ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the cultural and political aspects of environmental change are discussed, including the views of the children themselves. Climate modification, vegetation establishment and urban wildlife conservation are gaps in knowledge that could be remedied through environmental education: a worthwhile step that would help children turn a more critical eye towards the quality of their local surroundings. The 'greening' of the city could still have been dramatic, while at the same time retaining and/or enhancing the landscape qualities relevant to young people and other groups. One difficulty that does arise, in meeting children's environmental needs, is the different scale of experience and perception of children, compared to adults. Children need landscapes that are open to creative verbal interpretation, not ones limited by simplistic environmental change that overlooks the history, language and culture embodied in our physical surroundings. Childhood environments must provide both security and serendipity to stimulate both predictable and unpredictable consequences.
