Biophilic Cities: What Are They?

Abstract

while we are already designing biophilic buildings and the immediate spaces around them, we must increasingly imagine biophilic cities and should support a new kind of biophilic urbanism. Exactly what is a biophilic city, what are its key features and qualities? Perhaps the simplest answer is that it is a city that puts nature first in its design, planning, and management; it recognizes the essential need for daily human contact with nature as well as the many environmental and economic values provided by nature and natural systems.

Chapter 3

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• 38. There are sometimes legal obstacles to more sustainable and biophilic procurement. In the case of New York City, New York State General Municipal Law Sect. 103 actually forbids the city from making procurement decisions intended to advance a “social goal.” As the city’s Tropical Hardwood Reduction Plan states, “The use of certified sustainable wood is considered a ‘social goal’…. Therefore it is illegal to specify FSC [Forest Stewardship Council] wood, or its equivalent, in bidding contracts” (p. 9). The only exception to this is for tropical hardwood species that are already banned by the state under its finance law.

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