Abstract
This chapter presents a case study of the Los Angeles River, from its ecological death through its partial rebirth. We live in a world filled with many places like the LA River. If we continue building cities like this, we risk condemning billions of people to suffer from the urban mental health penalty. But cities have a choice of taking another, more biophilic path. This chapter discusses in detail some challenges to the biophilic cities vision that must be addressed if the vision is to move forward in cities around the globe. We end by listing what readers of this book can do to help move their city toward a more biophilic future.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Beatley, Timothy. 2017. Handbook of biophilic city planning & design. Washington, DC: Island Press.
City of Los Angeles. 2007. Los Angeles River revitalization master plan. Los Angeles: Bureau of Engineering. http://boe.lacity.org/lariverrmp/.
Dowton, P. 2017. Half-Earth cities. The Nature of Cities. https://www.thenatureofcities.com/2017/12/26/half-earth-cities/.
Galle, N., S. Nitoslawski, and F. Pilla. 2019. The internet of nature: How taking nature online can shape urban ecosystems. The Anthropocene Review 6 (3): 279–287.
Gandy, M. 2014. Tracing the LA River. In The fabric of space: Water, modernity, and the urban imagination, ed. M. Gandy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Gumprecht, B. 2005. Who killed the L.A. River? In Land of sunshine: An environmental history of metropolitan Los Angeles, ed. W. Deverell and G. Hise. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.
McDonald, R.I., T. Beatley, and T. Elmqvist. 2018. The green soul of the concrete jungle: The urban century, the urban psychological penalty, and the role of nature. Sustainable Earth 1 (1): 3.
McDonald, R.I., et al. 2020. Research gaps in knowledge of the impact of urban growth on biodiversity. Nature Sustainability 3: 16–24.
Nowak, David J., and Eric J. Greenfield. 2018. Declining urban and community tree cover in the United States. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 32: 32–55.
Perini, K., and P. Sabbion. 2016. Urban sustainability and river restoration: Green and blue infrastructure. John Wiley & Sons.
Roraback, D. 1985. The L.A. River practices own trickle-down theory. Los Angeles Times.
UN Habitat. 2016. Slum almanac 2015–2016: Tracking improvement in the lives of slum dwellers. Nairobi: Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme, UN Habitat.
UNPD. 2018. World urbanization prospects: The 2018 revision. New York: United Nations Population Division.
Wilson, E.O. 2016. Half-earth: Our planet’s fight for life. New York: WW Norton & Company.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
McDonald, R., Beatley, T. (2021). The Choice. In: Biophilic Cities for an Urban Century. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51665-9_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51665-9_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-51664-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-51665-9
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)