Biophilic Cities – A Movement
Open your eyes to see lush. Unplug your ears to hear bird songs. Expand those nostrils to smell the scent of fresh vegetation, and exit the door of your house to enter an enchanting world that’s full of life.
The Biophilic Cities Movement has emerged to propose an alternative viewpoint on urban development, in which nature is the pivotal point around which all the planning, designing and managing revolve.
Let us guide you through the basics of this concept, as well as through simple actions you can carry out to support it.
What Are Biophilic Cities?
What Can I do to Join the Biophilic Cities Movement?
Native Species Urban Gardening
Urban Farming
Share What You Learn
Monuments to the Green
What Are Biophilic Cities?
Biologist E.O. Wilson was who brought forward the concept of biophilia, which points out how we – human beings – are part of the natural world and, consequently, inherently connected to it. Not only do we yearn to be in communion with nature, whether consciously or unconsciously, but we actually need this contact to remain healthy and in balance. This knowledge is what’s at the core of the Biophilic Cities movement.
Therefore, a Biophilic City is an urban region that allows its inhabitants to remain in constant contact with nature as they go through their day. These inhabitants, on the other hand, are also individuals who have knowledge about, and care for, their natural surroundings. Providing wildlife habitat, utilizing green infrastructure, and constructing bird-friendly buildings are some of the characteristics Biophilic Cities strive for.
Singapore, The City in a Garden, continues to be the most iconic of Biophilic Cities. This Asian island city-state has managed to craft a chain of pathways and trails along parks and outdoor green spaces, in addition to planting green roofs and setting up indoor gardens in its buildings. These efforts have in turn provided Singapore with a natural system for diminishing urban heat island effects, and with a continuous growth of green areas despite population increase.
What Can I do to Join the Biophilic Cities Movement?
We don’t have to wait for our city of residence to declare itself a Biophilic in the makingto be able to access all the benefits that come with such luscious urban spaces. There are easy actions we can all start implementing today that will trigger meaningful change in the lives of many creatures and, of course, our own.
Native Species Urban Gardening
What would happen if we would all grow native species of plants in our gardens, roofs, balconies, and window sills? Picture all the biodiversity that could be restored with such an effortless undertaking.
Flat patches of green cover that we call lawns and unused grey concrete surfaces would turn into vibrant and full of life spaces that function as a sanctuary to native fauna, and a beautiful place for us to unwind. These low-maintenance plants won’t only invite frequent visitors like butterflies and birds native to our areas, they will also play a crucial role with conserving water, capturing carbon dioxide, and preserving seeds.
You can learn more about the importance of native plants by watching Doug Tallamy’svideo, and with find species that are native to your location by referring to the links below:
Urban Farming
Wouldn’t it make a little, yet colossal, difference in your life to be able to walk towards your window sill and harvest fresh lettuce to put in a sandwich? It is a big step from having to go to the nearest supermarket and purchase plastic-wrapped lettuce, isn’t it?
Growing part of our own food is perhaps one of the most powerful ways of reconnecting with nature; and also of giving back to naturewhen done responsibly and respectfully. This way, we literally see how our food grows in the natural world and learn first-hand how factors like water, weather and sun come into play.
You can learn more about urban farming by reading books likeGaia’s Gardenby Toby Hemenway orThe Essential Urban Farmerby Novella Carpenter and Willow Rosenthal.
If you are feeling like want to dive deep into resilient urban farming, just add the factor of native into the equation, and growedible native plantsand heirloom seeds.
Share What You Learn
A key element of Biophilic Cities is that one of community, since one of the aims is to build a population that is aware of its immediate natural wonders. Thus, the importance of exchanging information; especially when this information is experience-based.
So, if you happen to embark in the venture of growing a native plant garden, food garden, or native food garden remember to share your experience and that which you have learned. You can do so via a blog, social media, or even a book with the hope that many others will follow your lead.
Monuments to the Green
The Biophilic Cities movement is a call for us – humans – to both reconnect with the natural world andourselves.
As a species, it has taken us time to realize that we are as much part of nature as a flower, a whale, or a cloud is. However, we now have the opportunity to turn one of the very icons of this human vs. nature mindset – cities – into a monument that actually honors the opposite.
Let us all begin to build the cities we’ve so long deserved!
Sources
Audubon “Bird-Friendly Communities” (2019) Why Native Plants Matter. Web. 24 January 2019.https://www.audubon.org/content/why-native-plants-matter
Beatly, T. and Newmann, P. (2013) Biophilic Cities are Sustainable, Resilient Cities. Web. 24 January 2019. file:///C:/Users/Maria%20Andr%C3%A9/Downloads/sustainability-05-03328.pdf
Biophilic Cities “Singapore” (2019) Partner Cities: Overview. Biophilic Cities, 2017. Web. 24 January 2019.http://biophiliccities.org/partner-cities/singapore/
by: Maria André