Rewilding, which consists of “conservation efforts aimed at restoring and protecting natural processes and wilderness areas,” is usually done away from cities, in more rural areas and involves, to simplify greatly, letting land go back to its natural state. The word still seems fitting though, for the two short articles below, where man-made structures are replaced with hybrid ones, bringing more nature back into, and around cities.
One of the defining features of Fab Cities is the idea of acting locally and connecting globally. For the last year+ of posting here, we’ve featured a lot of international projects. Now, even though we’ve always featured local projects too, we’re going to spend a little more time highlighting local initiatives that, whether they realise it or not, fit under the umbrella of the Fab City.
Gentrification is a major problem in many neighbourhoods in cities around the world. Groups of residents in Bristol, UK, have been organising to reclaim some of the land and properties vital to their community.
Trees are one of those things that seem to be staring us right in the face and which we only now “rediscover” through renewed walks in parks during the pandemic, and the need to face the climate crisis, where trees have shown the ability “to reduce city temperatures, absorb carbon dioxide and soak up excess rainfall.”
At first glance, it might still be unintuitive for some but the evidence is mounting that living in cities is actually more sustainable than in the countryside. Hélène Chartier goes further, arguing that sustainable living is “not viable outside cities.” Interviewed after the release of the most recent IPCC report, she says that “cities are the only sustainable way to house Earth’s growing population–but the importance of protecting them from climate risks has been totally underrated.”
