When pandemic lockdowns forced city-dwellers around the world to shelter at home, it became clear that access to nature was more a privilege than many of us were aware of. Countless news reports of people shut inside made my daily bike-commute through a tree-filled Bern seem like a luxury. The most distressing stories were of children shut out of parks and playgrounds. A BBC broadcast in December last year told of Londoners who, during the first lockdown, invited apartment-bound friends with children into their townhouse gardens for a few precious hours while they stayed inside. Such stories led me to think about children in cities everywhere with little or no access to nature, ever.

 

Research predicts that two thirds of humans will be living in urban areas by 2050, compared to about half today. Current urban strategies to increase density so as to maximize existing infrastructure and curb urban creep is generally a good thing; repurposing under-used buildings and increasing overlap is better than building more. Unfortunately, increasing density is often coupled with a loss of greenspace, which not only increases the precariousness of what nature there is, it also exacerbates the effects of climate change. Paved surfaces and heat-absorbing buildings create urban heat islands and reduce the amount of rainfall that can be stored and absorbed during and after storms. Slope and vegetation-loss affect the replenishment of vital ground-water aquifers. The ability of nature to mitigate air, noise, and even light pollution also decreases.[1] The planting of non-native species further threatens native flora and fauna. These factors are known to contribute to climate change-induced events such rising temperatures, droughts, and floods. Lower income neighborhoods feel the effects the most; we do not need studies to prove that parks and waterside promenades are more often found in high income neighborhoods.[2]

 

Clearly, increasing - not decreasing - greenspaces and natural landscapes is beneficial for nature and humans alike.[3]  The BBC report mentioned earlier underscored the benefits of urban greenspaces to human health with a discussion of a study in Singapore that prompted the local government to radically improve access to parks for all residents. Animals also thrive when suitable habitats exist or are created. Cities especially have much to gain from enabling nature in all forms to flourish, and not just the traditional horticulture and residential greenery, but also the in-between and accidental landscapes found on abandoned or reserved plots.[4] Which makes the growing call for urban wilderness exciting and timely.

 

I recently attended a virtual seminar at the Institute for Urban Landscape at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) on the topic of nature in urban environments, with the motto “Kein Angst für Natur” – have no fear of nature. The work of philosopher Timothy Morton, who has challenged society to confront ecological sins by living consciously with (as opposed to against) nature, was mentioned. Trees, meadows, rivers, and streams are not just urban amenities; we share the natural world with them.

      In her book Rambunctious Garden, Emma Marris dissects our understanding of nature conservation and presents realistic alternatives that allow nature to flourish where it finds itself.[5] She highlights the need to nurture and even re-wild cities by loosening our ideas of what and where nature should be. She promotes interconnected green zones where biodiversity can thrive in human-altered landscapes. Cities and industrial sites are ideal not just for trees and animals; species of insects, lichens and amphibians flourish on concrete walls, on traffic verges and in storm drainage reserves. Roofs, gardens and planted balconies can contribute to a wilderness comprised of patches of nature strung together to form viable habitats. Marris believes that, although we cannot reconstitute what we have altered, we can move towards sustainable urban ecosystems that allow humans and wilderness to co-exist successfully.

      This thinking is shared by Ingo Kowarik, who studies accidental greenspaces in Berlin. He sees the ‘novel wilderness’ areas on former wastelands – abandoned railyards and empty lots – as an important part of post-war Berlin’s green infrastructure, as they have strengthened ties between organic nature and urban residents.

 

I am drawn to the idea of wilderness in the city. Happenstance and flexibility often produce better results than perfection, and nature excels at producing beauty where we least expect it. On looking deeper, I was delighted to find many examples of nature thriving in cities, of wilderness intervening organically throughout the urban fabric. Many compelling programs exist that aim to encourage residents to value the nature that surrounds them and allow the benefits of biodiversity and healthy ecosystems to recover and flourish.

 

Bern

The City of Bern has long fostered biodiversity at the edges of playgrounds and on in-between spaces with the goal to increase habitats for insects, birds and other fauna. A pilot project in one city-owned apartment building worked with residents to create a wonderland of lush green tunnels, sandpits and waterscapes in place of a typical back-garden. The city gardens department is currently running a biodiversity awareness campaign (with pandemic-friendly digital guided neighborhood tours) to make small and larger wilderness areas more visible.

 

Barcelona

The city of Barcelona, known for its tree-lined streets, has begun strategically planting more trees to connect existing greenspaces to form a long lush habitat for native plant species and other wildlife. The city also encourages the creation of green roofs and planted walls to mitigate heat build-up and reduce noise and air pollution.

 

Paris

An abandoned train track hidden behind fences and embankments - "Le Chemin de Fer Petite Ceinture" (the little ring railroad) – that runs through residential neighborhoods in central Paris has evolved into an enchanting wilderness of shrubs, grasslands and tunnel-forming trees. Unlike the now famous High Line in NYC, the Ceinture has been left to develop its own ecosystems; many sections are decades old, with well-established vegetation.

 

Las Vegas

For a number of years, the Nature Conservancy has worked to mitigate the heat island effect in numerous US cities. An “un-paving” project in Las Vegas has turned parking spaces into green corridors in an effort to lower temperatures, manage storm water runoff and provide habitat for native fauna. The new streets have been well received by residents, who have found that they increase pedestrian safety as well. There are similar programs in Phoenix, Houston, Chicago and Philadelphia.

 

Baltimore
The Baltimore Ecosystem Study Program has been integrated into school curricula to address topics such as climate justice, biodiversity and the study of local watershed patterns. The city’s Growing Green Initiative and the Baltimore Green Network have been improving vacant lots in distressed neighborhoods since 2014 by planting trees and creating natural stormwater drainage control.

 

New York City

New York has a surprising number of diverse ecosystems, and a corresponding number of programs in place that work to mitigate the effects of long-term local misuse and global climate change. The Natural Areas Conservancy  is an NGO that works within the city’s natural landscapes to raise awareness by drawing city dwellers, students and budding naturalists into the forests, wetlands and grasslands. The Conservancy has initiated a nationwide network to promote research and education in urban natural landscapes. Their aim is to document the benefits of urban wilderness  for heat mitigation, runoff control, species biodiversity and recreation for residents. Their research has shown that forests and other natural elements perform statistically better at cooling, water management, and pollution control than traditional parks and other managed greenspaces, a fact that is often not considered by city planners. Other laudable NYC programs include the Billion Oyster Project, started in 2014 to clean up the harbor and protect the city's coastline from storm damage, and the Gowanus Canal Conservancy. A City University project to catalogue NYC’s trees has been able to continue outdoors during the pandemic.

 

Milwaukee

In the last century, cities installed complex underground storm drainage systems to channel and dispose of rainwater. The increase in severe storms has overwhelmed this infrastructure. Cities have found that, by increasing the footprint of natural vegetation, they can create multi-use amenities for biodiverse natural habitats and human recreation. The process of revegetation controls urban flooding and replenishes groundwater. A further advantage of allowing natural seepage is the filtering qualities of soil, which keeps waterways cleaner. Such projects are often instigated by major storm events, including the Menomonee River Valley Project in Milwaukee, which transformed a partially abandoned industrial area into a stormwater control and treatment area comprised of a wetlands wilderness crisscrossed by walking and biking trails, as well as sites for new sustainable industry.

 

School yards and vacant lots

In its quest to increase urban wilderness in underserved neighborhoods throughout the US, the Trust for Public Lands has to date created parks and recreation areas in over 20 school districts. These greenspaces are designed to encourage children to play outside and often involve the local community in tree-planting and in the planning of biodiverse stormwater control landscaping. The Vacant to Vibrant program does similar work on a smaller scale. They are active at the local level in the Midwest and in Washington DC, working lot by lot to transform blight into urban amenities for the benefit of wildlife and city residents.

 

All of these examples have gained importance in the context of the pandemic. We need large traditional parks and gardens, but we must go further if we want our cities to sustain growing populations and nature in the face of climate change. If we want all children to have access to lush biodiverse greenspaces, edges and in-between spaces need to be richer and wilder. We need small-scale parks linked to form wildlife corridors for flora and fauna, that work to control flooding, reduce pollution and  prevent heat islands in underserved neighborhoods. And we need the large natural amenities in our cities to be revitalized and maintained so that they can thrive in the face of climate change. City residents who have access to nature have more respect for the larger natural world and a greater willingness to pursue the challenges at hand.

      In my hunt for unexpected wilderness amidst the manmade fabric in the cities I love, my sense of place has grown to include a sense of nature moving through the built environment and out to the surrounding landscapes. Isn’t this connection to nature something we want for all of our children, everywhere?