Nature-First Cities: Restoring Relationships with Ecosystems and with Each Other

Argues that humans and nature can and should coexist in urban environments.

Nature belongs in cities, but how do we put nature first without pushing people aside? Nature-First Cities reveals the false dichotomy of that question by recognizing that people and nature are indivisible. Western urbanization has meant the ongoing expulsion of nature, which is engendering biodiversity loss and inequality, thwarting economic potential, and affecting health. This volume instead applies the science and practice of nature-directed stewardship to cities. Tested through case studies, this methodology for urban ecosystem restoration is uniquely effective at revitalizing our strained cities. Nature is woven into networks, distributed equitably across neighborhoods, and partnered with the urban density that is essential for addressing the climate crisis. 

Nature-First Cities offers a practical framework for urban planning that reinforces our place in nature both physically, by ensuring that cities are replete with biodiversity and intact ecosystems, and conceptually, by rebalancing our relationships with the planet and with one another.

Cam Brewer is a lawyer and adjunct professor with the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University. He was executive director of Smart Growth BC, ran eco-certification programs at the Canada Green Building Council and the Silva Forest Foundation, founded a co-op, and served as controller for Greenpeace Canada, co-chair of the VanCity Community Foundation, and principal of an urban sustainability consulting firm.

Herb Hammond is a forest ecologist and nature-directed stewardship planner. He is a co-founder of the Silva Forest Foundation and the project lead for more than twenty-five ecosystem-based conservation plans across Canada and elsewhere. He is the author of the award-winning Seeing the Forest among the Trees: The Case for Wholistic Forest Use and Maintaining Whole Systems on Earth’s Crown: Ecosystem-based Conservation Planning for the Boreal Forest.

Sean Markey is a certified planner and professor with the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University. He has published widely in academic journals and has coauthored or edited several books.