ABSTRACT

This article calls attention to the importance of nature in city design. Anne Whiston Spirn asserts that most planners and designers have viewed natural forces as apart from, rather than as an integral part of, the city. Thus, with few exceptions, cities have failed to use the full potential of nature in creating healthy, economical, and beautiful urban environments. Spirn states that “existing knowledge about urban nature would be sufficient to produce profound changes in the form of the city, if only it were applied.”