Let the city breathe

Tony Milne from Rough Milne Mitchell ponders a recently projected statistic that by 2050 around 68 per cent of the world’s population will be living in cities.

I listened to my learned colleague Fraser Miller’s presentation on ‘Greening Christchurch – Christchurch City Council’s Urban Forest Plan and Tree Policy’. I learnt from Fraser that ) Ōtautahi Christchurch has set its sights on establishing 20 per cent of tree cover across our city by 2070; we currently have 15.6 per cent coverage. A lofty goal, Fraser says. Unobtainable, say others. Desirable, I say.

I have submitted on Council’s proposed Plan Change 14, about the intensification of our Garden City, which quite possibly is a descriptor that is a misnomer. I have also read a scholarly paper on the correlation between green spaces in a city and crime rates, followed by one on mitigating the urban heat island.

I observed city dwellers lounging in the sun on the grassy sward that is Rauora Park within our city centre. And, when in Nelson, we regularly walk Lulu, our black Labrador, along the shared path that runs either side of the Mahitahi River as it bends its way through the inner city. 

I am currently working my way through Bono’s Surrender, illuminating and irreverent, albeit a rather heavy tome. Possibly heavy as it follows on the heels of my reading of an account of Mick Jagger’s life. For different reasons, fascinating both. As Bono describes the inspiration behind the song ‘Where the Streets Have No Name’ he recounts his time in Ethiopia. 

“The red earth of Ethiopia is exhaling. The land is breathing. It is alive, only just, but alive. There’s a heartbeat murmuring beneath the red clay epidermis, a rhythm…”

Our cities need to breathe. Green spaces and plants are pivotal for a strong heartbeat, essential and important contributors to the urban fabric and health of the city and its inhabitants. Laudably, many councils throughout Aotearoa are working on ‘greening’ our cities to help contend with climate change and future resilience to temperature change, restoring habitat along with providing for the general psychological and physical health of those that reside within. 

However, greening isn’t just about parks, trees, street verges and medians. Building and clever site design play an important role, too. This will take a greater collective and creative commitment than currently being exhibited. Particularly so when providing for a greater density within the confines of some of our cities throughout Aotearoa, while at the same time providing a healthy and stimulating environment. 

This will take a more enlightened model of how we approach housing across our cities, with a more concerted effort required to increase ‘greening’ and permeability of a site. A design strategy that not only benefits that site but the wider environs, creating a broader space for biodiversity. 

This can take several forms, from houses with well-considered footprints sensitively sited to retain existing trees to the inserting of landscape – horizontally and vertically into built form where room is tight.

Let the city breathe. A greener city is a more alive city.

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