Island Press Field Notes

In an ongoing series, Urbanism Without Effort author Chuck Wolfe argues the importance of the overlaps, overlays and convergence points that define city life, and emphasizes the importance of reading and interpreting their everyday expression.

This week's selection comes from The Guide to Greening Cities. Rich in tools, insights, and tricks of the trade, The Guide to Greening Cities helps professionals, policymakers, community leaders, and students understand which approaches have worked and why and demonstrates multidisciplinary solutions for creating healthy, just, and green communities.

This week, join New York City's Chief Urban Designer, Alexandros Washburn, as he rides out Hurricane Sandy from his apartment in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Cross-posted at TheCityFix We need nature even more these days. As more people live in cities, nature offers a potent remedy to many of the environmental, economic, and emotional challenges presented by urban living. To address this, a new approach to urbanism has arisen – a “biophilic” urbanism – based on the assumption that contact with nature and the natural world is absolutely essential to modern urban life.