The Nature of Cities Summit – what a week!

I can’t remember the last time I was at a conference that was this much fun! Four days of listening, discussing, drawing, learning, meeting, laughing, observing, eating, walking… all things related to ‘green’ in the city.

What is the impact of trees on air quality? Are green walls worth the hassle? How can we finance community gardens? What kind of food can we safely and sustainably grow in an urban environment? What type of green makes sense for arid environments?

I thought the urban ecologists, academics, and policy-makers I was surrounded by would have some answers to the above questions. I learned that these questions were more complex than I originally expected and that there is a lot we don’t know. We will get answers by approaching such questions with humility, reaching out to experts from other disciplines for answers and lessons, and experimenting at the local level based on community needs.

There are definitely some lessons learned. In terms of urban agriculture, Parisians have successfully experimented with various food projects (both community and commercial). They have created a formal network across the city to share their knowledge and expertise. They were surprised (and chuffed!) to find out that no other city had an equivalent network… I am certain there will be a few popping up over the coming few months.

There is finally an awareness that ecologists, environmental professionals, and public health professionals need to work together to more accurately understand the impacts of trees and other forms of urban vegetation on human health (for example). As Prof. Diane Pataki and Prof. Thomas Whitlow pointed out to me, science now tells us that urban trees can be both good and bad for air quality, depending on factors such as species, street width, and local climate. As designers, planners, and policymakers, we must educate ourselves on the nuances of this topic. Otherwise, we risk doing more harm than good.

For those interested in discovering more, I would recommend the Living Melbourne (technical report) released earlier this month by Resilient Melbourne and the Nature Conservancy. Also, this recent review paper (thanks for the recommendation, Diane!) highlights the ambiguity around the impact of trees on air quality and the need for interdisciplinary research on this topic.

What was not contested was the positive impact nature has on the psychological health and social well-being of urban dwellers. I had the pleasure of going on a walk to visit a few of the hundred urban community gardens in Paris. These are generally small spaces within Parisian neighborhoods were the community gathered to request a plot of land from the local government. Once a piece of land is identified and designated for community use (the hard part!), the people of the area then take ownership of growing and managing the garden. It was delightful to be in these colorful, flourishing spaces and to see the young and old (and of course, the bees and birds!) enjoying and benefiting from them.

I am certain that the conversations and experiences I had at the Summit will inspire me for years to come. There was clearly a lot of interest in GCC cities, particularly in terms of their rapid growth and responses to arid climates. Everyone I bumped into was curious to know more, understand better, and learn. There is also a lot in the global conversations around the green and resilient cities that we, as built environment professionals in the Middle East, can learn from, add to, and influence… the work continues!