Why reconnect nature and the city?

 "If one way be better than another, that you may be sure is Nature's way." - Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics

Maynard Avenue, in Seattle's old Japanese neighbourhood, is a green street with cisterns, art, and landscape that draw on the area's culture and history.

Even the youngest community members can be involved in turning the medians into usable habitat.

There are several ways to reconnect nature and the city:

-Improve water quality 

(green stormwater infrastructure slows and filters rainwater, reduces erosion, and removes pollutants in the water that enters lakes, rivers and streams.

- Improve air quality 

(trees and plants )

- Reduce urban heat island effect 

(heat builds up in urban areas, where natural vegetation is replaced by buildings, roads, and other paved areas that absorb heat during the day, such as parking lots. Reintroducing green materials helps make a more comfortable urban environment for people and lowers energy consumption.)

- Improve habitat 

(Greening the city provides shelter and food for wildlife. Selecting the species of trees and plantings to be used in the right-of-way for their habitat value helps to support healthier urban ecosystems.)

- Improve well-being of people who live in the city 

(people connect with nature in the city: gardening, bird-watching, enjoying the local park bench.)

- Create economic benefits 

(people value living in green neighbourhoods with tree-lined streets. Studies show that people are willing to pay more for homes with trees.)

- Engage children, citizens, and decision makers 

(The more connected people are to the natural environment, the more they commit to keeping it healthy. As children are increasingly spending time with digital toys instead of outdoor play, environment education has taken on great importance.)