Biophilia. It’s a term introduced by E. O. Wilson in his 1984 book of the same name. Biophilia is an innate human love for the natural world – a desire to associate with other forms of life.

If this desire really exists, what does this mean for the environments that we create for ourselves? Some are horribly impoverished of life. Are many of us then suffering from the loneliness of this disassociation? Roger Ulrich was the first to show that simply the view of a garden from a hospital window has positive health outcomes, suggesting that, yes, surrounding ourselves with other forms of life does relieve suffering. How then can we make cities that are full of life? That help to sustain our lives by surrounding us with our organic companions?

As a start to answering this question, check out Joseph Clancy’s four part article on biophilic cities. Here are the first three:
The Rise of Biophilia
What Makes a Biophilic City?
Top Ten Biophilic Cities