Placemaking for a Global Community at The Nature of Cities Summit

By JD Brown, Program Director for Biophilic Cities

June 2019

For a few days, Paris was host to the global community of voices contributing to The Nature of Cities. The ambition from the outset for planners of the summit was to propel a movement for collaborative green cities. The result was a gathering that created a sense of place in its own right that saw planners, ecologists, and engineers share the stage with creative forces such as painters, writers and filmmakers. A true co-mingling of creation and ideas.

Biophilic Cities was a lucky partner in the process, benefiting from the energy and hard work of many. The summit presented an opportunity for us to explore, with the diverse community of the summit, an inclusive vision for biophilic cities. A vision that recognizes the systemic challenges inherent in cities that impede the equitable distribution of the myriad benefits of natureful cities; challenges investigated through the writings of The Nature of Cities that document the fragmentation of urban ecological landscapes and lack of equitable access. Biophilic Cities convened a workshop that brought together far-ranging participants from six continents and more than two dozen cities who contributed a wealth of ideas and case studies to support cities in their efforts to address these challenges and create opportunities for broad community access to and dialogue about the nature of their cities.

The workshop was emblematic of many other moments from the summit. The overarching sense was that this is an important moment in time, that builds on the foundation created by urban nature pioneers, where cities embrace the opportunities to connect growing global populations with the nature at their doorsteps as an essential element of global conservation.

At its conclusion, the summit home base at Sorbonne Université was complete with community artistic endeavors, presentation posters and a well-used bullhorn. A comfortable place to move forward with a shared aspiration to make cities more natureful, inclusive, spontaneous, better places for all.