Many voices. Greener cities. Better cities.

TNOC’s Mission

We believe the route to cities and communities that are better for nature and all people is through transdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration. We combine art, science, and practice in innovative and publicly available engagements for knowledge-driven, imaginative, and just green city making.

ESSAYS | POINT OF VIEW

ROUNDTABLES

EVENTS

Dancing With Scientists
Lindsay Campbell,  New York
Franklin Cruz,  Denver

Lindsay: I am co-principal Investigator on a USDA Forest Service (USFS) research project called “Fueling Adaptation” which is looking at wildfire communications, governance, and adaptation as part of the Wildfire Crisis Strategy.  This is work I co-lead with Miranda Mockrin (USFS) and Cody Evers (Portland State University). Our team of social scientists and practitioners met in person for the first...

A tree on the side of a road
Fight Fire With Fire … and Standards With Standards ― Building blocks for nature
Gitty Korsuize,  Utrecht

A biking lane should measure 4.20 meters at minimum in the city of Utrecht. Sidewalks need to be 1.20 meters wide to make sure pedestrians and a person in a wheelchair can pass each other. For each house we build we add 0.78 parking spaces in the public domain. In the Netherlands, we have a lot of standards and guidelines...

An aerial view of an oxbow river with many natural twists and turns
The goal is to mainstream Nature-based Solutions, by widening public acceptance and making it the standard and default practice of urban design. What will it take to get there?
James Bonner,  Glasgow |  Harriet Bulkeley,  Durham |  Tam Dean Burn,  Glasgow |  Stuart Connop,  London |  Bryce Corlett,  Norfolk |  Laura Costadone,  Norfolk |  Olukayode Daramola,  Surrey |  McKenna Davis,  Berlin |  Gillian Dick,  Glasgow |  Loan Diep,  New York City |  Niki Frantzeskaki,  Utrecht |  Zbigniew Grabowski,  Hartford |  Perrine Hamel,  Singapore |  Mariem EL Harrak,  Paris |  Cecilia Herzog,  Rio de Janeiro |  Nadja Kabisch,  Hannover |  Doris Knoblauch,  Berlin |  Frédéric Lemaître,  Paris |  Paola Lepori,  Brussels |  Patrick M. Lydon,  Daejeon |  David Maddox,  New York |  Israa Mahmoud,  Milan |  Timon McPhearson,  New York |  Seema Mundoli,  Bangalore |  Harini Nagendra,  Bangalore |  Caroline Nash,  London |  Neville Owen,  Melbourne |  Mitchell Pavao-Zuckerman,  College Park |  Eleanor Ratcliffe,  Surrey |  Kassia Rudd,  Freiburg |  Valentine Seymour,  Surrey |  David Simon,  London |  Takemi Sugiyama,  Melbourne |  Morro Touray,  Surrey |  Ibrahim Wallee,  Accra | 

THE NATURE OF CITIES FESTIVAL 2024

The Distance Between
Dreams and Reality
is Action

In 2024 we focus on translating knowledge to results. Join us.

EXHIBITS

PROJECTS

Reverberations

Reverberations An exhibition exploring the elements through art, science, and sound, Reverberations features more than 30 contributors from various disciplines in a multimedia experience. Produced by the USDA Forest Service and The Nature of Cities. This is an immersive sound-based exhibition. Headphones are recommended Enable Audio “Can you imagine listening to all that is sounding as if your body were...

Fiction

We asked people to imagine future cities, in the form of a flash or very short fiction. The series now includes two volumes: the latest is titled CITY IN A WILD GARDEN, a collection of 49 stories from 21 countries.

Poetry

With SPROUT, we are curating a space for trans- and multi-disciplinary collaborations between poets, researchers, and citizens with a focus on geographical diversity, polyvocality, and translation. We are a creative project of The Nature of Cities, specifically interested in the character of green cities from many ways of knowing.

The Just City Essays: 26 Visions for Urban Equity, Inclusion, and Opportunity

Today’s headlines—from Ferguson to Baltimore, Paris to Johannesburg—resound with the need for a frank conversation about the structures and processes that affect the quality of life and livelihoods of urban residents. Issues of equity, inclusion, race, participation, access and ownership remain unresolved in many communities around the world,  even as we begin to address the challenges of affordability, climate change adaptation and resilience.