I recently visited the Living Forest at the London Design Biennial, Somerset House where they have planted 400 trees and it brought to mind an article I had read about the city of Melbourne's urban forest strategy to cope with climate change. The introduction to the strategy and how it will be achieved, says it all :
The strategy aims to:
adapt our city to climate change
mitigate the urban heat island effect by bringing our inner-city temperatures down
create healthier ecosystems
become a water-sensitive city
engage and involve the community.
We will achieve this by:
increasing canopy cover from 22 per cent to 40 per cent by 2040
increasing forest diversity with no more than five per cent of one tree species, no more than ten per cent of one genus and no more than 20 per cent of any one family
improving vegetation health
improving soil moisture
improving biodiversity
informing and consulting with the community.
A crucial part of the plan is to increase the number of trees and green spaces and this is already having an impact upon the city and its citizens.
Firstly, a database has been established that maps all the trees in the city and people have been encouraged to identify and engage with their favourite tree (no guesses which one I identify with in St Albans: the lovely lime tree in Bricket Road).
The approach Melbourne is taking is being mirrored in cities across the world and we must not miss the opportunity for St Albans. I think we are all learning how important nature, and the symbiotic relationship we have with plants and animals, are in nurturing our health and well-being. The Covid pandemic has helped us realise that access to green spaces and forests is really important for our physical and mental health. Most of us have been forced to slow down and contemplate our environment in a new way: we spend more time at home and have got to know our local neighbourhood in a way we hadn't before. Amidst the sadness and frustration of Covid, our relationship with nature has been increased and enhanced.
Besides a recognition that greening is important for climate change another element people have been talking about with regard to their health and equilibrium is the importance of water, whether it's rivers, canals, lakes, waterfalls or even fountains and water features. If we are thinking about water in a city these last two are conspicuous by their absence in St Albans. Along with increasing the biodiversity and planting more trees this lack of water features in our city centre is surely something we need to address: we shouldn't just green St Albans, we should aim to be a blue-green city, and that doesn't just mean providing sources of water but creating a natural water cycle through water management that integrates with a green infrastructure. We need to be like Melbourne and also become a water-sensitive city.
In the past, the impression has been that urban planning has been working against nature. We now need to reverse that culture and in our post-pandemic, climate crisis world, ensure nature is integrated into city landscapes.
Past mindsets should be adjusted and as the Chinese architect, Ma Yansong, said:
We need to enter a new era to make nature and humans more emotionally connected in modern cities.