration by The Conservation Fund, Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association, Eno River Association, Tar River Land Conservancy, Triangle Greenways Council, Triangle Land Conservancy, local governments, and state agencies and is coordinated by the Conservation Trust for North Carolina. Together with willing landowners, these partners protect natural areas that are critical to the long-term health of drinking water from the Upper Neuse River basin by either purchasing parcels or establishing conservation easements on them. In its first 10 years, the initiative acquired ownership or an easement for 88 properties, protecting 84 miles of stream bank across 7,658 acres. In 2015, the initiative set a goal of protecting 30,000 acres over the next 30 years. We built a GIS model that examined every potential parcel in the watershed using multiple criteria and ultimately identified more than 17,000 parcels totaling more than 260,000 acres that would support the protection goal.

Figure 2. Upper Neuse Clean Water Initiative conservation strategy Credit: The Conservation Fund and Hawkins Partners

To protect more nature in cities using the science of strategic conservation and cost-effective conservation approaches, it is important to take a multiple benefits approach. For example, urban tree planting programs provide an array of human and natural benefits, including their value in ensuring clean air and clean water as well as providing habitat for wildlife. These ecosystem service benefits can be quantified using a variety of techniques and structured decision-making methodologies. The book illustrates numerous examples of quantifying the value of green infrastructure, including using decentralized stormwater management tools that can capture and absorb rain where it falls, thereby reducing stormwater runoff and improving the health of surrounding waterways.

More nature in cities can be accomplished on the ground by combining the benefits of structured decision making with optimization and the harnessing of the power of markets and the nuances of human behavior. By effectively developing, organizing, and prioritizing decision-making criteria in a structured and consistent way, cost-effective conservation tools can then be applied to get the most “bang for your buck” in an array of nature-based investments.

Will Allen
Chapel Hill

On The Nature of Cities

Public Imagination, Citizenship and an Urgent Call for Justice

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Art, Science, Action: Green Cities Re-imagined

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Introduction, Toni L. Griffin, Ariella Cohen and David Maddox Tearing down Invisible Walls Defining the Just City Beyond Black and White, Toni L. Griffin In It Together, Lesley Lokko Cape Town Pride. Cape Town Shame, Carla Sutherland Urban Spaces and the Mattering of Black Lives, Darnell Moore Ceci n'est pas une pipe: Unpacking Injustice in Paris, François Mancebo Reinvigorating Democracy Right to the City for All: A Manifesto for Social Justice in an Urban Century, Lorena Zárate How to Build a New Civic Infrastructure, Ben Hecht Turning to the Flip Side, Maruxa Cardama A Just City is Inconceivable without a Just Society, Marcelo Lopes de Souza Public Imagination, Citizenship and an Urgent Call for Justice, Teddy Cruz and Fonna Forman Designing for Agency Karachi and the Paralysis of Imagination, Mahim Maher Up from the Basement: The Artist and the Making of the Just City, Theaster Gates Justice that Serves People, Not Institutions, Mirna D. Goransky Resistance, Education and the Collective Will, Jack Travis Inclusive Growth The Case for All-In Cities, Angela Glover Blackwell A Democratic Infrastructure for Johannesburg, Benjamin Bradlow Creating Universal Goals for Universal Growth, Betsy Hodges The Long Ride, Scot T. Spencer Turning Migrant Workers into Citizens in Urbanizing China, Pengfei XIE The Big Detox  A City that is Blue, Green and Just All Over, Cecilia P. Herzog An Antidote for the Unjust City: Planning to Stay, Mindy Thompson Fullilove Justice from the Ground Up, Julie Bargmann Elevating Planning and Design Why Design Matters, Jason Schupbach Claiming Participation in Urban Planning and Design as a Right, P.K. Das Home Grown Justice in a Legacy City, Karen Freeman-Wilson Epilogue: Cities in Imagination, David Maddox
9. cruz-forman1. A just city repositions inequality

The conversation about justice and the city must begin with directly confronting social and economic inequality and prioritizing them as the main issue around which institutions must be reorganized. Contemporary architectural and urban practices must engage this political project head-on. We must question the neoliberal hegemony that has been imposed on the city in recent decades, which has exerted a violent blow to our collective economic, social and natural resources, producing an anti-public agenda whose ultimate consequence is an ever-widening gap between rich and poor. 

If we are interested in the Just City, we must begin by confronting the political machinery that endorses uneven urban development.
Today’s urban crisis is exponentially complex, as the consolidation of exclusionary power is both economic and political in nature, driven by one of the largest corporate lobbying machines in history. In the name of freedom, this machine has deregulated and privatized the public assets of our cities, subordinating collective responsibility to serve individual interest. Though the term “crisis” has become ubiquitous, we have become institutionally paralyzed in the context of these unprecedented shifts, silently witnessing the consolidation of the most blatant politics of exclusion, the shrinkage of social and public institutions and their role in the construction of the city. In that way, our crisis can’t be written off as a purely economic or environmental emergency. Rather, it is one of culture—a crisis of institutions unable to rethink unjust and unsustainable urban growth. 

If we are interested in the Just City, we must begin by confronting the political machinery that endorses uneven urban development. In other words, we must possess critical knowledge of the conditions that produced our urban crisis.  Without altering the exclusionary policies that have decimated our public culture today, urban design and planning will remain decorative enterprises camouflaging the greedy politics and economics of urban development that have eroded the primacy of public infrastructure worldwide.

In this context, the most relevant new urban practices and projects promoting social and economic inclusion are emerging not from sites of economic power but from sites of scarcity and zones of conflict, where citizens themselves, pressed by socioeconomic injustice, are pushed to imagine alternative possibilities. It is from the sense of urgency that a new political agenda is emerging, one in which urban design and architecture will take a more critical stance against the discriminatory policies and economics that produced inequality and marginalization. At this moment, it is not buildings but the fundamental reorganization of social and economic relations that is the essential for the expansion of democracy and justice in the city. 

2. A just city reengages the public

Since the early 1980s, with the ascendance of neoliberal economic policies based on the deregulation and privatization of public resources, an unchecked culture of individual and corporate greed has resulted in dramatic income inequality and social disparity. This new period of institutional unaccountability and illegality has been framed politically by the erroneous idea that liberty is the “right to be left alone,” a private dream devoid of social responsibility. But the mythology in which free-market “trickle down economics,” assures that we all benefit when we forgive the wealthy their taxes, has been proven wrong by political economists Saez and Piketty. They have exposed that both great economic upheavals in 20th century America—the crashes of 1929 and 2008— were also periods of the largest socioeconomic inequality and the lowest marginal taxation of the wealthy. The deepening of inequality in America is a direct result of the polarization of public and private resources, and this has had dramatic implications for the erosion of public institutions, and the uneven growth of the contemporary city, with its dramatic increase of territories of poverty.

However, these trends are not inevitable. Broad, structural political and social changes are still possible. Such changes have occurred at certain moments in history, when the instruments of urban development were primarily driven by an investment in the public. For example, there was the New Deal in the U.S. after the 1929 crisis, when a multi-sector institutional momentum took place that re-engaged public priorities by investing in public infrastructure, housing and education to re-energize the economy. Or the post-war Social Democratic urban politics in Europe, that framed the urban and economic growth of the European city by investing in public goods, such as Mitterrand’s Grand Project for Paris. How do we reinvigorate public investment? And how do we ignite new forms of civic participation, to demand these investments? 

A “just city” needs progressive public governance, driven by an ethical assertion that the good of the individual depends on the health of the collective, and an imperative to recalibrate the relations between individuals, collectives and institutions. At a time when the extreme right and the extreme left on the political spectrum share a distrust of government, we urgently need to reclaim the role of government to prioritize public interests, and enact the protection systems—social and economic—that can stem the trend toward radical inequality. We need a new political leadership that engages the marginalized sectors of our societies, committed to efficient, transparent, inclusive and collaborative forms of local governance.

3. A just city redistributes knowledge

Social Justice today is not only about the redistribution of resources; it should also promote the redistribution of knowledges. The polarization of public and private interests in the city has produced a rupture between institutions and publics. At the University of California San Diego, where we lead the Cross-Border Initiative, we have been pursuing new strategies of “knowledge exchange” between the top-down and the bottom-up. In one direction, we examine how specific, bottom-up urban activism can trickle upward to transform top-down institutional policy and practice; and, in the other direction, we investigate how top-down resources can reach sites of marginalization and support bottom up intelligence. This journey from the bottom-up to the top-down is urgent today to rethink urban justice, and it requires new forms of institutional representation and urban education that can translate and facilitate the everyday practices and needs of marginalized communities into new development logics for inclusive urbanization. 

Our campus is barely thirty minutes away from the most trafficked border in the world, occupying one of the most contested and uneven trans-national global regions, where urbanizations of wealth and poverty collide and overlap daily. In the context of such social and economic disparity, many underserved neighborhoods in our region have constructed alternative models of urban sustainability, resilience and adaptation to redefine urban growth. We claim that learning from these bottom-up forms of local socio-economic production is essential to rethinking urban density through new strategies of urban coexistence and interdependence. 

We created the Cross-Border Community Stations Project as a platform for these exchanges, linking the specialized knowledge of the university with the community-based knowledge embedded in marginal neighborhoods on both sides of the border. This two-way flow, as universities engage communities but also communities enter into the universities, suggests the need for new forms of teaching and learning that can expand pedagogical processes beyond the classroom and embed them in the everyday social life of communities. 

This encounter between formal and informal knowledge requires new conceptions of public space, as a space of education and knowledge production. This involves the transformation of empty spaces into active civic classrooms, spaces of knowledge, research production and local economy. The University of California, San Diego refers to these field-based laboratories as “Community Stations,” new public spaces where research, teaching and community activism are co-curated collaboratively and where a new environmental literacy and cultural action can stimulate political agency at the scale of communities. 

In particular, this collaborative urban pedagogical model between research universities and local community-based agencies emphasizes that marginalized communities and major universities can be meaningful partners with knowledge and resources to contribute, in the search for solutions to deep social and economic challenges, to improve the quality of life across these underserved, demographically diverse neighborhoods.  

4. A just city rethinks beautification

A Just City will move the idea of beautification from aesthetics for aesthetics’ sake into an expanded, more complex idea of beauty. As cities become increasingly defined by architecture that only serves to camouflage and deepen exclusionary politics and economics, it is urgent that we challenge the steady march of decorative revitalization. 

Beautification has long been an excuse for the displacement of communities. Yet today, the issue seems more relevant than ever, given the way it has been leveraged for exclusionary ends by seemingly progressive urban agendas such as New Urbanism and the Creative Class movements. It is not enough for New Urbanism, with its obsession with form-based code and stylistic historicism, to retrofit suburbia with a “prettier” themed façade, if the ownership models that define such infill developments remain mono-cultural, aesthetically homogeneous and unaffordable. These neoconservative urban trends have been adopted by many municipalities across the U.S., and have done nothing to rethink existing models of property by redefining affordability and the value of social participation, enhancing the role of communities in coproducing housing, or enabling a more inclusive idea of ownership.

Equally, the Creative Class agenda has only capitalized on the aesthetics of cosmopolitan hipster enclaves that are supposedly driven by artists and cultural producers, without providing truly affordable rents for artists and accessible infrastructures for fabrication and cultural production that are necessary to incentivize local economic growth in and for neighborhoods. With their facades of beautification and innovation, both agendas pave the way to gentrification and fail to advance social or economic justice in the city.

The Just City requires a more experiential dimension of beauty, less based on a visual quality and more on a sort of subliminal drama and vibrancy, a process of encountering and co-existing with the “other;” an aesthetic quality that embraces contradictions. It is about the construction of a sense of aesthetics that requires risk. In other words, it is an idea of beauty that does not smother and suppress contradictions or conceal conflict, but emerges out of  socio-economic and political inclusion. A city is beautiful to the extent that it is inclusive, and one whose public spaces are not merely catalysts for architectures of privatization, but are generative of urbanizations of social justice.

5. A just city reimagines citizenship

Antanas Mockus, former Mayor of Bogota, Colombia, insisted that before transforming the city physically, we need to transform social norms. To Mockus, urban transformation is as much about changing patterns of public trust and social cooperation from the bottom-up as it is about changing urban, public health and environmental policy from the top-down. Mockus enacted a distinctive kind of egalitarian political leadership, declaring emphatically the moral norms that should regulate our relations: that human life is sacred, that radical inequality is unjust, that adequate education and health are human rights and that gender violence is intolerable. He reorganized public policy by nurturing a new citizenship culture, grounded in a moral claim that human beings—regardless of formal legal citizenship, regardless of race—have dignity, and deserve equal respect and basic quality of life. 

In rethinking urban justice, Mockus developed a corresponding urban pedagogy of distinctive performative interventions to demonstrate precisely what he meant, inspiring generations of civic actors, urbanists and artists across Latin America and the world to think more creatively about engaging social behavior. Meeting urban violence with stricter penalties will not work. Law and order solutions don’t interiorize new values among the public.

For example, he believed in modeling desired behavior by, for example, showering on public television to demonstrate how one turns off the water when soaping up. One famous example of urban pedagogy is that early in his administration, Mockus replaced the corrupt downtown traffic police force with a troupe of 500 street mimes who stood on street corners and shamed traffic violators by blowing whistles, and pointing, and holding up signs of disapproval: “incorrecto!” To many it looked like a circus, and Mockus drew criticism; but in this act of public shaming, the mimes were instituting a new social norm of compliance with traffic signs; and it worked. Their antics became a citywide sensation; every one was watching on television, and traffic fatalities declined by 50% in Mockus’ first administration. Additionally, Mockus distributed placards across the city, one with a thumbs up sign, the other with a thumbs down; and he encouraged citizens to use these placards to communicate approval and disapproval to one another. The changes were palpable: people began to look at each other and recognize each other. In a very short period of time, a new sense of civic responsibility began to emerge in a city that had fallen into complete dysfunction and violence. At the same time, a new trust in government began to take hold as Mockus won the hearts of citizens, and he accompanied this bottom-up normative change with massive top-down municipal investment in social service and public works, improving peoples lives in very tangible ways.  Naysayers could not deny the proof: During Mockus’ first administration, murders were reduced by 70 percent, traffic fatalities by 50 percent, tax collection nearly doubled, and water usage decreased by 40 percent while water and sewer services were extended to nearly all households.

What Mockus’ work demonstrates is that urban social norms can be reoriented through top-down municipal intervention through community processes. These are fundamental lessons that can be brought to the American city, primarily today when neighborhood violence has been exacerbated by the resurgence of racism and police brutality, but also by current anti-immigration ideology, which together with the exclusionary policies it engenders has deepened injustice in the city. 

From the vantage point of the border territory where we live and work, social norms here have incrementally hardened against immigrants and immigration, alongside the hardening of the legal, social, economic and physical walls between the United States and Mexico. Our borders have been militarized in tandem with legislation that erodes social institutions, barricades public space and divides communities. Such protectionist strategies, fueled by paranoia and greed, are defining a radically protectionist social agenda of exclusion that threatens to dominate public life for years to come. 

A community is always in dialogue with its immediate social and ecological environment: this is what defines its political nature. But when the productive capacity of a community is splintered by political borders, it must find ways to recuperate its social agency and entrepreneurial potential. This is why we have always been inspired by the poor, immigrant neighborhoods on both sides of the San Diego-Tijuana border, whose residents are redefining urban sustainability and pointing to new ways of constructing citizenship. A just city depends on a political leadership that recognizes our interdependence and reaches across borders to produce new strategies of coexistence. And it is precisely within the marginalized yet resilient immigrant communities flanking the border that such a conception of civic culture will emerge, one whose DNA is composed of empathy, collaboration and shared values. 

Isolationism is no longer an option in today’s world of global interconnectedness.  Ethically, we cannot ignore the negative impact that our decisions, choices and habits have on others near and far; nor can we impose our will on others by force. The problems of Mexico and Central America are ours. The fallout of climate change on the global poor, most of which the rich countries of the North have caused, is our responsibility. The dramatic injustices perpetrated against marginalized populations in Ferguson, MO and undoubtedly countless other cities across the U.S. cannot remain invisible, isolated from the halls of Washington. We cannot wish the problems of such places away with market solutions, or with guns and fences; instead we must listen to and cooperate with those most affected by our policies, globally and domestically.

At bottom, we need to recover a sense of collective commitment to the least well-off among us. Social justice must reassert itself at the center of today’s public discourse, and we must also recover a sense of cultural empathy, the sort emblazoned on the Statue of Liberty’s plaque:

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

In a just city, economic and urban growth cannot come at the expense of social equality and inclusion. The drive to privatize must be tempered by an interventionist, disruptive commitment to public investment in infrastructure and general social welfare. The market will not solve our problems. Public and private interests must be harmonized. The public, particularly the poorest members of it, must take their cities back. Government must become transparent, efficient, and inclusive, with massive investment in new strategies of civic engagement to reignite a new public culture capable of making claims on its own behalf. Today, mistrust of government and hollow notions of progress and freedom for all have undermined the possibility of drawing upon the shared democratic values that unite us. Citizenship has become a polarizing concept, caught up in narratives about protecting “our” resources from “them.” In the just city, a more inclusive citizenship culture, based on shared values, commitments and common interests, rather than rigid jurisdictional categories that dehumanize the other, must be the foundation of a new public imagination.

Teddy Cruz and Fonna Forman
San Diego

 

The Just City Essays is a joint project of The J. Max Bond Center, Next City and The Nature of Cities. © 2015 All rights are reserved.

Fonna Forman

About the Writer:
Fonna Forman

Fonna Forman is a Professor of Political Theory at the University of California, San Diego and founding Director of the UCSD Center on Global Justice. Current work focuses on climate justice in cities, on human rights at the urban scale and civic participation as a strategy of equitable urbanization.

Putting Nature Back Into the Natural Beauty of Rio de Janeiro

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It is an irony that despite the magnificent natural beauty of Rio de Janeiro, the city itself is largely devoid of functioning nature. It is now time for Rio to not only to host global events such as the World Cup and Olympics, but to host its primary nature, not outside the city, but in the middle of its streets, plazas and buildings. This blog discusses a case study – the greening of the Carioca River watershed that emerges from Tijuca National Park – as an example of what we could accomplish for the good of all Cariocas (which is what residents of Rio are called).

The land cover map around Rio de Janeiro. The watershed that is the focus of this blog is shown in orange to the left of the red star. Credit: Instituto Pereira Passos

The presence of nature is decreasing in the daily life of Rio due to the expansion of the impervious area at many scales, from street to district scale, architectural models of arid constructions and street tree plantings that are getting old. Slowly the nature is being “expelled”, transforming the city in an hot and arid landscape.

Hot days are more frequent, transforming the city in an uncomfortable and stressing way. Credit: P. Martin.

The city of Rio de Janeiro has a semi-humid tropical climate, with hot and humid summers and mild and dry winters. Climate change forecasts in the medium to long-term for this region indicate more peaks of heat and rain, more drought, a rise in average temperature and larger drought periods (Megacidades, Vulnerabilidades e Mudanças Climáticas: Região Metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro). The future may be one of environmental imbalance, mainly because of alteration of quality and quantity of water and strong changes of the vegetation land cover, plus other alterations to natural systems and their co-relations.

What can Rio, its government, and its citizens do to face these new challenges? Urban design issues focused on nature efficiency can be a response. Here are some conceptual experiments and designs on the potential presence of nature into the city.

Case study: the Carioca River watershed

Rio de Janeiro will host the World Cup and the Olympic Games in the coming years but it will also host global changes like rising temperature and more extremes of humidity. We know that ecosystems can be effective regulators of the environment, especially at local scales (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment), so we will propose nature, in this speculative exercise, as a method of regulating heat and humidity for our urban environmental scenario in the medium term.

Painting showing the old aqueduct that diverted the river from the watershed to the downtown, nowadays it used as a bridge for a tramway. Leandro Joaquim (Brasil, c. 1738 – c. 1798). Oil paint on wood. Museu Histórico Nacional, Rio de Janeiro

To illustrate Rio’s current conditions and create contemporary design proposals to reverse the lack of nature and its immediate consequences, we will study the Rio Carioca watershed for its iconic abiotic, biotic and social status. It is unfortunately not valued by the city or many of its residents, but it will at least illustrate problems the city is facing in its everyday life but not in its political decisions. (See also here.)

The watershed of Rio Carioca has been occupied by humans since the dawn of colonial occupation because of its fresh water, firstly by local farms, later by industries, and then finally by planned residential neighborhoods. The Carioca River was a source of fresh water for most of the settler population. In 1750 the river was diverted to supply the downtown Rio’s fountains and the arches of Lapa aqueduct, which conducted the water, remains today. The aqueduct is now a historical monument is used as a bridge and is the most iconic element of this neighborhood. However, only a very few remember what was its original purpose.

A city between hills and lowlands

The geology of the city mainly separates the territory in two main classes that are hills of granite or gneiss and lowlands constituted by silt, sands or landfills. During the 20th century many hills were used for landfill and wetlands filled to create more territory near the ocean and the bay. This territory has been highly transformed by built infrastructure, and even its national park, Parque Nacional da Tijuca, was reclaimed, at the end of the 19th century, after coffee plantations drained most of the rivers of the city. Major Archer was responsible for planting 100,000 trees and restored this forest with native plants.

Aerial image and elevations of the watershed showing land uses and relief Credit: P.Martin using mixed public data.

Most of the watersheds pass through these geologies and the natural lowlands were occupied by marshes, lagoons and meandering rivers. Nowadays the city is concentrated in the lowlands and and the natural history has largely been removed from the urban landscape. The Carioca River watershed, even if it is not the worst environmental example in the city, has a clear and strong gradient: green in the hills, but very grey in the city.

Analysis maps showing the different characters, uses, and structures of the watershed. Credit: P. Martin using mixed public data.

Blue system, lost river

Today the Carioca River has disappeared from the city. It is covered by infrastructure soon after it enters the formal city and only reappears near Guanabara Bay in the middle of Flamengo Park, a masterpiece of landscape architecture by Burle Marx. Ironically, the river passes through a sewer treatment plant as it arrives in the park, revealing the true official recognition by the authorities that the Carioca River is no longer a river but a sewer system.

We cannot hide our problems under the rug (or concrete) and it is time to rethink the role of water resources in the city and recognize that the health of our environment must be measured against the health of our urban waters.

Left: the last vision of the Carioca River before it enters in the piped system of the underground artificial hydrology. Right: the river going off into the bay a few meters after passing through a sewage treatment station . Credit: P.Martin

Green systems, fragmentation and anthropization

Rio de Janeiro recently won the title of UNESCO world heritage site and reasons for winning this award abound in this watershed. For example, Tijuca National Park, an approximately 4000 hectare conservation unit (CU) created in 1961, successfully protects Atlantic Rainforest biodiversity in the middle of the city, although it has always suffered influences from the actions of Man (As marcas do homem na floresta – História ambiental de um trecho urbano de mata atlântica). Nowadays the sum of all CUs in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro represents one third of its territory. However, most of these conservation parks are at the edges of the city with few entrances and distant from the central cores. On the one hand they provide excellent stages for conservation, but their remoteness means that most residents have little contact with nature except for distant views. Natural landscapes in Rio are more background than foreground.

Full city or empty nature?

To examine the watershed more closely we divided it into seven parts of equal length as a tool for interpretation and analysis – like botanists do in surveys of biodiversity – drawing grids and surveying parcels on the land. Summarizing, we can read on the landscape the following four main typologies.

  • The top of the hills with scenic views acting as natural belvederes and monuments, such as the Cristo Redentor statue – highly touristic sites but only suitable for short visits.
  • The border between the forest and the city, where there are expensive residences occupying big parcels and slums situated in between infrastructure and residual spaces.
  • Middle-class residential vertical neighborhoods and their infrastructure.
  • A large modernist park on landfill areas.
Seven zones along the Carioca River, used in this territorial morphology analysis. Credit: P.Martin using mixed data

Reading this territory it is clear that the gradient of green to grey is also a gradient of population density in a city that has been emptied of nature. When I say nature I mean efficient ecosystems, not man made gardens with mainly esthetic purposes. So actually we have quite an empty city with a full nature only around the city at its edge.

The forest

Tijuca National Park does a really great job at interpretation for visitors, with all of its trails mapped and signage in place. It interacts actively through neighborhood meetings with all communities touching its border, but the two million+ visitors each year are mainly tourists who enter into a funicular in the middle of the city, jump out of it when arriving at the Corcovado statue (Cristo Redentor) and return after taking a few pictures of the city and its unique territory from above.

It is a missed opportunity that so many people from all over the world pass through the forest but do not have real contact with it or an understanding of its particular ecology. This is the point that should be better developed in one of the biggest urban forests of the world: connecting the forest and the touristic points with accessible and educational trails expanding the tourists’ knowledge of one of the best fragments of Atlantic Rainforest and its ecosystem services, such as biodiversity habitats, atmospheric and temperature regulation and water purification.

Upper: a photo from the forest near the Cristo Redentor statue. Lower: the same photo, with a drawing of potential tourist trails, including a canopy walks with environmental education. Credit: P. Martin.

The border between the forest and city

This area is complex, with a mix of environmental, urban and historical restrictions and sometimes many public owners, such as the city, the state and the federal government. There is interpenetration of private and public spaces and some “nobody” places that are, for example, the buffer zones around energy and transportation infrastructure and  properties of undetermined ownership. This area needs to be activated ecologically, and given sustainable uses. For example, small scale slums have social and economic demand for natural land uses such as agroforestry. This border could be co-managed in a model of land use similar to the Satoyamas in Japan.

These borders experience significant pressure from ecological edge effects and invasive of species such as the jackfruit tree, Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam., which compete on the Forest floor with native species. An active and planned use with co-management of population and public entities will result in more security for the population and the ecosystems.

Using earth retaining infrastructure to implant urban agriculture and agroforestry into the border of the city. The position is strategic for education as around 200,000 vehicles per day pass through this tunnel. Credit: P. Martin.

The city

In Rio our public spaces such as street and plazas suffer from deficient maintenance and no systemetic planning for urban trees and permeable surfaces (i.e., areas without concrete where water can be absorbed). The main activity of public agents in public spaces is just cleaning or tree pruning. There is still a culture of concrete as a symbol of modernity, which results in an urban environment that acts more like a bathtub than as a natural system normal water flow and biodiversity.

Our proposals look to increase vertical biodiversity as a response for the vertical city that occupies most of the watershed with urban territory that lacks trees, soil, and permeable surfaces. Our idea is to use the huge range of epiphytes of the Atlantic rainforest that can be used for vertical gardening that does not require irrigation or strong support structures. Complementing this action would be extensive natural green roofs that could restore native herbaceous ecosystems of this biome and also serve as habitat for birds.

Using nature on the built structures through the use of native epiphytic plants on the walls and roofs, reducing heat and pollution. Credit: P. Martin.

The big park

This is for sure a polemical issue because Flamengo Park is a masterpiece of designer Roberto Burle Marx, and a landmark for the city, its citizens and their common history. We will not enter here into a discussion about the park’s esthetic or historical value. The issue here is mainly about ecology and environmental efficiency of this 1.2 million square meters of public space.

Actually the park is almost a giant lawn with a really diverse trees but virtually no shrubs or wet zones. You can see gardeners cutting its lawn all year long making a lot of air and noise pollution…not so efficient for maintenance.

The way the herbaceous layer is designed should be rethought so as to complement it with shrubs, native grasses with only one or two cuts a year. The first ecological renovation could be implemented as a test for social understanding: the Carioca River, after it is no longer used as a sewer line.

Above: Flamengo Park today, with the river under a deck. Below: a design for re-naturalized Carioca River and park area, providing habitat an natural areas. Credit: P. Martin.

Conclusion

This proposal is clearly a meant as a provocative and reactive initiative but it is surely aligned to the importance of the Brazilian biodiversity and its main biodiverse biome: the Atlantic Rainforest. It is now in time for Rio de Janeiro not only to host global events but to host its main nature, not outside the city, but in the middle of its streets, plazas and buildings.

Pierre-André Martin
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Putting Nature First: Driving Actions for Nature in Cities

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Art, Science, Action: Green Cities Re-imagined

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Cities need to put nature objectives in strategic agendas and then commit to achieving them through meaningful investment and means for accountability. Simply put: get nature on the agenda and act for it.
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed how important urban nature is for our physical and mental health. As urban strategists embark on ideas and think of pathways for recovery and “building back better” our societies and especially cities, it is paramount that the green recovery include nature in the mix of options that cities consider. Nature (varying from remnant ecosystems, novel ecosystems and various nature-based solutions) needs to be one of the highest priorities on the agenda for building resilient and thriving cities. With this thesis in mind, we bring three core messages to the global community of practice for urban nature: (1) cities play.a critical role in biodiversity conservation; (2) cities must put nature at the forefront of planning and action; and (3) cities must promote and enable inclusive governance for urban nature.

Bracken Creek Northcote during Melbourne’s COVID-19 lockdown. Photo: Judy Bush

First, cities have a role to play in dealing with the extinction crisis and with protecting biodiversity and that means they need to act upon it (Oke et al., 2021). The first step is to recognize the potential of cities as places for biodiversity and as spaces where nature can be restored and protected (Ives et al 2016; Garrard et al 2018). Global reports for biodiversity and climate adaptation (e.g. United Nations Environment Program, 2021) document and provide evidence for the effectiveness of actions as well as for the opportunities that cities offer. Yet, simply being sites of opportunity, however, does not guarantee that the opportunities are seized nor materialized. Cities, and their multilevel governance partners, need to realize and act upon the opportunities they have in contributing to urban biodiversity finding solutions to the extinction crisis through connecting global perspectives with a local focus.

While cities may feel constrained by contested interests and a nexus of necessary institutional arrangements that need to be in place; however, many cities are showcasing that when there is a will there is a way. Across the globe, cities grappling with opportunities for making transformational changes with nature have paved the way for others to follow. In the mix of daring cities, we find Melbourne with a global first metropolitan-wide strategy for Urban Forests, connecting and coordinating multiple actions across 32 municipalities and setting an enabling (policy) context for more actions to emerge along the way (Fastrenrath et al 2020; The Nature Conservancy and Resilient Melbourne 2019).

In fact, many cities in Australia are motivated to take action by regenerating urban parks, making biodiversity plans at city level and responding to state-level targets on canopy cover with broader than simply ‘trees in parks’ strategies incorporating biodiversity and renaturing initiatives. The recent announcement by the city of Paris for making an urban green park in its iconic Champs-Élysées boulevard as a next step to its rolling out rooftop cover strategy also falls into this category. It is about realizing the important role that cities can play in dealing with biodiversity crisis and taking daring action to realize in full potential the role, and for this to be recognized by governance peers.

Cormorants at Albert Park, Melbourne. Photo: Judy Bush

Second, cities need to put nature objectives in strategic agendas and then commit to achieving them through meaningful investment and means for accountability (Oke et al 2021). Simply, put nature on the agenda and act for it. Cities’ agendas drive action and are the institutional ‘signposts’ for committing political will or showing political commitment. Until now, guidance and research for designing and implementing city agendas for nature, is rather heavy on critique and light on constructive guidance, yet we recognize that science and research can play a critical role in co-shaping and informing city agendas.

For cities to put nature first in strategic urban agendas they need to:

  1. Employ a system’s approach to guide biodiversity agendas. Approach the full planning cycle with a system’s perspective, from objectives setting to developing implementation programs. This means looking at interactions, feedback loops, and co-benefits between solutions and interventions as well as between biodiversity and other strategic priorities. In this way, more opportunities and also institutional spaces for innovation can be enabled.
  2. Mainstream resilience principles in planning with and for nature-based solutions. With much knowledge and evidence from practice of how to achieve urban resilience through global city initiatives and city networks (e.g. 100 Resilient Cities now evolved into Global Resilience Network, as well as other city networks such as ICLEI-led Cities with Nature), a more daring step will be to adopt resilience principles as guiding or foundational principles for urban planning. Instead of spending resources and time to advocate for the need of an urban resilience approach, cities now have to leapfrog into mainstreaming them to support further the planning and implementation of nature-based solutions as critical for biodiversity and climate adaptation in cities (Race to Resilience: https://racetozero.unfccc.int/race-to-resilience/).
  3. Mainstream experimentation to enrich and strengthen in-house expertise in cities. Urban planners and urban strategists have deep knowledge and expertise on their thematic spheres. This is a resource to be tapped into when putting nature on the agenda as well as for designing plans and programs for it. The in-house expertise should to be woven with recent academic knowledge in ‘safe spaces’ through experimentation and co-creation. In addition, urban governments may benefit from building in-house ecological and scientific expertise where this is lacking. Experimentation requires commitment to monitoring and evaluating the outcomes of actions, and to identifying opportunities to turn ‘failure’ into new approaches and improved responses. We thus propose that many cities can mainstream experimentation as a way to extend and update and put learning into the ‘making of’ the city with nature (Frantzeskaki et al 2019, 2020).

Third, cities need to engage with diverse actors so as to plan and govern nature in cities inclusively (Oke et al 2021). Cities are connected landscapes: landscapes of nature and cultures. As such, every intervention or transformation in the fabric of urban landscapes needs to weave in and engage inclusively with multiple actors. For finding ‘whose nature it is’, there are different lenses and approaches to take on board, each one with benefits and blind spots. A common aspect in all cities is that globalization as an unstoppable driver creates multicultural cities and urban spaces that are always in flux.

For cities to govern nature (and nature-based solutions) inclusively they need to:

  1. Renature co-creatively with Indigenous communities. Bringing and/or sustaining nature in cities is an action for ecological, economic and social sustainability and responds to the quest for intergenerational justice. But thinking and caring for future generations comes hand in hand with respecting, understanding and caring for our history and predecessors. Here is where Indigenous communities and their care for nature, care for place and planet and specifically in Australia “Caring for Country” is of vital importance to lead urban renaturing.
  2. Give voice to cultural meanings of nature in cities. Alongside strategic narratives and business cases for nature in cities, cities should include cultural meanings of nature in the form of narratives, imaginaries, songlines, or images. Place-based understandings and narratives can provide a new form of understanding of how to better integrate or re-introduce nature in cities especially in places that are contested, under conflict or socially or ecologically vulnerable. Cities can foster and enable this weaving of cultural meanings through, for example, transforming existing (and often long-standing) city festivals to embrace multi-cultural meanings, to make the “invisible visible” and to represent diversity.
  3. Embrace citizen science to make inclusive urban nature programs. Citizen science offers an additional lens and means through which to shed light to people’s use of, preferences for and meanings of urban nature. It can complement traditional social science or marketing methods to unravel citizens’ needs and activate feelings of belonging and empowerment that are important both for embracing nature in cities and being active urban citizens.
Bringing nature into the heart of the city, Melbourne Town Hall’s vegetable and herb planter boxes. Photo: Judy Bush
A view of nature of Melbourne city. Photo: Judy Bush

Cities are critical places for tackling the global challenges of climate change, extinction crisis and pandemics. But to do so, we need to foreground biodiversity in actions for nature in cities. This implies a shift in the way urban priorities are set, a move from considering biodiversity and nature in cities as a luxurious after-thought or beneficial add-on to acknowledging them as a key starting point for planning and building inclusive, resilient cities of the future.

Niki Frantzeskaki, Cathy Oke, Judy Bush, Sarah A. Bekessy, James A. Fitzsimons, Georgia E. Garrard, Maree Grenfell, Martin Hartigan
Melbourne

On The Nature of Cities

 

References:

Oke, C., Bekessy, S.A., Frantzeskaki, N., Bush, J., Fitzsimons, J.A., Garrard, G.E., Grenfell, M., Harrison, L., Hartigan, M., Callow, D., Cotter, B., Gawler, S., (2021), Cities should respond to the biodiversity extinction crisis, npj Urban Sustainability, 1, https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-020-00010-w

The Nature Conservancy and Resilient Melbourne (2019). Living Melbourne: Our Metropolitan Urban Forest. The Nature Conservancy and Resilient Melbourne, Melbourne. https://resilientmelbourne.com.au/living-melbourne/

Fastenrath, S., Bush, J., and Coenen, L., (202), Scaling-up nature-based solutions, Lessons from the Living Melbourne strategy, Geoforum, 116, 63-72, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2020.07.011

Frantzeskaki, N., Vandergert, P., Connop, S., Schipper, K., Zwierzchowska, I., Collier, M., and Lodder, M., (2020), Examining the policy needs for implementing nature-based solutions: Findings for city-wide transdisciplinary experiences in Glasgow, Genk and Poznan, Land Use Policy, 96, 104688, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104688

Frantzeskaki, N., McPhearson, T., Collier, M., Kendal, D., Bulkeley, H., Dumitru, A., Walsh, C., Noble, K., van Wyk, E., Pinter, L., Ordonez, C., Oke, C., Elmqvist, T., (2019), Nature-based solutions for urban climate change adaptation: linking the science, policy and practice communities for evidence based decision-making, Bioscience, 69, 455-566, doi:10.1093/biosci/biz042

Garrard GE, Williams NSG, Mata L, Thomas J & Bekessy SA (2018) Biodiversity sensitive urban design. Conservation Letters. 11: e12411. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/conl.12411/full

Ives CI, Lentini PE, Threllfall CG, Ikin K, Shanahan DF, Garrard GE, Bekessy SA, Fuller RA, Mumaw L, Rayner L, Rowe R, Valentine LE, Kendal D (2016) Cities are hotspots for threatened species. Global Ecology and Biodiversity, 25: 117-126. doi: 10.1111/geb.12404

United Nations Environment Progamme, (2021), Adaptation Gap Report 2020, Nairobi. (www.unep.org/adaptation-gap-report-2020).

Cathy Oke

About the Writer:
Cathy Oke

Dr Cathy Oke is Melbourne Enterprise Senior Fellow in Informed Cities at the Connected Cities Lab, Faculty of Architecture Building and Planning University of Melbourne.

Judy Bush

About the Writer:
Judy Bush

Judy is a Lecturer in Urban Planning at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Her research focuses on policies and governance of urban green spaces in the transition to nature-based cities.

Sarah Bekessy

About the Writer:
Sarah Bekessy

Sarah leads the ICON Science group at RMIT University (Interdisciplinary Conservation Science). She co-developed the ‘biodiversity sensitive urban design’ protocol and works with governments and industry to improved biodiversity outcomes in cities.

James Fitzsimons

About the Writer:
James Fitzsimons

Dr James Fitzsimons is the Director of Conservation and Science for The Nature Conservancy’s Australia Program where he oversees conservation planning, science, implementation and policy across all the projects the Conservancy works on throughout the country.

Georgia Garrard

About the Writer:
Georgia Garrard

Georgia is an interdisciplinary conservation scientist and Senior Lecturer in Sustainability in the Office for Environmental Programs and School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences at The University of Melbourne, Australia.

Maree Grenfell

About the Writer:
Maree Grenfell

Maree is an accomplished change strategist with a track record of achievement across the community, private and government sectors. Her work focuses primarily on complex multi-stakeholder initiatives and pioneering projects to build capability and collaborative capacity at a community, city and national level.

Martin Hartigan

About the Writer:
Martin Hartigan

Martin is an experienced manager of environment and sustainability teams in local and state government, developing and implementing a range of environmental strategies.

Quarantine Fatigue and the Power of Activating Public Lands as Social Infrastructure

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Art, Science, Action: Green Cities Re-imagined

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This essay is part three in a series. Since 13 March 2020, our team of social science researchers has been keeping a collective journal of our experiences of our New York City neighborhoods and public spaces during COVID-19. Read the essays from spring and summer here.

Our public landscapes have the capacity to absorb so much of our personal trials and our societal tribulations. But it is active stewardship that can, at its best, transcend politics and build trust between people. When we have trust in each other, we have hope. 
1. Winter is coming: Second wave and quarantine fatigue

In New York City, after a bit of respite this summer, infection rates are rising again as we are facing a second wave. Among our research team, we have friends and family who have gotten ill, a reminder that the virus is very much still present as a threat. In our communities, we observe that there is persistent need and acute risk of hunger—with municipal agencies, religious organizations, and mutual aid groups continuing to serve as frontline providers of food relief and social services to meet the needs of the most vulnerable. After just eight weeks of in-person schooling, NYC public schools moved to an all-virtual format on 19 November. Yet, indoor restaurant dining, gyms, and nail salons still remain open in December, raising ire among some parents and prompting multiple opinion pieces on the matter (see also this). This rollercoaster of openings and closings continued as the city announced a plan for resuming in-person learning in public schools starting in mid-December. No more than days after this announcement, plans for reopening changed again. Fatigue sets in from constantly having to recalibrate things like daily work-school-shop schedules and many routine activities. Everything is fluid—testing our own adaptive capacities.

NYC Parks’ Red Hook, Brooklyn pool repurposed as a NYC Health + Hospitals COVID testing site. Photo: Lindsay Campbell

We have all had to adapt, cancel, or move to virtual our planned family fall gatherings and holidays. The CDC issued official guidance encouraging Americans not to travel for Thanksgiving celebrations, which was amplified in the social media space through norming and shaming like the trending meme “I’d rather have a zoom Thanksgiving than an ICU Christmas.” Further, we navigated a patchwork quilt of COVID-related restrictions that varied by state and county, including everything from travel-related quarantines, to curfews, to business shutdown, to bans on outdoor socializing outside the household. We feel the weight of our own personal decisions and responsibilities as we navigate household variation in risk perception, and socio-cultural norms–which are not uniformly shared.

Excerpt from Laura’s journal, 21 September:

I wanted to share a few reflections from Rosh Hashanah this past weekend. On Friday I baked challah and cooked a big meal for my zoom family dinner. Since COVID has made many of our usual holiday traditions unsafe it felt important to focus on the things I could still do, like make an apple cake that filled my apartment with a familiar smell and connect virtually with family members who are normally too far away to see this time of year. Saturday my partner and I drove to Connecticut for an outdoor picnic lunch with my family and the tashlich service (where we throw bread into water to symbolically cast away our sins). My brother-in-law led a short and socially-distanced service in the parking lot of his Synagogue; every other parking space was filled by one family unit and they asked us not to sing along for COVID reasons, a reminder that the new year was starting in a very different context. But then we did tashlich in a nearby pond and the simple act of throwing breadcrumbs into water felt unchanged. Back in Brooklyn on Sunday I went to an outdoor “shofar across Brooklyn” service at Grand Army Plaza and reflected on the power of participating in ritual in a public space.

As we move into our tenth month of the COVID-19 pandemic, quarantine fatigue is real. Recognizing that there are axes of incredible difference based on social vulnerability that shape personal exposure to risk, we are all–in unique ways—experiencing the sustained impacts of this public health crisis, the cascading economic effects, and the transformations of our social worlds.

Excerpt from Lindsay’s journal, 30 October:

On the personal front, I think I’ve finally realized that I am entering a stage of fatigue. I’m working a ton, I’m home with Mia, Ricardo does almost all the cooking, but still I find myself with zero time—no exercise, not seeing friends. Time is just flying by. I miss the sum total of lived experience in the city. No, I don’t miss commuting, but as my friend Minna said, “I miss the randomness.” It’s all just starting to wear down—the sameness, being home all the time, connected only through the computer. I miss my SOCIAL WORLD. I keep thinking about Erika’s comments from Frank Snowden. So hard to put a finger on, to capture, and to see, but that erosion of our social bonds is real, personal, and deeply felt.

Yet, we have seen an amazing range of adaptations that allow us to sustain and continue our social and economic lives. Here in New York City, we have moved more of our lives outdoors—particularly in our parks and open spaces, which have become even more the lifeblood of the city, hosting outdoor fitness classes, classrooms, book clubs, birthday parties, playgroups, community dialogues and more. Municipally-enabled programs of Open Restaurants, Open Streets, and Open Storefronts transform and repurpose the public right-of-way for diverse uses. Yet, these programs cannot fully support or save whole sectors—arts and culture, retail—the economic impact is staggering. As of September, fewer than 10% of Manhattan office workers had returned, with cascading impacts on retail, restaurant, and service providers connected to those workers. For colleagues that work in these sectors, we have little to offer but sympathy and worry, mumbled apologies and distress.

Overall, many have expressed the feeling that the novelty of distanced socializing and outdoor dining is waning.  With shorter and colder days, comes a grim sense of preparing for a long winter. We are now all acting like amateur meteorologists (as well as amateur epidemiologists), keenly aware of sunrise, sunset, temperature gradients, and wind chill factors. Many people are getting serious about thermals, boots, jackets, and space heaters. But all the best gear and “can do” attitude doesn’t fully shake the feeling of dread and worry about what lies ahead over the next few months. Yet, with recent announcements on the development of vaccines, we can see a light at the end of the tunnel. With spring, summer, and vaccines ahead, we redouble our efforts to stay safe and sustain ourselves and our communities through this winter.

We cannot write about this fall without reflecting on the impact of the election. As federal employees and researchers, it is not our role to take a political stance. But as observers of our social worlds and cultural milieus, we can plainly see that once again our public spaces serve as crucial sites for contestation, celebration, and protest. We are reminded that there are few places other than public lands that have the capacity to absorb all of our strife and angst, our protest and peace. And sometimes, all of it can be expressed in one weekend and within a single public space.

2. The power of public lands and the possibilities of social infrastructure

Given all of these overwhelming divisions and chronic challenges, how can our public realm continue to offer social support? When and how can our shared public spaces at minimum meet a wide range of needs and, at best, help us to come together or transcend these differences?

First and foremost, the power and potential of public lands lies in the fact that they are just that—public and open to all. We have been conducting a series of interviews with city, state, and federal land managers across the northeast, asking them to reflect on the role of the forests and parks that they steward in light of the events of 2020—including both COVID-19 and the uprisings around racial injustice. A consistent theme we heard echoed again and again at every scale of government is that these lands are for everyone:

  • A New York City Parks administrator said, “[our park] is a place for people to come together and is welcoming of all people” and “We have this incredible open space resource. It’s an educational resource and a recreational resource, but we have to find out how we can best be of use to those [under served] communities.”
  • A New York State Parks official said, “public lands are for all.”
  • A National Forest representative said, “make people see that this forest, this public land is YOURS.”

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a renewed attention to the importance of green space and nearby nature as a crucial resource that supports all dimensions of physical, mental, social, and emotional health and well-being. Going further, the pandemic has shined a light on pre-existing inequities in the distribution of, access to, and financing and programming of these greenspaces across landscapes and communities. As has been well-known in environmental justice circles for decades, access to parkland and tree canopy is uneven, including along dimensions of race and class (see, e.g., Grove et al., 2018; Heynen, 2003, Schwarz et al., 2015; Watkins & Gerrish, 2018).

The NYC City Council Parks and Recreation Committee held a hearing on 22 October on this very issue: “Improving the Equity of Green Space throughout the City in Light of the COVID Epidemic.”  Not only did the NYC Parks Commissioner, Mitchell Silver, offer testimony, but dozens of non-profit partners, advocacy groups, labor unions, community gardeners, park workers, and committed residents and stewards spoke out on the need for an equitable open space system, now more than ever.  As Forest Service researchers, we too offered testimony, reflecting in particular on the importance of civic groups and their role in activating these public spaces as social infrastructure. While it is important to focus on the physical resource of parks and open space, it is not enough. We also need to support people and organizations that care for these green spaces, so that they can truly function as equitable and inclusive social infrastructures. Community organizations play a pivotal, but often unseen role in supporting public open spaces and activating them as social infrastructure — leveraging significant person power, time, and resources (Landau et al. 2019).

NYC Parks COVID social distancing signage at Valentino Pier, photo by Lindsay Campbell. Followed by activist signage using the same design and identifying racial justice issues, installed in Prospect Park and Dr. Ronald McNair Park. Photos: Laura Landau

During times of disturbance, these civic stewardship groups act as “green responders”. After a crisis, first responders help to stabilize life and property. As part of longer-term recovery and preparedness cycles, stewards can help to rebuild communities and landscapes through environmental action (Campbell et al. 2019; Svendsen and Campbell 2010). The act of caring for local places can transform not only the physical environment, but also our relationships to those places and to each other. In the wake of COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd—two crises that co-occurred and intersected, we saw many stewardship groups spring into action to address new needs that came from the pandemic and the uprisings around racial injustice:

  • One group added a set of “recovery icons” to their open source digital mapping materials, so that stewards and activists around the world can map assets such as food banks, temporary housing, and hand-washing stations.
  • Another group that was impacted by loss of funding for the city’s public composting program responded by partnering with other compost groups to advocate for a partial restoration of the community compost budget.
  • A group in the Rockaways more than doubled their farm share program and offered free Thanksgiving dinners to support community members in need. In addition to their food justice work, their educational team also created a documentary reflecting the lives and stories of their youth participants during the pandemic.
  • A group in Flushing pivoted to providing online content – including a virtual environmental justice book club – to keep participants connected in conversation and community and fight “quarantine monotony”.
  • During the protests in the wake of the George Floyd murder, banners riffing off the NYC Parks official COVID social distancing signs appeared in some parks in Brooklyn. While they are not park of the parks’ official signage, they have been left up and serve as a reminder that public lands serve as sites of expression.

Civic engagement is critical to public space. In addition to providing labor and increasing capacity, it strengthens democracy via empathy, innovation, and fostering social trust. For example, a study of volunteer tree planters participating in the MillionTreesNYC found that–other than voting or attending religious services–tree planting was many participants’ first act of volunteerism; follow up interviews found that they went on to be more highly civically engaged in their communities in other ways. As such, we find that environmental stewardship can be an on-ramp to other forms of engagement (Fisher et al. 2015). Civic stewardship can increase community and cultural relevance by providing locally tailored and specific programming, events, and activities. Prior to the pandemic, one local friends-of park group in Queens organized nighttime dance parties, public health fairs, and arts activities for children to bring diverse residents together around issues they cared about–all with a fun and educational tone. And this summer, a group in Brownsville, Brooklyn responded to the shifting needs of their community members by building out a focus around mental health care and wellness. In addition to new needs that have emerged during the pandemic, groups have also continued annual events, like raking leaves, which can feel like rituals, grounding neighbors in time and place.

Neighbors and friends creating a garden in an empty street tree bed in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Photo: Lindsay Campbell

Excerpt from Lindsay’s journal, 26 October

This past weekend, I did some long-overdue stewardship on Pioneer Street, after having been dormant for a few seasons. Marisa (friend, neighbor, and garden steward at Pioneer Works) and I organized it and ALL the kids in our building came out to help. We created a new stone border on the empty tree pit outside our door, planted an indigo bush, moved a sumac from the planter, planted bulbs I had bought, and echinacea Marisa brought. We also replanted the planter with grasses and wildflowers. We made hand-made signs espousing our love for our human and plant neighbors, and took a tea break served off the back of a wagon. It was hard work and fun — and it was the first time since the pandemic that I had seen so many of my neighbors together. Now this tree pit that Ricardo and I had tended as a household in the past became truly a shared space, stewarded by our building and with our neighbors down the block.

Astoria Park Alliance LeafFest. Photo: Michelle Johnson

Overall, we have an over-reliance on, but under-resourcing of civic stewardship groups in frontline communities. A “both/and” approach is needed to support an equitable system of stewardship across public, civic, and private sectors. The public sector provides crucial parks maintenance workers as paid jobs–and is currently facing devastating losses to this essential permanent and seasonal workforce in light of budget cuts.

Volunteerism and civic leadership also provide important sources of personal meaning, community contribution, and social ties, particularly in these times of high unemployment and underemployment. Vibrant urban public open spaces require government and NGO programs that enable and foster civic engagement at all times of year and in all neighborhoods.

Astoria Park Alliance LeafFest. Photo: Michelle Johnson

Our public landscapes have the capacity to absorb so much of our personal trials and our societal tribulations. But it is active stewardship that can, at its best, transcend politics and build trust between people. When we have trust in each other, we have hope. Reflecting on the experience of everyday people during our nation’s hardest times in the 20th Century, NYC-born Studs Terkel once reminded us, “Hope springs up, it doesn’t trickle down.”

Lindsay Campbell, Erika Svendsen, Laura Landau, Michelle Johnson, Sophie Plitt
New York

On The Nature of Cities

Erika Svendsen

About the Writer:
Erika Svendsen

Dr. Erika Svendsen is a social scientist with the U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station and is based in New York City. Erika studies environmental stewardship and issues related to hybrid governance, collective resilience and human well-being.

Laura Landau

About the Writer:
Laura Landau

Laura is currently pursuing a PhD in geography at Rutgers University. Her research focuses on the civic groups that care for the local environment, and on the potential for urban environmental stewardship to strengthen communities and make them more resilient to disaster and disturbance.

Michelle Johnson

About the Writer:
Michelle Johnson

Michelle Johnson is a research ecologist with the USDA Forest Service at the NYC Urban Field Station.

Sophie Plitt

About the Writer:
Sophie Plitt

Sophie Plitt is National Partnership Manager the the Natural Areas Conservancy. Sophie works to engage national partners in a workshop to improve the management of urban forested natural areas.

Rah! Rah! for Rail: Solving Transportation in Cities

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Art, Science, Action: Green Cities Re-imagined

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A review of Rail and the City: Shrinking Our Carbon Footprint While Reimaging Urban Space, by Roxanne Warren. 2014. ISBN: 9780262027809. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. 336 pages.

rail and the city coverLike a dog with a bone, some of us just can’t let go of the notion of rail in cities. I’m certainly one of them. Since most cities dedicate more than 50 percent of their land area to transportation, and for 100 percent of contemporary cities, the majority of that space is dedicated to the almighty automobile, it is difficult to imagine how the nature of cities gets much better without dealing with the car. And it is easy to see electric rail systems as a compelling alternative, speeding us along green rights-of-way that lead to quiet, mixed-use, work/residential neighborhoods, with access to new spaces for playing and relaxing. One can see cities striving for these idyllic biophilic combinations in Europe and parts of South America, even in Asia, but the arguments put forth by numerous authors from diverse perspectives (myself included) have fallen on deaf ears for generations of Americans, who have found the combination of oil, cars, and suburbs more compelling still.

The most recent person to gnaw this particular femur is the New York City architect and light rail advocate, Roxanne Warren, in Rail and the City: Shrinking our Carbon Footprint While Reimagining Urban Space. Warren bites deep into what she calls the triple tyrannies: traffic congestion, dependency on petroleum, and paved environments. She shows that these three tyrants are mere henchmen at the beck and call of the American emperor pro temp: the automobile. Warren shuttles us through seven chapters that take on various aspects of why the car is bad (urban sprawl, pollution, space requirements, climate-changing pollution) and why trains are good (more space efficient, more energy efficient, better for healthy lifestyles, better for the disabled and elderly).

A long-time leader in “Vision42”, a fascinating proposal for a Manhattan light rail line extending across the island from river to river along 42nd Street (and possibly circling back via a loop along 34th Street), Warren knows well the pros and cons of what she writes. Reading her book, I feel like I can hear her in the offices of New York City politicians, or speaking before community groups, or honing the case with her rail friends at conferences, reinforcing her case emphatically and drawing the links between transportation and land use, land use and quality of life. The advantages for urban railways are manifold: less air pollution (including carbon dioxide, as suggested by the subtitle); more available space; less noise; complementarity with walking and bicycling; and the potential to encourage renewable energy. But still, most people don’t get it.

Warren argues that change is on its way, if incrementally, and we should not lose hope. She points out that streetcar mileage has actually been increasing in America over the last few decades (though not in New York City, where the rail du jour is the subway), and that there appears to be a shift in attitude as millennial Americans are opting for car-sharing schemes and urban lifestyles with greater appetite than previous generations. “Flexibility and mobility” [she quotes Richard Florida] “are key survival principles of the modern economy.” She sees what I see and what many others have seen before: that streetcars and light rail systems can provide exactly what’s required to maximize space and minimize energy consumption, as long as the cities around them are built with sufficient density and diversity to support rail travel.

Mixed use and density are not a problem in Warren’s New York. In fact, the main obstacle to light rail in cities, or indeed any form of shared transportation, is that Americans love their privacy and hate the additional governmental cost of public transportation. For all of us who appreciate the benefits of rail in cities, perhaps we need to adopt a new tactic that focuses on interests, not positions. Our interests are in shrinking our carbon footprint and making cities better, not the advocating for or against any one technology. In this light, the part of Warren’s book I found most thought-provoking was a short passage about autonomous cars.

Autonomous cars are not something I wrote about in Terra Nova: The New World Without Oil, Cars, and Suburbs (Abrams, 2013), which covers much the same ground as Warren’s book, nor something that Richard Gilbert and Anthony Perl wrote about in Transport Revolutions: Moving People and Freight Without Oil (New Society Publishers, 2010), another volume in this vein that I highly recommend. Warren dismisses self-driving cars as just the latest continuation of the space-hogging habits of the vehicles we drive ourselves, but I have begun to wonder if she, or the rest of us rail advocates, should be so hasty. If self-driving cars were electric, they would have the same benefits as light rail and other electrified rail systems, pushing the emissions out to the power plants where they could be replaced by renewable, non-polluting sources such as wind and solar. Warren points out, and autonomous car advocates are fond of telling, that most cars spend 96 percent of the time doing nothing, sitting around filling space that otherwise could be more profitably used. If urban Americans shifted from car ownership to car-sharing, on an “Uber” type model, with self-driving cars that we call up by app, then we would need many fewer cars (by some estimates 40 percent fewer). Fewer cars would mean fewer roads and parking lots and less traffic congestion. And if computers are doing the driving, autonomous cars could move closer together in platoons, perhaps even hitch together, without needing that psychological cushion space that human drivers require. Costs go down because there are no railways, just the streets we have today, and acceptance goes up because not only is it faster, quicker, quieter, cheaper (no car insurance required) and more fuel efficient, but also private.

In other words, is there a way to have all the benefits of rail in city without the rails? If so, then all of us who care about nature in the city should get ready for a ride.

Eric Sanderson
New York City

On The Nature of Cities

Ramsar COP 13: What can Artists Contribute to Urban Wetland Restoration?

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Threats to wetlands include unsustainable urban development, pollution from cities, industry, agriculture, and invasive species, to name a few. But the biggest threat is one of perception.
The Ramsar Convention (also known as Convention on Wetlands) is the first of the major intergovernmental convention on biodiversity conservation and wise use. It was signed in 1971, in the City of Ramsar in Iran. This October, the 13th Ramsar Conference of the Parties (COP 13) will take place in Dubai, with a focus on “urban wetlands”.

The Convention has highlighted artists’ important roles in wetland conservation, having previously published Wetlands – an inspiration in art, literature, music and folklore. This document highlights a wide range of ways in which wetlands inspire artists, writers, poets, musicians and storytellers.

But why are artists involved? And what can they do?

In 1991, Artist Betsy Damon established Keepers of the Waters. Working with landscape architects and scientists in China (among other places) she helps us understand water as a living thing, building gardens that use a transparent, natural processes of purification. Participatory science methods underpin Brandon Ballengée’s studies of malformed amphibians in wetlands, resulting in peer reviewed papers and installations in galleries and museums. Artist Jan Mun works with bioremediation companies to grow mushroom fairy rings, absorbing oil industry pollution in New York.

Photographs of Betsy Damon’s “Living Water Garden Park” in Chengdu, China | Images courtesy of the artist

These are three brief examples. There exist countless more, and ecoartscotland is out to find and highlight them. In support of upcoming Convention on urban wetlands, we will be using a hashtag #art4wetlands, to highlight a wide range of examples of artists working on conservation and wise use.

Art: changing wetland perceptions & instigating actions

Despite our scientific understanding of their critical roles both for humans and other species, wetlands are still among the most widely threatened habitats world-wide. Threats include unsustainable urban development, pollution from cities, industry, agriculture, and invasive species, to name a few.

But the biggest threat is one of perception.

Wetlands are, to quote the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, “…misunderstood and undervalued by people, leading to a desire to replace them with more ‘useful’ and ‘productive’ options such as housing developments and agricultural land.”

Changing such “perceptions of value” is one of the typical roles we expect of art. Indeed, this is an important role.

However, there are also other, perhaps more direct ways that artists are involved with wetland conservation. Artists across all disciplines are now actively involved using their creative skills in support of projects to preserve, restore, and interpret wetlands. At the heart of many artists’ projects is changing perceptions of wetlands, not just by representing them beautifully, but through on the ground action, often framed as ecoart (ecological art) or ecovention (ecological intervention).

Over the next few months, ecoartscotland will be publishing examples from all six of the Convention’s regions (Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America & the Caribbean, North America, and Oceania), specifically those which have to do with the topics of wetland pollution, biodiversity loss, and inappropriate development.

We have assembled a programme highlighting artists working in different ways on issues such as habitat restoration, pollution and biodiversity loss. Below is a sampling of highlighted projects in these areas.

Pollution

Waterwash ABC is a project on the Bronx River led by artist Lillian Ball which created an intelligent buffer zone to absorb stormwater run-off from a parking lot. The project also restored native habitat, engaged local communities, opened up public space behind private businesses, and installed educational signage showing how the remediation works.

Jan Mun, mentioned in the opening of this article, worked within the Superfund site at Newtown Creek, a tributary of the East River and border between Brooklyn and Queens that has a legacy of industrial waste and pollution. Mun was supported to work with the Newtown Creek Alliance on the clean-up of oil industry pollution with a grant from the socially engaged arts foundation A Blade of Grass. Working with expert Paul Stamets, Mun used myco-remediation, mushrooms which absorb petroleum products and heavy metals. Artists have been effectively involved in various forms of remediation using plants since the artist Mel Chin—collaborating with Dr Rufus Cheney—was instrumental in the first field test Revival Field in 1991. Artists Georg Dietzler and Frances Whitehead have also done ground-breaking work on phyto- and myco-remediation.

Biodiversity loss

Also mentioned earlier in this article, Brandon Ballengée’s hybrid practice as a scientist and an artist underpins his Malamp project (1996-ongoing), documenting malformed amphibians and investigating the causes. This work involves participatory science through fieldwork in urban, suburban, and rural contexts across North America and Europe, resulting in peer reviewed papers in scientific journals as well as installations in art galleries. Ballengée’s eco-actions bring together groups comprising scientists and other interested individuals to participate in fieldwork collecting and documenting amphibians.

Urban development

As the largest threat to urban wetlands, you would clearly expect urban planners and architects to be at the forefront of protecting wetlands, but artists are also playing important roles from New York City, USA, to Chengdu, China.

The City as Living Laboratory programme has done extensive work on the potential for daylighting culverted urban waterways (including current proposals for Tibbett’s Brook). Many streams and rivers in urban landscapes have been closed over and now function as sewers and storm drains. Wetlands can absorb stormwater and slow it, reducing the likelihood of flooding where culverted watercourses once overwhelmed create more flooding problems.

Urban water is often polluted and opportunities to create urban wetlands to clean water are increasingly being taken as opportunities to also engage the public in a deeper understanding of water, pollution and their environment. The Living Water Garden (1998) in Chengdu, China, resulted from the artist Betsy Damon’s 40-year concern with water. The garden mimics a natural wetland process to clean a small proportion of the river water, and the process is clearly laid out through the sculptural forms so the city inhabitants come away with a deeper understanding of the function of wetlands. Damon’s work has been highlighted by Ramsar’s Culture Network.

Artists can bring together experts with communities in non-threatening ways, connecting up multiple ‘agendas’ including social justice and diversity with healthy water systems. Here, art plays a central role, engaging all sorts of people and demonstrating new and different ways of seeing and understanding our wetlands and our world.

#Art4Wetlands and Ramsar COP13

You can join the movement, by sharing your own examples of artists contributing to wetlands conservation and wise use with the hashtag #art4wetlands (If you are not on Twitter we are archiving the thread on Wakelet).

What should you tag? We are on the lookout for art in any artform that makes a difference, particularly new, perhaps little-known examples, particularly from Africa, Asia, Oceania, South America and the Caribbean.

The projects ecoartscotland is highlighting are changing perceptions on the ground, engaging experts and local inhabitants in practical and beautiful ways. They are contributing to our understanding of wetlands as well as to their health.

We look forward the stories, ideas, and inspirations that transpire over the coming months leading up to the COP13 urban wetlands conference!

Chris Fremantle
Ayrshire

On The Nature of Cities

Re-culturing an Urban Collective Ethos of Sustainability

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Dialogue focused on more sustainable and resilient futures, though necessary, is insufficient by itself. At its core, these movements must be driven by a new collective culture, shaped by normative ideals of equity, justice and sustainability.
In August 2017, I spent three days at the very stimulating Resilience 2017 conference, listening to conversations between nearly a thousand attendees—students, scholars, practitioners, musicians and artists—interested in understanding how we can craft a more resilient and sustainable earth system, one that keeps its people and its ecology in good health. The conversations at the conference were deeply thought provoking, and covered a range of issues—from using queer ecology to facilitate the blurring of the boundaries between science and policy, to ideas of how to link art and science in innovative ways for education. These topics, seemingly very diverse, had one common thread: the idea that our cultural connect with nature stands disrupted, and needs to be re-envisioned to shape a more resilient and sustainable future.

Nowhere is this more true than in cities. Cities contain incredibly dense combinations of people from very different social contexts, amalgamated in ways that they would never be in rural areas. This can produce cultural symphony, or cacophony! The breakdown of societal restraints on gender, caste and other artificial barriers, and the resultant opportunity to converse across boundaries, can stimulate great innovation and creativity. Indeed, many cities excel at this. But the unprecedented socio-economic heterogeneities and inequalities that we find in cities have also led to petty daily conflicts and riots, scenes of banal crime and horrific brutality. The often-lamented loss of urban connect between neighbours leads to a fragmentation of urban communities. Perhaps as a consequence, many cities have witnessed the rapid disappearance of urban ecosystems—with forests, wetlands, parks and lakes giving way to high rise apartments and garbage dumps. Provoked by the obvious deterioration, many cities are forging nascent efforts to develop new urban commons. In an urban context, this requires dialogue between communities and the State, as Sheila Foster’s recent research on the “Co-City” demonstrates. Yet dialogue, though necessary, is insufficient by itself. At its core, these movements must be driven by a new collective culture, shaped by normative ideals of equity, justice and sustainability.

Vegetables wrapped in plastic in a “modern” Indian grocery store, focused on high end “healthy” organic produce. Ironic, when you think of the health impacts of the plastic wrap on the vegetables, in addition to the environmental impacts. Photo: Harini Nagendra

This is particularly challenging in cities of the Global South—in countries such as India. In Mumbai, 10,000 families migrate into the city each month. By 2025, India may have the largest number of migrants in the world, of whom most will end up in cities. Some will be affluent, tech-sector workers. Many more will live in slums, often on very little. Yet across most sectors of society, levels of consumption are on the rise in India’s cities. This is clear by a casual look at the constitution of urban garbage in most cities for instance, choked with plastic—plastic that comes from the supermarkets and stores in the city that advertise and sell packaged toys, gadgets and even vegetables wrapped quite pointlessly in plastic film.

A small shrine under the canopy of a large sacred tree in peri-urban Bangalore. Photo: Harini. Nagendra

When a culture of conspicuous consumption overtakes cities, it subverts existing cultures. Many argue that India has had a “natural” affinity towards sustainability, with diverse faiths that consider nature as sacred. In cities such as Bangalore, sacred Ficus trees survive when other species are cut down to make way for infrastructure projects, for instance. But as urban settlements grow, so does the desire to convert a humble shrine under the canopy of a tree  into something larger. Thus many trees are enclosed within walls to build a small shrine, which slowly grows to prominence to become a large temple. The original tree, its branches trimmed and its roots enclosed, becomes weak and eventually gives way to the representation of sacredness in built form.

A sacred tree, with its branches heavily pruned, has given way in significance to the representation of sacredness in built form in the shrine below. Photo: Harini Nagendra

Urban water systems have also been subjected to this alteration in the nature of the sacred. Many religious festivals in India involve water. During the famous Durga puja season in Kolkata, tens of thousands of idols of Durga are purchased by individual homes and community associations, and later immersed in the city’s lakes and the sea. These were once small in size, made of clay taken from lake beds, painted with vegetable dyes, and then later returned to the same lake via immersion. Now, community associations compete to install larger and larger idols, which despite a ban are mostly made out of plaster of Paris, painted with toxic lead and mercury-based paints. When immersed, these idols pose a significant challenge to the same lakes that the Goddess is supposed to protect. Yet again, the normative core idea, of the worship of nature, has given way to a representation in very different form.

Gauri and Ganesha, shaped by my daughter using mud from our garden – later immersed in a bucket, which we poured back into our garden, symbolising the cycle of sustainable life. Photo: Harini Nagendra

When I returned from Resilience 2017, in my home town of Bangalore, the Ganesha festival was just beginning. Worshipped as the Lord of Beginnings and the Remover of Obstacles, the Ganesha festival is an important one for many Indians. In Bangalore, as in Calcutta, the harmful environmental effects of submerging plaster of Paris Ganesha idols in the city’s already polluted lakes is well known. Yet despite a ban that has been in existence for the past 3 years, the streets continue to be lined with these idols. In recent years, there has been a growing citizen movement to encourage a return to “natural” materials—Ganesha idols made with wet clay, with grains and seeds, and other natural material. Many people that I know have now moved away from plaster of Paris idols to these natural materials, and indeed, they are becoming more visible on street fronts and in shops for sale, than in the years past. In my home, my daughter now uses the mud from our garden to make our Gauri (Ganesha’s mother) and Ganesha—we later immerse them in a bucket, and carefully pour the mud back into our garden, under the canopy of our mango tree. From earth to earth, this simple practice beautifully symbolises the cycle of life.

Large painted idols of the Indian Goddess of knowledge and music Saraswati, being prepared for sale in Kolkata’s famous Kumartuli locality. Photo: Harini Nagendra

Yet overwhelmingly, the collective collection of plaster of Paris Ganeshas far outweighs those of natural materials—by a large amount. While many individuals have moved towards more sustainable practices, often motivated by conversations with like-minded friends, we continue to speak in silos. Most community associations prefer the artificial idols, being bigger, more colourful, and more conspicuous. And it turns out to be particularly difficult to have conversations with a motley urban collective, on seemingly waffly issues such as sustainability.

What does this tell us about the attempt to re-culture the urban commons, via a new collective movement? Changing culture is not easy—changing collective culture is particularly challenging. And yet this is the task we have at hand, if we are to engage in collective urban conversations about urban resilience and sustainability. Bangalore’s lakes, in which idols of Gauri and Ganesha have been immersed for centuries, now also host immersion of Durga idols, thanks to the city’s now substantial Bengali population—and act as sites for other festivals such as Chat puja as well, in response to migrants from other parts of the country. How does the city engage in conversations with each of these collective groups about sustainability? And yet—how can it not?

Informal settlements or slums provide a fascinating context within which to study the evolving culture of sustainability, for instance. As I describe in my book Nature in the City: Bengaluru in the Past, Present and Future many slums in Bangalore, though composed largely of migrants, have a high collective ethos of urban conservation, planting and carefully nurturing a wide diversity of species in cramped spaces, despite challenges of water availability. Indeed, the greatest proportion of native species we find in Bangalore is in its’ slums. The strong social ties between neighbours, and the high dependence on nature, seem to play a role in fostering this collective sense of sustainability. This may be more complex in wealthier residential communities, where many do not know their neighbours well.

The challenge of re-culturing a collective urban ethos of sustainability is profound, but essential, for urban resilience in the Global South. There are no easy answers. But equally, there is no escaping the need to make progress on this front.

Harini Nagendra
Bangalore

On The Nature of Cities

Re-envisioning Cities Through Bottom Up Neighbourhood Planning, Not Top Down Master Planning

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Art, Science, Action: Green Cities Re-imagined

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A sustainable ecology of cities is possible when we successfully combine environmental and socio-economic dimensions equally in our plans and actions. In fact, it is the extent of their integration and inclusion that should form a criterion by which we evaluate our success.
If there is one thing that I have to state as being the most important learning from my living and working in Mumbai, it is the need for collective intervention to combat the current trend of exclusionary urban development with an objective of achieving social and environmental equity and justice for all. Also, as a necessary condition, each individual intervention should have to be linked to other larger democratic rights struggles, thereby building networks of interventions towards evolving an alternate vision of the city.

It is with this objective that I consider building relationships collectively between people and with nature as an important mission. This mission includes an understanding of such relationships and networks of interactions, particularly those that develop in the process of collective interventions by citizens on demands pertaining to social and environmental justice and how they contribute to the larger interest of sustainability of cities.

I would like to view cities from social and environmental perspective and understand how the two together constitute a necessary condition, and what their union means for the achievement of a higher state of sustainability. The two are inextricably entwined and neither is exclusive. Thus, a sustainable ecology of cities is possible when we can successfully combine environmental and socio-economic dimensions equally in the plans and actions that we pursue. As a matter of fact, it is the extent of their integration and inclusion that form a criterion by which we evaluate the value of our work and engagements.

Very often we find ourselves absorbed into zones of comfort and complacence, engaging in issues and places that have already been developed or achieved exclusivity. But to get out and engage with situations of instability and discomfort, dealing with the invisible yet perceived barriers across city landscapes, and their unification, is indeed challenging.

After all, what can be more equal between nations, influenced by neo-liberal globalisation, than the question of land mis-utilisation, exclusionary city planning, and the deplorable state of the environment in which vast numbers of people are discriminated and subject to climate change risk. It is for these reasons that the local struggles of the marginalised and discriminated people for equality and sustainability, across borders and nation states, are indeed global in their essence and spirit.

What we are deeply concerned about is the constant division of our cities into disparate fragments, both in social and spatial terms. Polarisation of people and communities in terms of their religion, race, caste, class, faith, gender, nationality is leading to social instability and tension. Indeed, our cities are producing and reproducing backyards of exclusion, discrimination, hatred, neglect and abuse; even natural habitats are being systematically destroyed leading to increasing levels of social intolerance and climate catastrophe, thus undermining the very idea of cities and their sustainability.

As these conflicts begin to dominate the city landscape, we are compelled to intervene, particularly on behalf of the excluded, discriminated, and much abused backyards of people and places that are, in most instances, situated in the borders, edges, peripheries, and margins.

Our discourses on cities have relied on the understanding of social relationships and how the modes of production have influenced their formation. In support this statement, I would like to refer to David Harvey and his book Social Justice and the City, when he quotes from Karl Marx: “The totality of these relationship of production constitutes the economic structure of society, the real foundation, on which arises a legal and political superstructure and to which correspond definite forms of social consciousness. The mode of production of material life, conditions the general process of social, political and intellectual life. In terms of Marxist terminology, the urban and the process of urbanization are simple superstructures of the mode of production (capitalist or socialist)”.

Further, in the same book, Harvey has analysed social relations, built form and environment and how each influences the other, but his reference to environment is restricted to built-environment and does not include the natural ecosystems. I quote: “Urbanism may be regarded as a particular form or patterning of the social process. This process unfolds in a spatially structured environment created by man. The city can, therefore, be regarded as a tangible, built-environment- an environment which is a social product.”

Interestingly, Pickett, Cadenasso and McGrath in their book, Resilience in Ecology and Urban Design, quoting McGranahan and Satterthwaite, present a much wider understanding of the environment. I quote: “A great deal of the urban sustainability literature tends to promote the so-called ‘brown agenda’ of environmentalism, which emphasizes the need to solve immediate needs of the billions of people who live in degraded, unsanitary conditions and grueling poverty, while the ‘green agenda’ emphasizes protection and enhancement of ecosystems to support future generations and other species. Reconciling green with brown agenda issues, however, is at the heart of more encompassing viewpoints on sustainability, recognizing that poverty and environment conservation are inextricably entwined (McGranahan and Satterthwaite 2002)”.

Such reconciliation is indeed the essence of the Irla movement, of which I am a part.

This phenomenon is realized in many world cities, more critically experienced in the cities of developing nations. While cities are expanding, public spaces are rapidly shrinking, in both physical and democratic terms. The democratic  “space” that ensures accountability and enables dissent is also shrinking—very subtly but surely. This means space for wider public participation and dialogue are shrinking. It is in these prevailing conditions that we are compelled to pursue the idea of public spaces as being the foundation of city planning. Public spaces ensure physical, social and democratic well-being of all. The city’s shrinking open spaces are of course the most visible manifestation, as they directly and adversely affect our very quality of life.

It is in this context, I consider our struggles to pursue the idea of unification of cities through architectural and design endeavors as being important; while engaging closely with social and environmental movements. Our priority has to be to establish close relationship between architecture and people, placing strong emphasis on participatory planning from the very beginning and at every stage.

A Mumbai example, with active participation of the author.

Through a neighbourhood-based development approach it is possible to decentralize and localize projects, thus breaking away from monolithic planning and design ideas that are disconnected from most people (and often serve the interests of the few, not the many). “Master Plans” for cities are generally top-down models, drafted by elite groups of designers, and fail to engage with citizens on their ideas.

 With localised projects, the planning of cities will hopefully become a bottom-up process with participation of all people providing opportunity for collective intervention. Importantly, neighbourhood-scale work is a more collaborative approach to the city and place-making. For citizens, such projects allow the immediate reclamation, redesign, and re-programming of public spaces within their localities.

Along with the promotion of neighbourhood plans it is necessary to develop city-scale sustainability ideas and plans and through that process evolve alternate vision for cities. Networking and unification of the various neighbourhood plans would be a good way forward.

It is neighbourhood plans that must form the basis of city planning. Such an effort requires a paradigm shift in the mindset of formal planning, obsessed with building barricaded mono blocks that divide and brutally fragment city landscapes, to include sustainable ecology and environment as the central aspect of city development plans, prepared with the objective of unification, with peoples participation right from its inception. It is for the fulfilment of this objective, not real-estate and construction turnover that constitute the predominant idea of successful development, that the rejuvenation and integration of the natural areas and open spaces with an idea of expanding public spaces ought to be set out as a mission. Intervention, integration and re-envisioning being a key strategy and effective instrument for bringing about the much needed socio-environmental change.

P.K. Das
Mumbai

On The Nature of Cities

 

 

 

A map of england with different colored spots

Re-envisioning the Green Belt for Biodiversity, Recreational Access, and Climate Resilience

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England’s Green Belt is widely valued as a symbol of picturesque, wildlife-rich countryside. However, much of this land fails to live up to this idyllic vision. In response to the nation’s housing crisis, the UK Government’s policy to relax planning restrictions and allow development in select areas of this zone must form part of a broader Green Belt strategy to deliver significantly enhanced environmental benefits and better serve the public interest.

The UK’s new Labour-led government has pledged to tackle the country’s long-standing housing crisis head-on, with a bold promise to deliver 1.5 million new homes in the next five years. This plan comes in response to the mounting pressures of soaring demand, limited housing supply, and ever-increasing prices that have left many struggling to find affordable homes. The government contends that simply redeveloping brownfield sites—unused or underused land from former developments—won’t be enough to meet this urgent need. It is also proposing, therefore, relaxing the rules governing England’s cherished Green Belt, a protected ring of countryside that encircles major urban centers, to allow for more construction. Though the policy is contentious, I argue here that it opens the door to an exciting opportunity: reshaping the Green Belt in a way that not only responds to the housing shortage but also addresses broader environmental goals and serves a wider public interest.

Building on the Green Belt is a highly emotive and politically charged issue. The previous Conservative-led government, in its election manifesto, made a “cast-iron commitment to protect the Green Belt”, a stance that resonated strongly in its rural heartlands as well as beyond its traditional voter base. A recent survey found that 60% of people in England support maintaining the Green Belt in its current form, even if it hinders efforts to address housing shortages (Ipsos, 2023). As noted by Bishop et al. (2020), England’s “Green Belt is one of the few planning measures that has entered the public consciousness … [having] universal, widespread appeal and an almost sacred status”. 

Nevertheless, the Green Belt’s revered status is increasingly being questioned, not just by housing developers and the new Government, but also by some planners and environmentalists who argue that the public’s attachment to the Green Belt brand often lacks a deep awareness of its actual purpose and condition. Certainly, large areas of the Green Belt do not match the idealized vision of accessible bucolic countryside, rich in wildlife. Indeed, the new administration’s proposal involves focusing new development on lower-quality areas of the Green Belt, which it refers to as the Grey Belt.

Over one million people currently live in England’s Green Belt, and an additional 20 million live within 1 km of its boundaries (LandTech, 2023). Mainstreaming natural capital and ecosystem services into Green Belt policy—enhancing biodiversity, landscape beauty, recreational access, and climate resilience—could benefit not only the urban populations living on the Green Belt’s doorstep but also those residing within it, potentially softening resistance to new developments. Perhaps the Green Belt could then also contribute to other biodiversity and environmental targets, including the UK’s commitment to protect 30% of its land for nature by 2030 under the Global Biodiversity Framework agreed at the 2022 UN Biodiversity Summit.

Note that Green Belt policy in the UK’s other nations—Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland—is devolved to their respective assemblies/parliaments, not the UK government, and therefore will not be discussed in this context.

A map of england with different colored spots

Background to Green Belt policy

England’s Green Belt policy has long highlighted tensions between urban and rural interests (Bishop et al., 2020). As early as 1580, Queen Elizabeth I issued a proclamation banning the construction of new houses and tenements within three miles of London’s city gates. The desire to maintain a cordon sanitaire around England’s cities gained traction in the 18th century, spurred on by the ideals of the English Romantic movement. The countryside became romanticized as a peaceful, healthy haven that needed protection from the pollution, disease, and moral decay of the city.

In the latter half of the 19th century, concerns about urban deprivation again spurred interest in creating a form of Green Belt around England’s cities. This time, however, it was driven by social reformers such as the formidable Victorian campaigner, Octavia Hill, who first coined the term Green Belt in 1875. Foreshadowing the biophilia movement, Hill firmly believed in the “life-enhancing virtues” of open spaces. However, her vision for the Green Belt was rooted in providing urban populations—especially the poor—with access to nature, rather than responding to fears of the encroaching city.

The Green Belt concept gained further momentum in the early 20th century, encouraged by the rise of the Garden City movement. By the 1930s, legislation was introduced to formalize these ideas, which Octavia Hill would have been delighted with given the focus on increasing access to the countryside for city dwellers. Local authorities were even empowered to purchase land for this purpose, taking advantage of the relatively low land prices existing in the inter-war years.

Throughout the latter half of the 20th century, England’s designated Green Belt grew significantly to the current extent of 16,384 km2—about 13% of the nation’s total land area. However, the fundamental purpose of the Green Belt began to shift over this period. Originally conceived as a space for urban populations to enjoy, it increasingly became a zone focused on limiting urban expansion, mostly to the benefit of its wealthier rural inhabitants, echoing the rationale for the original cordon sanitaire. While some areas of scenic, nature-rich landscapes were included in the expanding Green Belt, their beauty or ecological value were never the criteria for their inclusion or continued protection (Natural England, 2010).

According to England’s current National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), Green Belt is intended to serve the following five primary purposes:

  • To check the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas.
  • To prevent neighbouring towns merging into one another.
  • To assist in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment.
  • To preserve the setting and special character of historic towns.
  • To assist in urban regeneration, by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land.

Notably, these objectives omit any direct emphasis on enhancing biodiversity or increasing recreational access. While the NPPF encourages local authorities to “plan positively” in these areas, they remain secondary considerations, with far less weight in planning decisions—likely by design (Kirby & Scott, 2023).

Brownfield land and compact city living

Green Belt policy has been undeniably effective in curbing urban sprawl and encouraging the redevelopment of neglected brownfield sites (Natural England, 2010; Bishop et al., 2020). Over the past two decades, the case for recycling brownfield sites has grown, particularly from a sustainability standpoint. Advocates argue that well-planned, compact urban areas, which make the most of brownfield land, benefit from economies of scale and have a far smaller environmental footprint than lower-density developments with similar population sizes (Owen, 2011; Glaeser, 2012).

While the environmental case for reusing brownfield sites—and promoting compact city living more generally—is increasingly recognized (except at sites where open mosaic habitats with exceptional wildlife value have been established, e.g., Canvey Wick Site of Special Scientific Interest in London), the UK Government contends that relying solely on these sites will not solve the housing crisis. A recent analysis of local authority Brownfield Registers in England supports this view. Even if every available brownfield site were fully developed, the total capacity would provide only 1.4 million new homes (Lichfields, 2022). This is less than a third of the 4.5 million homes needed over the next 15 years. Moreover, brownfield land is not evenly distributed across the country and often does not align with the current demand for housing.

Therefore, even with significant government support, the redevelopment of brownfield sites alone is insufficient to tackle England’s housing shortfall. This reality is what drives the government’s willingness to reconsider the long-standing protection of the Green Belt. To ease public concerns, the Government plans to focus development in “poor-quality and unattractive areas” within the Green Belt, which it refers to as the Grey Belt—though a clear definition of this term is still pending. While previously developed land within the Green Belt is likely to qualify as Grey Belt, these sites alone will not meet the Government’s housing targets (Knight Frank, 2024). Consequently, the Government may very well need to revisit and expand its criteria.

Whatever the definition of the Grey Belt component, the shift in policy should present an opportunity for a comprehensive reassessment of the Green Belt’s purpose. By adopting a natural capital approach to land-use planning, this rethink should be more in line with Octavia Hill’s original vision of open spaces for public good, rather than the more restrictive, defensive approach of the cordon sanitaire.

Current state of the Green Belt

The public’s deep affection for the Green Belt, and the idyllic rural vision it evokes, is largely built on myth and misunderstanding. Many people feel reassured by its superficial greenery—mostly inaccessible farmland—but fail to notice what’s missing, the landscape complexity and biodiversity that once defined rural England. This reflects a classic case of shifting baseline syndrome or environmental generational amnesia, where people become accustomed to the current, degraded state of nature without realizing what has been lost.

England is recognized as one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, and intensive farming practices are the major culprit (State of Nature Partnership, 2023). These practices have led to the destruction of ancient woodlands, wildflower meadows, hedgerows, wetlands, and heathlands, while the widespread use of agrochemicals has further damaged ecosystems by reducing pollinator populations, degrading water quality, and disrupting food chains.

While the proportion of the Green Belt used for agriculture is similar to that across England—65% and 63% respectively (Gov.UK, 2022)—the Green Belt is probably more ecologically impoverished than the area outside per unit area. Compared to England as a whole, the Green Belt has only a marginally lower land coverage of habitat that could be described as relatively biodiverse—forest, open land, and water—18.9% as opposed to 20.1% (UK Gov, 2022). However, a greater proportion of the Green Belt—72% compared to 65%—is classified as Best and Most Versatile (BMV) agricultural land (Grades 1-3) (calculated by the author using Gov.UK open-source spatial data). Grade 1-3 land is often associated with more intensive farming and, consequently, lower biodiversity (Reddy & Behrendt, 2020). Furthermore, the Green Belt is underrepresented in government agri-environment schemes that pay farmers to adopt environmentally friendly practices, with only 28% of Green Belt farmland participating compared to 42% nationwide (CPRE, 2022).

When it comes to public access, only 3.5% of the Green Belt is designated as Open Access land, where there is a Right to Roam, compared to 8% across England (Natural England, 2007; Shrubsole, 2019), although the Green Belt does have a higher density of Public Rights of Way and National Cycle Network routes (Natural England, 2010). Additionally, just 9% of the Green Belt is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which signifies areas of national scenic importance afforded statutory protection, compared to 16% for England as a whole.

While some parts of the Green Belt are undoubtedly attractive and are well used by the public, the overall picture then is one of relatively ordinary countryside, dominated by intensively managed and ecologically impoverished farmland. This has led to a general reluctance to frame the Green Belt as an essential part of the green infrastructure network or to promote its potential for wider environmental benefits (Kirby & Scott, 2023). As Shrubsole (2019) humorously notes, the phrase “let’s go for a trip to the Green Belt” isn’t one you hear often in everyday conversation.

Repurposing the Green Belt

While government and local planning policies often express lofty ambitions for Green Belt multifunctionality, meaningful improvements in environmental quality and public access remain difficult to detect (Kirby & Scott, 2023). To win public support for further development on Green Belt land, the Government must concurrently implement much stronger policies that give greater emphasis to nature and landscape multifunctionality over the remaining areas. This article now turns to potential mechanisms for achieving these goals.

Regional planning

The previous Conservative-led administration scrapped regional strategic planning in favour of localism, an approach that emphasizes individual property rights and market freedoms over centralized control. One consequence of this shift was the loss of momentum towards a coordinated, regional strategy that could have better supported Green Belt multifunctionality and strengthened its connection to the wider green infrastructure network (Kirby & Scott, 2023). With a new administration in place that has a more interventionist agenda, there is an opportunity to resume planning for the complexities of the Green Belt in a more sophisticated and strategic way, taking account of the climate and biodiversity emergencies, while balancing with the need for housing and food production.

Valuable lessons can be drawn from the new generation of Green Belt policies emerging in some other countries, where strategic planning more effectively integrates urban areas with their rural surroundings (see examples below) (Bishop et al., 2020; Kirby & Scott, 2023). These examples show how better landscape-scale coordination of resources and priorities leads to more efficient land use and a stronger focus on environmental goals.

In England, regional planning for the Green Belt should be part of a broader, comprehensive land-use framework. Both the previous and current governments have indicated their commitment to developing a Land-use Framework for England, and now is the time to follow through on that promise (Shrubsole, 2024).

Betterment levies

If a return to more proactive regional spatial planning is to significantly boost ecosystem services beyond what the current system provides, it must include robust planning controls, legal instruments, and the ability for local authorities to acquire land. However, purchasing land for new green infrastructure can be prohibitively expensive in today’s economic climate. One potential solution is to tax the small number of landowners who profit significantly—sometimes by a hundredfold or more—from the increased value of their agricultural land when local authorities grant planning permission for new housing. This tax is known as a betterment levy (TCPA, 2015; Cheshire & Buyuklieva, 2019; Bishop et al., 2020).

Alternatively, local councils could be given the authority to compulsorily purchase land suitable for housing at its agricultural use value and develop it themselves. Either of these approaches would provide local authorities with additional financial resources for green infrastructure and affordable housing.

Betterment levies are already in place in several countries, including Germany and the Netherlands, and this concept has historical precedent in England; the early New Towns were financially viable because they acquired land at agricultural prices.

According to Shrubsole (2019), some London boroughs and other councils already own sizable tracts of Green Belt land, particularly in the form of county farms. Instead of selling these off, he suggests that many could be repurposed to create new woodlands and parklands, enhancing nature and public access. Note the UK is one of the least wooded countries in Europe (Forest Research, 2018).

Agri-environment payments

As mentioned, a disproportionately low number of farms within the Green Belt participate in schemes that encourage environmentally friendly farming. The introduction of England’s new Environmental Land Management (ELM) farm subsidy scheme provides an opportunity to address this imbalance, bringing nature closer to where much of the population lives (CPRE, 2022; Environment Analyst, 2024).

ELM also aims to improve public access to the countryside by offering payments to landowners who agree to five-year permissive access agreements. These agreements should also be more focused within the Green Belt, especially to address gaps in the current Public Right of Way and cycle networks. Enhancing the Green Belt’s environment and accessibility could yield broader sustainability benefits, reducing vehicle journeys to National Parks and other rural honey pots, which are often plagued by traffic congestion.

To ensure lasting public access, ELM should also explore options for longer-term or permanent public access agreements with landowners. This would provide more certainty for the public, minimize tensions between landowners and local communities caused when access rights are removed, and prevent wasted investment in associated infrastructure (Wildlife & Countryside Link, 2024). Shrubsole (2024) suggests an even more ambitious approach, favouring a right to responsible access law for the English countryside, similar to Scotland’s right to roam, with sensible exemptions for private gardens, croplands, and sensitive nature reserves.

Many agri-environment schemes have struggled to deliver meaningful biodiversity outcomes. Some of England’s agricultural subsidy payments might therefore be better used by the Government acquiring land, contributing to the creation of what Shrubsole (2024) calls a new Public Nature Estate focused on habitat restoration and carbon sequestration. While the idea of the state purchasing land would seem an anathema to the previous administration, which attempted to sell off National Nature Reserves and the public forest estate, many free-market democracies hold significantly larger proportions of public land than the UK. Alternatively, local communities could be empowered to acquire marginal farmland through strengthened community ownership laws, again aligning more closely with Scottish legislation.

I cannot ignore an inconvenient truth with some of these proposals, which is that restoring natural habitats and implementing more agri-environment schemes in the Green Belt, and elsewhere, has the potential to come at the expense of food production and security. While I can’t fully resolve this issue here, two key considerations stand out. First, sustainable agricultural systems rely on the ecosystem services provided by nature, such as pollination, pest control, soil health, nutrient cycling, and water regulation. Second, environmental improvements in the Green Belt should focus on lower-grade agricultural lands, as well as areas near biodiversity hotspots like river corridors. About 18% of the Green Belt is classified as poor or very poor agricultural land (Grades 4 and 5; calculated by the author using open-source spatial data), where farming is mostly unviable without government subsidies. According to the National Food Strategy, England’s least productive land, covering 22.5% of the country, contributes just 3% of the nation’s calories (Dimbleby, 2021).

By introducing an additional tier to the ELM scheme, some farmers could be paid to cease farming these areas altogether and instead manage the land for habitat restoration, nature-based recreation, and climate resilience, all without significantly impacting food supply (Shrubsole, 2024). Any small shortfall in production could potentially be offset by reinvigorated efforts to reduce food waste, tackle obesity, and encourage shifts toward plant-based diets. While Heap (2024) comments in this regard that “recommending behavioural change and achieving it are worlds apart,” meat consumption in the UK has fallen by 17% between 2008-9 and 2018-19.

Biodiversity Net Gain and Local Nature Recovery Strategies

England recently introduced the world’s first legally mandated scheme requiring most new developments to result in a 10% increase in the quality of natural habitat compared to pre-development levels—this is known as the Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) duty. BNG has the potential to play a significant role in restoring nature within the Green Belt. Since many new developments take place in urban areas where space is limited, achieving BNG on-site will be very challenging. As a result, many developers will have no choice but to purchase credits for offsite biodiversity improvements in the nearby countryside, opening opportunities for landowners on the fringes of towns and cities to participate in the growing BNG market.

Additionally, there is also now a legal requirement for authorities across England to create spatial strategies for nature and environmental enhancement, known as Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS). These strategies could help integrate the Green Belt into wider efforts for environmental improvement. When Green Belt land is included within an LNRS area, responsible authorities are already required to actively prioritize it for nature recovery and improved public access (Defra, 2023).

BNG and LNRS initiatives should also be aligned with ELM schemes where practical rather than implemented through separate policy silos (Kirby & Scott, 2023).

Weaknesses in policy wording

As discussed, weak secondary policies that merely encourage local authorities to seek improvements in landscape multifunctionality are unlikely to drive meaningful change. For real progress to happen, new approaches must be reinforced with much stronger policy language and supported by comprehensive supplementary planning guidance (Kirby & Scott, 2023).

International experience

While Green Belts originated in England, their benefits have largely been limited to curbing urban sprawl. However, in some other countries, a new generation of Green Belt policies have evolved, mainstreaming biodiversity to deliver a range of environmental and social benefits. In Canada, for example, Green Belts are a well-established policy tool. Ottawa’s National Capital Commission (2024) proudly claims that its Green Belt, spanning 204 km², is the largest publicly owned Green Belt in the world. This area is well used and cherished by the public and plays a vital role in the metropolitan landscape, providing significant expanses of accessible, biodiverse forest and wetland.

While Canada has the advantage of abundant space, successful Green Belts are also found in small densely populated countries. The Netherlands’ Green Heart, conceived in the 1950s, is now also considered essential to the well-being of residents in the nearby Randstad megalopolis, which includes Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht (Bishop et al., 2020). Covering 1,600 km², this area combines farmland with substantial publicly owned forests and wetlands, providing both wildlife habitats and nature-based recreation, as well as preventing urban sprawl.

Conclusions

England’s Green Belts have been successful in inhibiting urban sprawl and diverting development pressure to brownfield sites. The Green Belt is also one of the rare planning tools that has gained widespread public recognition, enjoying broad appeal and almost revered status. However, the seductiveness of the Green Belt brand often comes without a deeper awareness of its purpose and importance. In truth, the Green Belt does not match the public’s idealized view of picturesque, wildlife-rich countryside that is easily accessible.

If the government continues with its policy to loosen planning restrictions and increase housebuilding within the Green Belt, this should be accompanied by a clear strategy to repurpose it. The goal should be to deliver significantly enhanced environmental and social benefits for neighbouring urban centres, which should also make new developments more palatable for existing Green Belt residents. In response to this, I conclude here with a four-point manifesto aimed at enhancing the multifunctionality of the Green Belt:

  1. Regional Planning. There is an urgent need and current opportunity to adopt more strategic, integrated approaches to Green Belt planning, addressing climate and biodiversity concerns while meeting housing and agricultural needs.
  2. Betterment tax. Gaining planning permission for housing dramatically raises the value of agricultural land, benefiting a small number of landowners. There is a strong argument for taxing these windfall profits. Alternatively, local councils could be given the authority to compulsorily purchase land at its agricultural use value and develop it themselves. The revenue generated from these measures could be used to fund more affordable housing and improve green infrastructure provision.
  3. Habitat Restoration. The new ELM scheme provides a key opportunity to correct the imbalance in agri-environment schemes between Green Belt areas and the rest of England, bringing nature closer to where much of the population lives, as well as bolstering the resilience of neighbouring towns and cities to climate change. ELM could perhaps also be extended to provide the opportunity for landowners to cease production altogether on lower-quality agricultural lands (Grades 4 and 5), managing them instead for habitat restoration and carbon sequestration.
  4. Public Access. ELM should focus on enhancing public access within the Green Belt, filling in gaps in the existing Public Right of Way and cycle networks. A more ambitious approach would be to introduce a national right to responsible access law, similar to Scotland’s, allowing people to enjoy the countryside responsibly while safeguarding sensitive areas.

These approaches offer a potential pathway to ensure that if development in the Green Belt is inevitable, it also contributes to a greener, more accessible, and biodiverse future for all.

Lincoln Garland
Bath

On The Nature of Cities

 

Acknowledgements

The views in this article are entirely my own. I am grateful for reviews of earlier drafts by Professor Peter Bishop (University College London), Gary Grant (The Green Infrastructure Consultancy), and Dr Mike Wells (Biodiversity by Design).

References

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Cheshire, P. & Buyuklieva, B. (2020). Homes on the Right Tracks: Greening the Green Belt to Solve the Housing Crisis. Centre for Cities, London.

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Defra (2023). Local Nature Recovery Strategy Statutory Guidance: What a Local Nature Recovery Strategy should Contain. Defra, London.

Dimbleby, H. (2021). National Food Strategy Independent Review: The Plan. Dandy Booksellers, London.

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Glaeser, E. (2012). Triumph of the City: How Urban Spaces make us Human. Pan Books, London.

Gov.UK (2022). Land Use Statistics: England 2022 – Live Tables. Retrieved from: Land use in England, 2022 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Han, A.T. & Go, M.H. (2019). Explaining the National Variation of Land Use: A Cross-National analysis of Greenbelt Policy in Five Countries. Land Use Policy, 81, 644-656.

Heap (2024). Land Smart: How to Give People and Nature the Space to Thrive. Atlantic Books, London.

Ipsos (2023). Six in Ten People in England would keep the Green Belt as it is. Retrieved from: https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/

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Re-naturing Cities: Theories, Strategies and Methodologies

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Although Brazilian cities have, historically, developed with a strong presence of nature, rapid and often uncontrolled growth poses serious risks to the environment and quality of life of urban dwellers.

There is strong interest in the theme of re-naturing cities, since “naturalizing” cities can help address multiple global societal challenges and generate benefits, such as the enhancement of health and well-being, sustainable urbanisation, the provision of ecosystems and their services, and resilience to climate change. But, what are the theories, strategies and methodologies that can be used to re-nature our cities? How can we plan with nature? What are the models and approaches that can be used to enhance the presence of high-quality green spaces in our urban areas? And how to move from theory to practice? These were essential questions debated in a four-day workshop organised in Goiânia, Brazil. Funded by the British Council and Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa do Estado de Goiás (FAPEG), under the Newton Fund Researcher Links Programme, the workshop brought together policymakers and approximately 40 researchers from the UK and Brazil from a range of disciplines, such as urban ecology, town planning, biology, architecture, landscape planning and geography.

Brazilian and UK workshop participants deep in discussion. Photo: Renaturing Cities Team

The workshop was a forum for transnational synthesis of knowledge on the topic and generated valuable insights into how academics, planners and policymakers could apply this knowledge to their cities and regions. All selected participants, coordinators and tutors presented their research. These included speeches by organisers Fabiano Lemes de Oliveira on his green wedges research and Pedro Britto’s on the social side of sustainability; as well as talks on urban agriculture by Silvio Caputo, the ecology of green roofs by Heather Rumble and the blue space planning of Goiânia by Karla Emmanuela. There were eight research sessions: Planning Greener Cities; Urban and Environmental policy; GIS, Building Information Modelling (BIM) and City Information Modelling (CIM) for Re-naturing; Blue Spaces; Ecology and Biodiversity; Climate Change and Resilience; Perceptions, Health and Wellbeing; and Between Formal and Informal.

Visiting the Parque Macambira Anicuns in Goiânia. This will be the largest linear park in the world, with 35.5 hectares spanning 24 km. Photo: Renaturing Cities Team

Research sessions were complemented by development sessions on publishing and research methods, among others. Field trips informed participants of relevant case studies. A great strength of the workshop was the presence of representatives from the city of Goiânia and the different thematic groups prepared manifestos for re-naturing cities, which were then translated into spatial planning ideas for the city. Policymakers interacted and responded to the proposed strategies, which will inform the discussions for the revision of the Goiânia masterplan (Fig. 3). The following is a synthesis of each thematic group’s conclusions:

Planning greener cities

This session made manifest the need for considering urbanisation and nature together, the importance of proactive and positive planning, the definition of systems of interconnected green and blue spaces at multiple scales, the roles of communities in shaping their environment and the benefits of considering urban metabolism as a way to further embed the understanding of processes in spatial planning. A positive and systemic mode of planning has the capacity to integrate needs, potentialising the benefits derived from the different systems and resolving their pitfalls in an integrated manner. As such, Camila Sant’Anna called for a focus on hybrid landscapes, where the green-grey divide no longer exists. The overcoming of such dichotomy and the challenges of implementation were explored at the metropolitan scale by Julia Leite Rodrigues’ proposal for ecological corridors and green wedges for São Paulo, and at the city-scale by Karin Meneguetti in her application of landscape ecology principles to various cities in the south of Brazil. In order to move from planning theory to implementation, Ian Mell emphasised the importance of understanding the economic and social values of existing and proposed green infrastructure, as well as the assessment of policy. Daniela Perroti, in turn, explored how urban metabolism—understood as the sum of the technical and socio-economic processes that occur in cities, resulting in energy and material supply, growth, and elimination of waste—could present frameworks for the planning and designing of greener and more resilient cities. The session highlighted the need for a conjoined understanding of natural and man-made processes if we are ever to be successful in re-naturing our cities.

Urban and environmental policies

If we were to re-naturalise our living environments, understanding the different connotations of the term, local challenges and opportunities is crucial. How can re-naturalisation take place in an increasingly urbanised world? How can urban, rural and environmental policies be intertwined? José A. T. e Silva addressed these questions from the perspective of the Brazilian hyperurbanisation reality. He argued that, in a country where approximately 90 percent of people live in urban areas, the integration of different public policies needs to occur and be considered at varying scales for an effective improvement in the balance between urban and non-urban. From the legal perspective, Luciene Araujo highlighted that the relationship between city and the countryside ought to be considered in a systemic manner and that payment for ecosystem services and economic incentives for re-naturing ought to become mainstream practice. The session was marked by feeling that there is a problematic misalignment between Brazilian urban policies and the needs of re-naturalisation. Mariana Santos highlighted the frequent disconnect between planning and policy, in particular in regard to water resources. Glauco Cocozza closed the session speaking of the impact that policies and private land ownership can have on the fragmentation of urban green spaces and impoverishment of their ecosystem services, using Uberlândia as a case study. Final discussions centred on how economic and political actors, as well as effective public participation, could be interlinked and triggered to bridge the gap between reality and a greener future.

GIS, BIM and CIM for Re-naturing

An essential point of discussion in this session was how to employ computation and big data to deepen our knowledge of urban and natural spaces, as well as to better balance urbanisation and nature in our cities. Elena Cantarello, for instance, looked into quantifying the resilience of multiple ecosystem services and biodiversity in a temperate urban forest using Landis-II as a modelling tool, and also presented a cost–benefit analysis of ecological networks assessed through spatial analysis of ecosystem services using ArcGIS and Ilwis. Rômulo Ribeiro and Josiane Giesta called for the use of GIS as a way to enhance the precision of objective data collection for city planning and how the provision of BIM/ CIM training for planning officers can support the development of public policies locally. The theme of data collection and its use, but from a participatory, people-centred perspective was also discussed. Junia Borges proposed the use of crowdsourcing and Volunteer Geographic Information (VGI), leading to the creation of substantial databases that, in turn, would support decision-making processes. Combining objective and subjective data through a mixed-methods approach, Ying Li mapped people’s use of public spaces and their preferences in order to develop an assessment tool and design guidance.

It was evident that this is a growing field of research, with much potential to support evidence-based decision-making processes. The use of such tools for the construction of solid, openly available and retrievable knowledge about our cities and green spaces, if combined with a participatory, systemic and integrative planning approaches, could provide pathways for the construction of greener and more balanced cities.

Discussing the challenges and opportunities around green urban planning with city representatives to inform the revision of the Goiânia masterplan. Photos: Renaturing Cities Team

Blue spaces

The planning of blue infrastructure has increasingly become a fundamental strategy to build resilient and sustainable cities. This session focused on water from four distinct perspectives: contemplative, memory, planning and technology. Deborah Cracknell looked into people’s psychological and physiological response to water landscapes, in particular aquariums, showing that these were at least as preferred and potentially restorative as green space. Mary Gearey explored how our connections to our intimate landscapes alter our perception of climate change impacts and our future lives together. She argued for the need to understand how local actors perceive and respond to changes in their local environment to help develop strategies and tools in support of sustainable futures. José Guilherme Schutzer called for drainage basins to be at the centre of regional planning. Lastly, Komali Kantamaneni focused on the role of technology in supporting resilient environments in face of extreme weather events. The multifaceted dimensions of blue spaces were central to the discussions held about the importance of further understanding the roles that blue spaces play for both the resilience of living beings and their environments.

Ecology and biodiversity

 Discussing contrasts between urban ecological research in the UK and Brazil, a biodiversity hotspot, was enlightening for all those involved in the Goiânia workshop. The city environment offers rich opportunities for ecologists; understanding the unique mix of organisms and how these can contribute to improving urban ecosystem functioning is key to renaturing. Recognition that cities can be a valuable habitat for many plants and animals is growing. It was quite apparent, however, that whilst some of the barriers and opportunities for urban colonisation were common between different geographical locations, some stark differences existed in terms of the perceptions of urban ecology and the mechanisms being adopted to promote biodiversity in cities.

Researchers from the UK capitalised on technology in cities, highlighting the potential of using green roofs, green walls, engineered soils and other green infrastructure to mitigate habitat loss. For example, designing green roofs and soft-landscaping using ecomimicry of locally important habitats was shown to generate improved remediation for habitat lost in brownfield development. Another theme was the need to frame urban ecological research in terms of the economic and societal benefits it can provide, the ‘ecosystem services’. In this context, brownfield sites were again, identified as a key urban habitat, given the potential of brownfield soils for capturing carbon through the formation of soil carbonates.

Our Brazilian counterpart, Fabio Angeoletto, described the challenges of urban ecology in Brazil, highlighting that nature is often thought of as occurring outside cities. The research being conducted in Brazil focused on collecting the detailed evidence needed to understand urban ecosystems and protect biodiversity, without applying an economic value. Fabio’s work spans from understanding the impact of domestic cats on city animals to trying to halt the reduction in nest sites for the blue and yellow macaw, Ara ararauna.

UK and Brazilian ecologists draft a manifesto for protecting and enhancing biodiversity in Goiânia. Photo: Renaturing Cities Team

 We discussed that this latter approach, “reductionist” research, is often assumed to have been done in the UK, with pressure to produce more “emergent” research that is immediately applicable. But there is still much we don’t understand about urban ecosystems, limiting our ability to effectively apply ecological solutions. Thus, together, the approaches of UK and Brazilian ecologists, could provide effective strategies for renaturing, valuing nature as a tool to improve cities whilst capitalising on the inherent ability of nature to inspire us.

Climate change and resilience

The five presentations of this session covered a spectrum of approaches to climate change and urban resilience that ranged from technology-based solutions to enhanced stakeholder participation. Presentations focused on two particular aspects of climate change, namely, Urban Heat Island (UHI) and flooding.

The technology-based approaches to climate change and resilience include the use of modelling software, providing an accurate understanding of the physical factors triggering higher mean temperature, which was applied in a study on the area of Salford University campus. The same study presented several techniques for data collection, the equipment necessary for this collection and the appropriate scale of study. A second presentation focusing on the UHI, presented a case study in Leeds, which specifically examined the potential for mitigation of the greenery, demonstrating how trees are more effective than grassland. Finally, a presentation of an urban microclimate mapping project in Goiania demonstrated the value of developing long-term scenarios – through dedicated software – which can be used as tools to generate policies addressing negative impacts of the UHI.

Stakeholder engagement-based approaches included a study on a governance model of flood risk management, which puts at its heart local communities and the nurturing of people’s connectedness and risk awareness. Similarly, a case study looking at three South American border cities in spatial proximity, albeit each one in a different country, exposed the significance of cooperation and coordination across boundaries, which can lead to higher effectiveness of policies that are already, to some extent, addressing climate change locally.

The range of studies presented suggested that research in this area must integrate both approaches and explore solutions capable of merging engineered approaches with a deeper understanding of socio-political dynamics.

Perceptions, health & well-being

This session explored the influence on the level of urban well-being of several factors comprising the shape and characteristics of the built environment as well as the methodological approach to design interventions fit for purpose.

The connection between health and a fair built environment was illustrated in a study on some Brazilian cities. A fair city is one in which access to services, the provision of green areas and the quality of the built environment at large is available to all. The study demonstrated the connection between urban areas where equitable availability is lacking and threats to health, such as obesity.  The effect of the spatial configuration of places on people’s behaviour was clearly demonstrated in a study on three squares in Belo Horizonte, where the quality of walking was influenced by the design of such squares. The amplitude of open spaces, presence of water, biodiversity and climatic conditions were found to be key aspects that, in the perception of passers-by, improved the square’s attractiveness and urban value.

Other studies focused more on theories and approaches to enhance urban well-being. The first one emphasised the importance of embracing complexity to improve the well-being of communities. Interaction with green spaces, a recognised condition that can improve life quality, must be complemented with other factors such as physical activity and social interaction in order to yield multiple benefits. Embracing complexity also entails the hybridisation of theories and approaches on urban design well-being with those related to behavioural change and environment-behaviour. The second one reviewed theories that specifically connect nature with well-being such as biophilia, environmental psychology and ecological models of human health. It proceeded to review methodologies to ascertain this connection, based on statistics and ethnographic approaches. It finally presented a project focusing on the construction of an edible green wall in a school in Scotland, which put in practice some of the findings derived by the theories mentioned.

The workshop participants and organisers enjoying a Brazilian greenspace. Photo: Renaturing Cities Team

Between formal and informal

Although Brazilian cities have, historically, developed with a strong presence of nature, rapid and often uncontrolled growth poses serious risks to the environment and quality of life of urban dwellers. In this context, do formality, informality and in-between conditions lead to different pathways for re-naturing cities? How do such conditions forge our relationships with nature? What are the roles of policy and practice in situations where bottom-up meets top-down?

Veronica Donoso investigated social practices in social housing open spaces. Often in in-between conditions, these spaces were explored from their potential in redefining and being defined by people’s wishes, aspirations and relationship with the city in which they live. An historical perspective of the changing nature of what re-naturing meant for cities in the long run was brought about by Aline Silva, who presented an archaeology of historic gardens in Recife, João Pessoa and Fortaleza in Brazil. This was allied with a longitudinal study of tree species selection. As such, Silva correlated time-located ideological views of these landscapes with the choice of species. Fabiana Izaga explored the changing nature of informal landscapes in favelas in Rio de Janeiro. Large-scale events such as the World Cup and the Olympics impacted not only on the formal city, but also led to processes of transformation of favelas. Tourism has linked the visitors’ interest in the favelas themselves with their environment.

The often conflicting dimensions of places discussed in this session tend to point to conditions of varying hybridism, which must be understood for an effective, inclusive and positive transformation of cities.

Final remarks

The workshop culminated with the development of a manifesto for re-naturing cities and its application to the city of Goiânia. Given the collective nature and multidisciplinary ethos of the manifesto, the following key recommendations synthesise preoccupations and recommendations that can be applied to cities across the world:

  1. Efforts to re-nature cities must involve a proactive planning approach.
  2. The planning and implementation of networks of green and blue spaces must be systematically integrated into comprehensive planning frameworks.
  3. A shared understanding of the urban challenges and their potential solutions ought to be co-developed, alongside an inclusive approach to participation.
  4. We must take an evidence-based approach to re-naturing cities. This requires the collection of baseline data, monitoring and establishment of measurable targets that allow an actionable approach to urban biodiversity conservation, and ecosystem service provision.
  5. We must make the business case for the value of urban green and blue infrastructure by identifying and communicating the social, economic and environmental benefits at multiple scales to communities and decision-makers.
  6. The development of policy mechanisms to potentialise the re-naturing of cities needs to be developed and implemented in practice. This should include the definition of key baseline indicators and incentives for further re-naturing.
  7. Environmental justice for all must be an objective. This involves better understanding of how urban green infrastructure and biodiversity influence health and well-being, and policies aimed at overcoming inequalities regarding access to ecosystem services.
  8. Re-naturing is as much about a sustainable future as it is about a resilient one. Re-naturing strategies must aim at reducing cities’ environmental impact on the planet as well as offer mitigation strategies.
  9. New technologies and novel nature-based solutions for re-naturing cities need to be considered. This can range from the creation of scenarios using GIS that simulate the outcomes of proposals and policies, to the use of social media to garner public opinion and values, through to engineering soils to capture carbon and mitigate climate change impacts.

Fabiano Lemes de Oliveira, Heather Rumble, Mark Goddard, Fabio Angeoletto, Pedro Dultra Britto, Silvio Caputo, Stuart Connop, Karla Emmanuela Ribeiro Hora, Caroline Nash, Braulio Romeiro

On The Nature of Cities

Heather Rumble

About the Writer:
Heather Rumble

Heather’s interests are broad. Whilst Heather’s work still focusses very strongly on the soil ecology of urban habitats, she has also worked on the hydraulic properties of living walls and the ecology of invasive species. She is currently working on a project that explores the barriers and benefits of using hydroponic systems in community gardens.

Mark Goddard

About the Writer:
Mark Goddard

Mark is a research ecologist interested in the ecological and social drivers of biodiversity in urban green spaces, in particular private gardens.

Fabio Angeoletto

About the Writer:
Fabio Angeoletto

Fabio is a researcher and permanent professor of the Master’s degree course in Geography at UFMT, Rondonópolis campus - research line Geotechnology Applied to Environmental Management and Analysis. In addition, he coordinates the project Urban Biodiversity of Rondonópolis.

Silvio Caputo

About the Writer:
Silvio Caputo

He is a Senior Lecturer at Portsmouth School of Architecture. Silvio’s PhD investigation is on Urban Resilience, intended as the capability of cities to perform sustainably over their entire life cycle. Connected to the idea of urban resilience is also social- ecological resilience and related practices such as urban agriculture, which is his current focus of investigation. He recently co-edited ‘Urban Allotment Gardens in Europe’ published by Routledge, a book illustrating the outcomes of a COST Action on urban allotments, which looks at urban agriculture from a cross-disciplinary perspective.

Stuart Connop

About the Writer:
Stuart Connop

Dr Stuart Connop is an Associate Professor at the University of East London's Sustainability Research Institute specialising in biomimicry/ecomimicry in urban green infrastructure design.

Caroline Nash

About the Writer:
Caroline Nash

Caroline is a Research Assistant in the Sustainability Research Institute at University of East London, working primarily on biodiversity and urban green infrastructure design

Braulio Romeiro

About the Writer:
Braulio Romeiro

Braulio is the head of the Department of Architecture and Urbanism at Universidade Federal de Goiás. In 2008 he was awarded his Master’s degree by the University of São Paulo (EESC). His research interests include the relationships between art, architecture and the city.

Re-Wilding: Cities by Nature

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The historic gardens of Western civilization typically include segments that were municipal areas, hunting grounds, or, on occasion, fragments of the region’s original forest. Many of the Italian, French, and English gardens that establish the history of landscape gardening were interventions added within or onto lands that, originally, were uncultivated royal reserves. While the architectural garden is typically what history records as advancing principles and concepts of landscape, architecture, and urban design, what is often overlooked is the importance of the uncultivated landscape that remained around the garden—or, in some instances, sections of it that were assimilated into Renaissance designs.

The idea advanced by re-wilding is the memory of a landscape type—a woodland, wetland, prairie—made manifest.

For example, what is typically known as the Villa Lante in Italy is a Renaissance garden set within a much larger natural preserve that was also owned by the founding Gambara family. Before political activities moved out of Paris to Versailles and it became a garden, the site served as a hunting lodge surrounded by an uncultivated forest. Likewise, King Henry the XIII originally acquired the area known today as Regent’s Park in London for hunting and leisure before historical circumstances began a process of transforming it from private lands into the public park that it is today.

Versaille. Image courtesy of arch.ced.berkeley.edu

The uncultivated areas of these gardens served as settings for hunting, horseback riding, and strolling with allies and adversaries—and as an intellectual counterpoint to the metaphors, abstractions, and narratives to the architectural gardens they supported. While the uncultivated segments may be less interesting to history and design students when compared with the architecturally elaborate gardens they complemented, the appearance of megacities and the intersection of their challenges with environmental issues provide reasons to reconsider a new purpose and potential for uncultivated landscapes.

“Re-wilding” is an emerging discourse within contemporary landscape design—an intriguing topic with possibilities and interesting issues. Where historic gardens made the natural reserves secondary and placed them in service to architectural gardens and their cultivated experiments, re-wilding offers the potential to make “wildness” the priority, putting the cultivated landscapes in service to UN-cultivation. What follows in this article is an overview of select terms, case studies, and examples related to the emerging topic of re-wilding.

Re-wilding: terms, definitions, and clarifications

Re-wilding describes a landscape design and construction approach that reestablishes and/or restores an area of land to an uncultivated state. It may also involve the reintroduction of species that have been driven out or exterminated by previous events; g enerally, however, re-wilding accepts that it is impractical, if not impossible to reestablish a textbook example of an “original” landscape and its ecology. Modifications to the reconstituted landscapes produce synthetic alternatives that avoid the trap and problem of ecologically achieving the original landscape.

All architecture—and landscape architecture, by extension—is fiction. Whether the fiction involves a narrative, metaphors, or abstractions, what separates shelter from architecture and landscapes from non-landscapes are ideas, shaped and constructed. The fiction advanced by re-wilding is the memory of an intended landscape type—a woodland, wetland, prairie—that is heightened by suppressing the appearance and evidence of human hands. Adding or including wildlife into the production, where possible and appropriate, further amplifies the design program and intention for re-wilding.

In any design work, appropriateness is an important parameter. Where contemporary landscape architecture enjoys the poetic potential that suggests metaphors of a wild landscape—such as wading grasses and native plants in an urban park—art is not the objective for re-wilding.

Re-wilding is a memory trope that drives establishment of a wild landscape, as close as the physical, urban, and ecological parameters will allow. In the same sense that an uncultivated environment performs multiple services, such as groundwater recharge, water quality improvements, and environmental cooling, the re-wilded landscape should offer the same potential. The addition and/or attraction of wildlife not only increases the ecological services that a re-wilded landscape can perform, it heightens and intensifies the intellectual presentation of the memory project.

Re-wilding also accepts that any such work is as constructed, engineered, and human-made as any other landscape trope that is concerned with the conventions of abstraction, transformation, ambiguity, and poetics. An encapsulation of the intellectual intent may best be explained through Simon Schama’s seminal work, Landscape and Memory.

John Bunker Sands Wetland Center. Photo: Dallas Trinity Trails

Landscape & Memory—critical to understanding re-wilding

In his seminal book, Landscape & Memory, historian, documentary filmmaker, and writer Simon Schama introduced a compelling insight into the meaning and perceptions of landscape. “Before it can ever be repose for the senses, landscape is the work of the mind,” Schama wrote. “Its scenery is built up as much from strata of memory as from layers of rock.”

Landscape is a uniquely human phenomenon and activity. Its reality does not center on flora and/or fauna, but rather, in the associations that humans have tenaciously imprinted on nature and internalized in meanings, relationships, and emotions that are recalled through experience.

As a cultivated example, the fine lawn of an American front yard is the “memory” of an English garden and noble estate. In the example of an uncultivated landscape, the American Great Plains is a “landscape of venture” because American history and westward expansion imprinted and mythologized legends and events. To paraphrase Simon Schama: “The prairie has no awareness it represents progress and the future to American lore. But we do.”

A key to understanding re-wilding accurately is making clear that the objective is as much about memory as it is about reconstituting natural plant systems and animal species. Tapping into the memory and recall associated with a particular landscape type through a synthesis and adaptation of a “wild” landscape is the goal and intellectual intention.

The Sprint World Headquarters Campus: a case study for memory and re-wilding.

A significant 68-acre portion of the landscape architecture for the 212-acre Sprint World Headquarters Campus in suburban Kansas City was a first step towards what can be retroactively viewed as a re-wilded Konza prairie and wetland.

Sprint World Headquarters Campus. Photo: Kevin Sloan Studio
Sprint World Headquarters Amphitheater. Image: Kevin Sloan Studio
Sprint World Headquarters Prairie Edge. Photo: Kevin Sloan Studio

Surrounding a corporate campus of 21 mixed-use office buildings that are linked by seven elaborately designed garden quadrangles is a reconstituted landscape of Konza Prairie grasses and a 17-acre wetland that is located at the low-point of the campus topography. Because the interaction of 14,000 employees was to be concentrated within the habitable quadrangles, the seven landscapes are variations on garden metaphors. By contrast, the perimeter of the campus is a non-irrigated belt of prairie grasses and native plant materials that, after installation, have attracted coyotes, foxes, and several species of birds and waterfowl in the wetland and its preserved stand of timber.

Given that the corporate campus is situated within suburban Overland Park, Kansas —a southern suburban of Kansas City, Kansas—burning the installation twice a year to rejuvenate an academically authentic ecology wasn’t realistic or feasible. Memory and the “sense of prairie” became the actual goal and a workaround to the practical problems, which were solved by planting a modified mix of grass species that were adapted to mowing and to the invasive species that were present in the suburban context.

Applications for re-wilding and their benefits

Urban planning experts extol density, saying that “density offers hope”. However, suburban megacities are typically settled at exceptionally spare densities that make them virtually impossible to densify by conventional means. For example, the metropolitan area of Dallas-Fort Worth in the United States is settled at an average human density of one person per acre, as are other American cities, including Atlanta, Albuquerque, and Houston. Phoenix contains less than one person per acre. New York, Paris, and Hong Kong have densities well above 100 persons per acre. In some cases, during the workday, these cities reach densities of 500 to 1,000 persons per acre.

While the New Urbanism and urban planning examples of European cities provide potential planning methods that can apply to nodes, concentrations, and areas of greater agglomeration, they generally do not apply to the thin and diffuse geography of a suburban megacity. As a result, wildlife is beginning to emerge within suburban megacities, not merely as varmints and rodents, but rather as members of vertical food chains that include predators such as coyotes, red fox, bobcats, javelinas, and bald eagles.

Mother bobcat. Photo: Tim Fitzharris

Graduate programs in wildlife are establishing in suburban megacities such as Dallas-Fort Worth to study this new and expanding phenomenon. Taken together, the documentary evidence and the unassailable persistence of the emerging wildlife afford a new and originally unforeseen possibility to retroactively rationalize the low density geography of a suburban megacity as a new kind of phenomenon where civilization and wild life coexist.

In the formative history of the American suburb, the sparse density of suburban sprawl was conceived as a development pattern that could be rapidly proliferated. As a landscape character and image, the mowed lawns and clipped hedges of American suburbia merged dwelling with the nature of an Arcadian, English-like landscape. However, Arcadia requires cultivation: mowing, watering, and extensive resources for upkeep, which strain personal households and homeowners associations to sustain. Front yards, rights of way, and parks that were once seen as the fine lawns of a noble estate could begin to transform into a new and more practical landscape blending civilization and wildlife.

This is a profound and new way of reconceiving and restructuring suburban cities that also overturns the old urban paradigm juxtaposing cities with wilderness. The premodern paradigm is a two-dimensional construct that locates civilization, law, and culture inside a physical and psychological world that is protected from an uncivilized wilderness surrounding the city, outside. However, vague and blurred geographies of suburban megacities have allowed wild species the opportunity to take hold and even establish food chains. Whereas wilderness and nature were once a matter of “outside”, wild species are now rising as a new ecological layer within the city.

Using Google to search “Bobcat City” will link to a video produced by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation that documents the study of urban wildcats (that is, bobcats) in the low-density geography of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Related to this example and activity, The Dallas-Fort Worth Urban Wildlife Club and Face book page tracks and documents a daily record of other wildlife and species when they are spotted.

The shift from cultivated English landscapes, to the contemporary impulse for native plants and then, ultimately, carefully planned wild reserves within an incorporated city geography—a geography where birds, pollinators, predators, and others coexist with human civilization—affords an intriguing new way to live. That this possibility is materializing retroactively in suburban megacities, rather than as an intention that was part of the original suburban project, also holds the promise of shaping a sustainable future where children and generations grow up in a metaphorical “wild classroom,”cultivating an awareness and an immediate relationship with nature that could be a reminder about the human condition and its relationship to Earth.

The Dallas Trinity River project: a case study, re-wilded

Over the course of some 40 years, eight celebrated landscape architects and their firms have proposed design concepts to transform a half-mile wide, engineered floodway through downtown Dallas-Fort Worth into an urban park. Known as the Trinity River Project, the 7.5-mile long, 2,000 acre, treeless landscape formed by earthen levees of erosion-control grasses and pothole wetlands, teases the imagination with potential.

However, the floodway is also a hydrological bottleneck that concentrates stormwater runoff that is collected in several million urban acres upstream in Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The practical demands generated by the floodway present a stupefying set of problems that no single design has yet to comprehensively solve.

When the expansive floodway is brimming from levee to levee with stormwater, the hydrostatic head and the flow velocity through the area has been measured at nine feet per second—a speed calculated by engineers as the frictional equivalent of a 177-mile per hour wind or Category Five hurricane scouring across the flat and treeless landscape surface. Other collateral effects compound the impact of the current and flooding.

Dream Lake. Photo: Kevin Sloan
Trinity silt deposits. Photo: Kevin Sloan
Trinity Marsh, becoming. Photo: Kevin Sloan

Expansive silt bars are deposited with each flood event. The June 2015 flood, which resulted from monsoon-like rains that lasted for over one continuous month, deposited silt bars approximately 20 inches deep over jogging trails and walkways, as well as Trammell Crow Park, a small pond and respite built in the late 1980s. In addition to the silt bars, enormous trash snags tend to accumulate around and between the piers of several vehicular bridges that cross the floodway. The agglomerations of plastic bottles, driftwood, suburban toys, and other sharp objects brought into the floodway can grow to several acres in size. The debris presents a formidable problem for maintenance, upkeep, and the related costs to accomplish it. Recently, silt bars created by the June 2015 flood rendered the area’s trail system and its attendant parking lots unusable for over a year.

Beyond to observable debris, environmental experts point out that the incoming stormwater flow is rich in concentrated urban toxins that become incorporated within the silt layers. As an expert cleverly explained at a symposium on the Trinity River, the floodway is a clever “self-healing landfill” that safely encapsulates the toxins within countless layers of silt that naturally form after each rain event.

Setting the hefty demands of this landscape aside, what observers see today is a landscape that resembles a grassy marsh with wading birds, waterfowl, coyotes, red fox, and other wildlife drawn to the area by its ecology and the food sources it presently offers.

A concept known as the “Balanced Vision Plan” has been prepared for the landscape by WRT, a renowned Philadelphia-based landscape and planning firm; it has achieved federal approval by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Founded by the legendary landscape architect Ian McHarg, over seven or so years of work, public meetings, and design, WRT developed a solution for Trinity Marsh that included naturalizing meadows; wetlands; active recreation fields organized by a chain of lakes and marshes; and a network of trails, paths, and accessible parking that ties it all together.

WRT, Balanced Vision Plan. Image: WRT

Thus far, WRT and their team of consultants and engineers have advanced the technical documentation and specifications for this project to a 35 percent point of completion. Sixty-five percent of the process remains to complete before the project can be publicly bid for construction.

As the project awaits authorization to proceed, a group of former City Council members, conscientious activists, and civic enthusiasts have come forward to laud the virtues of the Balanced Vision Plan and also to use the documentation work that remains to be done as an opportunity to heighten the naturalizing systems the BVP includes into a re-wilding project.

MVA plan. Photo of study model: Kevin Sloan

Recently, a second plan for Trinity Marsh has emerged through the support and backing of Dallas patrons. It is championed by Mayor Mike Rawlings and designed by the world-renowned New York firm Michael van Valkenburgh and Associates, or MVA. The MVVA plan concentrates on a 250-acre area in the immediate vicinity of two iconic bridges that were designed by another famous engineer and architect, Santiago Calatrava.

The MVVA scheme features a sophisticated work of landscape architecture that is purpose-designed and hardened to handle the formidable flooding demands of the Trinity. The proposal extends several other waterfront projects and accomplishments by MVVA in New York and the U.S. MVVA also designed the landscape architecture around the George W. Bush Presidential Center at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, designed by Robert A.M. Stern.

WILD DALLAS. Image: D Magazine.

Recently, D Magazine, a regional journal published monthly that covers cultural topics and is widely read by an educated business and corporate population, devoted an entire issue , “Wild Dallas”, to the topic of re-wilding the Balanced Vision Plan. The March 2017 journal included several articles by contributors to the design, renderings, and paintings of what the area would look like as a Nature Project. In coordination with the issue, D Magazine also sponsored a conference in uptown Dallas.

Conference experts included Dr. Robert Moon, renowned master gardener and caretaker of the venerated Nasher Sculpture Center Garden; Tanya Homayoun of the Trinity River Audubon Center; Becky Board, member of the Dallas Parks and Recreation Board; and myself. Former City Councilwoman, Angela Hunt, spearheaded the conference and the effort to implement the WRT Balanced Vision Plan as a re-wilded nature reserve that will be within walking distance of downtown Dallas.

Re-wilding as redefinition

As contemporary landscape architecture converges on ecological and environmental interests, re-wilding offers a new kind of expressive potential for design by redefining how the landscape will perform, and as what. The goal of re-wilding places equal emphasis on the accommodation of a wildlife program with the human condition that it will serve. The first step is to establish re-wilded, synthetic nature that is as close to the original as is practically possible. Then, design to put people into the re-wilded area in such a way that the two can coexist.

Re-wilded Trinity River. Image: Vincent Hunter AIA, D Magazine

In this light re-wilding poses no threat to, nor is it a critique of, artful landscape experimentation. Paths, benches, and pavilions can easily fit into a re-wilded space and can designed with an artful hand. However, artful indulgence to stylize the embankments of a wetland levee, for example, would be an interference with the intended landscape character of a re-wilded wetland.

Given that any design hypothesis can be taken to an extreme, re-wilding should be viewed as a particular approach to naturalistic design that pushes beyond metaphors and abstractions to approach reality as closely possible. Metaphors, which can be powerful when skillfully employed in landscape architecture, exist only as aids—secondhand conditions for a real, factual reconstitution of an original landscape.

Re-wilding should be prudently considered and understood through the lens of two irreducible issues. One is appropriateness; the site, program, and location for where re-wilding might be considered. Secondly, re-wilding fundamentally requires considering the designing for a program of wildlife as equally important to designing the landscape as a place that can be inhabited by people.

With respect to appropriateness, for example, the prairie grass installation around the Sprint Campus in Kansas City establishes a landscape of memory that could attract wildlife—none were deliberately introduced into it. An academic reconstruction of the Konza prairie wasn’t practical, since the fire required to rejuvenate the original species, along with the invasive suburban species it would have been susceptible to, required an “adjusted” plant mix to be resilient and practical. After 15 years, thick stands of wading grasses have attracted coyotes and red fox. Several species of raptor are frequently seen plunging into the grasses for the shrews, field mice, and voles it also contains—an activity that only heightens the memory trope rising from within the campus: the original landscape.

Rather than conventional modalities, which are driven by theory, technology, or personal design style preferences, re-wilding offers an intensely performative landscape that takes the notion of naturalism to an extreme. Re-wilding is not a postmodern retrogression, receding from the future and the uncertainties it presents. Going forward, I am intrigued to observe and participate in re-wilding’s development and proliferation as an organizing concept in landscape architecture.

Kevin Sloan
Dallas-Fort Worth

On The Nature of Cities

Read this! 90 recommendations for the one book about (or relevant to) cities that everyone should read

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Every month we feature a Global Roundtable in which a group of people respond to a specific question in The Nature of Cities.
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Hover over a name to see an excerpt of their response…click on the name to see their full response.
Pippin Anderson, Cape TownRambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World, by Emma Marris
Gloria Aponte, MedellínCities and Natural Process, by Michael Hough
Ana Luisa Artesi, Buenos AiresHorizon 101 – Reflections and Paintings, by Jala Makhzoumi
Xuemei Bai, Canberra王如松:《高效、和谐–城市调控原理与方法, Efficiency and Harmony: Principles and methods of urban system regulation and control, by Rusong Wang
Stephan Barthel, StockholmThe Death and Life of Great American Cities, by Jane Jacobs
Jane Battersby, Cape TownHungry City, by Carolyn Steel
Adrian Benepe, New YorkThe Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, by Robert Caro
Genie Birch, Philadelphia & New YorkThe Works: Anatomy of a City, by Kate Ascher
Timothy Bonebrake, Hong KongThe Ecology of a City and its People: The Case of Hong Kong, by S. Boyden, S. Millar, K. Newcombe, and B. O’Neill
Eduardo Brondizio, BloomingtonDreaming Equality: Color, Race, and Racism in Urban Brazil, by Robin Sheriff
Steve Brown, SydneyStories from the Sandstone: Quarantine Inscriptions from Australia’s Immigrant Past, by Peter Hobbins, Ursula K Frederick and Anne Clarke
Lindsay Campbell, New York Crabgrass Frontier, by Kenneth Jackson
Lena Chan, Singapore Design With Nature, by Ian McHarg
Katrine Claassens, Cape TownPreludes, by T.S. Eliot
Lorenzo Chelleri, L’AquilaThe City in History: Its Origins, Its Transformations, and Its Prospects, by Lewis Mumford
Bharat Dahiya, BangkokBanaras: Making of India’s Heritage City, by Rana P.B. Singh
PK Das, MumbaiEcology and Equity, by Madhav Gadgil and Ramachandra Guha
Samarth Das, MumbaiHousing Without Houses: Participation, Flexibility, Enablement, by Nabeel Hamdi
Marcelo de Souza, Rio de JaneiroFrom Urbanization to Cities, by Murray Bookchin
Anna Dietzsch, São PauloThe Death and Life of Great American Cities, by Jane Jacobs
Paul Downton, MelbourneEcocity Berkeley: Building Cities for a Healthy Future, by Richard Register 
Katerina Elias-Trostmann, São PauloCities for a Small Planet, by Richard Rogers
Thomas Elmqvist, StockholmGlobal Cities: A Short History, by Greg Clark
Jayne Engle, MontrealSharing Cities: A Case for Truly Smart and Sustainable Cities, by Duncan McLaren and Julian Agyeman
Ana Faggi, Buenos AiresCities for People, by Jan Gehl 
Martha Fajardo, BogotaDesign With Nature, by Ian McHarg
Emilio Fantin, BolognaL’anima dei Luoghi: conversazione con Carlo Truppi, by James Hillman
Ben Feldman, Los AngelesLast Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder, by Richard Louv
Sheila Foster, New YorkTriumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier, by Edward Glaeser
Niki Frantzeskaki, RotterdamGreening the Red Zone, by Keith Tidball and Marianne Krasny
David Goode, BathSwifts in a Tower, by David Lack
Divya Gopal, BerlinNature in the City: Bengaluru in the Past, Present, and Future, by Harini Nagendra
Andrew Grant, BathThe Night Life of Trees, by Durga Bai, Bhajju Shyam, and Ram Singh Urveti
Bram Gunther, New YorkBaltimore School of Urban Ecology: Space, Scale, and Time for the Study of Cities, by J. Morgan Grove, Mary Cadenasso, Steward T. Pickett, Gary E. Machlis, William R. Burch Jr., Laura A. Ogden
Jonathan Halfon, New YorkThis Changes Everything, by Naomi Klein
Fadi Hamdan, BeirutAl Muqaddimah, by Ibn Khaldoun
Zoé Hamstead, BuffaloThe Manhattan Project: Theory of a City, by David Kishik
Mathieu Hélie, MontrealDelirious New York, A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan, by Rem Koolhaas
Tom Henfrey, BristolThe Oregon Experiment, by Christopher Alexander
Cecilia Herzog, Rio de JaneiroThe Granite Garden: Urban Nature and Human Design, by Anne  Spirn
Mark Hostetler, GainesvilleSustainable Landscape Construction: A Guide to Green Building Outdoors, by J. William Thompson and Kim Sorvig
Mike Houck, PortlandThe Last Landscape, by William H. Whyte
Todd Lester, São PauloThe Practice of Everyday Life, by Michel de Certeau
Nina-Marie Lister, TorontoThe Culture of Nature: The North American Landscape from Disney to the Exxon Valdez, by Alexander Wilson
Shuaib Lwasa, KampalaUrban Environments in Africa: A Critical Analysis of Environmental Politics, by Garth Myers
Patrick Lydon, SeoulSmall is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered, by E.F. Schumacher
Yvonne Lynch, MelbourneThe City and the Coming Climate, by Brian Stone Jr.
Ian MacGregor-Fors, VeracruzConcrete Jungle: New York City and Our Last Best Hope for a Sustainable Future, by Niles Eldredge & Sidney Hohenstein
Mahim Maher, KarachiKarachi: Ordered Disorder and the Struggle for the City, by Laurent Gayer
Jala Makhzoumi, BeirutDamascus City: A Study in Urban Geography, by Safouh Khair
François Mancebo, ParisThe Right to the City, by Henri Lefebvre
E.J. McAdamsCity Eclogue, by Ed Roberson
Rob McDonald, WashingtonCity Trees: A Historical Geography from the Renaissance through the 19th Century, by Henry Lawrence
Brian McGrath, NewarkNature’s Metropolis, by William Cronon
Timon McPhearson, New YorkConcrete and Clay: Reworking Nature in New York, by Matthew Gandy
Hitesh Mehta, MiamiLife between Buildings, by Jan Gehl
Patrice Milillo, Los AngelesThe Rise of the Creative Class: And How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community, and Everyday Life, by Richard Florida
Mary Miss, New YorkThe Great Derangement, by Amitav Ghosh
Franco Montalto, PhiladelphiaCradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, by William McDonough and Michael Braungart
Polly Moseley, LiverpoolThe Growing Stone, by Albert Camus
Harini Nagendra, BangaloreLandscapes of Urban Memory: The Sacred and the Civic in India’s High-Tech City, by Smriti Srinivas
Kate Orff, New YorkGreat Expectations, by Charles Dickens
Susan Parnell, Cape TownNew Babylon New Nineveh: Everyday Life on the Witwatersrand, 1886-1914, by Charles Van Onselen
Raquel Peñalosa, MontrealThe Death and Life of Great American Cities, by Jane Jacobs
Steward Pickett, PoughkeepsieThe Granite Garden, by Anne Spirn
Stephanie Pincetl, Los AngelesArchitecture Without Architects: A Short Introduction to Non-Pedigreed Architecture, by Bernard Rudofsky
Christine Platt, DurbanArrival City, by Doug Sanders
Andrew Revkin, New YorkThe Well-Tempered City, by Jonathan F.P. Rose
Debra Roberts, DurbanDesign with Nature, by Ian McHarg
Eric Sanderson, New YorkCarfree Cities, by J.H. Crawford
Jason Schupbach, WashingtonThe Image of the City, by Kevin Lynch
Richard Scott, LiverpoolCities For People, by Jan Gehl
Paula Segal, New YorkInvisible Cities, by Italo Calvino
Huda Shaka, DubaiDubai Amplified, by Stephen Ramos
Laura Shillington, Managua & MontrealThe City & The City, by China Miéville
Philip Silva, New York Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature, edited by William Cronon
David Simon, Gothenburg Designing Public Policy for Co-production: Theory, practice and change, edited by Catherine Durose and Liz Richardson
Kevin Sloan, Dallas-Fort Worth The Matrix of Man: Illustrated History of Urban Environment, by Sibyl Moholy-Nagy
Laura Spinadel, Vienna Campus WU: A Holistic History, by Ila Berman
[/contributor]
David Tittle, London Cities in Civilisation, by Peter Hall
Anne Trumble, Los Angeles Imagining Extinction: The Cultural Meanings of Endangered Species, by Ursula K. Heise
Naomi Tsur, Jerusalem If Mayors Ruled The World: Dysfunctional Nations, Rising Cities, by Benjamin Barber
Chantal van Ham, Brussels Biophilic Cities: Integrating Nature into Urban Design and Planning, by Timothy Beatley
Shawn Van Sluys, Guelph The Gentrification of the Mind: Witness to a Lost Imagination, by Sarah Schulman
Claire Weisz, New York The Fall of Public Man, by Richard Sennett
Mike Wells, Bath Green Design: From Theory to Practice, by Ken Yeang and Arthur Spector
Diana Wiesner, Bogotá Naturaleza Urbana. plataforma de experiencias, edited by María Angélica Mejía
Kathleen Wolf, Seattle With People in Mind: Design and Management of Everyday Nature, by Rachel Kaplan, Stephen Kaplan, and Robert L. Ryan
David Maddox

About the Writer:
David Maddox

David loves urban spaces and nature. He loves creativity and collaboration. He loves theatre and music. In his life and work he has practiced in all of these as, in various moments, a scientist, a climate change researcher, a land steward, an ecological practitioner, composer, a playwright, a musician, an actor, and a theatre director. David's dad told him once that he needed a back up plan, something to "fall back on". So he bought a tuba.

Introduction

We have assembled a list of 90 must-reads on cities from a diverse group of TNOC contributors—a nature of cities reader’s digest. The recommendations are as wide-ranging as the TNOC community, from many points of view and from around the world. They are a reflection of the breadth of thought that cities need. And, as my grandmother would have said: “This will keep you off the street and out of trouble”.

The prompt seems easy, but it turns out to be difficult to recommend the one thing everyone should read on cities, and what we have created here is a remarkable and diverse reading list. You will likely think of other essential works yourself, and when you do, leave them here as a comment. There is a rich conversation to experience simply by exchanging ideas on great books.

The list below could serve as a wonderful primer for courses or other gatherings. You can download the entire list as a PDF here.

Check out these titles at your local, corner bookstore. But if you choose to buy one of these titles online, please click here to go to Amazon. Some of the sales price will benefit TNOC.

The books are listed in a random order. Refresh your screen to see the list displayed in a different order.

Get busy.

—David Maddox

Pippin Anderson, Cape Town

Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World
by Emma Marris
2011, Bloomsbury USA

Touches critically on so many debates in ecology (well, in many quarters they are not debated). Re-wilding, novel ecosystems, are invasive aliens always bad, old conservation models … etc. Her writing feels effortless and then she gives you lots to kick back against. Rather like finding yourself eating an exotic flavour of ice cream (ice cream—yum, popcorn flavoured—gosh!).
Buy the book.

Gloria Aponte, Medellín

Cities and Natural Process
by Michael Hough
1995, Routledge

Nobody concerned with urban habitat should miss this book, available in English and in Spanish, that reaffirms the role of nature in the city. In six easy to read chapters, landscape as a process is highlighted and understood as the link between nature, humans, and built environment. The author demonstrates that total control (of nature) is impossible and that in attempts to do it, the result is least diversity for the most effort.
Buy the book.

Ana Luisa Artesi, Buenos Aires

Horizon 101 – Reflections and Paintings
by Jala Makhzoumi
2010, Dar Onboz

I strongly recomend Jala Makhzoumi’s “101 horizons”, for students and people involved in Landscape in cities as a fundamental reading to see a different point of view.
From a room with a view of the Mediterranean, in an artistic and emotional story, with poetry and illustrations, and also … blank spaces, Jala describes a Landscape where all Theories and Methodologies are surpassed by the day to day of a terrible and seemingly endless war. Despite all the fears, Jala paints, draws, dreams, wishes … expressing from her soul, so that we can understand the depth of this moment.
The text in both languages, Arabic and English.

Xuemei Bai, Canberra

王如松:《高效、和谐–城市调控原理与方法》, 湖南教育出版社, 1988, 278页.

Efficiency and Harmony: Principles and methods of urban system regulation and control
by Rusong Wang
1988, Hunan Education Publisher

Rusong Wang is an internationally renowned urban system ecologist, whose work laid the foundation of urban ecology research in China, and influenced and contributed greatly to the theory and practice of eco-city development in China. Although not always highly cited in the English literature, some of the concepts and thoughts presented in this book—e.g., cities as complex social-economic-ecological systems—were inspirational in the 1980s and are cutting edge even today. Nominating this book is also a way to pay tribute to a fine urban scholar and his achievement—he passed away in 2014 at the age of 67.

Stephan Barthel, Stockholm

The Death and Life of Great American Cities
by Jane Jacobs
1961, Random House

It opens up a view of the city as an ecosystem. It is a must read for anyone combating the “hot planning topic of densification”. Such an agenda builds, to some degree, on Jacobs’ thinking—but with a selective interpretation of it. She was one of the first describing how social capital is built in neighborhoods in large cities, and one of the first describing how the gentrification process works (but long before any of those terms were theorized). She lacked an understanding about the benefits humans obtain by interacting with natural environments, which is her drawback. But hey, no one is perfect. Great book, great humanist, and great systems thinker!
Buy the book.

Jane Battersby, Cape Town

Hungry City
by Carolyn Steel
2008, Random House

Food fundamentally shapes our cities’ ecologies, economies, and social lives, but most people hardly ever consider how it reaches our plates in cities. Hungry City traces food from farm to fork and beyond. It will not only make you look at food in a new way, but will give you a new perspective on cities; as Steel herself says, “In order to understand cities properly, we need to look at them through food”.
Buy the book.

Adrian Benepe, New York

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
by Robert Caro
1975, Knopf Doubleday

The Power Broker by Robert Caro, and not necessarily as a pro Jane-Jacobs morality tale.

For example, Robert Moses tripled the NYC park system in size—the biggest periods of park creation and expansion in NYC’s history.
Buy the book.

Genie Birch, Philadelphia & New York

The Works: Anatomy of a City
Kate Ascher
2007, Penguin Press

Kate Ascher introduces this portrait of urban infrastructure based on New York City with a wise observation: “Rarely does a resident of any of the world’s great metropolitan areas pause to consider the complexity of urban life or the myriad systems that operate around the clock to support it.” She then offers a richly illustrated compendium that explains five systems: transport of people and freight, power, communications, water, and sanitation. While slightly outdated due to the absence of a current description of today’s technology, it is an accessible and informative primer. The final chapter, “The Future,” lays out key concerns.
Buy the book.

Timothy Bonebrake, Hong Kong

The Ecology of a City and its People: The Case of Hong Kong
by S. Boyden, S. Millar, K. Newcombe, and B. O’Neill
1981, Australian National University Press

This is a classic book in urban ecology that examines the city from an ecosystem perspective, with humans as a key and integral component of the ecosystem. In the 35 years since the book was published, Hong Kong has changed dramatically in many ways, including a 40 percent increase in population size and skyrocketing rates of consumption—this book provides a fascinating source of perspective in light of these changes. While some of the specific conclusions may well be unique to Hong Kong, the general patterns are largely applicable to growing cities worldwide.
Buy the book.

Eduardo Brondizio, Bloomington

Dreaming Equality:
Color, Race, and Racism in Urban Brazil
by Robin Sheriff
2001, Rutgers University Press

An ethnographic analysis of race relations from the perspective of residents of a Rio favela.
Buy the book.

Steve Brown, Sydney

Stories from the Sandstone: Quarantine Inscriptions from Australia’s Immigrant Past
Peter Hobbins, Ursula K Frederick and Anne Clarke
2016, Arbon Publishing

This newly published book is an archaeological-historical investigation of rock inscriptions at Sydney’s former Quarantine Station (1835 – 1979). It charts stories of new arrivals to Australia and the diseases that saw them held at this place for days, weeks, and months. I recommend it for its multiple narratives of the growth of Sydney as an urban, ethnically diverse, and spectacular city from immigration and medical perspectives.

Lena Chan, Singapore

Design With Nature
by Ian McHarg
1969, Natural History Press

A must-read book. Inspirational. I first read it in 1981, still find it relevant, and always discover something new each time I re-visit it.
Buy the book.

Lindsay Campbell, New York

Crabgrass Frontier
by Kenneth Jackson
1985, Oxford University Press

Because to understand the city, we have to understand the suburb. While conditions have changed since this 1985 book, Jackson investigates the role of multiple forces, including technology, transportation, federal policy, culture, and demographic shifts in shaping the suburban form of the United States. I read it as an undergrad in my first geography course, and this book sparked my interest in studying urban planning and later human geography.  Particularly insightful is his chapter on early federal policies—such as the Federal Highway Act, Home Owners Loan Corporation (origin of redlining), and the Federal Housing Act, showing the institutionalized roots of spatial unevenness and inequality in our urban and suburban form.
Buy the book.

Lorenzo Chelleri, L’Aquila

thecityinhistoryThe City in History: Its Origins, Its Transformations, and Its Prospects
by Lewis Mumford
1961, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

There is no book like this in addressing how and why cities evolved, from the medieval villages to the modern post-industrial metropolis. Mumford was among the few able to grasp and communicate, through a clear and extraordinary narrative style, the very “nature” of cities, explaining the root causes of the processes which remain at the forefront of urban studies debates. His half century old insights explain most of the problem we’re still facing and about which any reader could deepen her knowledge with hundreds of books. But no other book could provide you the big picture, the bases for understanding “what is a city”.
Buy the book.

Katrine Claassens, Cape Town

Preludes
by T.S. Eliot
1911

Now more than 100 years old, this poem is a haunting look at a turn-of-the-century city, which—despite its description of a London where cab horses “steam and stamp” and lamps must still be manually lit—is shockingly modern. In a smoky, densely populated city, nature lingers, clinging uneasily, with “sparrows in the gutters” and vacant lots offering fuel for fires.
Buy the book.

Bharat Dahiya, Bangkok

Banaras: Making of India’s Heritage City
by Rana P.B. Singh
2009, 
Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Based on more than three decades of intensive research and intimate acquaintance with the sacred geography and urban cultural history of India’s ancient living city, Professor Rana P.B. Singh, in this pioneering volume, provides an excellent narrative of the making of Banaras—also known as Kashi or Varanasi. This book is a lead reference for understanding the cultural landscape, sacred geometry and cosmogram, archetypal architecture, vivid ritualscapes, and magnificent riverfront heritagescapes of Banaras that portray and maintain the dignity of India’s rich history and culture. This splendid volume also serves as a role model for the multidisciplinary studies of urban cultural landscapes in South Asia and beyond.
Buy the book.

P.K. Das, Mumbai

Ecology and Equity: The Use and Abuse of Nature in Contemporary India
by Madhav Gadgil and Ramachandra Guha
1995, Routledge

It is a must read, published by Penguin Books India, but before that by Routledge in 1995. Over the years, I have read parts of this book several times and have extensively quoted it in my talks and writings.
Buy the book.

Samarth Das, Mumbai

Housing Without Houses: Participation, Flexibility, Enablement
by Nabeel Hamdi
1995, Practical Action

Hamdi focuses on participatory planning as an essential component of sustainable development, with local communities at the forefront leading discussions and contributing to the production of neighborhoods in cities. The failures of the state and market forces to provide housing have been demonstrated in numerous cases, and the book discusses how architects and designers along with citizens are responsible for building just cities. Hyper-local knowledge of local citizens is an incredible resource that architects can tap while making their cases for production of neighborhoods. The book also emphasizes how local bodies need to work in unison with state powers to promote equitable development, with a balance of new production and preservation of cultural aspects of daily living. The traditional roles of architects need to be challenged and evolved in order to develop strategies for development from the ground up in today’s context. This is a must read for all!
Buy the book.

Marcelo de Souza, Rio de Janeiro

From Urbanization to Cities
by Murray Bookchin
Revised ed. 1996, Cassel & Co.

I think his reflections on cities and urbanization deserve much more attention that has been devoted to them so far. A few reasons:

1) Bookchin pioneered the analysis of urban ecology and political ecology from a critical viewpoint. His book Our Synthetic Environment (published under the penname “Lewis Herber”) was published a couple of months before Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring; probably due to the fact that his analysis is much more radical, Rachel’s book turned into a bestseller, while Bookchin’s book not…

2) Bookchin’s books The Limits of the City (1974), Post-Scarcity Anarchism (essays written between the mid-1960s and early 1970s) and, above all, Urbanization without Cities (1992) are as important or even more important than Lefebvre’s The Right to the City and The Urban Revolution—but everyone talks only about Lefebvre, who was in some regards not as profound or original as Bookchin.

3) Bookchin’s “social ecology” is a very important framework for the type of analysis we need in the 21st century.
Buy the book.

Anna Dietzsch, São Paulo

The Death and Life of Great American Cities
by Jane Jacobs
1961, Random House

The classic. Because it is the mother of everything we think is good for cities now: walking, meeting people, being diverse.

And worth re-reading, because it has been so much quoted and talked about, some of the ideas and principles have been kind of distorted.
Buy the book.

Paul Downton, Melbourne

Ecocity Berkeley: Building Cities for a Healthy Future
by Richard Register
1987, North Atlantic Books

The first book with “ecocity” in its title and perhaps the key text of the ecocity movement, this slim volume describes a vision of Berkeley (but it could be any city) as a place of wildness and life, dense with vegetation and people but empty of cars, with a narrative propelled by exuberant enthusiasm and a kind of wild-eyed joy that is rare in city literature. From buildings covered with trees and vegetation to precarious glass-bottomed walkways, recovered creeks, and cars converted into planter boxes, this is the book that let loose many of the memes that now populate city disourse and urban design. Neither conventionally academic nor stiflingly professional, Ecocity Berkeley is richly illustrated with naive and quirky drawings that help communicate sublime and sophisticated ideas about fitting a city within the full embrace of nature—read it alongside Murray Bookchin’s Limits of the City for a radical social and political analysis of urbanisation and the incomparable Lewis Mumford’s City in History for a comprehensive overview of cities that, like Ecocity Berkeley, remain absolutely pertinent to understanding that we cannot make a healthy future without balancing our cities with nature.
Buy the book.

Katerina Elias, São Paulo

Cities for a Small Planet
by Richard Rogers
1998, Basic Books

In this book, Richard Rogers speaks to everyone: no matter the reader’s level of experience in urbanism and architecture, Roger reels in his readers, who in exchange are taken on a journey through the history of urbanism, urban decay, ecological design, and ultimately, humanity. This book is a potential classic in urban literature, and a fantastic entry point for beginners, or a recap for specialists, to contemplate the role of our cities and their potential for being a driving force for greater sustainability.
Buy the book.

Thomas Elmqvist, Stockholm

Global Cities: A Short History
by Greg Clark
2016, Brookings Institution Press

The book gives a very interesting overview of past waves of globalisation events and the formation of city networks going back 4,000 years, up to the patterns and processes underlying today’s globalisation and formation of large city networks.
The book ends with an analysis and discussion of the globalisation and cities of the future. Although there are vast differences between the networks of cities along the ancient Silk Roads and the 21st-century system of global value chains and competitive advantage, there are also striking parallels. The author argues that the leaders of today’s cities can learn much from how those in previous waves built and sustained their competitive attributes, and how to avoid becoming locked into unsustainable or unproductive cycles of development.
Buy the book.

Jayne Engle, Montreal

Sharing Cities: A Case for Truly Smart and Sustainable Cities
by Duncan McLaren and Julian Agyeman
2015, MIT Press

Everyone should read this book because it makes a case that the guiding purpose of the future city should be understanding the whole city as shared space, and acting to share it fairly. It brings together the notion of the city as a commons with a critical perspective on the sharing economy. Its compelling theory and a rich mix of city cases move the conventional smart city discourse from multinational companies driving city change, to technological innovation in the service of social innovation and well being for all urban dwellers.
Buy the book.

Ana Faggi, Buenos Aires

Cities for People
by Jan Gehl
2010, Island Press

Very easy to read for everyone, this book shows how real urban life takes place in the streets. A livable city is one that considers the human dimension and offers a friendly and safe environment. The book, available in English and in Spanish, gives many useful recommendations for planning and management.
Buy the book.

Martha Fajardo, Bogota

Design With Nature
by Ian McHarg
1969, Natural History Press

Written in the 60s, it could be seen as very outdated—most of the ideologies are largely realized and the methods are practiced. However, it is still relevant for anyone who is interested in humans’ relationship with nature and how can we improve it.
Buy the book.

Emilio Fantin, Bologna

L’anima dei luoghi: conversazione con Carlo Truppi
by James Hillman
RCS, Milano

L’anima dei luoghi (The Soul of the Place) is the transcript of a dialogue between the psychologist James Hilmann and the architect Carlo Truppi; it is aimed at understanding the profound identity between culture and nature. The nature of the place is rediscovered as a new subject of reference that has to establish new relations of meaning and to change human perceptions. To respect a “territory” by protecting it ecologically, instead of destroying it, means allowing its energy to live, to survive over time, and to come down to us. Hilmann’s perspective shows us how geographic coordinates can be seen as an expression of the soul of the place, and it also explains how in the same place, churches of different religions, and villages and cities of different ethnicities and culture, have given rise to a stratification of signs and memories. The book has not been translated to English.
Buy the book.

Ben Feldman, Los Angeles

Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder
by Richard Louv
2008, Algonquin Books

As a landscape architect, father of a four-year-old and uncle of two autistic nephews, reading the book further clarified a personal cause of purpose to make a case for creating meaningful places to expose children to nature in its many forms.
Buy the book.

Sheila Foster, New York

Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier
by Edward Glaeser
2011, Penguin Books

It is a well-written, comprehensive paean to cities of all kinds across the world. It is also full of insights and policy prescriptions which, whether one agrees with them or not (and there is much I disagree with), challenges assumptions about how and why some cities succeed and others falter. A terrific read for our urban era in which cities will play an outsized role in economic life, politics, and culture.
Buy the book.

Niki Frantzeskaki, Rotterdam

Greening the Red Zone
by Keith Tidball and Marianne Krasny
2013, Springer

I love this book. It shows how communities can take up greening actions as a means to regenerate their areas and reconnect communities with the past and the future. With case studies around the globe in cities that experience devastation because of natural disasters or wars and conflict, the book shows how nature in cities can restore identity and reignite hope for the future.
Buy the book.

David Goode, Bath

Swifts in a Tower
by David Lack
1956, Methuen

Everyone dealing with the ecology of cities should read this, wherever you are in the world. David Lack was a great ecologist and a great writer who produced a wonderful story about the swift, explaining the intricacies of its life in amazing detail and especially its adaptation to city life. His book is a classic in the literature of urban ecology. We all need to understand the detailed workings of urban ecology; there are so many mysteries. This book provides a way into that world that you won’t forget, and you will certainly look at swifts with new eyes.
Buy the book.

Divya Gopal, Berlin

Nature in the City: Bengaluru in the Past, Present, and Future
by Harini Nagendra
2016, Oxford University Press

The book is a good mix of research findings and narratives from locals about urban nature in an Indian city. It helps the reader to understand the various factors (colonial past, economics, poverty, development, etc.) that play a role in “what” and “how” urban nature is in the Indian sub-continent, and perhaps is applicable to many other cities in developing countries.
Buy the book.

Andrew Grant, Bath

The Night Life of Trees
by Durga Bai, Bhajju Shyam, and Ram Singh Urveti
2006, Tara Books

This is a hand printed, illustrated book that I turn to when thinking about trees in cities. It captures the luminous spirits of trees at night, as portrayed by the Gond tribe in central India, and communicates the intimate relationship between the people and the forest that goes well beyond simple functional dependency into a way of life and thought. It is a visual reference for how we can relink our imagination and culture with urban nature.
Buy the book.

Bram Gunther, New York

Baltimore School of Urban Ecology: Space, Scale, and Time for the Study of Cities
by J. Morgan Grove, Mary Cadenasso, Steward T. Pickett, Gary E. Machlis, William R. Burch Jr., Laura A. Ogden
2015, Yale University Press

A great story about an early and pioneering long-term ecology study city and how the study team blended social and ecological attributes to more deeply understand urban systems. Well written and speaks to all of us working in this arena.
Buy the book.

Jon Halfon, New York

this-changes-everythingThis Changes Everything
by Naomi Klein
2014, Simon & Schuster

It might be a little too politically orientated for the list (although it shouldn’t be), but it does a fantastic job looking at the political and economic structures that are impeding large scale actions to address climate change. A little light on concrete solutions, but some worthwhile examinations on the roles of community organizing, protection of indigenous rights, and natural disaster recovery as the catalysts for system wide change.
Buy the book.

Fadi Hamdan, Beirut

Al Muqaddimah
By Ibn Khaldoun
1377

In particular,  Chapter 4. Some modern thinkers view it as the first work dealing with the philosophy of history or the social sciences of sociology, regarding the evolution of cities. It is an attempt at critical thinking in 1377 AD; unfortunately, that AD-thinking is much needed in 2016 in our Middle East region, and perhaps even beyond. Of course, much of what it says is now not applicable, but the critical thinking methodology is remarkable for its time. Buy the book.

Zoé Hamstead, Buffalo

The Manhattan Project: Theory of a City
by David Kishik
2015, Stanford University Press

This book is the elaboration of a “hypothesis” that Walter Benjamin did not commit suicide at Portbou, but in fact faked his own suicide and successfully fled Nazi Germany. In the book, The Manhattan Project is his manuscript, discovered in the NY Public Library (after his actual death), which articulates a theory of a place and the ways in which the form of the city shapes us in situated ways. New York is seen as an urban implosion, deriving its power from increased density and diversity—the economic, artistic, environmental, and equity dimensions of this urbanist movement are explored in relation to works and worldviews of Mumford, Jacobs, Arendt, and a slew of other important thinkers. It is a playful and thought-provoking work that experiments with place-based, fictional philosophy in the urban context.
Buy the book.

Mathieu Hélie, Montreal

Delirious New York, A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan
by Rem Koolhaas
1997, The Monacelli Press

The concept of a retroactive manifesto is a paradigmatic stepping stone from the design stance of city planning to the ecological, emergent stance we need to embrace for urbanism to succeed as a science and practice.
Buy the book.

henfreyTom Henfrey, Bristol

The Oregon Experiment
by Christopher Alexander
1975, Oxford University Press

Christoper Alexander’s “Pattern Language” trilogy sets out a compelling vision and agenda for a new participatory approach to architecture and urban design, where planning and settlement act as ongoing generative processes that reflect the deepest creative impulses of the universe itself. Of the three books, The Oregon Experiment is the most compact, and situates the philosophy set out in The Timeless Way of Building and methodology of A Pattern Language within the context of implementation of a real-world case study. Buy the book.

Cecilia Herzog, Rio de Janeiro

The Granite Garden: Urban Nature and Human Design
by Anne Spirn
1984, Basic Books

The book that made me look at cities in a totally new way is Anne W. Spirn’s The Granite Garden: Urban Nature and Human Design. It goes deep on how landscape interventions can impact the quality of the urban environment for better or worse. It even predicts what is happening now in many cities around the world.
Buy the book.

Mark Hostetler, Gainesville

Sustainable Landscape Construction: A Guide to Green Building Outdoors
by J. William Thompson and Kim Sorvig
2007, Island Press

This book is important because the best design can fail if it is not implemented properly during the construction phase. For example, heritage trees that are marked for conservation in a subdivision development can subsequently die if heavy earthwork machines run over the root zone during construction.
Buy the book.

Mike Houck, Portland

The Last Landscape
by William H. Whyte
1970, Doubleday Anchor

Everyone, but particularly those working on park open space (I hate that term), and planning issues (regional especially) should read this old, but never more relevant, book. A comprehensive, holistic rationale for integrating nature into the city and natural resource planning across the urban and rural (regional) landscape. Inspires me today as much as on my first reading 35 years ago.
Buy the book.

Todd Lester, São Paulo

The Practice of Everyday Life
by Michel de Certeau
1984, University of California Press

…and specifically the chapter on “Walking in the City” in which he offers an “operational concept” that attempts to subordinate urban growth to user needs. While one of the primary references for his 1984 work—the World Trade Center—no longer exists and has certainly been surpassed in terms of largesse, de Certeau reaches ahead and amply problematizes extreme edifice for cities “founded by utopian and urbanistic discourse.” He reminds of the “tactics” required to navigate the contemporary city, and equally reaches back to LeFebvre’s “demand [for] a transformed and renewed access to urban life.”
Buy the book.

Nina-Marie Lister, Toronto

The Culture of Nature: The North American Landscape from Disney to the Exxon Valdez
by Alexander Wilson
1991, Between the Lines Press

The late Alexander Wilson (a Canadian landscape designer and cultural critic) pre-dates Cronon in exploring the hierarchical dualisms that underlie our perceptions of nature in an urbanizing world. Wilson asserts that the environmental crisis is a cultural crisis, beyond the confines of landscape, which itself is full of deeply conflicting ideas about the natural world—and these are manifest most powerfully in our cities and suburbs. (For those who can’t access this out-of-print Canadian volume, you might go to David Orr’s [2002] The Nature of Design: Ecology, Culture, and Human Intention [Oxford Press] for related reasons, but that would be a second recommendation, so…. there.)
Buy the book.

Shuaib Lwasa, Kampala

Urban Environments in Africa: A Critical Analysis of Environmental Politics
by Garth Myers
2016, University of Chicago Press

This book analyses power and resultant cityscapes through the Situated Urban Political Ecology lenses. Drawing on various examples from Africa, it reflects on how power shapes urban environments, leading to different configurations. Myers argues that urban African environments go beyond just power versus counter power to a structure of feeling—that assessing urban physical environments merely as sites of risks misses seeing these cities as wellsprings of environmental opportunities.
Buy the book.

Patrick Lydon, Seoul

Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered
by E.F. Schumacher
1973, Harper & Row

An economic text for those in search of an economy that works for people and the environment, Schumacher’s treatise has been called one of the most influential books published in the past century. Based in the kind of socially and ecologically connected thinking where the well-being of people and cities sprouts from something more basic than sheer economic and industrial growth, the writing offers invaluable philosophical and practical wisdom for those looking to achieve the trifecta of social, economic, and ecological sustainability. Regardless of the discipline, every successful sustainability plan is bound to find its roots tucked somewhere in the theories of Small is Beautiful.
Buy the book.

Yvonne Lynch, Melbourne

The City and the Coming Climate
by Brian Stone Jr.
2012, Cambridge University Press

Climate change will fundamentally challenge the way we design, build, and manage our cities. In this book, Stone explains the pertinent climate science and articulates the profound impact of climate change and urban heating, which are currently affecting our cities. He puts forth a range of interventions that can be considered for adapting our cities and building resilience in a positive manner.
Buy the book.

Ian MacGregor-Fors, Xalapa

Concrete Jungle: New York City and Our Last Best Hope for a Sustainable Future
by Niles Eldredge & Sidney Horenstein
2014, University of California Press

This book is a walk-through of New York City, from the geological origin of the land on which it sprawls to the current social-environmental actions that are being considered to tackle the city’s issues. Although the book focuses on NYC, much of its content applies to large cities around the globe. It is very well written, mostly for a general audience, and provides fantastic details.
Buy the book.

Mahim Maher, Karachi

Karachi: Ordered Disorder and the Struggle for the City
Laurent Gayer
2014, OUP & Hurst

We were lucky, oh so lucky, to have Laurent Gayer explode onto the scene in 2014. Laurent works at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France, but came to Karachi for several years to do this book, after having learnt Urdu in India. I believe his ability to conduct his interviews in Urdu, often shocking his unsuspecting subject, was the secret to the success of this granular examination of the forces that shape Karachi. Karachi has a rep for being the most violent city in the world (never mind that Oakland and Ciudad Juarez also once had a higher homicide rate). The violence was inexplicable; sure, experts had their theories, but none of them satisfied me. (I was working as the head of the metropolitan pages during some of its most violent years). What Laurent has done is explain “us”. His brilliant theory is “ordered disorder” or managed chaos. He explains why Karachi continues to function while falling apart every day. Best of all, it is a riveting read because he approaches it almost like a journalist and tells the story. Ordered Disorder is essential reading also for anyone who wants to understand the history of modern Karachi, how certain factors have influenced its growth, decay, and resilience, and how we often work “through” violence.
Buy the book.

Jala Makhzoumi, Beirut

Damascus City: A Study in Urban Geography
by Safouh Khair
1982, Ministry of Culture Publications, Damascus

In Arabic, a holistic narrative of natural and cultural processes that shaped urban morphology. The book is a must to understand evolution of the three components that shaped the morphology, architecture, and cultural landscape of this ancient oasis city.

François Mancebo, Paris

The Right to the City
by Henri Lefebvre
(in French, Le droit à la Ville)
1968, Peninsula

Let’s turn to the great classics. The Right to the City is a touchstone for people working on social production of space and justice in the city. Some, like Susan Feinstein, consider that The Right to the City is more a rhetorical device than a policy-making tool. Still, this book, published in 1968, has inspired countless academic authors and practitioners in urban planning and urban design up through today.
Buy the book.

E.J. McAdams, New York

City Eclogue
by Ed Roberson
2006, Atelos

One of the few American poets with field experience in biology, Ed Roberson brings his innovative poetic forms and radical imagination to singing the ecological, political, and racial ecosystems of the city. If The Nature of Cities community is going to read one poetry book in 2017, this is it!
Buy the book.

Rob McDonald, Washington

City Trees: A Historical Geography from the Renaissance through the 19th Century
by Henry Lawrence
2008, University of Virginia Press

What is mind-blowing in this book is the painstaking reconstruction of tree cover and parks in major cities from the 16th century on. It really changes your perspective to learn, for instance, that the Dutch practice of having trees along canals spread to trees along streets in Amsterdam, and that the initial response of most observers from other countries was bewilderment (why in the world would you want trees in a city?!). The book provides the detailed historical evidence that how we have tried to use nature in cities has changed and expanded multiple times since the renaissance, and (optimistically) could expand again even in our current urban century.
Buy the book.

Brian McGrath, Newark

Nature’s Metropolis:
Chicago and the Great West
by William Cronon
1992, W. W. Norton & Company

For me, an architect, Nature’s Metropolis helped me see cities in a much more complex way.
Buy the book.

Timon McPhearson, New York

Concrete and Clay: Reworking Nature in New York City
by Matthew Gandy
2002, MIT Press

Concrete and Clay wonderfully traces the development of New York City and the shifting and contrasting views within key development projects integrate a “metropolitan nature” in the city and the region. The focus on capital and political power in decision-making and the impact this has on urban environments is a useful history that remains important as a story about the impacts of urban development on all nature in the context of an urbanizing planet.
Buy the book.

Hitesh Mehta, Miami

Life between Buildings: Using Pubic Space
by Jan Gehl
1980, John Wiley & Sons

A must-have for any library shelf on city planning. First published in 1980, it was both enlightening and thoughtful, and even then asked the fundamental question “What has happened to life in cities?”. The book has had a lasting influence on the quality of public open spaces and has especially helped architects and urban planners better understand the larger public life of cities. Focused on how humans use public spaces, Gehl places substance and quantitative research behind urban planning.
Buy the book.

Patrice Milillo, Los Angeles

The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community, and Everyday Life
by Richard Florida
2002, Basic Books

This book explains how important placemaking is and the economic power wielded by creativity.
Buy the book.

Mary Miss, New York

The Great Derangement
by Amitav Ghosh
2016, University of Chicago Press

I really enjoyed this book because of the way Ghosh makes clear the important role of “culture” in thinking about the climate crisis, whether it’s the role the writer / artist has in making such a topic central to our thinking about the world or the way our “political culture” has brought us to this point. Ghosh writes with great insight and allows us to track these links in a very compelling way.
Buy the book.

Franco Montalto, Philadelphia

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things
by William McDonough and Michael Braggart
2002, North Point Press

I have found Cradle to Cradle seminal in my development. It makes the critically important distinction between eco-effective and eco-efficient design. The former is a radical departure from how we’ve made things for most of the industrial history of the world. The latter is simply a slower way of destroying the world. I believe this book is of interest to all involved in the design process, regardless of scale.
Buy the book.

Polly Moseley, Liverpool

The Growing Stone
by Albert Camus
1957

In French, La pierre qui pousse. A short story, this is brilliant in terms of a story of myth blending with city engineering. It’s about inequalities, about myth-making, about changing the narrative of a town in a deeply democratic way. When I read it a centenary on from Camus’ birth, it blew my mind.
Buy the book.

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Harini Nagendra, Bangalore

Landscapes of Urban Memory: The Sacred and the Civic in India’s High-Tech City
by Smriti Srinivas
2001, University of Minnesota Press and Orient Longman

My book is set in the southern hemisphere, a fascinating account of how traditional and modern cultures, ecologies, and visualisations of the sacred and the civic influence each other, in the backdrop of the globalising city of Bangalore. It focuses on an iconic sacred event, the annual Karaga performance. Conducted by a traditional community of gardeners, the Karaga is organised around a network of garden and lake sites. Many of these sites have now vanished from the city, but survive vividly in memory and imagination, while others are still physically extant, though substantially altered in form and function. Through the lens of the Karaga, Smriti Srinivas describes the complex, changing matrix of cultural, political, and social ties to nature in an Indian city where tradition and modernity are two sides of the same coin. The book provides a scholarly insight into social transformations in a modern Indian city, but at the same time takes you deep into the lives and imagination of people in the city, describing how they see and value nature, and how this has changed over time. It’s one of my favorite books, on my favorite city. Happy reading!
Buy the book.

Kate Orff, New York

Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens
1860

A novel that traces how cities began forming the modern backdrop for humanity and a portrait of the multiple human stories and twists of fate (luck, cruelty, love) that cities foster.
Buy the book.

Susan Parnell, Cape Town

New Babylon New Nineveh: Everyday Life on the Witwatersrand, 1886-1914
By Charles Van Onselen
2011, Jonathan Ball Publishers

I love Gwendoline Wright’s volume on the Politics of Urban Design in French Colonial Urbanism because it’s the South speaking back to the North—but the “urban” book that really got me hooked on doing city research and convinced me, as a geographer, that there was a real value in a historical perspective, is Olsen’s two-volume set of essays about Johannesburg. Beautifully written, place and people sensitive—but with a much bigger understanding of political economy.
Buy the book.

Raquel Peñalosa, Montreal

The Death and Life of Great American Cities
by Jane Jacobs
1961, Random House

Because of its intemporality, it is always inspiring to new generations—to transform the City, and mostly its people. It remains fresh and pertinent in its transversality, dealing with social, urban, human, gender, and generational issues in a simple and engaged manner.
Buy the book.

Steward Pickett, Poughkeepsie

The Granite Garden
by Anne Spirn
1984, Basic Books

Anne is one of the pioneers and continuing deep thinkers about the relationship of ecological, geological, and climatic processes and context that interact with urban design. Her approach is based on data and knowledge, yet informs the creative and human-centered intentionality of urban design. Her writing is a joy to read, and her insights are still fresh today.
Buy the book.

Stephanie Pincetl, Los Angeles

Architecture Without Architects: A Short Introduction to Non-Pedigreed Architecture
by Bernard Rudofsky
1965, The Museum of Modern Art

It shows the wisdom and creativity of builders who did not have a formal education, but were observant and inventive. The traditional forms and materials both came from local places and were built to shelter from heat and cold and to take advantage of natural phenomena such as wind and sun to create livable cities and communities. The end results were cities and villages that addressed local conditions for thermal and human well-being.
Buy the book.

Christine Platt, Durban

Arrival City
by Doug Sanders
2011, Windmill Books

It is a remarkable book telling the story of what happens to people arriving in a series of world cities. It explains how they have adapted to the barriers that face them and gives us a much keener understanding of just why the peripheral—or arrival—places in our cities are the way they are. It covers cities in countries as far flung as China, Iran, and France.
Buy the book.

Andrew Revkin, New York

The Well-Tempered City
by Jonathan F.P. Rose
2016, Harper Collins

It’s a welcome summary of studies and cases showing that the social and cultural infrastructure of cities can be as important as the physical infrastructure.
Buy the book.

Debra Roberts, Durban

Design with Nature
by Ian McHarg
1969, Natural History Press

This was one of the first “how to” books addressing nature and cities. Instead of just theorizing about the city and how it might be changed, McHarg offered a practical approach to urban design that allowed the incorporation of nature into city plans. His “overlay” thinking paved the way for subsequent GIS based planning approaches, without which it would be impossible to protect nature and biodiversity in the 21st Century city.
Buy the book.

Eric Sanderson, New York

Carfree Cities
by J.H. Crawford
2002, International Books

Little known but much loved by those who have had the pleasure of reading it, J.H. Crawford’s book, Carfree Cities, walks through every aspect of what it would be like to live in a town or city without cars. Thoughtful and surprising, this short book will remind you of Christopher Alexander’s Pattern Language, Jan Gehl’s devotion to livable cities, and Richard Perl’s systemic understanding of how transportation shapes urban form, all before Google’s Self-Driving Car or Uber were on the horizon. Illustrated by Arin Verner.
Buy the book.

Jason Schupbach, Washington

The Image of the City
By Kevin Lynch
1960, MIT Press

An absolute essential, in this short book, Lynch revolutionized the way city planners thought about how people move through and view their cities. The basic lessons of what elements a well-designed city has are all here. It will shift your thinking of how residents of a place conceive of their city, and change the way you look at a city yourself.
Buy the book.

Richard Scott, Liverpool

Cities for People
by Jan Gehl
2010, Island Press

Considering cities through five human senses is a good place to describe how we react to the spaces around us, and how best to respond to them. It’s a great starting point for planning better cities.
Buy the book.

Paula Segal, New York

Invisible Cities
by Italo Calvino
1972, Harcourt Brace & Company

Invisible Cities, for understanding that cities themselves are organisms that run on empathy.

Always good to re-read to remember that everything we build or reconstruct will be seen with many, many different eyes and be part of many, many different stories.
Buy the book.

Huda Shaka, Dubai

Dubai Amplified: The Engineering of a Port Geography
by Stephen Ramos
2010, Routledge

While Dubai has received some attention from architects and planners recently, the literature on it has been somewhat superficial. This book considers the evolution of the city over the past 50 years and links it to major infrastructure development, an often over-looked aspect. The city of “glam” is actually a city of “ports”. The book provides insights into the politics and economics of development in the Arabian Gulf.
Buy the book.

Laura Shillington, Managua & Montreal

The City & The City
by China Miéville
2003, Penguin/Random House

The fundamental idea in The City & The City is that two different cities occupy the exact same geographical site. The spaces in the cities overlap, but they are legally separate entities. The cities in the book symbolise the ways in which there are multiple and diverse spaces in real cities, but how certain spaces (and the people who produce and occupy them) are “othered”.
Buy the book.

Philip Silva, New York

Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature
Edited by William Cronon
1996, W. W. Norton & Company

Nature’s Metropolis (1992), Cronon’s history of Chicago and its Western hinterland, would probably be a more obvious fit for this list. Yet Uncommon Ground is a primer for deconstructing many widely held misconceptions about the relationship between humans and nature, including the place of cities in an environmentally enlightened society. The introduction alone should be required reading for any student of cities and the environment.
Buy the book.

David Simon, Gothenburg

Designing Public Policy for Co-production: Theory, practice and change
Edited by Catherine Durose and Liz Richardson
2016, Policy Press

This is arguably the best guide to the shortcomings of conventional public policymaking and the potential of co-production methodologies. The diverse authors, a mix of academics and practitioners based in the U.K. and U.S.A., draw on long experience at the (mainly urban) public policy-practice interface to explore the potentials and challenges of experience with diverse forms of transdisciplinary co-design or co-production.
Buy the book.

Kevin Sloan, Dallas/Fort Worth

The Matrix of Man: Illustrated History of Urban Environment
by Sibyl Moholy-Nagy
1968, Pall Mall Press

Every time I open The Matrix of Man: Illustrated History of Urban Environment by Sibyl Moholy-Nagy, I learn something important.

This is a book that contains an inventory of urban models as well as speculations on the contemporary city as it was imagined in the 20th century. While recent texts discuss mega-cities as they have unfolded, this book was published as they began to appear.

Beautifully and intelligently written, the book’s author, Moholy-Nagy, was the wife of a Lazlo Moholy Nagy, a seminal figure in the early 20th century who also taught at the Bauhaus.
Buy the book.

Laura Spinadel, Vienna

Campus WU: A Holistic History
by Ila Berman
2013, BOA buero fuer offensive aleatorik

Unlike the global village, which in its attempt to homogenize is increasingly exclusive, we understand that holistic villages, like the Campus WU, are the places that celebrate diversity and inclusion. Our actions can give form to holistic societies. That is our hope and a dream we want to share with all those who we meet along our way and which on the Campus WU was the common denominator and the holistic fire that united us before the proposed challenge. And so it was that on the back cover of the book Campus WU: A Holistic History, I wrote: “It is about the making of places that seek a dialogue with creation, with the hope of encouraging the people who experience our spaces to unconsciously perceive them. The reality is showing me that something magical happened in Vienna and that thousands of people allow themselves to be seduced by this utopia that became reality.”

David Tittle, Chatham

Cities in Civilisation
by Peter Hall
1998, Pantheon

Professor Hall brings together a lifetime of scholarship on the nature and functioning of cities to weave an extraordinary story of economics, politics, anthropology, and culture across millennia and continents. It is a huge tome, but at the same time is enjoyably readable and a great resource for understanding the city’s role in the history of our species, and the complex combination of factors that make for great cities.
Buy the book.

Anne Trumble, Los Angeles

Imagining Extinction: The Cultural Meanings of Endangered Species
by Ursula K. Heise
2016, University of Chicago Press

Heise effectively argues why any advocacy on behalf of endangered species must understand the cultural frameworks that shape what we think is and isn’t valuable in nature. As Heise illustrates in her twisting and turning narrative through the diverse ways humans make cultural assumptions about nature, conflicts and convergences of these things in the Anthropocene open up a new vision of multi-species justice. Imagining Extinction makes it clear that cities are ground zero for this vision.
Buy the book

Naomi Tsur, Jerusalem

If Mayors Ruled The World: Dysfunctional Nations, Rising Cities
by Benjamin Barber
2013, Yale University Press

Why? Because it addresses boldly, if impractically, the total dysfunctionality of the global division of the world into so-called nations. In an increasingly urban world, the reins of management will be more effective in the hands of cities, especially if their jurisdiction takes in their entire bio-shed. In a world ruled by cities, we can hopefully talk more about urbanism, nature, sewage, garbage, transportation, education, health, prosperity, and cultural diversity—and less about war and peace…
Buy the book.

Chantal van Ham, Brussels

Biophilic Cities: Integrating Nature into Urban Design and Planning
by Timothy Beatley
2010, Island Press

I would recommend urban planners to read Timothy Beatley’s Biophilic Cities; it is such a great way to think about what nature means for all of us and especially those who live in cities, and how it can benefit urban citizens in every part of the world.
Buy the book.

Shawn Van Sluys, Guelph

The Gentrification of the Mind: Witness to a Lost Imagination
by Sarah Schulman
2013, University of California Press

In The Gentrification of the Mind: Witness to a Lost Imagination, which Mike Young reviewed for ArtsEverywhere.ca, Sarah Schulman shows how the gentrification of many neighbourhoods in New York during and after the AIDS crisis correlates to the forgotten politics and socialities of queerness as it intersects with racial and economic struggles. The gentrification of space is the gentrification of the mind through the erasure of histories, relationships, rights, and differences.
Buy the book.

Claire Weisz

The Fall of Public Man
by Richard Sennett
1977, W. W. Norton & Company

The book that made the first cultural argument about the loss of the civic commons that was the genesis of urbanity.

Also a great piece of writing.
Buy the book.

Mike Wells, Bath

Green Design: From Theory to Practice
by Ken Yeang and Arthur Spector, eds.
2011, Blackdog Architecture

Yeang and Spector have been doing the green thing in cities—not just thinking about it—longer than almost anyone. This book is a temperature take on where we are and should be in delivery of green, sustainable, biodiverse cities in practice. It links across all or most design themes—not just addressing low or zero carbon, or water sensitive urban design, and stopping there, but making the point that the sustainable city has to be truly green, vegetated, biodiverse, and biophilic, too. Architects need ecologists to design good cities.
Buy the book.

Diana Wiesner, Bogotá

Naturaleza Urbana. plataforma de experiencias
edited by María Angélica Mejía
2016, Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt
The Spanish version of the book can be downloaded here.

Es necesario contemplar las acciones concretas de la Ciudadanía respecto al cuestionamiento del papel de la naturaleza en la ciudad. Los gobiernos locales subestiman el poder de la acción ciudadana. Uno de los potenciales más poderosos es la capacidad que puede tener una complicidad público privada para una gestión efectiva de la biodiversidad en la transformación positiva de las ciudades. Este libro se logró gracias a la participación de más de 80 casos en diversos lugares de Colombia.

Kathleen Wolf, Seattle

With People in Mind: Design and Management of Everyday Nature
by Rachel Kaplan, Stephen Kaplan and Robert L. Ryan
1998, Island Press

The book explores how to design and manage areas of “everyday nature” in ways that are beneficial to and appreciated by humans. The book translates many years of empirical studies into practical design and management approaches, and it is a readable and flexible guide for practitioners and managers in many fields. It takes theory and research evidence to small-scale changes that improve quality of life.
Buy the book.

Read This! For Every Continent, Must-Read and Continent-Specific Books About Cities

Art & Awareness, Europe, People & Communities, Place & Design, RoundTable, Science & Tools, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Art, Science, Action: Green Cities Re-imagined

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Every month we feature a Global Roundtable in which a group of people respond to a specific question in The Nature of Cities.
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Hover over a name to see an excerpt of their response…click on the name to see their full response.
AFRICABooks on or directly relevant to urbanism in Africa.
ASIABooks on or directly relevant to urbanism in Asia, from the Middle East to Japan.
AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALANDBooks on or directly relevant to urbanism in Australia and New Zealand.
EUROPEBooks on or directly relevant to urbanism in Europe.
LATIN AMERICABooks on or directly relevant to urbanism in Latin America, from Mexico through South America..
NORTH AMERICABooks on or directly relevant to urbanism in The United States and Canada.
Isabelle Anguelovski, BarcelonaUrbanismo en el Siglo XXI, by Jordi Borja i Seabastiá and Zaida Martínez
Will Allen, Chapel HillGreen Metroplis, by David Owen
Pippin Anderson, Cape TownFynbos: Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation of a Megadiverse Region, Allsopp, N., Colville, J., and Verboom, G.A.(Eds.)
Ana Luisa Artesi, Buenos AiresImágenes del Espacio Público. Paisaje, ciudad y arquitectura, una historia cultural de Buenos Aires. 1880 – 1910, by Mirás Marta
Gina Avlonitis, Cape TownGrowing Together – Thinking & Practice of Urban Nature Conservators, by Bridget Pitt and Therese Boulle
Xuemei Bai, Canberra王如松:《高效、和谐–城市调控原理与方法, Efficiency and Harmony: Principles and methods of urban system regulation and control, by Rusong Wang
Stephan BarthelLiving cities – an anthology in urban environmental history, by Mattias Tegnér and Sven Lilja
Adrian Benepe, New YorkMotherless Brooklyn, by Jonathan Lethem
Nathalie Blanc, ParisThe Book of Disquiet, by Fernando Pessoa
Timothy Bonebrake, Hong KongThe Ecology of a City and its People: The Case of Hong Kong, by S. Boyden, S. Millar, K. Newcombe, and B. O’Neill
Carmen Bouyer, New YorkMannahatta: A Natural History of New York City by Eric Sanderson
Rebecca Bratspies, New YorkThe Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs
Eduardo Brondizio, BloomingtonRainforest Cities: Urbanization, Development, and Globalization of the Brazilian Amazon, by J. Browder and G. Godfrey
Steve Brown, SydneyStories from the Sandstone: Quarantine Inscriptions from Australia’s Immigrant Past, by Peter Hobbins, Ursula K Frederick and Anne Clarke
Lindsay Campbell, New York The Environment and the People in American Cities, 1600s-1900s: Disorder, Inequality, and Social Change, by Dorceta Taylor
Katrine Claassens, Cape TownWelcome to our Hillbrow, by Phaswane Mpe
Lorenzo Chelleri, L’AquilaLa Cittá nella storia d’Europa, by Benevolo Leonardo
Katie Coyne, AustinRubyfruit Jungle, by Rita Mae Brown
Bharat Dahiya, BangkokThe State of Asian Cities 2010/11
PK Das, MumbaiAnil Agarwal Reader, volume-1,2& 3. Pratap Pandey and Sunita Narain (Eds.)
Marcelo de Souza, Rio de Janeiro O espaço dividido: Os dois circuitos da economia urbana dos países subdesenvolvidos, by Milton Santos
Anna Dietzsch, São PauloA Cidade Polifonica – Ensaio sobre a antropologia da comunicação urbana, By Massimo Canevacci
Meredith Dobbie, VictoriaThe Future Eaters: An Ecological History of the Australasian Lands and People, by Tim Flannery
Ian Douglas, ManchesterSustainable Urban Environments: An Ecosystem Approach, Ellen van Bueren, Hein van Bohemen, Laure Itard & Henk Visscher (Editors) 2012
Paul Downton, MelbourneGreen Urbanism Down Under: Learning from Sustainable Communities in Australia, by Timothy Beatley and Peter Newman
Ana Faggi, Buenos AiresPlanificar la Ciudad. Estrategias para intervenir territorios en mutación, by Guillermo Tella
Martha Fajardo, BogotaShaping Terrain: City Building in Latin America 2016 René Davids (Ed.)
Emilio Fantin, BolognaL’architettura del tempo. La città multimediale, by Sandra Bonfiglioli
Richard T. T. Forman, BostonUrban Ecology: Science of Cities, by Richard T. T. Forman
Sheila Foster, New YorkPowerbroker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, by Robert Caro
Niki Frantzeskaki, RotterdamNature-Based Solutions to Climate Change Adaptation, Nadja Kabisch, Horst Korn, Jutta Stadler and Aletta Bonn (eds.)
David Goode, BathThe Unnoficial Countrysid, by Richard Mabey
Gary Grant, LondonEcoUrbanismo, by Miguel Ruano
Amy Hahs, BallaratLandprints. Reflections on Place and Landscape, by George Seddon
Haripriya Gundimeda, MumbaiA Place in the Shade: The New Landscaoe and other Essays, by Charles Correa
Fadi Hamdan, BeirutUrban Development in the Muslim World, Hooshang Amirahmadi and Salah El-Shakhs (Eds.)
Steven Handel, New BrunswickA Natural History of New York City, by John Kieran
Ursula K. Heise, Los AngelesNew York 2140, by Kim Stanley Robinson
Mathieu Hélie, MontrealThe Geography of Nowhere, by James Howard Kunstler
Cecilia Herzog, Rio de JaneiroBrasil, Cidades – Alternativas Para a Crise Urbana [in Portuguese], by Hermínia Maricato
Mark Hostetler, GainesvilleThe Green Leap A Primer for Conserving Biodiversity in Subdivision Development, by Mark Hostetler
Mike Houck, PortlandThe Last Landscape, by William H. Whyte
Christian Iaione, RomeEuropean Cities, by Patrick Les Galés
Alpana Jain, DelhiCelebrating Public Spaces of India by Archana Gupta and Anshuman Gupta
Maggie Lin, Hong KongCommunity Design: Reimagining “community”, beyond space, but human connections, by Yamazaki Ryo
Nina-Marie Lister, TorontoThe Granite Garden by Anne Whiston Spirn
Shuaib Lwasa, KampalaUrbanisation, Urbanism and Urbanity in an African City: Home spaces and House Cultures, by Paul Jenkins
Patrick Lydon, SeoulJust Enough: Lessons in Living Green from Traditional Japan, by Azby Brown
Ian MacGregor-Fors, XalapaAportes a la Ecología Urbana de la Ciudad de México [Contributions to the urban ecology of Mexico City], by Eduardo Rapoport and Ismael R. López-Moreno
Anjali Mahendra, DelhiUrbanisation in India: Challenges, Opportunities, and the Way Forward”, by Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Ravi Kanbur and P.K. Mohanty
Mahim Maher, KarachiKarachi: Ordered Disorder and the Struggle for the City, by Laurent Gayer
Jala Makhzoumi, BeirutMuqaddimah, by Ibn Khaldun
François Mancebo, ParisLa Ville san Qualités, by Isaac Joseph
Rob McDonald, WashingtonThe Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America’s Man-Made Landscape, by James Howard Kunstler
Juliana Montoya, BogotáLos árboles se toman la ciudad, El proceso de modernización y la transformación del paisaje en Medellín, 1890-1950, by Diego Alejandro Molina Franco
Harini Nagendra, BangaloreFinding Forgotten Cities: How The Indus Civilization Was Discovered by Nayanjot Lahiri
Peter Newman, PerthPlanning Boomtown and Beyond Sharon Biermann, Doina Olaru and Valeria Paul (Eds.)
Charles H. Nilon, ColumbiaFitzgerald: Geography of a Revolution, by William Bunge
Raul Pacheco-Vega, AguascalientesWater and Politics: Clientelism and Reform in Urban Mexico, by Veronica Herrera
Susan Parnell, Cape TownHow to Steal a City, by Crispin Oliver
Daniel Phillips, BangaloreNature in the City: Bengaluru in the Past, Present, and Future, by Harini Nagendra
Steward Pickett, PoughkeepsieThe Nature of Cities: Ecological Visions and the American Urban Professions, 1920-1960, by Light, Jennifer S.
Stephanie Pincetl, Los AngelesNature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West, by William Cronon
Rob Pirani, New YorkNature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West, by William Cronon
Jose Puppim, Rio de JaneroConfidência do Itabirano ( Confidences of an “Itabirano”) A Poem by Carlos Drummond de Andrade
Toby Query, PortlandBlack Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors by Carolyn Finney
Mohan Rao, BangaloreThe New Landscape, by Charles Correa
Debra Roberts, DurbanZoo City, by Lauren Beukes
Mary Rowe, TorontoEmergence: the connect lives of cities, software and ants., by Steven Berlin Johnson
Luis Sandoval, San José Land Use Change in Costa Rica: 1966-2006, as influenced by social, economic, political, and environmental factors, by Joyce, A. T.
Oliver Scheffer, ParisCities and Forms, by Serge Salat
Karen Seto, New HavenNihon No Toshi, by Pradyumna Prasad Karan and Kristin Eileen Stapleton
Huda Shaka, DubaiPlanning Middle Eastern Cities, Yasser Elsheshtawy (Ed.)
Laura Shillington, Managua & MontrealReclaiming Indigenous Planning, Ryan Walker, Ted Jojola and David Natcher (Eds.)
David Simon, Gothenburg Climate Change at the City Scale; Impacts, Mitigation and Adaptation in Cape Town, Anton Cartwright, Susan Parnell, Gregg Oelofse and Sarah Ward (Eds.)
Kobie Brand, Michelle Preen, Thea Buckle, Jessica Kavonic, and Meggan Spires, The State of African Cities 2014: Re-imagining sustainable urban transitions
Keijiro Suzuki, Yamaguchi 神山プロジェクトという可能性（〜地方創生、循環の未来について〜）、NPO法人グリーンバレー（日本語) Possibility of Kamiyama Project (~Regional Revitalization, for the future of sustainability~), by NPO GREEN VALLEY
Jay Valgora, New York Views and Viewmakers of Urban America: Lithographs of Towns and Cities in the United States and Canada, Notes on the Artists and Publishers, and a Union Catalog of Their Work, 1825-1925, by John W. Reps
Chantal van Ham, Brussels Making Urban Nature, by Piet Vollaard, Jacques Vink and Niels de Zwarte
Yolanda van Heezik, Dunedin Tāone tupu ora: Indigenous knowledge and sustainable urban design, Stuart, K., & Thompson-Fawcett, M. (Eds.)
Mike Wells, Bath Nature in Towns and Cities, by David Goode
Diana Wiesner, Bogotá Naturaleza Urbana. plataforma de experiencias, edited by María Angélica Mejía
Pengfei XIE, Beijing 社區設計 by 山崎亮 History of Chinese Urban Planning 中国城市规划史, by Wang Dehua（汪德华）
Lorena Zárate, Mexico CityJueces y conflictos urbanos en América Latina, Antonio Azuela y Miguel Ángel Cancino (Eds.)
David Maddox

About the Writer:
David Maddox

David loves urban spaces and nature. He loves creativity and collaboration. He loves theatre and music. In his life and work he has practiced in all of these as, in various moments, a scientist, a climate change researcher, a land steward, an ecological practitioner, composer, a playwright, a musician, an actor, and a theatre director. David's dad told him once that he needed a back up plan, something to "fall back on". So he bought a tuba.

Introduction

In 2016 we  assembled a list of 90 must-reads on cities suggested by a diverse group of TNOC contributors—a nature of cities reader’s digest.

This year we asked 90 TNOC contributors for a single must-read book on urbanism from a specific continent.  From a diverse set of TNOC contributors, we asked: from your world, discipline, or point of view, if a person were interested in urbanism on a particualr continent, what should they read? The book has to be really about that continent, not a general book about urbanism that happens to apply to the continent. For example, Death and Life of Great American Cities certainly is relevant all over, but it isn’t specifically about Asian cities. The people recommending these books are either from the contents they are recommending for, or work there extensively.

The recommendations are as wide-ranging as the TNOC community, from many points of view, and from around the world. They are a reflection of the breadth of thought that cities need, and they speak to the specific and sometimes unique needs of different parts of the world.

What we have created here is a remarkable and diverse reading list. You will likely think of other essential works yourself, and when you do, leave them here as a comment. There is a rich conversation to experience simply by exchanging ideas on great books.

The list below could serve as a wonderful primer for courses or other gatherings. You can download the entire list as a PDF here.

You can download the last year’s global list as a PDF here.

Check out these titles at your local, corner bookstore. But if you choose to buy one of these titles online, please click here to go to Amazon. Some of the sales price will benefit TNOC.

Get busy.

—David Maddox

AFRICA

Gina Avlonitis, Cape Town

Growing Together: Thinking & Practice of Urban Nature Conservators 
by Bridget Pitt & Therese Boulle
2016

This is a beautifully presented book that gives sincere, first-hand, and humanity-filled insights into the successes and failures of community-development-oriented urban nature conservation in Cape Town. Although it isn’t a theoretical book, it does delve into some of the theory of collaborative management while striking a good balance with offerings of practical experience and solutions on a range of topics: from mapping socio-ecological systems to issues of leadership; from collaborative learning to growing community and passion; from ‘putting food on the table’ to issues of buy-in and access. The case studies and experiences may be Cape Town based, but the book is definitely relevant and a valuable resource for anyone wishing to engage in community driven nature conservation in other contexts.
Buy the book.

Pippin Anderson, Cape Town

Fynbos: Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation of a Megadiverse Region
Edited by N. Allsopp, J. Colville, and G.A. Verbose
2014

I was raised academically as a botanist and as a result my go-to text at the start of any project will always be “Fynbos: Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation of a Megadiverse Region”. This is a second edition and follows nicely on from the first, and to my delight the new edition has a chapter that directly  engages with the role of people and even urban form in the Fynbos biome, titled, People, The Cape Floristic Region, and Sustainability. I think as an urban ecologist my starting point is always the original biophysical template and this book is state of the art with respect to explaining the original vegetation type of the region, the underlying soils and the other factors determining the physical environment.
Buy the book.

Kobie Brand, Thea Buckle, Jessica Kavonic, Michelle Preen & Meggan Spires, Cape Town

The State of African Cities 2014: Re-imagining sustainable urban transitions
2014

This report takes an in-depth look at the opportunities and challenges experienced in African cities, and argues for a bold re-imagining of prevailing models in order to steer ongoing transitions towards greater sustainability based on a thorough review of all available options. The report interrogates what innovative responses are possible in response to the already daunting urban challenges faced in Africa, which are being exacerbated by vulnerabilities and threats associated with climate and environmental change.
Buy the book.

Katrine Claassens, Montreal

Welcome to Our Hillbrow: A Novel of Postapartheid South Africa
by Phaswane Mpe
2011

Welcome to our Hillbrow provides a poignant description of life in post-apartheid Hillbrow, a neighbourhood in central Johannesburg. We follow the life of Refentše Morrow, a student living in the dirty and unforgiving but yet always alluring city. The novel could have easily been a pastoral lament, filled as it is with references to Refentše’s rural roots in the village of Tiragalong, but the countryside remains a place of unease offering no real respite from Hillbrow’s gritty realities.
Buy the book.

Nadja Kabisch, Berlin

Urban Vulnerability and Climate Change in Africa: A Multidisciplinary Approach
by Pauleit, St., Coly, A., Fohlmeister, S., Gasparini, P., Jorgensen, G., Kabisch, S., Kombe, W., Lindley, S., Simonis, I., Kumelachew, Y. (Eds.)
2015

This book is a must read because, to my knowledge, it is one of the first that presents very concrete methodological approaches and in-depth strategies on the assessment and on how to deal with climate change and urbanisation induced challenges in an African urban context. This context is in so many dimensions different from the context we know from the western developed world. The most interesting is, that related challenges are addressed in case studies such as Dhar es Salam, Tansanina,  with multi-method approaches, including modelling, GIS techniques but also household questionnaires and qualitative interviews to address not only the challenges for a sustainable urban land development but also social vulnerability.
Buy the book.

Shuaib Lwasa, Kampala

Urbanisation, Urbanism and Urbanity in an African City: Home spaces and House Cultures
by Paul Jenkins
2013

This book is a great piece that highlights the everyday experiences of homemaking and space configuration in peri-urban areas inMaputo. Although it focus on Maputo, the text resonates with many African Cities particularly Sub-Saharan Africa. The book raises the notion of building the city from below and the importance of socio-cultural agency that starts from a non normative perspective about African cities. The book underscores how homemaking is shaped by the social systems and a non-structured system of urban governance in which ideal principles exist but often pushed back by the social cultural uniqueness of the place.
Buy the book.

Susan Parnell, Cape Town

How to Steal a City: The Battle for Nelson Mandela Bay: An Inside Account
by Crispian Oliver
2017

On the imperative of protecting strong and robust local states that can withstand the corrosion of corruption that undermine the public good and the benefit of carefully constructed  municipal capacity designed to protect people and planet under conditions of rapid urbanisation.
Buy the book.

Elisabeth Peyroux, Paris

New Urban Worlds: Inhabiting Dissonant Times
by AbdouMaliq Simone, Edgar Pieterse
2017

It is a very imaginative, thought-provoking book about how to engage with the “make-shift” character of African (and Asian) cities both within and beyond the boundaries of our knowledge. It connects the practices of everyday life and behavior to current forms of “governing the urban”, acknowledging the need to re-describe the cities along a a multiplicity of story lines. It shows how African (and Asian) urban residents address many possible futures at once.
Buy the book.

Debra Roberts, Durban

Zoo City
by Lauren Beukes
2010

It is a science fiction novel that crafts an alternative a view of one of Africa’s most complex and significant cities. It speaks to exclusion and dispossession in defining the quality of urban lives  and the strong links between the human and natural spirit in defining the essence of an African city.
Buy the book.

David Simon, Gothenburg

Climate Change at the City Scale; Impacts, mitigation and adaptation in Cape Town
edited by Anton Cartwright, Susan Parnell, Gregg Oelofse and Sarah Ward
2012

The ever-sharper focus of climate/environmental change impacts and coping strategies in urban areas is still heavily skewed towards wealthy countries and cities as a reflection of available resources, skills and relative prioritisation. Although the balance is shifting, urban Africa remains under studied, particularly since the continent is predicted by the IPCC to be particularly vulnerable to some of the most severe changes by 2100. This book represents a landmark as the first substantive analysis of the current and predicted future impacts, along with how mitigation and adaptation efforts are unfolding, at the scale of a major African metropolis.
Buy the book.

ASIA

Xuemei Bai, Canberra

王如松:《高效、和谐–城市调控原理与方法》, 湖南教育出版社, 1988, 278页.

Efficiency and Harmony: Principles and methods of urban system regulation and control
by Rusong Wang
1988

Rusong Wang is an internationally renowned urban system ecologist, whose work laid the foundation of urban ecology research in China, and influenced and contributed greatly to the theory and practice of eco-city development in China. Although not always highly cited in the English literature, some of the concepts and thoughts presented in this book—e.g., cities as complex social-economic-ecological systems—were inspirational in the 1980s and are cutting edge even today. Nominating this book is also a way to pay tribute to a fine urban scholar and his achievement—he passed away in 2014 at the age of 67.

Timothy Bonebrake, Hong Kong

The Ecology of a City and its People: The Case of Hong Kong
by S. Boyden, S. Millar, K. Newcombe, and B. O’Neill
1981

This is a classic book in urban ecology that examines the city from an ecosystem perspective, with humans as a key and integral component of the ecosystem. In the 35 years since the book was published, Hong Kong has changed dramatically in many ways, including a 40 percent increase in population size and skyrocketing rates of consumption—this book provides a fascinating source of perspective in light of these changes. While some of the specific conclusions may well be unique to Hong Kong, the general patterns are largely applicable to growing cities worldwide.
Buy the book.

Bharat Dahiya, Bangkok

The State of Asian Cities 2010/11

The State of Asian Cities 2010/11 features a comprehensive review of the trends in inclusive and sustainable urban development in the Asia-Pacific region. Being the first-ever report on the state of Asian-Pacific cities prepared by the United Nations, it brings together rich analysis of and policy review on urban demographic, economic, poverty, environmental and governance issues. As Prof. Andrew Kirby, former Editor of Cities journal and its current City Profiles Editor wrote, “[t]he report represents a benchmark against which we could all measure our urban research”.
Download the book.

P.K. Das, Mumbai

Anil Agarwal Reader, Three Volumes
Content editor: Pratap Pandey
Series editor- Sunita Narain.
2007

A must. In 1982 Anil was the founder Director of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). Although he died in 2002, he established an Institution that continues to drive the environmental message, as loudly and stridently as he would have done.
Buy the book.

Haripriya Gundimeda, Mumbai

A place in the Shade: The New Landscape and other Essays
by Charles Correa
2012

The book offers a wonderful collection of essays on concerns and issues that are fundamental to india and covers several dimensions like 1)  description of the architecture and the cities and the disconnect with people who use them 2) the role of cities in modernizing India: 3) architecture and urbanization in India ; 4) what cities are about and the role of culture. The book also offers some solutions to the modern problems.
Buy the book.

Fadi Hamdan, Beirut

Urban Development in the Muslim World
Edited by Hooshang Amirahmadi and Salah El-Shakhs
1993

A very interesting perspective on the evolvement of some of the historic cities in the Middle and Near East, including Mecca, Delhi, Tehran, Sanaa and various cities in Syria.  The chapters identify various socio-economic and political factors that affected urban development including the spread of Islam, the age of air travel, colonisation and other interesting urban development drivers.  The book also refers to some important North African Cities including Cairo and other Maghreb Cities in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco and how these are influenced by, and affected, other urban developments in the Middle East.
Buy the book.

Keitaro Ito, Kyushu

The City of the Unseen
by Fumihiko Maki

A book about the structure of Tokyo: its history and topography, and analysis from architectural point of view. It is very interesting and worth reading, especially the discussion about the philosophy of “the depth” in the structure of the city.

Alpana Jain, Delhi

Celebrating Public Spaces of India
by Archana Gupta and Anshuman Gupta
2017

Through examples it gives a very good overview of the importance of public spaces in the Indian cultural context and how they are being trivialised by insensitive urban growth.
Buy the book.

Maggie Lin, Hong Kong

Community Design: Reimagining “community”, beyond space, but human connections
by Yamazaki Ryo

It shares bottom-up urbanism initiatives, from parks design to department store revitalization, to bring the community together and weave the social fabric. A very human-centred approach: 社區設計：重新思考「社區」定義，不只設計空間，更要設計「人與人之間的連結」

Patrick Lydon, Osaka

Just Enough: Lessons in Living Green from Traditional Japan
by Azby Brown
2010

Some 400 years ago, Japan was experiencing severe environmental degradation, and the country responded by keeping their borders closed to trade, and learning how to live, build, and think within the ecological means of the land. For two centuries Japan fed, housed, and clothed a population of over 30 million people while simultaneously creating thriving metropolises, market towns, and highly developed arts, crafts, and cuisine. This beautifully illustrated book gives us a peek into the Japanese life and city building during the Edo Period, and helps us imagine how we might again build cities that regenerate the health of the environment instead of degrading it.
Buy the book.

Anjali Mahendra, Delhi

Urbanisation in India: Challenges, Opportunities, and the Way Forward
by Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Ravi Kanbur and P.K. Mohanty
2014

I like it because the chapters offer useful insights and evidence, while covering a rich range of topics related to urbanization in India. The authors comprise a mix of policy makers, researchers and urban practitioners who have worked on these issues for a long time in the country. Finally, based on conversations with colleagues in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, I think many challenges of urbanization in India are common across the sub-continent, where  the majority of cities are facing rapid, under-resourced, under-serviced, unmanaged urban growth. Many of the lessons offered in each chapter are thus widely applicable throughout South Asia.
Buy the book.

Mahim Maher, Karachi

Karachi: Ordered Disorder and the Struggle for the City
Laurent Gayer
2014

We were lucky, oh so lucky, to have Laurent Gayer explode onto the scene in 2014. Laurent works at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France, but came to Karachi for several years to do this book, after having learnt Urdu in India. I believe his ability to conduct his interviews in Urdu, often shocking his unsuspecting subject, was the secret to the success of this granular examination of the forces that shape Karachi. Karachi has a rep for being the most violent city in the world (never mind that Oakland and Ciudad Juarez also once had a higher homicide rate). The violence was inexplicable; sure, experts had their theories, but none of them satisfied me. (I was working as the head of the metropolitan pages during some of its most violent years). What Laurent has done is explain “us”. His brilliant theory is “ordered disorder” or managed chaos. He explains why Karachi continues to function while falling apart every day. Best of all, it is a riveting read because he approaches it almost like a journalist and tells the story. Ordered Disorder is essential reading also for anyone who wants to understand the history of modern Karachi, how certain factors have influenced its growth, decay, and resilience, and how we often work “through” violence.
Buy the book.

Jala Mahkzoumi, Beirut

Al Muqaddimah
By Ibn Khaldoun
1377

The book, an introduction to societies of what today comprises the ArabWorld, is outstanding because of the holistic, dynamic methodology devised by Ibn Khaldun that incorporates the multiple layers of cities, religious, political, demographic and ecological, gauging their collective impact on the evolution of the human and physical geographies of these lands and (b) because of his emphasis on ‘asabiyyah’, equivalent to modern day ‘nationalism’, as underlying the political failure of successive cultures of the time. His method and analysis is as valid today as it was seven hundred years ago in deciphering political failures and social injustice that plagues the Arab World. http://www.kitabfijarida.com/pdf/91.pdf
Buy the book.

Harini Nagendra, Bangalore

Finding Forgotten Cities: How The Indus Civilization Was Discovered
by Nayanjot Lahiri
2013

The book tells the fascinating story of the discovery of the Indus valley civilization, including the excavation of the ancient city of Harappa, which boasts of the world’s oldest urban sanitation system. Reading the book, you not only recognize the fundamental importance of archaeology and archival work to understanding cities, but also get deep insights into the mechanisms that shaped the structure and function of ancient cities in the Indian sub-continent.
Buy the book.

Daniel Phillips, Bangalore

Nature in the City: Bengaluru in the Past, Present, and Future
by Harini Nagendra
2016

A beautifully written and accessible compendium of research conducted in “The Garden City” over many years.  Beyond just Bangalore, Nagendra sheds light on the social-ecological complexities that exist broadly across many contemporary Indian cities as they attempt to balance the forces of development with their historical legacies and natural systems.  In contrast to the narratives of loss, doom and gloom that are typically associated with accounts of booming megacities in the global south, this book has a refreshingly optimistic tone, revealing the subliminal forces and relationships that are keeping the notion of Nature alive in the city despite all odds.
Buy the book.

Mohan Rao, Bangalore

The New Landscape
by Charles Correa
1985

First published in 1985, this seminal work unpacks the nature of urbanisation beyond the physical. When I read this as a student, it really was like an epiphany! Mr. Correa brings his enormous scholarship to examine the myriad layers of our cities in a clear and succinct manner. Though the book is rooted in the Indian context, even after 32 years, the book remains relevant to every urban practitioner of the global south. The New Landscape avoids jargon and reaches out even to a lay reader bringing together challenges of shelter, mobility, livelihood, informal economy, market forces, governance, and so on. I continue to refer to this classic and would recommend it highly to anyone interested in urbanism.
Buy the book.

Karen Seto, New Haven

Nihon No Toshi
by Pradyumna Prasad Karan and Kristin Eileen Stapleton
1997

A book about the structure of Tokyo: its history and topography, and analysis from architectural point of view. It is very interesting and worth reading, especially the discussion about the philosophy of “the depth” in the structure of the city.
Buy the book.

Huda Shaka, Dubai

Planning Middle Eastern Cities 
Edited by Yasser Elsheshtawy
2004

The book is one of the first to critically consider the modern history of Arab cities, with chapters written by local practitioners and academics.  It does each of the chosen cities justice by focusing on their unique history and context and by considering multiple (social, economic, environmental, architectural…) dimensions of its development.  The editor also provides a useful lens by which to view the cities and societies in the region and their struggle with modernity.
Buy the book.

Keijiro Suzuki, Yamaguchi

神山プロジェクトという可能性（〜地方創生、循環の未来について〜）、NPO法人グリーンバレー（日本語)
Possibility of Kamiyama Project (~Regional Revitalization, for the future of sustainability~), by NPO GREEN VALLEY (Only in Japanese)

As an artist, I was looking for an ideal environment that sustains artistic activities with least interference by capitalist society. I came across an artist in residence program in “Kamiyama”, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan and I was totally impressed by their community revitalization program by creative individuals. They locate in a rural area but they take advantages of the internet in order to locally live closely with nature and to keep up with the global community.
Buy the book.

Pengfei XIE, Beijing

《社區設計》
by 山崎亮
History of Chinese Urban Planning
《中国城市规划史》
by Prof. Wang Dehua（汪德华）
Published in Chinese in 2005 by the Southeast University Press（东南大学出版社）Translated into English: Community Design by Yamazaki Ryo

The book gives a holistic picture of the development of Chinese city planning from the Pre-Qin Period (21th Century B.C.-221 B.C.) to the modern times, with theories and practices of ancient Chinese city planning that had impacted the Asian World, and its evolvement with the influence of modern planning approaches. It helps us to review the original intention of city planning, and to better understand the culture of a city harmonizing man and nature.

AUSTRALIA and NEW ZEALAND

Steve Brown, Sydney

Stories from the Sandstone: Quarantine Inscriptions from Australia’s Immigrant Past
Peter Hobbins, Ursula K Frederick and Anne Clarke
2016

This newly published book is an archaeological-historical investigation of rock inscriptions at Sydney’s former Quarantine Station (1835 – 1979). It charts stories of new arrivals to Australia and the diseases that saw them held at this place for days, weeks, and months. I recommend it for its multiple narratives of the growth of Sydney as an urban, ethnically diverse, and spectacular city from immigration and medical perspectives.
Buy the book.

Meredith Dobbie, Victoria

The Future Eaters: An Ecological History of the Australasian Lands and People
Tim Flannery
2002

If you are interested in the landscapes upon which Australian cities have been created, read The Future Eaters, by Tim Flannery (Grove Press, 2002). Flannery, a renowned Australian environmentalist and zoologist, writes with flair and fascination about the geography of Australia and various processes of change in the landscape wrought by a succession of human settlers, starting with the Aboriginal people more than 40,000 years ago. The book is an oldie now but remains a goodie.
Buy the book.

Paul Downton, Melbourne

Green Urbanism Down Under: Learning from Sustainable Communities in Australia
by Timothy Beatley and Peter Newman
2008

There aren’t many books that deal specifically with Australian urbanism, perhaps because, in this historical bastion of suburbia, the whole idea is a fairly recent discovery. The really worthwhile stuff that’s happening in Australia is in the realm of green urbanism and this 2008 book provides a neat and worthwhile exploration of projects that not only have intrinsic merit but are also selected for their relevance to that other example of a sprawling, gas-guzzling civilisation gone wrong, the USA. Its value isn’t limited to American readers though, not least because the dystopian dreamscapes of fossil-fueled, nature-killing urban form that blight the US have been exported worldwide as models of development, so this is a book that can inform our whole planet of cities with practical examples of how to counter the killing machines of conventional urbanism – although the authors, an American and an Australian, are both much too nice to put it in those terms.
Buy the book.

Amy Kristin Hahs, Ballarat

Landprints: Reflections on Place and Landscape
by George Seddon
1997

This book is a joy to read. Published 20 years ago, but bearing keen insights that remain just as timely and relevant today.  Landprints is as much a celebration of Seddon’s passion for the diversity of Australian landscapes, as it is a critique on the relationships between landscapes, human experiences and how these shape our understanding of place. Essential reading for anyone who wants to examine more deeply the connections between people and the land.
Buy the book.

Peter Newman, Perth

Planning Boomtown and Beyond
Edited by Sharon Biermann, Doina Olaru and Valeria Paul
2016.

Perth has some special books like George Seddon’s Sense of Place written in 1968, which set up planning for the next 50 years and is a brilliant combination of science and literary writing. Planning Boomtown and Beyond has 28 chapters on our city and covers the next 50 years after we realized we are going to be a big city after 400,000 people came here in 7 years during our recent boom. Most stayed as it’s a good city to live in. This book tries to keep it that way.
Buy the book.

Yolanda van Heezik, Dunedin

Tāone tupu ora: Indigenous knowledge and sustainable urban design
by Stuart, K., & Thompson-Fawcett, M. (Eds.).
201

—How can traditional Māori built environments inform contemporary urban development?
—How could Māori values inspire our visions for the 21st century city?
—What can indigenous knowledge tell us about how to create a more sustainable design for the future?

Tāone Tupa Ora suggests answers to these important questions, by bringing together perspectives on a broad range of urban issues, from Māori development to architecture, town planning to strategic growth management. It collects stories of iwi experiences in the 21st century, and suggests principles and theories on which to base change. This book explores indigenous knowledge and sustainable development in New Zealand, reminding us of the importance of connection, respect and the role of spiritual knowledge in understanding how humans have interacted with the land over many centuries. It helps the reader to understand the origin of Māori values and their relationship with the land. It provides a set of principles for preserving culturally significant resources and landscapes to build community identity and participation. It compares Polynesian to European values with respect to housing and site design and shows how indigenous knowledge can be used to bring about sustainable planning and design. The book is easy to read, has useful illustrations and a glossary of Māori terminology.
Buy the book.

EUROPE

Isabelle Anguelovski, Barcelona

Urbanismo en el Siglo XXI
by Jordi Borja i Seabastiá and Zaida Martínez
2004

A critical analysis of the present and future urban development of European cities, through the lens of four Spanish case studies (Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, and Bilbao). The right to a citizen’s centered urbanism is at the heart of the book and highlights the needs to build cities for people based on their individual and collective rights.
Buy the book.

Stephan Barthel, Stockholm

Living cities – an anthology in urban environmental history
by Mattias Tegnér and Sven Lilja
2010

The Living City is about urban envrinmental history within some European cities and with 4 (hi)stories about Stockholm. A good read—read it to understand how we came up to where we are today.
Buy the book.

Nathalie Blanc, Paris

The Book of Disquiet
by Fernando Pessoa
2010
Translated by Margaret Jull Costa

Not being afraid of being tagged as a nostalgic urban lover, I would argue that Pessoa taught me that to have a good read on cities you needed to feel alive in their midst, meaning to feel powerful emotions, to long for impossible things, precisely because there is nothing there, and to resent yourself for it. You needed to desire what never was, and be dissatisfied at the city’s existence, and feel the potential for utopia. You could feel the numerous flux that impaired, defined the urban spaces and long intimately for them to stop or to be prolonged elsewhere. To paraphrase Pessoa, all these “half-tones of the soul’s consciousness create in us a painful landscape”, but also bond us with the pulsating urban spaces in a long term companionship.
Buy the book.

Lorenzo Chelleri, Barcelona

La Cittá nella storia d’Europa
by Benevolo Leonardo
1993

Not a recent book, but a fascinating account of Europe in the making through the lens of cities history and evolution. An Italian and European centred version of Lewis Mumford. The book was translated into English in 1995.
Buy the book.

Ian Douglas, Manchester

Sustainable Urban Environments: An Ecosystem Approach
Ellen van Bueren, Hein van Bohemen, Laure Itard & Henk Visscher (Editors)
2012

Urban nature provides multi-functional benefits for life in towns and cities, but has to be fitted into the design and management of more sustainable human settlements.  Europe has many examples of carefully planned low-carbon, resource efficient, livable cities that embrace ecosystem thinking, good governance and effective citizen participation.  Holistic thinking about all aspects of urban infrastructure at different scales facilitates better integration of urban nature into the energy, water and materials fluxes  and economic activities of cities.
Buy the book.

Emilio Fantin, Bologna

L’architettura del tempo. La città multimediale
by Sandra Bonfiglioli
1990

I suggest L’architettura del tempo (for those who can read italian). I appreciate the author’s point of view about architecture and urban planning. She has been working for years on the field of urban time policies in Italy. The book gives an overview of the time-oriented research. Since the beginning of the 20th century, time has been at the very core of the philosophical and scientific thinking showing revolutionary results. Sandra Bonfiglioli has extended this revolutionary force to the architecture and urban planning studies.
Buy the book.

Niki Frantzeskaki, Rotterdam

Nature-Based Solutions to Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Areas: Linkages between Science, Policy and Practice
Edited by Nadja Kabisch, Horst Korn, Jutta Stadler, Aletta Bonn (Editors)
2017

With many examples on how nature-based solutions change the urban features and how cities in Europe showcase the benefits to nature and to adapting to climate change. Why to read it? It is about European cities, it is about solutions that provide a brighter future for Europe and exemplify what other medium and large cities can do to enter a pathway for more sustainable and livable urban futures. Simpler: It is a book about solutions not problems.
Buy the book.

David Goode, Bath

The Unofficial Countryside
by Richard Mabey
2010

My choice, published in 1973 by Collins with a new edition by Little Toller Books in 2010, is a seminal work of great significance it demonstrated the boundless capacity of nature to thrive in forgotten corners of towns and cities where a remarkable array of habitats including industrial wasteland, cemeteries, railsides, sewage farms and disused gravel pits support a multitude of species. Mabey turned our perception of town and country on its head.  Though his examples came from personal experience of London the book is relevant in any urban setting. It was a profound milestone and remains a joy to read today.
Buy the book.

Gary Grant, London

Ecourbanismo, Ciudad, Medio Ambiente Y Sostenibilidad, Segunda Edicion (Spanish Edition)
by Miguel Ruano
1998

The case studies are now dated, but this is an important milestone in the process of reconciling the once-conflicting ideologies of ecology and urban design. It has influenced many landscape architects.
Buy the book.

Christian Iaione, Rome

European Cities
by Patrick Les Galés
2002

It’s the most comprehensive but also trustworthy account on how European cities can thrive if they accept the challenge of facing social conflicts in cities through new urban governance approaches.
Buy the book.

François Mancebo, Paris

La Ville sans Qualités (in French)
by Isaac Joseph
1998

Isaac Joseph gives precious insights into how people take ownership of public urban space: In his perspective living in a city is not only residing in it, but also to be constantly re-discovering it, relocating from one place to another, experiencing manifold territories, and finally changing oneself as well as transforming the city itself.
Buy the book.

Olivier Scheffer, Paris

Cities and Forms
by Serge Salat

Cities and Forms is a must-read for anyone interested in the morphogenetic laws of cities
Buy the book.

Chantal van Ham, Brussels

Making Urban Nature
by Piet Vollaard, Jacques Vink  and Niels de Zwarte
2016

Making Urban Nature provides knowledge, guidance, practical advice and inspiring examples on nature-inclusive urban design in European cities. It describes various aspects of ecological design, highlighting many species and biotopes that can be found in cities useful for policy makers, practitioners. The book is of great value to everyone who would like to create space for nature in cities, while improving quality of life, but does not know how to start.
Buy the book.

Mike Wells, Bath

Nature in Towns and Cities
by David Goode
2015

It most beautifully addresses and with passion the nature IN cities and starts at the end to talk about the nature OF them going forward. It rekindles ones love of the former and may start interest in many in the latter.
Buy the book.

LATIN AMERICA

Ana Luisa Artesi, Buenos Aires

Espacio Público en Imágenes. Paisaje, ciudad y arquitectura, una historia cultural de Buenos Aires. 1880 – 1910.
by Mirás Marta,
2013

Este libro es el resultado de la investigación en los registros de imágenes, notas e informes del Buenos Aires de fines del siglo XIX y principios del XX por la Dra. Marta Mirás. Teoría e Imágenes ilustran una era con profundas transiciones sociales, políticas y culturales. A través de sus páginas nos sumergimos en los complejos cambios de la estructura urbana y podemos comprender la evolución de una sociedad, su arquitectura y su paisaje, desde un entorno de aldea rural a una ciudad cosmopolita.
ENGLISH: This book is the result of the research in the image records, notes and reports of the Buenos Aires of the late ninetheen century and early twentieth by Dr. Marta Mirás. Theory and images illustrate an era with deep social, political and cultural transitions. Through its pages we immerse into the complex changes of the urban structure and we can understand the evolution of a society, its architecture and landscape, from a rural village setting to a cosmopolitan city.
Buy the book.

Eduardo Brondizio, Bloomington

Rainforest Cities: Urbanization, Development, and Globalization of the Brazilian Amazon
by J. Browder and G GodFrey
1997

Rainforest cities brought international attention to the urban transformation of the Brazilian Amazon at a time when the conversation was mostly focused on the expansion of cattle ranching and deforestation in the region. Its publication, along with the work of Brazilian scholars, such as that of Berta Becker, spurred a wave of research on rural-urban networks, urban expansion, and the articulation (or disarticulation) of regional urban centers.
Buy the book.

Marcelo de Souza, Rio de Janeiro

O espaço dividido: Os dois circuitos da economia urbana dos países subdesenvolvidos
by Milton Santos
1979

O espaço dividido (“Shared Space”) was published originally in French by Milton Santos, Brazil’s most famous geographer, when he was living exiled in France. The book was later translated into Portuguese and English. This book is not concerned only about Latin American cities or urban problems, but with the so-called ‘two circuits’ of the urban economy of the ‘underdeveloped countries’ (as they were named in the 1960s and 1970s). The theory of the ‘two circuits’ challenged dualisms such as ‘modern’ versus ‘traditional’ on the basis of a dialectical approach that demonstrated how formality and informality are inextricably linked with each other, showing that poverty and informality are ultimately functional and useful in terms of the capitalist economy and reproduction of status quo.
Buy the book.

Anna Dietzsch, São Paulo

A Cidade Polifonia: Ensaio sobre a antropologia da comunicação urbana
by Massimo Canevacci
Studio Nobel, São Paulo
1993

In a very coloquial and creative way, the Italian anthropologist weaves his personal experience in São Paulo with an anthropological reading of the metropolis, placing before our eyes pieces of a puzzle that result in something like and emotional-analysis of the city through the superimposition of readings by Levi Strauss, Walter Benjamin, Italo Calvino and others. It results in one of the best descriptions of this “non-descriptive” megalopolis.
Buy the book.

Ana Faggi, Buenos Aires

Planificar la Ciudad. Estrategias para intervenir territorios en mutación
Planning the City: Strategies to Intervene Territories in Change
by Guillermo Tella,
2014

El Dr. Arq. Guiilermo Tella examina a la ciudad como el espacio en el que la sociedad se reproduce, en el que los asentamientos humanos se expresan. Así mismo se pregunta de qué modo intervenir en estos complejos territorios en constante mutación.  Ofrece estrategias para reconocer procesos de diferenciación de lugares y generar una mayor interacción física entre grupos que comparten el territorio. Con un ejemplo puntual, el de la ciudad de Lobos en la provincia de Buenos Aires, da muestra de que el planteo de la ciudad para todos  más amigable, más saludable y equitativa es posible.
ENGLISH: Dr. Arq. Guiilermo Tella examines the city as the space in which society reproduces itself, in which human settlements express themselves. He also asks himself how to intervene in these complex territories in constant mutation. He offers strategies to recognize differentiation processes of places and to generate greater physical interaction between groups that share the territory. With a specific example, that of the city of Lobos in the province of Buenos Aires, he shows that the approach of a City for All, being more friendly, healthier and equitable is possible.
Buy the book.

Martha Fajardo, Bogotá

Shaping Terrain: City Building in Latin America
by René Davids (Editor)
2016

Shaping Terrain focuses on the ways existing topography has shaped postcolonial urbanism, showing how physical landscape and local ecology influenced human settlement and built form in Latin America since pre-Columbian times.
Buy the book.

Cecilia Herzog, Rio de Janeiro

Brasil, Cidades – Alternativas Para a Crise Urbana
[in Portuguese] by Hermínia Maricato
2011

This book is seminal to understand housing and social challenges that Brazilian cities face. The author has a critical knowledge about urban planning in the country, and she proposes alternatives for inclusive and just cities.
Buy the book.

Ian MacGregor-Fors, Xalapa

Aportes a la Ecología Urbana de la Ciudad de México [Contributions to the urban ecology of Mexico City] by Eduardo Rapoport and Ismael R. López-Moreno
1987

This book is one of the first attempts to understand the ecological complexity of one of the most populated cities across the globe, providing a solid foundation for the currently growing urban ecology movement. From plants to birds, the editors guide readers to get to know the environmental part of such an interestingly complex asphalt jungle.
Buy the book.

Juliana Montoya, Bogotá

Los árboles se toman la ciudad, El proceso de modernización y la transformación del paisaje en Medellín, 1890-1950
by Diego Alejandro Molina Franco
2015

A través de este libro, se puede comprender el proceso de la modernización de la ciudad de Medellín a través de las posturas y percepciones de ese momento frente a los árboles, desde la experimentación, simbolismo, adaptaciones y la ornamentación vegetal típicos de esa epoca. Este libro es la construcción de lo que conocemos hoy como la naturaleza de la ciudad de Medellín. http://www.universocentro.com/ExclusivoWeb/ImpresosLocales/Losarbolesetomanlaciudad.aspx
Buy the book.

José Puppim, Rio de Janeiro

Confidência do  Itabirano (Confidences of an “Itabirano”)

A poem from Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Brazil’s best poet, written in his 1940’s book Sentimento do Mundo (The Feeling of the World) with his feelings about the changes in the world, including his home town. This is one of my favorites poems. The poem is about the landscape changes since his childhood in Itabira, his home town in the State of Minas Gerais, due to iron ore mining (Itabira is home of one of the iron ore’s largest mines operated by Vale, a Brazilian mining company that caused the worst environmental tragedy in Brazil in 2015). The poem, allied to the recent tragedy, shows that development aiming at short term lead to long term problems.
Read the poem here.
Buy the book.

Raul Pacheco-Vega, Aguascalientes

Water and Politics: Clientelism and Reform in Urban Mexico
by Veronica Herrera

In Water and Politics, Herrera analyzes the politics of urban water provisioning in eight Mexican cities. Undertaking extensive (2.5 years) fieldwork, Herrera shows how politicians manipulate water provision in cities for electoral gain. Through in-depth interviews and process tracing techniques, Veronica Herrera demonstrates that elites are able to manipulate how water is governed in cities. Even more importantly, Herrera’s insights can be translated to other Latin American countries and sub-national contexts.
Buy the book.

Luis Sandoval, San José

Land Use Change in Costa Rica: 1966-2006, as influenced by social, economic, political, and environmental factors
by Joyce, A. T.
2006

This book is a very good introduction on how the land use change over a 40 year period in a tropical country after population growth. Additionally, the book makes comparisons between different ecosystems and elevations showing how the land use change is not equally distributed throughout different ecosystems.
Buy the book.

Diana Wiesner, Bogotá

Naturaleza Urbana. plataforma de experiencias
edited by María Angélica Mejía
2016

Es necesario contemplar las acciones concretas de la Ciudadanía respecto al cuestionamiento del papel de la naturaleza en la ciudad. Los gobiernos locales subestiman el poder de la acción ciudadana. Uno de los potenciales más poderosos es la capacidad que puede tener una complicidad público privada para una gestión efectiva de la biodiversidad en la transformación positiva de las ciudades. Este libro se logró gracias a la participación de más de 80 casos en diversos lugares de Colombia.
The Spanish version of the book can be downloaded here. Also available in English.

Lorena Zárate, Mexico City

Jueces y conflictos urbanos en América Latina
by Antonio Azuela y Miguel Ángel Cancino (Coordinadores)
2014

Almost by definition, urban means high levels of complexity and conflict. What are the tools that different social actors (citizens, communities and activists, professionals, academics, public officials, legislators, lawyers and judges) have at hand to deal with them? What are the gaps, contradictions and overlapping between the approaches from social sciences, domestic regulations and international human rights commitments? This book presents a fascinating collage of a relevant current debate about the urban transformation in many Latin American countries and the role of law in creating more just and inclusive cities.
Buy the book.

NORTH AMERICA (not including Mexico)

Will Allen, Chapel Hill

Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability
by David Owen
2010

I liked this book, because it kind of turns environmentalism on its head. Compact urban centers actually are the most environmentally friendly option for people and nature, and this book makes a great case for that.
Buy the book.

Adrian Benepe, New York

Motherless Brooklyn
By Jonathan Lethem
2000

It is set in and summons up the pre-gentrification Downtown Brooklyn and Gowanus, it all its gritty glory  It features an unlikely protagonist, one of the most memorable private detectives in the business, Lionell Essrog, who is afflicted with Tourette Syndrome, and can’t halt either nerves tics or a steady stream of involuntary, hilarious obscenity.
Buy the book.

Carmen Bouyer, New York

Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City
by EricSanderson
2013

Mannahatta has introduced me to New York City like no other book did. I discovered the very poetic of this place through understanding its ancient forests, groves, rivers, creeks and the widely divers fauna of fishes, mammals and birds migrating through it, at sea, on the land, and in the air, like I just did myself, flying to this new land. In fact, I think every city needs its Mannahatta project, to excavate the wisdom of the land upon which the cities are built, and let it inform how to regenerate and expand its organic forms in the cities of tomorrow.
Buy the book.

Rebecca Bratspies, New York

The Death and Life of Great American Cities
by Jane Jacobs
1961

This book is a timeless love letter to great cities and urban life. It provides a critical reminder of the law of unintended consequences, and a cautionary tale for why theories, especially theories about urban environments must always be reality tested.
Buy the book.

Lindsay Campbell, New York

The Environment and the People in American Cities, 1600s-1900s: Disorder, Inequality, and Social Change
by Dorceta Taylor

This book covers a long historical arc, from 1600-1900, focusing on the development of the urban environment and urban environmentalism.  Taylor draws attention to activism, community organizing, reformers, and environmental justice work. She examines persistent environmental inequities and conflicts that shape our urban realm, as well as the role of residents, particularly communities of color, in transforming these systems.
Buy the book.

Katie Coyne, Austin

Rubyfruit Jungle
by Rita Mae Brown

What is urbanism? Rather than speak of a collective version of urbanism – my version is one that thrives on connections between people and place and is focused on the intersectional opportunities design and planning provides. My intersectional identity is a driving factor in my evolving understanding of systems thinking – a concept central to my urban ecology work. I read Rubyfruit Jungle when I was an undergraduate student. It tells a nitty gritty story of my foremothers and chronicles the social dynamic of growing up a lesbian in Florida in the 1970s, the initial escape to higher education (which just so happens to be at my alma mater), and the eventual journey to the “big city” in a time when migration to urban life was common when the anonymity it provided was of more relevance to queer physical safety and long term happiness. This book offered me a window into a historic (and still ongoing) reality of systemic discrimination against people like me and gave me perspective on the cultural importance of urban spaces today.
Buy the book.

Sarah Dooling, Austin

The Odd Woman and the City: A Memoir
by Vivian Gornick
2016

Gornick’s memior is located in New York City, and she described how the city became part of her sense of self and the friendships she shares with other New Yorkers. Loneliness, emotional connectivity, the power of space to create containers for life experiences are the main themes. New York emerges as protagnoist, changing physically and socially, as Gornick’s incisive commentary about urban life and the friendships she sustains as she ages intersects with descriptions of urban change more broadly.
Buy the book.

Richard T.T. Forman, Boston

Urban Ecology: Science of Cities
by Richard T. T. Forman
2014

For thirty years pioneering ecologists have explored urban areas, both as a promising scientific frontier and as places crying out for improvement.  Urban Ecology: Science of Cities, the first comprehensive book on the subject, was a finalist for the Society of Biology (London) Book Award and now a Chinese Edition strategically spreads the book’s messages. Dig into the pages, and gain a new vision of life today and tomorrow, with and without nature, for most of us on Earth.
Buy the book.

Sheila Foster, New York

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
by Robert Caro
1975

The Powerbroker is the ultimate introduction to understanding the semi- public, semi-private nature of city building in the United States.  The story of Robert Moses, a bureaucrat who oversaw numerous public authorities and massive amounts of public funding while mobilizing the private and nonprofit sectors, is an instructive but cautionary tale of urban resurgence and subsequent urban decline.  It is a revealing and riveting read about how power works in U.S. cities which remains quite relevant today.
Buy the book.

Mathieu Hélie, Montreal

The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America’s Man-Made Landscape
by James Howard Kunstler
1993

The Geography of Nowhere presents the  real outcome of the utopian ideals of modernist suburbanization as a tragedy, and its eventual metamorphosis into the driving economic engine of all America as a doomed project. It is a prophetic book that future generations will study to attempt to understand the confusing origins of their landscape as they struggle to repair it.
Buy the book.

Steven Handel, New Brunswick

A Natural History of New York City
by John Kieran

John Kieran’s classic 1959 book discusses simply but in detail the vast natural resources and biodiversity of the city to which  most residents are totally blind.  New York is the largest metropolitan area in North America, but even there the pockets of habitat that remain, many “degraded” to a naturalist’s eye, harbor thousands of species and vary in character from marine coast to rocky upland crevices.  The book forces us to rethink the dichotomy between “nature there, city here”  into “nature is all around us; Broadway is alive.”  And if NYC is alive, what about all those other North American cities??
Buy the book.

Ursula K. Heise, Los Angeles

New York 2140
Kim Stanley Robinson
2017

Robinson’s most recent science fiction novel delivers a lively portrait of a still vibrant Manhattan that’s been hit by 50 feet of sea level rise by the year 2140. Buildings collapse, and others rise up. Real estate speculation still exists, Wall Street still exists, Internet celebrities still ply their trade: and the need for social and economic reform also continues, and triggers a surprising turn in the plot.
Buy the book.

Mark Hostetler, Gainesville

The Green Leap: A Primer for Conserving Biodiversity in Subdivision Development
by Mark Hostetler
2012

I think this book is an easy read for interested folks wanting to shift conventional development to alternative development that conserves biodiversity. Targeting many urban decision makers, including developers, environmental consultants, city planners, and the public, this book gives examples and strategies to create functional conservation developments. It explains the challenges and solutions during the design, construction, and postconstruction phases of development that is required to conserve biodiversity.
Buy the book.

Mike Houck, Portland

The Last Landscape
by William H. Whyte
1970

Whyte builds a rationale for protecting natural landscapes at the local, city and regional scales based on their importance to human health, ecological sustainability, economic health and quality of life.  He traces the evolution of open space planning in the U. S. and builds a solid case for regional planning.  While written in the 1960s The Last Landscape is even more relevant today in the face of the need for mitigating and adapting to climate change by making the case for integration of natural systems, what today we refer to as natural and built green infrastructure into the urban landscape.
Buy the book.

Nina-Marie Lister, Toronto

The Granite Garden: Urban Nature And Human Design
by Anne Whiston Spirn
1984

A classic, beautifully written and illustrated, one of the first books to effectively link landscape, ecology and urban infrastructure. As a landscape architect, Anne Spirn reveals how making legible landscape and ecological functions can lead to nature-based solutions that remediate and heal environmental problems of the city.
Buy the book.

Rob McDonald, Washington

The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America’s Man-Made Landscape
by James Howard Kunstler
1993

What I love about this book is that it centers its critique of suburbia around the idea of the common good, and of what kind of world we want to live in. As I research and advocate for more natural infrastructure in cities, as part of the agenda of making them thriving places to live, I find this frame really powerful. We are creating the cities of the future, now, and Kunstler reminds us it is a moral choice, a choice that shows what we truly value.
Buy the book.

Charles H. Nilon, Columbia

Fitzgerald: Geography of a Revolution
Bunge, William.  1971
2011

William Bunge was an urban geographer who during his years as professor at Wayne State University developed an intensive study of the one square mile Fitzgerald neighborhood.  The project was part of the  Detroit Geographical Expedition and Institute, an extension course offered to inner city Detroit residents. The study was designed to be a study conducted by Fitzgerald residents to inform the about where they live and also to meet their needs in changing their neighborhood and city.  The book is a product of that study and in current urban ecology terms it is a study of a complex social-ecological system.  It combines physical geography, ecology, urban history, urban sociology and urban planning.   However the book is much because it illustrates the power and potential of urban residents designing and conducting a study of where they live.  It also has an optimistic tone that values the inner city and its residents that is missing from much of the current literature on the ecology of cities.
Buy the book.

Steward Pickett, Poughkeepsie

The Nature of Cities: Ecological Visions and the American Urban Professions, 1920-1960
Jennifer S. Light
2009

This book is important to me because it uses rigorous historical analysis to examine how ecology was (mis)used as a metaphor by the Chicago School of urban sociology in the 1920s, and how the misunderstandings resonated in policy well into the 1960s. It is also important for reminding us that not only social sciences and urban planning are key bridge professional links for ecology, but also that the real estate industry is key causal factor in the shape of urban areas and, hence, their ecology.
Buy the book.

Rob Pirani, New York

Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West
by William Cronon
1992

Cronon’s opus shows how urbanization, landscape and economy combined to shape the “City of Broad Shoulders” and the settlement of the continent.  It is a  richly detailed trove of urban environmental history as well as a great testament to the importance of regionalism in shaping cities and nature.
Buy the book.

Toby Query, Portland

Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors
by Carolyn Finney
2014

Finney provides a personal and academic history of race and the environment (focusing on African Americans and whites) in the U.S. Although not focused on cities, this book highlights the need for the inclusion of the diversity of cultures and histories when advocating for and designing public space.  As a manager of urban greenspaces, I think it’s essential reading for people that want to create just and equitable environments, in the woods or the urban core.
Buy the book.

Stephanie Pincetl, Los Angeles

Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West
by William Cronon
1992

Cronon explains how cities emerge from their landscapes and then harness and capture those landscapes to further their development.  He further explains how Chicago, in the case, and the emerge of the railroad, rationalise the landscape and lead to a deep transformation of space and time. Chicago’s development, intertwined with the rise of the railroad, transformed a good part of the great plains and corresponding livelihoods.  The book provided a new way of thinking about cities and landscapes.
Buy the book.

Mary W. Rowe, Toronto

Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software
by Steven Johnson
2001

Johnson provides a brilliant analysis of self-organizing systems that occur in nature and in human creations, including cities.
Buy the book.

Laura Shillington, Montreal

Reclaiming Indigenous Planning
edited by Ryan Walker, Ted Jojola and David Natcher
McGill-Queen’s University Press
2013

Why do I think that everyone (involved in planning and urban development) in North America should read this book? Urban planning, as most contributors to Nature of Cities have underscored, is a political process. Conventional urban planning in North America is guided by European understandings of development and cities. Yet while many cities in North America were founded on Indigenous trading sites and villages, they have been developed around the belief that Indigenous peoples do not belong in urban areas. Reclaiming Indigenous Planning challenges the socio-political and ecological foundations of conventional planning, asking the questions: what is being planned, why and for whom? These are critical questions that need to be asked, in particular within the Canadian urban landscape where the Indigenous population is one of the fastest growing urban demographic. As the editors of state in their introduction, the book “calls for more critical understandings of what planning entails and how the ideas and visions of Indigenous communities can best be captured in future planning processes” (p. xix). Reclaiming Indigenous Planning is edited volume with chapters on Canada and the United States as well as Australia and New Zealand. Sections I and II will be of particular interest to urban planners. My favourite chapters are Chapter 3, which discuss planning as a tool for dialogue between Indigenous and settler communities, and Chapter 12, which focuses on the power of statistics in planning – how statistics can be transformative. I would argue that this book should be required reading in urban planning programmes across Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. http://www.mqup.ca/reclaiming-indigenous-planning-products-9780773541948.php
Buy the book.

Jay Valgora, New York

Views and Viewmakers of Urban America: Lithographs of Towns and Cities in the United States and Canada, Notes on the Artists and Publishers, and a Union Catalog of Their Work, 1825-1925
by John W Reps
1986

First, it’s hard to find a book for North America, as one wants to give justice to all the countries of North America, which is difficult for a good book on urbanism (unfortunately). This book at least covers both Canada and the United States.  But more importantly it focuses on evidence rather than theory- and uses a denigrated but highly useful art form (lithographs and aerial views) to tell the story of urbanism in both countries at one of its periods of both greatest expansion and invention.  It focuses equally on large and small cities, illustrating greater interest in ambition, typology, variation, and representation— rather than simply scale.  One of the best.
Buy the book.

 

 

 

 

 

Rebuilding After Hurricane Sandy—A Blueprint for a Better Future for People and Wildlife

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Art, Science, Action: Green Cities Re-imagined

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While I was enjoying my August beach vacation, the federal government was releasing its plan for rebuilding the New York City metro area and the New Jersey shore in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. I grew up in the New Jersey suburbs and spent many summers on the Jersey shore, in some of the very towns hardest hit by that epic storm. So I was pleased to see that the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Strategy offers a very thoughtful, albeit incomplete, action plan for helping this region bounce back from the devastation and prepare for the next big storm.

Preparing for the next storm

NWF volunteers spent the day planting native grasses to help rebuild dunes devastated by Hurricane Sandy
NWF volunteers spent the day planting native grasses to help rebuild dunes devastated by Hurricane Sandy
Although there should be no retreat from efforts to reduce the carbon pollution that drives climate change, there is no question that we must also prepare for the inevitable change. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates that sea levels in the NYC metro area will rise at least a half a foot and up to 2.5 feet by mid-century. Because of this inexorable sea level rise, we know with certainty that every major storm that hits the region going forward will push sea water further inland than before. And the tropical storms that fuel this surge are expected to become more frequent and more powerful as the climate warms. Extreme rainfall of every variety is expected to become more intense, worsening flood risk across the region. Arguably the most detailed and farsighted climate change adaptation plan ever produced by the federal government, the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Strategy should be of interest to anyone who cares about building cities resilient to intensified floods and storms. And with very substantial funding to fuel the strategy — a roughly $50-billion Sandy relief package approved by Congress in early 2013 plus significant additional public and private dollars — local leaders will be able to move quickly into implementation. Many features of the Strategy merit attention. Here are just a few:

  • Educating people about flood risk and practical steps they can take to reduce that risk.
  • Making science-based analysis of climate risks a part of all project planning.
  • Using insurance and other market forces to reduce building in hazardous locations.
  • For the first time ever, applying climate resiliency principles and guidelines to all federal investments — federal infrastructure construction as well as state and local infrastructure construction using federal dollars.

This last point is especially important. Until now, the many federal actors involved in climate change adaptation have lacked any agreed upon approaches to building climate-resilient communities. Now, every agency charged with investing the billions in Sandy recovery funds will fund only those projects that conform with the best science on preparing for climate change.

Emphasizing green infrastructure

Perhaps most importantly, the new guidelines call for capturing the benefits of nature-based (“green infrastructure”) solutions to protecting communities from intensifying storms and floods. Green infrastructure is defined as including:

  • Protecting communities from storm surge using the natural defenses provided by land and water systems such as wetlands, vegetated sand dunes, and forests.
  • Building stormwater management systems that soak up and store water using natural areas and natural processes.
  • Otherwise integrating natural systems and processes, or engineered systems that mimic natural systems and processes, into infrastructure.

This move by top federal officials to help steer the sizable Sandy investments toward green infrastructure is an exciting sign that the nation is truly beginning to shift away from its historic over-reliance on sea walls, dikes, levees and other “hard infrastructure” flood protection solutions. Although hard infrastructure is warranted in some cases, in many cases it is ineffective in controlling floods and causes extensive damage to wildlife and other natural resources.

Aerial views of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy to the New Jersey coast (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Mark C. Olsen).
Aerial views of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy to the New Jersey coast. U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Mark C. Olsen.
Building, protecting and restoring green infrastructure provides significant opportunities to restore wildlife. At the same time, it reduces flood damage to communities, creates open space and recreational opportunities, provides clean water and clean air, reduces the urban heat island effect, and saves taxpayer dollars. For example, the strategy notes how oyster reefs, installed several years ago parallel to the shoreline on Pimlico Sound in North Carolina, have absorbed some of the energy of storm-generated waves and decreased erosion in that region. Oyster reefs are among the many green infrastructure options now under consideration for protecting shorelines in the NYC metro area.

Missing: a wildlife restoration vision

One key flaw in the strategy is its failure to outline any kind of vision for wildlife restoration in the NYC metro area and Jersey shore. In fact, the plant and animals species of the region are barely mentioned. The New York City Parks Department alone has over 10,000 acres of forests, woodlands, freshwater wetlands, and saltwater marshes. Surrounding suburbs are likewise blessed with a diverse array of species and habitats. Historically, the Atlantic flyways teemed with migratory birds and the rivers and estuaries teemed with fish, shellfish, amphibians and reptiles. What part of the region’s rich natural legacy do the people of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut want to bequeath to future generations?

Beach-nesting birds—like these black skimmers—were among the wildlife hit hardest by Hurricane Sandy.
Beach-nesting birds—like these black skimmers—were among the wildlife hit hardest by Hurricane Sandy. Photo by Jack Rogers.
As we embark upon a centuries-long project of redesigning our communities to accommodate sea level rise and intensified floods and storms, how wildlife fits into the puzzle is a key question. When I lived in the NYC metro area, I had the great pleasure of fishing in the Ken Lockwood Gorge of the Raritan River, hiking and fishing in New York’s Catskills Mountains, crabbing down the New Jersey shore, canoeing in the Pine Barrens, and birdwatching in the Dismal Swamp. These interactions with nature shaped my worldview about the interconnectedness of people and wildlife and helped drive me to a life in conservation. I hope that future generations of kids in the region have similar experiences and help lead tomorrow’s conservation movement. By conserving wildlife, we provide those crucial formative nature experiences for kids and families – and we bring back the diversity of life forms that is so essential for healthy and resilient ecosystems.

Integrating wildlife into green infrastructure strategies

Some might argue that the best place for planners to express their wildlife vision is in a wildlife or natural resources plan. But by their inclusion of green infrastructure in their rebuilding plan, the Hurricane Sandy task force implicitly acknowledges that the natural and built environments are so closely intertwined that they must be dealt with holistically. Now local leaders must take the next step and build the wildlife restoration element of the region’s green infrastructure strategies. If they do this, we will end up with abundant wildlife and safer, more vibrant communities.

John Kostyack
National Wildlife Federation

On The Nature of Cities

This post was also published on NWF’s Wildlife Promise blog.

Rebuilding Bosnia and Herzegovina Cities

Essay, Europe, People & Communities, , , ,
Art, Science, Action: Green Cities Re-imagined

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Walking though the Bosnia and Herzegovina and the cities of Trebinje, Mostar, Livno and Bihac stirs up unexpected emotions. These cities reveal glimmers of how a country torn apart by war more than 23 years ago is rebuilding and where it is planting seeds of economic and social hope.
There is a sadness in Bosnia and Herzegovina that will follow me for a long time. Of all the wonders and troubles we have witnessed during our walk through Asia and Europe, the visible signs of this country’s post-war hardships break my heart the most in this multi-year journey.

Our route takes us along mostly rural border areas wrapping around the south and west of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). It’s hard for me to process the disparate things I see each day. Beautiful mountains with thick pine forests. Warning signs about land mines nailed to trees. Wide open grasslands and lakeside wildlife reserves. Newly constructed houses decorated with flowerpots spilling over with colorful blooms. Facades riddled with bullet holes and houses destroyed by grenades. Villages abandoned by families fleeing war, and memorial stones remembering those who died fighting. Young and old people looking for a way forward.

A road we walked with mountains and grasslands. Photo: Bangkok Barcelona on Foot

The bigger cities of Trebinje, Mostar, Livno and Bihac help soothe the emotional unrest and physical discomfort that overwhelms me during humid summer days and rainy evenings. They offer some perspective that, perhaps, can only be appreciated slowly at three kilometers an hour. These cities reveal glimmers of how a country torn apart by war more than 23 years ago is rebuilding and where it is planting seeds of economic and social hope.

A long awaited arrival

We finally reach the Balkans during the summer of 2018, and walk into Bosnia and Herzegovina on a hot day in August. It’s a milestone I simultaneously wished for and worried about since we set out from Thailand in January 2016.

Being in BiH means we are even closer to Barcelona, and closer to home, a concept that feels more significant after 2.5 years of journeying by foot. But, more than this tangible sense of nearing the end of a goal, BiH, in my mind, has for generations been a place where a reckoning with the ghosts of human tragedies and the need for great healing must one day intersect. I’m anxious about what our footsteps will lead us to see.

Along the banks of the Trebišnjica River in Trebinje. Photo: Bangkok Barcelona on Foot
A stroll in the park along the Una River in Bihac. Photo: Bangkok Barcelona on Foot
Making our way through Livno. Photo: Bangkok Barcelona on Foot

With absolute certainty, I can say our arrival to Bosnia and Herzegovina hits me on a deeply personal level, with Balkan blood shaping some strands of my DNA. I am half Croatian, and since the 1990s when images of war griping former Yugoslav regions flashed on my American television screen, I wanted to know BiH and its people loosely connected to me through veins of history, culture, traditions and distant family memories. Since antiquity, the roads of so many different lives and lifestyles have met in this East-Central European country, this land between worlds, and it made sense to us as we mapped our route that these same roads would gradually link our Asian and European footsteps.

What I didn’t expect, however, was the weight of walking through recovering war zones where we can feel the ethnic, religious and economic discontent simmering below the surface. It also had not occurred to me how it would feel to follow similar roads today’s masses of Asian, Middle East and African immigrants and refugees use to reach England, Germany, or other European Union countries. The impact of these various dynamics made BiH one of the most difficult countries for us to walk.

To lessen the sadness we still have a hard time describing, we meander through some of the country’s bigger southern cities, Trebinje, Mostar, Livno and Bihac, searching for solace in the day-to-day comforts of parks, riverside promenades, markets and coffee shops.

Turning to tourism

Perhaps not surprisingly after months of walking in open spaces and quiet, rural areas with few people, we are a bit deflated to see the throngs of tourists visiting Trebinje and Mostar during August’s peak vacation weeks.

The cities are clearly capitalizing on their proximity to the hyper-tourist seaside city of Dubrovnik across the border in Croatia.

The famous Mostar bridge. Photo: Bangkok Barcelona on Foot

Trebinje serves as base camp for vacationers who want cheaper accommodations than what they would find along the Adriatic coast 30 kilometers away, says a young man who helps his parents sell carpets and manage a holiday apartment while waiting for a call back to his better-paying seaman work.

In its own right, the small city, located in Republika Srpska one of BiH’s two legal entities, has enough things to keep visitors busy for a few days. There’s a pretty historic stone bridge, Serbian-Orthodox churches, and its main square has a market and is filled with restaurants, cafes and bars—essentials for hungry travelers. The dry, yellowed hills circling the city provide a dose of nature and panoramic views. I, however, live the city in a different way. I watch the sun set over the river while I fold our clean laundry, admiring the way the light shimmers on the water and not yet willing to immerse myself into urban distractions.

Walking with many mountain views. Photo: Bangkok Barcelona on Foot
While tourists crowd on Mostar’s famous bridge, we sit near the Neretva River and watch the birds. Photo: Bangkok Barcelona on Foot

About eighty kilometers northwest from Trebinje, Mostar, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity’s economic and cultural hub with approximately 106,000 people and BiH’s fifth largest city, buzzes with day-trippers and bus groups. They crowd onto the reconstructed Ottoman-era “Stari Most” (Old Bridge) that was destroyed in 1993 by Croat military forces during the Croat-Bosniak war. They watch locals dive into the Neretva River and buy kitsch souvenirs that look more Turkish than Balkan from the dozens of shops squeezed on either side of the bridge. We stroll around the old city, and note the number of churches, monasteries, mosques, synagogues and religious-based cemeteries pointing to the historical ideological overlap that has shaped and continues to mold the city. It’s clear, though, that the city’s future heavily depends on tourism; the sheer number of hotels, hostels and apartments available for rent suggests that anyone who has a little bit of money is converting any space they have into rooms for sightseers making rounds from Dubrovnik to Sarajevo, BiH’s capital city further north.

We ponder Trebinje and Mostar’s development models on the strip of beach below the Stari Most, discussing the short and long-term pros and cons of such dependency. We eventually fall silent watching water birds hold their ground as the fast-moving river sweeps around them. How nature fits into cities under construction is far more interesting to us than scouring shelves for Turkish coffee pots and war paraphernalia.

The scars of war

Livno is the next notable town we wander through.

The city is in the Croatian Catholic zone of BiH. We know this because people throughout our BiH walk identify themselves and the cities they live in with both ethnic and religious distinctions. It’s one of the strangest naming encounters we have experienced thus far, but our conversations with various people of different backgrounds and residencies confirm that this dual label appears to be a new normal here. Post-war prejudices divide people into groups, we notice: Serb/Herzegovin Orthodox, Bosniak Muslims and Croatian Catholics. Livno is one of the cities that seems to reinforce the separation.

“The Croatian Catholics have rebuilt their houses. They are starting over, and want to leave memories of the war behind them,” a Croatian Catholic man in his 60s tells us while we wait out a storm. He grew up in a small village not far from Livno and travels from Zadar, Croatia, where he now lives, to take care of a house and garden his family own on the BiH side of the boundary line. “You’ll see this as you walk. About 20-30 kilometers after Livno, you’ll be in the Orthodox area. They haven’t rebuilt their homes yet. There are still bullet holes in their walls.”

We don’t know what to make of this kind of bigotry. It’s narrow-minded, dismissive, and shocking. But, we find ourselves in a state of astonishment as we walk and see first-hand what this man meant.

For a couple days of walking before Livno, we notice the houses and gardens. They are new, nicely painted, two or three-story single-family houses with porches, manicured gardens and fruit trees. There are nicer cars parked in the driveways, and better quality farm equipment.

This superficial affluence, a slightly different variety than we have observed elsewhere, takes on some airs as we enter the city. We see several local joggers and cyclists out exercising along the river, something we haven’t seen very of much of since we entered the Balkans. Women leisurely stroll the pedestrian street during the late morning and men at cafes hurry through their coffees. Kids walk by wearing soccer shirts brandishing the Croatian flag and names of Croatian players.

On the heals of Trebinje and Mostar, our couple hours in Livno give us a sense that BiH has turned a corner and is sort of patching itself together, at least from a rebuilding standpoint.

A few days later that image is erased with big strokes.

As the Zadar man predicted, we start seeing the signs of another reality further up the road. Villages are mostly empty, abandoned and forgotten. Houses are in a precarious state, their rooftops blown away and walls overgrown with vines. Pitted façades tell the story of rounds of bullets fired and forever lodged in the memories of those who still call these buildings homes.

“That’s from the Croat soldiers,” says an old Serb Orthodox woman, pointing towards the gaping hole in the wall near her second floor window. “We don’t have enough money to fix it.” She heads off to gather up her chickens for the night, a brief moment of resignation and frustration shades her smile as she leaves us to sip the Turkish coffee she prepared for us.

A few days further on, we see what hoped we wouldn’t see: Warnings about land mines hidden in the forest and roped off areas near deserted hamlets where teams are meticulously trying to find and detonate them. The lump in our throat that we first had when we saw a similar scene near one of the mountain passes in the Pamir region of Tajikistan returns. We do everything we can to not cry on the side of the road.

For many walking days, I wonder how people can stay in this country and why those who now have lives aboard would come back. I think about the unfairness of it all, and question what will become of BiH and what will happen to the cities and towns and the people who tell us of the limited opportunities and resources they have here. What is the just way to recreate BiH cities and villages, and how will they and the people who live in them conjure up enough resilience, social cohesion and financial support to reach a new plain of equality and livability? I have no answers, and tread forward in an uneasy silence for long stretches of time.

Winter is coming

The heaviness associated with the tragedy of war, human displacement and seeing people struggling to create a viable future sticks with me until Bihac.

Bihac, a predominately Bosniak Muslim city on the banks of the Una River, encapsulates the dilemma many European cities now face. Because of its proximity to Croatia (which is part of the European Union) and, thus, the shortest land route across Croatia to Slovenia (another EU country leading the way towards Austria, Germany and Italy), Bihac has become a holding place for thousands of transitory Asian, African and Middle East immigrants and refugees. People we met along the way and several newspaper reports estimate that anywhere from 4,000 to 10,000 migrants are currently living in grim, makeshift camps and occupying dilapidated, abandoned buildings in and around the city. No one really knows how many migrants are there, but concerns about how they will make it through the cold winter months are mounting. Locals themselves have a hard enough time getting through the winter. The care needed for this amount of homelessness is exponential.

“I’m living in a damp abandoned building. The guys at the hotel let me take a shower in one of the rooms that had to be cleaned,” an Algerian man tells us, coughing sporadically, while slowly sipping the soda we bought him at the hotel’s restaurant. We notice the two uniformed policemen who sit at the table behind us, watching us as they wait for their lunch. “I crossed into Croatia, but the police caught me, ripped up the documents the Bosnian police gave me and smashed my phone. Do you happen to have an extra phone you don’t need? But I know you could also get in trouble for helping me.”

If I did have a phone I could afford to part with, I would give it to him. I offer him a meal instead. He politely declines. We shake hands as we say our farewells, bidding each other safe passage on our respective onward journeys. He fades into the crowd of the many other migrants lingering at cafes, shopping at the supermarket and hanging out in the park near the river.

I feel the injustice, and it shakes me to my core. Lluís and I walk out in the open, on roads where everyone can see us, with passports us that give us the privilege to go almost wherever we want. This Algerian man and people like him, on the run from who knows what they left behind, use their phone’s GPS to track a route through mountains and forests that are home to land mines, wolves and bears. They hide in hope.

We pass over the river. Like in Trebinje, I watch the sun start to drop over the city. I watch the water flow, unaware of the human sadness hugging its banks.

I don’t know exactly where my footsteps will take me next. But, I, too, hold hope. I hope the cities of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the people who live in them will create a way forward that opens doors for all of them.

Jenn Baljko
Bangkok to Barcelona on Foot

On The Nature of Cities

Reclamation and Mining: A Dangerous Fight for Sustainability in the Philippines

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Art, Science, Action: Green Cities Re-imagined

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Campaigning and working for sustainability is a difficult and dangerous job in the Phillipines with very little recourse to legal protection for those fighting for environmental protection.

The Philippines has repeatedly taken blows causing environmental degradation. Last month, a dead whale was found with 40 kilograms of plastic in its stomach. In the same month, Metro Manila experienced a water crisis, affecting millions, and increasing risks in sanitation and waste management. In relation to this, protests have been held to oppose a planned dam that would affect environmentally critical areas and at least 1,500 households. Since last year, Chinese coast guards have harvested giant clams and destroyed hundreds of acres of coral reefs within our own territory, and frustratingly, our government has refused to legally address this. In 2017, at least 41 environmental activists and defenders were killed, including those who protected ancestral lands. The Phillippines country has also remained in the world’s top rankings of countries at risk to climate impacts, and major global polluters of plastic waste.

Campaigning and working for sustainability is a difficult and dangerous job. While the above-mentioned list of challenges already seems burdensome, especially for a developing country, we continue to face environmentally-damaging threats from “done deal” projects between our government and the Chinese government. As an environmental planner, I am very concerned about sustainability of our resources. Let me bring to the table two pressing matters that need more effort on environmental assessments, improved legislation, and inclusive planning.

Reclamation Projects at the Manila Bay

The Manila Bay is an iconic landmark in the capital city, but it has also faced problems, time and again, such as rampant poverty, reclamation for giant commercial estates, and informality that crowds around said estates. As of this writing, there are at least 22 lined up that may affect 20,000 hectares—at least 10% of the bay area. The Philippine Reclamation Authority acknowledges that there will be environmental impacts, and has released statements that reclamation areas will have mitigating systems, but this has gone without presenting environmental impact assessments to the general public. To date, only five impact assessments are available at the Department of Natural Resources Environmental Management Bureau.

The Centre for Environmental Concerns PH, a non-governmental organization, has constantly provided information on the reclamation plans. Maps show impacts on ecosystems, which include affected mudflats and mangroves, habitats of water birds and fish, and coral reefs. The socio-economic sector will also be heavily affected, and this includes issues of livelihood loss for fishermen and displacement.

Source: Center for Environmental Concerns PH

Source: Center for Environmental Concerns PH


During the Second People’s Summit on the Impacts of Reclamation, held 26-27 March 2019, issues concerning the reclamation plans and sentiments of various people’s organizations were discussed. Another pressing matter was the increased risk to hazards that the reclamation projects would bring. Dr. Jay Batongbacal of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea discussed how the projects would create raised lands, affect water flow, and potentially cause long floods in already low-lying areas of Manila Bay.

Source: © Dr. Jay Batongbacal

Denuded mountains in Zambales

Source: Google earth

Reclamation and territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea are hugely controversial matters in the country. Concerns predominantly revolve around the demand and supply of soils for the planned islands.

In 2016, claims were made accusing the Chinese government of extracting Philippine soils from the Zambales mountain range to build artificial islands. Though it was confirmed by a mining corporation that the soils were, indeed, transported to China, the extraction activities from the many mining sites continued, resulting in mountains denuded of trees, and damaged ecosystems. Mining activists have vocally raised concerns on reduced suitable farmlands, health issues (such as asthma and pulmonary diseases), and flood risk. In the same year, Zambales residents filed a petition to the Supreme Court with regard to the Writ of Kalikasan (Environment), but were denied a temporary environmental protection order, and eventually were dismissed, and called moot and academic. In 2018, an appeal for the same case was denied. Earlier this year, in February 2019, the mayor of the municipality in question, who blocked mining operations, was convicted of graft and usurpation of legislative powers.

Source: Google earth

Continuing the fight for sustainability

These two cases—reclamation and mining—are examples of how developing areas struggle with two pressing global issues: environmental sustainability, and at the end of the day, social justice (which does not really stray far from environmental issues).

Planners and urban managers should be at the forefront in recognizing the urgent issues that concern our landscapes and societies. More importantly, standing our ground on planning principles should enable us, and the local governments we work with, to take action. These cases bank on compliance to permits, and legal protection, making destruction of the environment allowable. Projects proceed despite protests and the lack of consultation—or guise of said process, for that matter.

While dangerous politics take the steering wheel, continuing the fight for sustainability would mean looking into understanding “development” beyond the context of economic gain, local planning that is not dependent on compliance, and revisiting legislation that truly protects our natural resources against exploitation.

Ragene Andrea L. Palma
Manila

On The Nature of Cities

A picture of a glass and green building

Redefining Urban Nature for a Carbon-Negative City

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Art, Science, Action: Green Cities Re-imagined

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When we are all more ecologically-empowered citizens of urban ecosystems, we gain the ability and agency to adapt to dynamism in those ecosystems because we are no longer distanced from them.

I frequently ask students, colleagues, practitioners, and fellow ecologists to consider how a city can become more like a forest. I started to do this in 2019 when I (perhaps belatedly!) came to understand that just reducing our carbon emissions ― even to neutral ― is not enough to prevent the most drastic climate change scenarios. In parallel with our emission reductions, we must be increasing our active removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. There are many technological strategies in development to do this, each with its own set of advantages and limitations, and I’m sure these will play a significant role. However, I’m a Nature-based Solutions (NBS) kind of girl so my mind goes to ecology. After all, our planet has already evolved an amazing carbon absorption system called the biosphere.

With a population of over 8 billion and growing (although more and more slowly all the time! The global population growth rate just dipped under 1% for the first time in 2022) and the majority of those people in urban areas, is there an opportunity in all that urban growth to pull a lot of carbon out of the atmosphere and lock it away in cities? While, of course, also cutting the carbon emissions associated with those cities? Hence my question: how can a city become like a forest?

A forest’s carbon sequestration power is driven by photosynthesis and depends on the availability of other potential limiting factors, water and temperature being two biggies on a global scale. The agents of photosynthesis are trees. (This whole analogy could also pertain to a grassland; however, trees create a structure that is more analogous to a city in that it is sheltering to organisms on a human scale.) Via photosynthesis, trees, and other plants draw carbon out of the air and fix it into the material structure of their tissues (biomass). Trees are particularly great at this because they are long-lived and a large proportion of their tissue is composed of wood, which takes a long time to decompose, even after the tree dies. The shorter-lived parts of the tree, the leaves, are shed periodically and these decompose, releasing some of that carbon back into the atmosphere but some of it is also stored in the soil and cycled back into other living things. Trees and other plants also carry out the opposite chemical reaction to photosynthesis ― respiration, in which carbon dioxide is also released back into the atmosphere. Thus, we want to come out on the right side of the photosynthesis-respiration equation; in order to have net carbon removal from the atmosphere, photosynthesis needs to be greater than respiration. A young, growing forest will generally be a net carbon remover, while a mature forest in which growth is slow and trees are dying may be closer to neutral. As seen through this lens, wildfires are especially devastating in the era of climate change because that’s a whole lot of fixed carbon being rapidly returned to the atmosphere.

So, moving on from this little ecology lesson, what would it mean for a city to be like a forest? It would mean that the city actively takes energy from the sun and carbon from the air and converts them into the structure of the city itself. It literally grows itself, or at least it grows its own structural materials. Furthermore, it recycles old structures into materials for new structures. Thus, the city’s buildings are made of biomass.

The closest we come to that now is when we build with wood. Mass timber (also known as cross-laminated timber or CLT) is widely touted as a building material that, with recent innovations in processing and structural design, can reasonably be anticipated to achieve carbon-negative buildings. The problem is that those trees are grown elsewhere, in real forests, and truly sustainable forestry practices cannot supply the growing cities of the world by going all in on mass timber. In order to gain the benefit of the stored carbon in those trees, we need to expand the footprint of the city to include the forest where the trees are grown. In a global carbon budget, this is still a win: the carbon is stored away in buildings for at least some decades, and back in the forest some new trees can grow and take up even more carbon. This, however, is cheating on the concept and the forest (which is far more than trees) loses. The nature of cities has always been to rely heavily on imports of resources from elsewhere and to export large amounts of waste. This has become more and more extreme with larger cities and greater population densities. As we pack more and more people into an area, how do we create room for core ecological processes such as primary production and nutrient cycling? In order for a city to be like a forest, then, it needs to be generating and cycling its own materials. Where and how can this fit within a crowded city?

I suggest that it needs to be incorporated into the very materiality of the city itself. That every space or surface where something can grow should be a place for something to grow. As many readers and writers in this space will no doubt agree, we use the small quantity of unpaved, unbuilt space in dense cities rather poorly on the whole. Where plantings exist, they generally fail to meet the criteria of multifunctionality that the intensity of city life demands. Specifically, in this case, we have taken the “productivity” function of ecosystems outside of the city almost entirely. In ecology, “primary productivity” is literally a measure of carbon sequestration and storage; it is the amount of carbon taken from the atmosphere and turned into plant biomass. Urban forests, with all their benefits and ecosystem services, are not generally managed to yield timber… but they could be. As a result of this lack of a loop-closing mechanism in urban forestry, we miss tremendous opportunities and suffer much expense when trees need to be removed.

In 2020, my city experienced a powerful windstorm in which thousands of trees were blown down. There was really no other option on such short notice, so most of that potentially valuable wood was carted away and turned into wood chips. I have long wanted to see an urban forestry-based reuse enterprise that turns wood from downed or dead trees into other products. (Some cities have this already, but it is far from ubiquitous.) Even more intentionally, for example, bamboo is a plant that grows rapidly, in relatively small spaces and with few nutrients, and generates excellent building materials. It is just as effective at screening a building, attractively highlighting an entrance, and providing strategic shade, as many of the shrubs or other plants we currently use in small spaces. In appropriate climates, it could be intentionally and attractively planted, grown, and harvested throughout the urban environment.

Of course, in a big, dense city, there is just so little land left for growing plants in ways that require access to soil, water, and sunlight. We need to think beyond these conventional systems. Other examples of the potential for “growing” building materials are the bricks made of fungal mycelia and bioplastics made from algae. Both of these have the tremendous benefit of being organisms that consume “waste” of the sort cities produce in abundance and they don’t require all three of the soil/water/sunlight triad. Fungi are decomposers; they feed on our organic wastes to grow their own biomass and they can do it in the dark! When we eat mushrooms, we are eating the “fruiting body” or reproductive structure of the fungus, but the main “body” of the fungus is its mycelium: a vast, dense network of rootlike threads. In the right conditions, the fungal mycelium can be grown within a cast shape, dried, and hardened, thus producing, for example, mycelial “bricks” that may be used as building materials and contain stored carbon.

Algae are photosynthetic proto-plants that require water and light but not soil. They absorb nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) from our wastewater to fuel their growth, thus generating both biomass and purifying water. Algae can also be harvested and used in a variety of materials such as bioplastics. I don’t know if they can be used in a material hard enough to build with, but they can certainly be used in finishing materials such as ceiling tiles. I picture the walls of buildings embedded with clear tubes filled with harvestable algae absorbing light and treating the building’s wastewater. A pioneering example is the BIQ building in Germany, which happens to use its algae to generate energy, but you could easily use them in other ways.

A picture of a glass and green building
BIQ mit Bioreaktorfassade (Am Inselpark 17) auf der IBA Hamburg in Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg
Credit: NordNordWest

If we can rapidly switch to carbon-negative materials, then the new buildings and redevelopment that occur in the next decades can make the critical switch from contributing carbon to the atmosphere (part of the problem) to removing carbon from the atmosphere (part of the solution). We harness carbon drawdown to what is already a relentless economic engine and it takes it from there! In doing so, we also reinvent urban nature, in the sense that daily life of the urban human becomes, in many ways, re-embedded directly within its local ecosystem, even if that doesn’t look like it did in previous millennia (see my previous essay on what that might look like:  https://www.thenatureofcities.com/2019/09/16/smart-vs-green-technology-paradigms-battle-it-out-for-the-future-city/ ).

Some principles for the city-as-forest paradigm:

Ecology and economy both have the same Greek etymology (oikos, meaning “home”). Where we have “waste”, this implies not just an ecological gap/opportunity but an economic one. Although “it’s been said, many times in many ways”, urban waste must become a resource that helps to sustain the city itself, and the least expensive pathways to that transition are often based in nature. The urban ecosystem will not look like a “natural” one, because we have created a completely different kind of environment in cities. But it can be much more of a functional ecosystem than it is now if we change our perception to see the opportunities that exist in the problems that plague cities today.

The city must become more self-sufficient and less dependent on distant resources and imports. This means that all of the space and materiality of the city itself must become “complexified”, that is, multifunctional, dynamic, adaptive, and organic. Surrounding and distant lands and ecosystems must serve more as backup resilience.

Multifunctional and organic systems must be allowed to change, grow, and adapt. This means a certain level of uncertainty over time, calling for flexibility and redundancy in production and supply systems. Our economy currently operates on an expectation of reliable supply and perfect product consistency. This is the biggest challenge to “scaling up” that we encounter in Nature-based Solutions. I confess I don’t have a good answer for this one, except to say that when we are all more ecologically-empowered citizens of urban ecosystems, we gain the ability and agency to adapt to dynamism in those ecosystems because we are no longer distanced from them.

Sarah Hinners
Salt Lake City

On The Nature of Cities

Rediscovering Eco-cities—Is this Possible in the Era of Globalization?

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Art, Science, Action: Green Cities Re-imagined

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Another revolution  the “ecological revolution” is required to go back and live in co-existence with nature.

Recently I have been to Auroville, an experimental universal township in Tamilnadu and Puduchhery of southern India. This was founded in 1968 by Mirra Alfassa known as “The Mother”. Auroville came to be known as a global village, as the prime motive behind this project is to demonstrate that people all over the world can live together in harmony. The project has received the endorsement from the Government of India as well as UNESCO. This village can accommodate a population of around 50,000 in the future. What struck me is the design.

The village area has been divided into three concentric zones. The inner most is the core  is the peace area. The area also has a lake to serve as a ground water recharge area. An adjoining circular area is divided into residential zones comprising 189 hectares, a zone for green industries comprising 109 hectares, an international zone (74 hectares) for a living demonstration of human unity, and a cultural zone (93 hectares) for research and other activities. The outer ring is the green belt, at present comprising 405 hectares, which has been successfully transformed from a wasteland into a green ecosystem. This zone has organic farms, dairies, orchards, etc., is also meant to be a barrier against urban encroachment, and finally meant to offset the human footprint. The village also extensively uses solar energy and has designed the buildings in such a way that they consume less energy.

Source www.auroville.org
Source www.auroville.org

Auroville is categorised as eco-city or sustainable city. Several examples of eco-cities exist in the world. Before the word eco-cities became fashionable in the modern era, India had several such historical examples.

Auroville is remarkably similar to what Kautilya has suggested way back in the fourth century BC on how a town or city should be planned. Kautilya is regarded as the father of political science. First and foremost, unlike the emphasis on GDP, the productive capital, Kautilya clearly recognised the role of forests, water bodies, and mountains etc as frontiers and collective wealth. The arthashastra recognised that waste (pollution) must be disposed in a proper way so as not to affect the environment. Arthashashtra suggests that the city be divided into four concentric circles. The main city is located at the centre and should have perennial source of water. Surrounding this central city are the villages located amidst the mixed land use — pastures, agriculture. Forests for recreation and economic benefits formed the outskirts of the settlement. The forest based industries are suggested to be located adjacent to the forests and settlement area. The forests in wilderness formed the outermost concentric circle and these have to be protected. These forests were occupied by tribes with traditional knowledge and enjoyed de facto rights on the forests.

00007Thus, the importance of cities living in harmony with nature has been emphasised. The ancient Indian science Vastu shastra is entirely devoted to the science of architecture. Vastu shastra is a treatise on architectural planning, construction and design and emphasizes  the right selection of the site given the nature of slope, colour, strength of soil and the direction of the plot. Vastu emphasizes optimal utilization of five elements: earth, water, fire, wind and cosmic space for harmonious living. The key contention is that when we build something we are interacting with the positive and negative forces of nature and it is vital to have a net positive energy flow (called bio flow or Prana).

Depending on the shape of the plot and its size, several plans called Vastu Purusha Mandalas divided into four concentric zones were suggested. The innermost zone is called  Brahmastana, which is the place for total awareness. The next three circles in order represent Daiva (enlightenment), Manushya (consciousness) and Paisacha (grossness) respectively. The Brahmastana is always occupied by a temple or a palace, and the construction is suggested in the second and third zones. The ancient Indian cities of Pataliputra and Takshasila were constructed based on Vaastu principles. The modern Indian cities of Jaipur and Chandigarh and the temple cities of Tirupati and Madurai also follow Vastu principles.

So the history repeats itself. Now we have reinvented the same old philosophy of living in harmony with nature through the name of eco-cities or sustainable cities.

What are the key attributes of eco-cities?  These cities are designed as follows:

1)    Require minimal input from the rest of the world

2)    Transfers minimal externalities to the rest of the world

3)    They produce their own food, water and energy

4)    Rely on using local material and on the natural flow

5)    Have more wilderness and open spaces

6)    Use natural solutions for stabilising micro-climates and use renewable energy sources.

7)    Ideally they are smaller in size requiring less transportation of goods and services

8)    Eliminate all carbon waste

Transforming the existing mega cities into eco-cities may be difficult. However, building new eco-cities is quite possible. If we are successful in building the eco-cities, it is possible to make positive economic, social environmental and ecological impacts.

In this era of high population pressure is it possible to have zero carbon and ecological footprint? There are several cities in the world which are named as “eco-cities”. But do we have some certification process to validate the claims?

The reason why it is important to have this process set up is due to the ambiguity of the term “eco-city”. We live in the era of globalization, which involves goods travelling long distances. The trade happens due to comparative advantage. That is, if a product X costs less in country A than country B due to some natural endowments, it makes sense for countries to trade due to comparative advantage.

Now, if an eco-city limits its production and imports goods from outside the city zone, to whom should we assign the carbon and ecological foot print ? For example, a resident living in eco-city would like to consume apples, Kiwis or Oranges, but which are not grown nearby. He has to import apples, which involves some externalities. To whom should these emissions be attributed to? This may be same for the other materials which are not available locally say rice, wheat, vegetables, etc., or material required for building the eco-city. A resident in an eco-city may have to use textiles or leather goods which are highly polluting. To whom should this pollution be attributed? Are we also assuming that living in eco-city also means changing the consumption patterns?

In fact this is the situation in today’s era of globalization. We cannot think of ourselves as living in a Robinson Crusoe economy — a closed economy with no trade. We need to clarify the ambiguities surrounding the measurement of footprints associated with eco-cities.

Having few eco-cities might not make a very big difference to the world, as they still have to depend on the external world for things other than food, water and energy. However, this is nevertheless a positive change. But if we have several such cities connected with each other, it is probably possible to minimize their carbon foot print and ecological foot print.

Just imaging and designing an eco-city is not sufficient. We also need to change our mindset and attitude. This might require an “ecological revolution” to go back and live in co-existence with nature.

Haripriya Gundimeda
Mumbai

On The Nature of Cities 

Rediscovering Wildness—and Finding the “Wild Man”—in Alaska’s Urban Center

Art & Awareness, Essay, , , ,
Art, Science, Action: Green Cities Re-imagined

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I have been getting quite the education on “The Nature of Cities” these past few months, while taking in the perspectives of academics, ecologists, naturalists, architects and urban designers, educators, and conservationists (some contributors wearing several hats). I have been impressed—and at times overwhelmed—by the scope of research, activism, and community programs dedicated to urban nature and our species’ connection to it.

And our place within it.

I had no idea how much work (and play) is going on around the globe, tied to the study and enjoyment of cities’ wild nature. And I suspect that’s true for many others who’ve participated in this blogsite’s commentaries and conversations. Here I will bring the perspective of a nature writer, essayist, and naturalist, who has spent the past couple of decades getting to know, and writing about, his adopted homeland. Like Bob Sallinger (“Souvlaki Coyote and Other Tales of Urban Wildlife”), I strongly believe in the power of story and the necessity of telling stories that recognize, even emphasize, the wild nature of our cities. Here, then, is part of my story.

Though I grew up along the edges of rural Connecticut, I have spent nearly all of my adult life in urban settings: first Lewiston, Maine and Tucson, Arizona (both in the USA, and where I attended college and graduate school, respectively); then the Los Angeles megalopolis, where I somehow survived six years despite never feeling at home; and finally, since 1982, Anchorage, Alaska, the 49th state’s urban center.

Schooled in the geosciences (I got an MS from the University of Arizona), I changed careers in my late twenties and became a journalist, which in turn led me eventually into my current life as a freelance nature writer and activist for both wildlands and wildlife (I explore that evolution in Changing Paths: Travels and Meditations in Alaska’s Arctic Wilderness). It was only after I’d begun to seriously observe and write about Anchorage’s “wild side” in the 1990s that I began to more fully appreciate—and examine—the delights, mysteries, and importance of urban nature. I have written about my adopted hometown’s wild riches in essays and two books (Changing Paths and Living with Wildness) and will use my initial TNOC posting to share some of what I’ve noticed and learned about Anchorage’s wild nature, which has relevance to other discussions presented on this site.

Downtown Anchorage, Alaska. Photo by Bill Sherwonit.

A city of nearly 300,000 people, Alaska’s largest community is rarely lauded for its wild nature or frontier aesthetics. Many rural Alaskans consider Anchorage to be a northern incarnation of Lower 48 excesses. They derisively call the city Los Anchorage, a not-so-subtle comparison to Southern California’s smog-enshrouded, freeway infested, urban-sprawl megalopolis (this description perhaps revealing some of my own prejudices about L.A.). Other Alaskans, including some residents, ridicule Anchorage as Anywhere USA and claim its only saving grace to be its close proximity to “the real Alaska.”

Outsiders—anyone living beyond the state’s borders—have also gotten in their digs. John McPhee took perhaps the most famous swipes at Anchorage in his best seller Coming Into the Country: “Almost all Americans would recognize Anchorage, because Anchorage is that part of any city where the city has burst its seams and extruded Colonel Sanders. It is virtually unrelated to its environment. It has come in on the wind, an American spore. A large cookie cutter brought down on El Paso could lift something like Anchorage into the air.”

Ouch.

Anchorage skyline. Photo by Bill Sherwonit.

The truth stings: Anchorage largely deserved McPhee’s late 1970s jabs. It still merits them and, to some degree, those of rural Alaska critics. Poor municipal planning has led to haphazard development and some mighty ugly architecture. Sections of the city are an appalling mix of malls, fast-food restaurants, boxy discount stores, massive parking lots, and ever-expanding service stations and quick stops. Even now, when the city is in the midst of rewriting its land-use laws to make Anchorage a more livable city, with a higher quality of life, there’s substantial pushback from businesses, development interests, and some politicians (including our mayor), whose credo seems to be “develop, develop, develop,” with little regard for how that development is done. Too many of the country’s mega-chains have heard our politicians’ declaration that Anchorage is “open for business,” turning sections of the city into versions of Miracle Mile. And those of us who care about Anchorage’s wilder aspects are constantly battling efforts that would diminish trails, greenbelts, and parks.

“Coastal Trail” in Anchorage, part of the city’s extensive trail system. Photo by Bill Sherwonit.

Yet for all this laying down of asphalt and mushrooming of boxlike buildings, pockets of wetlands, woodlands, and other wild areas remain scattered throughout our municipality. You just have to know where to look. And to be honest, those areas aren’t hard to find; Anchorage has some wonderfully large parks and a world-class trail system.

Those natural areas sustain a wide diversity of wildlife and native plants: the bowl is seasonal home to some 230

Kincaid Park single track trail, Anchorage. Photo by Bill Sherwonit.

species of birds, five types of Pacific salmon, and 48 different mammals.

Anchorage’s patchwork of greenbelts and forested municipal parks is threaded together by a network of bike trails and walking paths. From Anchorage’s much-beloved Coastal Trail, bicyclists, joggers, and walkers can occasionally spot pods of ghostly white beluga whales, chasing fish through the inlet’s murky waters. Along that trail and others, people may also meet moose, lynx, great-horned owls, black bears, and even the occasionally grizzly. Beyond the Coastal Trail is a state wildlife refuge, a place of surprising wildness and solitude on the city’s western flanks, with sedge flats and mudflats and ponds inhabited in spring and summer by all manner of songbirds, shorebirds and waterfowl, from savannah sparrows to Arctic terns and Sandhill cranes.

Also threading through the bowl are several creeks, which connect hills to lowlands to saltwater. Some are filled in, paved over, or polluted before they reach the inlet, but others

Lesser Sandhill cranes in the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge. Photo by Susan R. Serna.

are large and pure enough to have natural or rebuilt salmon runs. In Anchorage’s most industrialized section, anglers pull 40-pound king salmon from Ship Creek. The bowl is also rich in lakes and bogs, which serve as important avian nesting grounds. Anchorage, in fact, is the largest U.S. city to support nesting populations of loons. And wolf packs roam the city’s eastern edges, sometimes sneaking into homeowners’ yards to kill domestic fowl or dogs.

Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge stretches for 16 miles south from Anchorage. Photo by Bill Sherwonit.
The boundary of the Anchorage Wildlife Refuge, just south of Anchorage.

Though I’ve resided here since 1982, only since the early nineties have I truly delighted in Anchorage’s greener, wilder side. In part that reflects a gradual shift in desires and priorities: once a newspaper sports reporter tied to newsroom desks and indoor arenas, I’ve metamorphosed into a nature writer who chooses woodland trails and alpine meadows over noisy, sweaty gyms. I now prefer watching birds and bears and spiders to TV sports. And I’ve re-learned the value of paying close attention to my home grounds, something I did as a boy, but somehow forgot in my early adulthood.

I believe my boyhood adventures in The Woods behind my family’s Connecticut home and along the margins of a nearby neighborhood swamp helped establish a deep love and joy for wild nature that, while dampened or misplaced for a while in my late adolescence and early adulthood, would be resurrected after I’d settled in Anchorage. This touches on themes made popular in recent years by Richard Louv (Last Child in the Woods, The Nature Principle), David Sobel (Beyond Ecophobia, Childhood and Nature), and others. And it points to a critical aspect of this “Nature of Cities” movement: the absolutely urgent need for increased connections between children and nature in our cities, especially given the abundant—and growing—evidence that childhood experiences have a huge influence on how we relate to the “natural world” as adults.

Another reason for my new perspective: relocation to the hills on Anchorage’s eastern edge in October 1993. That move, as much as anything, clarified what my friend William calls the “power of place.” From 1982 through 1988, I had lived the mobile life of a renter. Then I became a first-time homeowner. But like my earlier rentals, that cul-de-sac property failed to draw me into the local landscape. Needing solitude or a renewal of spirit, I would invariably go “out there,” to the wildlands beyond Anchorage.

But once settled on the Hillside, that wasn’t necessarily so. I continued to love my forest and mountain walks in Anchorage’s neighboring “backyard wilderness,” Chugach State Park and I certainly relished my longer journeys deep into Alaska’s more remote backcountry. Yet I also began to find joy, surprise, connection, and, yes, even solitude on Anchorage’s Hillside, an area of town that mixes modern suburban neighborhoods with older homesteads on the wooded foothills of the Chugach Mountains.

A moose shares an Anchorage street with human pedestrians and vehicles. Photo by Susan R. Serna.

Everything wild seemed closer on the Hillside: the clouds, the mountains, the animals, the weather. It became easier, somehow, to slip outside at night and star gaze, stand in the eerie light of a full moon, or look for northern lights. Easier to go walking and exploring. Winter comes earlier and stays longer. There’s more snow. More wildlife. More frequent and stronger gales. Born along Alaska’s Gulf Coast, high winds called chinooks come roaring out of the southeast and through the Chugach Mountains, then tumble down the Hillside as warm, dry, turbulent air, in gusts of 50 to 100 mph.

In my new home, all manner of things began to grab my attention in new ways: the chinooks; the pleasing rush of springtime creek water; the winter commutes of ravens, which fly daily between their nighttime roosts in the Chugach Mountains and the scavenging-rich environs of mid- and downtown Anchorage; the spruce bark beetle and its infestation of local forests. Nothing, however, grabbed me as deeply as the neighborhood’s black-capped chickadees, whose bright presence drew me into bird feeding and watching and along the way transformed my world, showed me some of what I had been missing. In a way, they become my teachers.

In the spirit of telling “urban animal stories,” I’ll briefly describe here how chickadees helped deepen my awareness (there’s a more detailed account in Living with Wildness).

My enchantment began on a Saturday morning in 1993, shortly before solstice. Lolling in bed, I glanced outside. And there before me, several black-capped chickadees flitted about a backyard spruce. Inspired by their presence, I placed a bird feeder where it could be easily observed from the dining and living rooms. My first-ever feeder wasn’t much to look at: an old, slightly bent baking pan covered with sunflower seeds.

Nothing happened that first day. But Sunday the chickadees returned. Seated at my dining room table, I watched with delight as a black cap landed on the tray, grabbed a seed, and zoomed to a nearby tree. Then in flashed another. And a third. For each the routine was the same: dart in, look around, peck at the tray, grab a seed, look around some more, and dart back out. Nervous little creatures, full of bright energy, they somehow penetrated the toughened shell of this former sports reporter and touched my heart. I laughed at their antics and felt an all-too-rare childlike fascination.

Stellers jay. Photo by Susan R. Serna.

The chickadees were soon joined by several other songbirds. What started as mere curiosity blossomed over the next few months into a consuming passion. I found myself roaming bookstores in search of birding guides, spontaneously exchanging bird descriptions with a stranger, and purchasing fifty-pound bags of seeds. All of this seemed very strange to a fortysomething guy who had never been intrigued by birds (except for the occasional charismatic raptor) and had previously judged bird watchers to be rather odd sorts. I didn’t know what it meant, except that a door had opened. And I passed through.

Now wherever I am—city, woods, mountains—I invariably notice songbirds and their assorted voices. They’re everywhere, it seems. How did I miss them before? And I wonder what else beckons, that I haven’t yet noticed.

I have since moved from the Hillside back to Anchorage’s lowlands, in a residential neighborhood near the city’s western, coastal border. There’s still plenty of wild nature in my new environs, manifested in moose and fox, merlin and goshawk, chickadee and waxwing, spruce and birch, on and on. The opportunities to encounter wildness and learn more about my homeland are endless. But I can’t emphasize enough that this recognition began with some specific experiences—for instance moving to the Hillside, inviting chickadees to my feeder—that opened my senses to the wild world that surrounds us, wherever we live. Even though I’d been trained (as both scientist and journalist) to notice details, it seems I didn’t naturally tune into, or relish, the city’s wilds, until some aspect of it grabbed my attention in a way that I couldn’t ignore. This is something that I—we—need to remember as we work to increase the awareness of the general public to our cities’ wild side.

•     •     •

In recent years I’ve come to believe strongly that this sense of connection, this love for wild nature, is a crucial part of our humanity, even in the twenty-first century. It’s alive in us when we’re born, no matter where that is. The question, then, is how do we nurture our wildness, rather than subdue and tame it?

Great grey owl. Photo by Susan R. Serna.

In The Abstract Wild, Jack Turner argues that “in many inner cities here in the United States and in the developing world people no longer have a concept of wild nature based on personal experience.” (Many others have made similar observations, including on this blogsite.) I agree wholeheartedly with that. But I also believe it is possible to have “raw visceral contact with wild nature” wherever we live, if we take the time, make the effort, and leave ourselves open to wonder and mystery. Then the challenge becomes: how do we reinforce and encourage this wild awareness in each other, in our children? I don’t have any easy answers. But my life in this far north metropolis and my own discoveries of Anchorage’s wild nature (some of which I’ve shared here) has offered hints of what’s possible.

At first glance, my choice to settle in Anchorage may seem a strange one for someone who claims to be so passionate about the natural world. But in living along the city’s eastern and western edges, I’ve gotten the best of both worlds, natural and man-made (though of course the two are connected). I love the amenities that come with living in an urban center, with its coffee shops and restaurants, movie theaters and Performing Arts Center, universities and libraries and sports programs. Here I’ve found intersecting circles of writers and outdoors enthusiasts and earth- and peace-loving activists. Yet I also have easy access to parks, trails, greenbelts, a coastal refuge, and a nearby mountain range, the Chugach, whose remotest valleys and peaks are seldom visited. And I reside in a landscape also inhabited by chinook and coho, goshawk and owl, coyote and lynx. But again I must emphasize that I only came to this awareness, and appreciation, over time, thanks in large part to teachers who grabbed my attention, chickadees (and bears and frogs) among them.

Living in Anchorage, I’m now constantly reminded that wildness is all around us, all the time, even in the city. It’s just that most of us humans don’t notice the “wild side” of our busy urban lives (some, it’s true, are simply trying to survive their urban lifestyles, which leaves little, if any, opportunities for wild connections), just as I largely didn’t for my first decade of living in Alaska’s urban center. Of course, in many a metropolis you have to look hard to find even hints of the wild behind the elaborate layers of human construct that shield us from the rest of nature. Anchorage’s juxtaposition of malls and moose, brewhouses and bears, or libraries and loons makes it easier to notice urban wildness here than in cities like L.A. or Tucson or even Lewiston, Maine, all places that I’ve lived. This city, more than any other, has opened my eyes and enlarged my awareness of wild nature in a way that even the wilderness couldn’t.

It’s also been here that I’ve come to better understand—through personal experience, research and readings, and shared stories with other friends and colleagues—that we humans do indeed carry wildness within us. We are animals, after all. And though many of our natural instincts are “tamed”—or suppressed—as we grow up, we carry deep within us a wild nature that’s expressed not only in our need to eat, drink, sleep, and procreate, but also in our emotions, dreams, spontaneity, hunting instincts (expressed in a variety of ways), our draw to the outdoors, and the deep aliveness and sense of wonder we sometimes feel when making an unexpected connection with the larger, wilder world we inhabit.

I’ve written about this inner nature in an essay, “In Search of the Wild Man,” included in Living with Wildness. As I discuss in that essay, this inner wild man, or wild woman, or wild child, is an important part of who we are. And it is nourished by connecting with what David Abram (The Spell of the Sensuous) has called more-than-human nature. This—need I say it?—is a good thing, and essential to a deeper, more respectful, and more joyful relationship with our original and primary home, the Earth, and the other inhabitants with whom we share this planet.

All of this can happen, must happen, in our cities.

A few final thoughts, pulled from my essay, “In Search of the Wild Man”:

Only by getting to know wild nature will we learn to embrace and cherish and preserve it, both within ourselves and as manifested in myriad other forms, in the larger, more-than-human world. Such a full embrace is possible, no matter how frightening, because at some deep level, we and all “the others” are part of a larger—and what some would call a sacred—oneness. All of the world’s mystical traditions teach this. Even Christianity maintains that we are all part of the creation: people and trees and hills and butterflies and bacteria. And though it doesn’t normally use words like “sacred” or “holy,” science confirms it too.

Bald eagle on the outskirts of town. Photo by Susan R. Serna.

The good news is that wildness reaches everywhere, from the far wilderness to the innermost pockets of our biggest cities. We can each choose where, in what form, and in what way we get to know the wild. But we must make some effort, if we care at all about healing ourselves, healing the world, keeping things whole. In touching the Wild Man or Wild Woman, we learn to better love the world. And in loving the world, we embrace our own richly wild essence. As I’ve discovered in my own life, it’s not necessarily an easy thing for us modern Homo sapiens to understand or practice. But like Gary Snyder says in The Practice of the Wild, “I for one, will keep working for wildness day by day,” in whatever small way I’m able.

And, I might add here, that I will do so wherever I reside, even—or perhaps especially—in the city.

Bill Sherwonit
Anchorage, Alaska
USA