Kyla Fullenwider
The Public Studio + Walking Distance
- January 7, 2009 • 8:10 pm PST
- + responses
Frederick Law Olmsted and Jane Jacobs figured it out a long time ago: cities need people and trees. In her seminal work, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (a book which apparently even Obama is a fan) Jane Jacobs advocates against urban sprawl and for more livable cities. Fredrick Law Olmsted created some of the most important urban parks and nature reserves in the US including Central Park and the lesser known Emerald Necklace in Boston. Their instincts to blend nature and city received a boost from emerging neuroscience and cognitive research featured in a recent Boston Globe article. Anyone who has lived in a city knows that they are unnatural habitats and that they can negatively impact your mood. But some of the more interesting research is related to what cities don't do: provide enough nature. Nature, apparently, is really good for us. Not only does it improve your mood, it increases brain function, attention span and our ability to handle challenges. (It even makes you less likely to be a victim of domestic violence). With evidence like that you would think it's time to relocate to a place where what Thoreau called the "subtle magnetism of nature" is pervasive. But for those us of us relegated to city life we may be ok, and in fact, more creative. According to the report,
"recent research by scientists at the Santa Fe Institute used a set of
complex mathematical algorithms to demonstrate that the very same urban
features that trigger lapses in attention and memory -- the crowded
streets, the crushing density of people -- also correlate with measures
of innovation, as strangers interact with one another in unpredictable
ways. It is the "concentration of social interactions" that is largely
responsible for urban creativity, according to the scientists".
If, as Ms. Jacbos claims, "the point of cities is the multiplicity of choice" then we are, perhaps, closer than we thought.
My next step? Planting more lavender and lettuce.
For more information on urban forestry and nature in the city visit Tree People and Million Trees NYC.
To learn more about planting an urban garden or farm I've found The Urban Homestead is a great place to start.
"recent research by scientists at the Santa Fe Institute used a set of
complex mathematical algorithms to demonstrate that the very same urban
features that trigger lapses in attention and memory -- the crowded
streets, the crushing density of people -- also correlate with measures
of innovation, as strangers interact with one another in unpredictable
ways. It is the "concentration of social interactions" that is largely
responsible for urban creativity, according to the scientists".
If, as Ms. Jacbos claims, "the point of cities is the multiplicity of choice" then we are, perhaps, closer than we thought.
My next step? Planting more lavender and lettuce.
For more information on urban forestry and nature in the city visit Tree People and Million Trees NYC.
To learn more about planting an urban garden or farm I've found The Urban Homestead is a great place to start.
