Wild the City Blog

This blog exhibits the benefits of providing complex, multipurpose landscapes in our cities.  It will be a guide for embracing the wild in even the most urban of spaces.  It’s for everyone, from urban designers and landscape architects to both the interested and indifferent general community.

E aha te mea nui? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata.

What is the most important thing? It is the people, people, people.

Communities need to be involved in planning their future.  In doing so, they gain both a sense of ownership and a vibrant city.  If a community is involved, they choose the solutions to problems, they decide how a space will be used, and this creates a sense of ownership that brings about affection, responsibility and value for the space.

The environment is important to more than just the immediate community.  All are affected- people and other species.  Our health, wellbeing and survival is affected if the air is unclean and streams are polluted.

“Nature is not a place to visit, it is a home”. Gary Synder

All living things are equal and have the right to blossom.  This is no less true in a city than the country or a national park. If we value nature somewhere, we should value it everywhere.  And we need not be detached.

So, please add your ideas and thoughts to begin a discussion.

References: 

Low (2002) The New Nature. Viking, Melbourne and London.

Pretty (2007) The Earth only endures. Earthscan, London 

Thompson Fawcett & Freeman (2007) Living Together- towards inclusive communities