Understanding the Nature of Biophilic Cities

Abstract

Nature takes many different forms in cities, and it can be experienced in many different ways. To a certain degree, however, nature is a social construct. In this book we argue that nature comprises all the life and living systems in and around cities, from the birds and mammals we can see to the immense populations of invertebrate and largely invisible nonhuman life around us. Increasingly, the nature in and around cities takes the form of green rooftops, green balconies, or vertical facades and gardens on high-rise buildings. These are human-designed and constructed, of course, yet we also respond to them in positive ways, and they do provide an element of nature in an otherwise gray and asphalt urban world. This book focuses mainly on the impact of outdoor spaces in cities, but we acknowledge that there is an important role for indoor nature as well. This chapter details important new ways of seeing and understanding cities as places of nature.