Biophilic Cities, Restorative Urbanism

Biophilic design can be a huge part of restorative urbanism in so many ways. It can be implemented and integrated to restore our environments, our mental and physical health (which are inextricably bound together), and can restore our sense of community.

Biophilic design like seen above is not only beautiful, but also functional. Green walls, roofs, and open spaces can all be planned and managed to foster natural ecological relationships between organisms. Creating "microecologies" in these spaces where the various organisms can all find niches and mutually beneficial relationships, as opposed to our traditional way of creating manicured landscapes that require a lot energy, resources, water, and management with total disregard for the functionality of the local ecology, can have profound effects on our urban environments. If we planed our green spaces in ways that actually function ecologically, we would literally be able to build biodiversity into our cities, and in turn increase the resiliency of our ecosystems. Not only are all the plants, insects, and animals healthier and happier for it, but we would get to live within these interactions, surrounded by pollinating birds and insects, blooming flowers, vivacious streams and rivers, and we could stand only an arms length away from the fruits of our labor (fruits and vegetables), tasting and relishing our success. An excellent example of this from the films was the specially designed bat bridges in Texas, where hundreds of people gathered to watch the millions of bats fly out in huge columns for the night (see below).

Biophilic design not only addresses "nature" in the classical sense, but also nature in the newer sense of the word, that means humans included. Whether we are aware of it or not, our way of life needs some restoration as well. It needs daily nature, it needs nature woven into the fabric of our cities in ways so that we are compelled to interact with it, enjoy it, and experience it (see image below).

Places like this can be phenomenally restorative mentally and physically, especially for the many of us who sit in small offices cooped up all day staring at screens listening to the electrical buzz of fluorescent lights. Biophilic places like these have also been shown to offer relief for the many of us who suffer from the directed attention fatigue caused by the lifestyle described above. Also these places get people to want to go outside and the collision of nature and human culture, which is vastly important in getting community support behind projects like these.