Birmingham first in the UK to join the global green cities club
14th May 2014
Birmingham a city famous for it's "Black Country" national heritage recently joined a network of 'biophilic' cities which include San Francisco, Singapore and Oslo. These cities are celebrated for their green credentials, open spaces and links to nature. Birmingham is a leader in making connections between health and nature and has declared it's intention to be a green and sustainable city.
A Biophilic City is defined as cities that contain abundant nature; they are cities that care about, seek to protect, restore and grow this nature, and that strive to foster deep connections and daily contact with the natural world. Nature is not something optional, but absolutely essential to living a happy, healthy and meaningful life; these cities put nature at the heart of their decision making http://biophiliccities.org/
Much of the cities new philosophy can be seen in the Green Living Spaces Plan, which includes a proposal for creating access to Birmingham's impressive network of rivers and streams, making it the basis for a citywide grid of trails and pathways. Despite the city's reputation as a gray industrial locale, it ranks high in biodiversity, especially when the National Nature Reserve, the 1,000-hectare Sutton Park (the only urban reserve in the United Kingdom), is taken into account. Birmingham has declared its intent to be the United Kingdom's first 'natural capital city,' and is working on a 'natural capital metric' that will be used to evaluate future development projects.
So what is Biophilia?
'Biophilia' is a term popularised by the American biologist E O Wilson as a way of describing how, in his words, humans are 'hard-wired' to need connection with nature and other forms of life. Wilson wrote: 'Biophilia is the innately emotional affiliation of human beings to other living organisms.'
Source; The Guardian | Biophilic Cities
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