Eco-Sustainable Cities, Biophilic-Cities: environmental discourse shapes and urban forms

Journal title TERRITORIO
Author/s Giampiero Lombardini
Publishing Year 2025 Issue 2024/108-109
Language Italian Pages 12 P. 43-54 File size 592 KB
DOI 10.3280/TR2024-108004
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

The environmental discourse around the city and the ways to make the contemporary settlement sustainable and resilient has been divided into a series of approaches and theories that have produced a variety of solutions. However, the theme of urban form and its effects on sustainability is not always declared and addressed. Proposed solutions and methods seem often indifferent to the form that the city would preferably take to achieve those ambitious objectives. Although the question of form seems to be relegated to the background of the discussion, it is relevant, and the most advanced experiments about ‘eco-sustainable cities’ bring it as the focus, inserting it into a broader reasoning on the relationships between urban infrastructure and environment.

Keywords: environmental planning; new urbanism; eco-cities

  1. Alberti M., 2008, Advances in urban ecology: Integrating humans and ecological processes in urban ecosystems. New York: Springer.
  2. Amati M., 2016, ed., Urban green belts in the twenty-first century. London: Routledge.
  3. Anguelovski I. et al., 2019, «New scholarly pathways on green gentrification: What does the urban ‘green turn’ mean and where is it going?». Progress in Human Geography, 43, 6: 1064-1086.
  4. Artmann M. et al., 2019, «Urban sprawl, compact urban development and green cities. How much do we know, how much do we agree?» Ecological indicators, 96: 3-9.
  5. Arundel R., Ronald R., 2017, «The role of urban form in sustainability of community: The case of Amsterdam». Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 44, 1: 33-53.
  6. Baldwin C., King. 2018, Social sustainability, climate resilience and community-based urban development: What about the people? London-New York: Routledge.
  7. Barles S. 2010, «Society, Energy and Materials: The Contribution of Urban Metabolism Studies to Sustainable Urban Development Issues». Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 53, 4: 439-455. Bathri I., Kasliwal A., 2019, «Biophilic architecture». International Journal of Research in Engineering, Science and Management, 2: 580-582.
  8. Beatley T., 2011, Biophilic Cities: Integrating Nature into Urban Design and Planning. Washington: Island Press.
  9. Beatley T., 2016, Handbook of Biophilic City Planning and Design. Washington: Island Press. crossref Beatley T., Newman P., 2013,
  10. «Biophilic cities are sustainable, resilient cities». Sustainability 5, 8: 3328-3345.
  11. Bramley G., Power S., 2009, «Urban form and social sustainability: the role of density and housing type». Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 36, 1: 30-48.
  12. Breuste J. et al., 2020, Making Green Cities: Concepts, Challenges and Practice. Cham: Springer.
  13. Bullis K., 2009, «A zero-emissions city in the desert». Technology Review, 112, 2: 56-63.
  14. Burton E., 2000, «Compact City: Just or Just Compact? A Preliminary Analysis». Urban Studies Journal, 37, 11: 1969-2001.
  15. Burton E., Jenks M., Williams K., 2003, The compact city: a sustainable urban form? London-New York: Routledge.
  16. Cabanek A. et al., 2020, «Biophilic streets: a design framework for creating multiple urban benefits». Sustainable Earth, 3, 1: 1-173.
  17. Calthorpe P., 1993, The next American metropolis. Ecology, Community, and the American Dream. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. Chrysoulakis N., 2020, Understanding Urban Metabolism: A Tool for
  18. Urban Planning. London: Earthscan.
  19. Daneshpour A., Shakibamanesh A., 2011, «Compact city; does it create an obligatory context for urban sustainability?» International journal of architectural engineering & urban planning, 21, 2: 110-118.
  20. Daniels T.L. 2001, «Smart growth: A new American approach to regional planning». Planning practice and research, 16, 3-4: 271-279.
  21. Daniels T.L., 2009, «A trail across time: American environmental planning from city beautiful to sustainability». Journal of the American Planning Association, 75, 2: 178-192.
  22. Daniels T., 2017, The environmental planning handbook: For sustainable communities and regions, New York: Routledge (3d ed.).
  23. Davoudi S., 2003, «European briefing: polycentricity in European spatial planning: from an analytical tool to a normative agenda». European Planning Studies, 11, 8: 979-999.
  24. Davoudi S., Sturzaker J., 2017 «Urban form, policy packaging and sustainable urban metabolism». Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 120: 55-64. Deng H. et al., 2021, «Compact or disperse? Evolution patterns and cou-
  25. pling of urban land expansion and population distribution evolution of major cities in China, 1998–2018». Habitat International, 108: 102324. Duany A., Plater-Zyberk E., Speck J., 2001, Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream. New York: North
  26. Point Press.
  27. Duany A., Speck J., Lydon M., 2010, The Smart Growth Manual. New York: McGraw Hill.
  28. Edwards B., Turrent D., 2000, Sustainable housing: Principles and practice. London: E & FN Spon.
  29. el-Baghdadi O., Desha C., 2017, «Conceptualising a biophilic services model for urban areas». Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 27: 399-408. Farr D., 2007, Sustainable urbanism: Urban design with nature. New
  30. York: John Wiley & Sons.
  31. Fiorino D.J., 2006, The new environmental regulation. Cambridge (ma): mit Press.
  33. Gillette H., 2010, Civitas by Design: Building Better Communities, from the Garden City to the New Urbanism. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania.
  34. Girardet H., 2004, Cities, people, planet: Livable cities for a sustainable world. Chichester (uk): Wiley-Academy.
  35. Goh K., 2021, Form and Flow: The Spatial Politics of Urban Resilience and Climate Justice. Cambridge (ma): mit Press.
  36. Grove K., 2018, Resilience. London-New York: Routledge.
  37. Haarstad H. et al., 2023, «Diversifying the compact city: A renewed agenda for geographical research». Dialogues in Human Geography, 13, 1: 5-24.
  38. Haas T., 2012, Sustainable urbanism and beyond: rethinking cities for the future. New York: Rizzoli.
  39. Jabareen Y.R., 2006, «Sustainable urban forms: Their typologies, models, and concepts». Journal of Planning Education and Research, 26, 1: 38-52.
  40. Jiménez-Delgado A., Lloret-Mauri J., 2019, Health, Wellbeing and Sustainability in the Mediterranean City. London-New York: Routledge. Katz P., 1994, The new urbanism: Toward an architecture of community.
  41. New York: McGraw Hill.
  42. Kelbaugh D., 2002, «The new urbanism». In: Fainstein S.S, Campbell S. (eds.), Readings in urban theory. Oxford: Blackwell, 354-361.
  43. Kellert S.R., Wilson E.O., 1993, The Biophilia Hypothesis. Washington (dc): Island Press.
  44. Kellert S.R., 2018, Nature by Design: The Practice of Biophilic Design; New Haven: Yale University Press.
  45. Kennedy C., Pincetl S., Bunje P., 2011, «The Study of Urban Metabolism and Its Applications to Urban Planning and Design». Environmental Pollution, 159, 8-9: 1965-1973.
  46. Knowles R.D., Ferbrache F., 2019, Transit Oriented Development and Sustainable Cities: Economics, Community and Methods. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
  47. Kotsila P. et al., 2023, Injustice in Urban Sustainability: Ten Core Drivers. London: Taylor & Francis.
  48. Lee S., Kim Y., 2021, «A framework of biophilic urbanism for improving climate change adaptability in urban environments». Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 61: 127104.
  49. Lefosse D., van Timmeren A., Ratti C., 2023, «Biophilia Upscaling: A Systematic Literature Review Based on a Three-Metric Approach». Sustainability, 15, 22: 15702.
  50. Lein J.K., 2003, Integrated Environmental Planning, Malden: Blackwell. Lobner N. et al., 2021, «Urban compactivity models: screening city trends for the urgency of social and environmental sustainability».
  51. Urban Science, 5, 4: 83.
  52. Madakam S., Bhawsar P., 2020, «Neom smart city: The city of future (the urban Oasis in Saudi desert)». In: Augusto J.C. (ed.), Handbook of smart cities. Dordrecht: Springer: 1-23.
  53. McHarg I., 1969, Design with nature. Garden City (ny): Anchor Doubleday (trad. it., 1989, Progettare con la natura. Padova: Muzzio). Moore J. et al., 2020, Ecocities Now: Building the Bridge to Socially Just and
  54. Ecologically Sustainable Cities. Cham: Springer International Publishing. Neuman M., 2005. «The Compact City Fallacy». Journal of Planning
  55. Education and Research, 25: 11-26.
  56. Newman P., 2014, «Biophilic urbanism: a case study on Singapore».
  57. Australian Planner, 51, 1: 47-65.
  58. Newman P., Kenworthy J., 1999, Sustainability and cities: overcoming automobile dependence, Washington (dc): Island Press.
  59. Newman P., Beatley T., Boyer H., 2017, «Build Biophilic Urbanism in the City and Its Bioregion». In: Beatley T. et al. (eds.), Resilient Cities: Overcoming Fossil Fuel Dependence; Washington (dc): Island Press, 127-153.
  60. Palazzo D., Steiner F.R., 2012, Urban ecological design: a process for regenerative places. Washington (dc): Island Press.
  61. Parsons K.C., 2002. From the Garden City to Green Cities: The Legacy of Ebenezer Howard. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
  62. Ramaswami A. et al., 2021, «Carbon analytics for net-zero emissions sustainable cities». Nature Sustainability, 4, 6: 460-463.
  63. Register R., 1987, Eco-city Berkeley: Building Cities for a Healthy Future. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books.
  64. Register R., 2006, Ecocities: Rebuilding cities in balance with nature, Gabriola Island (bc): New Society Publishers.
  65. Richardson H.W., Gordon P., 2014, «Compactness or sprawl: America’s future vs. the present». In: id (eds.), Cities for the New Millennium. New York: Routledge, 53-64.
  66. Rodrigues M., Franco M., 2022, «Bibliometric review about eco-cites and urban sustainable development: trend topics». Environment, Development and Sustainability, 24:13683-13704.
  67. Salat S., Nowacki C., 2011, «The Mediterranean urban development: a lesson of sustainability for the world». International journal of sustainable development, 14, 1-2: 3-15.
  68. Stephenson B. 2002, «The roots of the new urbanism: John Nolen’s garden city ethic». Journal of Planning History, 1, 2: 99-123.
  69. Tarek S., Ouf A., 2021, «Biophilic Smart Cities: The Role of Nature and Technology in Enhancing Urban Resilience». Journal of Engineering and Applied Science, 68: 1-22.
  70. tcpa, 2011, Re-imagining garden cities for the 21st century, London: Town and Country Planning Association.
  72. The Urban Task Force, 2003, Towards an urban renaissance. London: Routledge.
  73. Thomson G., Newman P., 2021, «Green Infrastructure and Biophilic Urbanism as Tools for Integrating Resource Efficient and Ecological Cities». Urban Planning, 6: 75-88.
  74. van Vliet K., Hammond C., 2021, «Residents’ perceptions of green infrastructure in the contemporary residential context: A study of Kingswood, Kingston-upon-Hull, England». Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 64, 1: 145-163.
  75. Verma P. et al., 2020, Urban ecology: emerging patterns and social-ecological systems. Oxford: Elsevier.
  76. Wang X., Mell I., 2019, «Evaluating the challenges of eco-city development in China: a comparison of Tianjin and Dongtan eco-cities». International Development Planning Review, 41, 2: 215-242.
  77. Wilson E., 1984, Biophilia: The Human Bond with Other Species. Cambridge (ma): Harvard University Press.
  78. Wong, T.C., Yuen B., 2011, Eco-city planning policies, practice and design. Dordrecht: Springer.
  79. Zari M.P., 2018, Regenerative urban design and ecosystem biomimicry. New York: Routledge.
  80. Zhang Y., 2023, Urban Metabolism: Theory, Methods and Applications. Berlin: Springer Nature.

Giampiero Lombardini, Eco-Sustainable Cities, Biophilic-Cities: le forme del discorso ambientale e della città in "TERRITORIO" 108-109/2024, pp 43-54, DOI: 10.3280/TR2024-108004