ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses at the developing imaginary of the green and resilient city and the emergence of new urban ecologies. It examines the changing city–nature dialectic, discusses cities and climate change, explores the idea of city metrics of urban sustainability, and presents a more granular look at urban environmental issues. In 1976 a small Urban Gardening Program was established by the US Department of Agriculture for the cultivation of vegetable and flower gardens on empty lots in the inner cities. In Singapore the city authorities work hard to green the city-state with forest preserves and street trees. Cities are responding with both mitigation and adaptation. Mitigation focuses on reducing the concentrations of greenhouse gasses by using alternative energy sources, encouraging greater energy efficiency and conservation and promoting carbon sinks though planting trees. Responding to climate change is about adaptation. The chapter highlights the provisional and patchy nature of urban modernity for the rich and the powerful.
