The discovery of the nature-city and the re-generative strategies (original) (raw)

Sustainable Tourism in Cities—Nature Reserves as a ‘New’ City Space for Nature-Based Tourism

Sustainability, 2022

Visible trends in city tourism related to the development of sustainable tourism clearly imply an increase in the significance of green areas and the development of nature-based tourism. Natural areas in cities that ideally fit the assumptions of sustainable tourism are nature reserves—areas where protection of the valuable environment is a priority. This paper aims to highlight that nature reserves are green spots in cities that can be excellent sites for sustainable tourism. The choice of big cities was dictated by the fact that they have the highest requirement for recreational green spaces due to a high concentration of tourist traffic in historic city centres and a clearer need for sustainable forms of tourism. Sixteen nature reserves in five big Polish cities with a population of more than 100,000: Gdańsk, Łódź, Poznań, Toruń, and Warsaw were selected for the study. Field surveys were carried out in nature reserves to see whether basic tourism facilities providing information ...

More nature in the city

Plant Biosystems, 2020

According to projects and practices that the Italian botanists and ecologists are carrying out for bring- ing “more nature in the city”, new insights for a factual integration between ecological perspectives and more consolidated aesthetic and agronomic approaches to the sustainable planning and manage- ment of urban green areas are provided.

Understanding and designing nature experiences in cities: a framework for biophilic urbanism

Cities and Health, 2019

Increasing evidence shows that creating and maintaining relationships with nature is important for human wellbeing. Humanity has become a mostly urbanised species where people typically spend most of their time indoors. It is important then that strategies for deliberately bringing aspects of nature into urban spaces are explored. Design that responds to an understanding of people’s innate connection to the living world can be termed biophilic design. This research defines a unique biophilic urbanism framework for analysing and mapping biophilic urban elements. Thirty characteristics of biophilic cities were identified and then used to map Wellington, New Zealand. Observations arising from the research include: 1/while access to wild nature might be an important characteristic of a biophilic city, planned design interventions are also significant; and 2/when identified biophilic elements form part of a larger interconnected spatial experience through time, positive effects may be enhanced. This can enable identification of strategic locations for biophilic interventions in the wider urban fabric to facilitate more effective urban nature experiences. This suggests that biophilic urbanism must encompass a wide range of human sensory information, and should be designed from a four-dimensional (i.e. including time) perspective.

Nature-Based Tourism on the Edge of Urban Development

Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 2000

Urban sprawl in Australian cities is threatening a substantial number of pristine environments. Councils in Local Government Areas are attempting to meet the challenge of providing housing for increasing populations and preserving natural resources, many of which have tourism potential. This paper seeks to promote our understanding of the problems of balancing urban growth and the conservation of natural resources using Campbelltown, an outer suburb of Sydney, as a case study. The paper distinguishes five different types of tourists to highlight the appeal of Campbelltown's natural assets to different markets. A Market/Asset matrix is used to show how the existing level of development affects the expectations and needs of each different market. A framework based on the 'ecotourism paradigm' recently formulated by Ross and Wall (1999b) is used to identify the types of relationships which must exist in order for Campbelltown City Council to develop nature-based tourism in the area to its full potential.

The city as nature and the nature of the city

2018

The 21 Century is the urban century with humans the dominant force shaping the planet's future. This paper outlines why the era's pressing imperatives need transformations in our production and habitation systems. These transformations require ecological design and technical and social innovations for adaptation. These adaptations need new visions of the city as nature and redefining the nature of the city. The paper begins by articulating the concept that all modern cities are forming a single global megacity – named Anthropocencia - linked together by gargantuan flows of information, goods and people. This megacity satisfies its rapacious appetites by drawing resources from a vast global hinterland. But the city is also a place of cultural production where the ferment of new ideas engenders the social and technological innovations needed for adapting to changing circumstances. Thousands of climate responsive and biophilic communities are in active exploration, ushering in ...

The Natural city: re-envisioning the built environment

Choice Reviews Online, 2012

Urban and natural environments are often viewed as entirely separate entities -human settlements as the domain of architects and planners, and natural areas as untouched wilderness. This dichotomy continues to drive decision-making in subtle ways, but with the mounting pressures of global climate change and declining biodiversity, it is no longer viable. New technologies are promising to provide renewable energy sources and greener designs, but real change will require a deeper shift in values, attitudes, and perceptions.

Reenchanting Urban Wildness: To Perceive, Think and Live With Nature in its Urban Environment

Transatlantica, 2018

This second edition of the International Conference on Ecopoetics organized by Benedicte Meillon, under the aegis of the research center CRESEM (Centre de Recherche sur les Societes et Environnements en Mediterranee) of the University of Perpignan Via Domitia, explored the literary and social manifestations of diverse interactions linking humans and non-humans in the midst of an expanding urbanization. The conference gathered a hundred scholars, novelists, poets, sociologists, ethnologists, t...

Inhabitants' Environmental Perceptions in the City of Rome within the Framework for Urban Biosphere Reserves of the UNESCO Programme on Man and Biosphere

2004

The article presents the main tenets of the UNESCO Programme on Man and Biosphere (MAB), launched by the United Nations at the beginning of the 1970s. The program aimed at supporting applied research and scientific knowledge for managing natural resources in a rational and sustainable way. The implication of the full ecological perspective, typical of the MAB, for promoting multidisciplinary and integrated approaches in the study of environmental issues is briefly outlined. In particular, the role of the MAB, through the biosphere reserve concept, in supporting the collaboration between natural-biological and socialbehavioral sciences when dealing with biodiversity conservation problems and with urban ecosystems is pointed out. Then, the specific UNESCO-MAB Project on the city of Rome, launched at the end of the 1980s, is briefly presented, together with the recent project of the Department of the Environment of the Rome Municipality to propose Rome's urban and periurban green areas as a new UNESCO-MAB Biosphere Reserve. The results of the main research activities conducted therein are summarized. In particular, the specific research lines of the environmental psychology research group, involved in the MAB-Rome Project for approximately two decades, are presented. These research lines dealt with various aspects of residents' environmental perception and behaviors in the city of Rome. The practical implications of these results are also briefly discussed. AU: Is running title okay? a The research lines presented in this article are part of a broader research project developed in collaboration with the Department of the Environment of the Rome Municipality and with the

Nature and the city

People usually think about biodiversity and nature in terms of national parks, reserves and wildlife. Yet humans have a growing urban footprint across the planet. More than 50 per cent of Australia's threatened species and ecosystems occur within the urban fringe. As Dr Richard Fuller points out, it's not just a problem for plants and animals-it seems that nature is key to the wellbeing of people in cities too. Credit: Ed Yourdon, wikimedia commons under CC BY-SA 2.0 licence Like many of us, I live in a small suburban unit with a backyard the size of a postage stamp. While this is arguably a good urban design for minimising biodiversity impacts, there is mounting concern that our modern urban lifestyle disconnects us from nature. This is worrying because nature experiences seem to provide important benefits to many aspects of our lives, including our mental and physical health, social relationships and even our spiritual well-being.