ABSTRACT
Nature provides many emotional, spiritual and health benefits to residents of cities. Biophilia argues that we have co-evolved with nature, and that we have a deep need to affiliate with the natural world. The human species has ‘grown up with nature’, as E.O. Wilson says, and little wonder that we are happier, more productive, more creative and even more generous in the presence of nature. Nature in cities offers the promise of lives that are wondrous and connected, lives attentive to the natural magic around us. Ensuring daily and hourly contact with nature in dense, growing cities becomes a challenge, but there is often remarkable urban nature and biodiversity nearby, and there are many creative ways in which to integrate nature into the urban fabric. Here, Beatley describes the new planning and design agenda of biophilic urbanism and the need to shift towards a vision of biophilic cities. He identifies some of the key dimensions of biophilic cities, as well as some of the main strategies and innovative practices of emerging biophilic cities around the world.
