The ‘natures’ of planning: evolving conceptualizations of nature as expressed in urban planning theory and practice

ABSTRACT

Over the course of the past century, the idea of nature in the city has become increasingly intricate, evolving from being viewed as a refuge separate from the city to being understood as an essential component of dynamic urban systems. As such, attempts are currently being made to ‘re-nature’ cities to support local and global ecosystems, increase human well-being and address environmental issues such as climate change. While the literature has examined changing assumptions about society–nature relationships in planning, a dearth of knowledge exists relating to the changing conceptualization of nature’s relationship with the ‘city’ and how this has influenced how urban planning with respect to ‘nature’ has evolved in both theory ‘and’ practice. In this paper, we address this lacuna by tracing the history of the entwined relationship between nature and city planning. The conceptual framework developed from this review is subsequently employed as an analytical lens through which to investigate an illustrative case study of planning for nature in Dublin City, Ireland. The paper concludes by reflecting on how exploring the natures of planning provides scope for greater critical attention to what we do as planners when we seek to address the challenge of safeguarding nature through policy.

KEYWORDS:

• Nature
• social–ecological systems
• green infrastructure

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Though it gained prominence in current conceptualisations, the concept of closely intertwining nature and the urban built and social environments is not new. For instance, in his 1969 text, Design With Nature, Scottish landscape architect, Ian McHarg, helped lay the foundations for the ecological turn in urban planning and policy by suggesting that nature should not simply be seen as relief from the industrial city. Rather, it should be perceived and protected as a vital source of life. He questioned the notion of nature simply encircling the city with greenbelts and advocated the incorporation of nature in cities spatially in terms of green space and through nature-based design.