NATURAL URBAN DEVELPOMENT IN USA
social sciences
Description
Integrating more nature into the urban fabric of cities in the United States and North America is
possible. Adding greenery to the human spaces within and around buildings is paramount for the
livability of a city in that not only does it increase the visual quality of the landscape (through
‘softening’ the vista of buildings), but it also acts as a sound barrier in the city, preventing intense
sounds from traveling too far if the amount of tree cover is large enough. Nature, and especially
street trees, hold important functions in our urban environments. Not only do they filter sunlight,
but they alsoNATURAL URBAN DEVELPOMENT IN USA protect people in the pedestrian walk from cars in the carriageway and provide a vaulted
canopy above the street to add a feeling of comfort for people walking. Besides the visual and
safety benefit of having trees or nature in the urban environment, adding greenery helps to filter
air, a necessary process in an environment where so many harmful greenhouse emissions are
produced by industry and transportation. It is important to list these reasons do underline the fact
that there is a need for urban biophilia, and where there is a need there is a cause to do so.
Many cities in the united states have shown that adding street trees and other nature to the built
environment is possible. Portland, Oregon is a quintessential candidate of a city that has pushed
for street trees. Furthermore, due to recent trends and the desire of many millennials to return to
the city to live and work, the distribution of resources and the implementation of the policy may be
made more feasible. As a generation of educated and forward-thinking people voices its desire to
render its environment more sustainable, the effort may be made possible. Despite this, one
obstacle for some cities may be the availability of resources to be distributed throughout such a
large area of land. Were cities to be more compact or to set urban growth boundaries, the number
of resources that they would have available could be better utilized.
