Reinventing urban nature

Scientific perspectives and stakeholder insights

by Marjorie Musy (editorial coordination), Gaëlle Aggeri (editorial coordination), Christine Aubry (editorial coordination)
march 2026
Open Access
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Summary

Faced with climate change, the growing desire of urban residents to access nature, and the introduction of new regulations, urban nature represents one of the main components of sustainable urban development. 

This book explores how local authorities are reinventing urban nature by integrating environmental and social dimensions. It traces the history of urban nature and the public policies that support it, and offers a cross-disciplinary analysis by scientists and practitioners of new challenges: water management, biodiversity, soil, health, and climate change adaptation. It also shows the consequences of evolving public policies and knowledge on new urban landscapes, whether heritage, recreational, or food-producing. Finally, it explores the hybrid governance of nature projects within local authorities, involving institutional actors, associations, citizen, to address planning, design, and management of urban nature at all scales. 

The book advocates for strengthening dialogue between elected officials, scientists, and practitioners in order to meet the increasing need for scientific, technical, and strategic training, as well as for the governance of partner collectives, with urban nature becoming a major object of democratic engagement. It is intended for elected officials, local public service managers, consulting firms, agencies, and associations involved in urban development.

Consult the complete bibliography of the book

Table of contents

List of interviews

Introduction

1. Public green policies: from horticulture to environmental commitment

Horticultural management of public green spaces in the 1950s-1980s
The pioneering Northern Europe model in the 1970s-1980s
Early ecological experiments in France in the 1980s
A more environmentally oriented management of green spaces after the international Rio alert (1992)
The emergence of public landscape policies in the 1990s
The 2000s: a new approach to urban nature engineering
After 2007: the development of a regulatory framework for public green spaces
In 2025, towards new city-nature models?

Part I. New challenges for nature in cities

2. Urban nature and biodiversity

From green spaces to biodiversity
Greening the built environment and biodiversity
Dark corridors: intégrating nocturnal darkness into ecological corridors

3. Climate mitigation and adaptation

Nature as a source of climate solutions
Policies and actions to prevent urban heat islands
Green spaces, climate change mitigation, and energy efficiency
Towards the renaturalization of urban stormwater management

4. Urban soils as foundations for nature

Rediscovering urban soils
Urban soils biodiversity
Soil quality and its link to vegetatiob, particularly food crops
De-sealing and renaturalizing urban soils
Promoting the development of urban soil phytomanagement

Conclusion: spotlight on living urban soils

5. Urban nature and health issues

Well-being, health, and urban nature: what connections ?
How vegetation can improve urban air quality ?

Part II. The contribution of urban nature to new urban landscapes

6. Types of urban green spaces

Evolving typologies of green spaces
Understanding the value of trees and assessing damage cost

7. Heritage gardens and environmental aspirations: a historical perspective

Rethinking the future of landscape heritage at the crossroads of disciplines
The 1930s: a urban planning momentum giving way to the garden dimension
From conservation to ecosystem services: changing perspectives on historic urban parks

8. Landscapes of ecological transition

Landscape as a pathway for transition towards a post-oil city
Participatory science in cities and the ecological transition

9. From the edible city to the food-providing city

Urban agriculture: constructed, lived, and perceived landscapes
Landscape transformations linked to urban agriculture: socio-ecological changes in the garden?

Part III. A hybrid and shared governance of urban nature

10. Centralized territorial steering for planning, designing, and managing urban nature

Urban nature in the metropolitan area of Bordeaux: from spatial planning to a territorial resilience approach
The Montpellier metropolitan area: proactive biodiversity and urban agriculture development
Nantes: when municipal gardeners actively contribute to creating a nature-friendly city
How professional networks of green space managers promote garden cities

11. Renewed state goverance in the construction and management of urban nature in France?

Introduction
Renewing state incentives to mobilize local authorities in their urban nature actions
Urban center revitalization programs developed by the state in cooperation with cities

12. The role of European institutions in urban nature projects

Introduction
NBS at the local level: role of the European Union
The leverage effect of the Green Deal: example of Île du Ramier in Toulouse
Implementing NBS in a neighborhood: example of the European URBiNAT project
When European labels reward leading cities in the ecological transition

13. Citizens’ contribution to the construction of urban nature

The pivotal role of local elected officials in mediating with users
Inclusion of all audiences in urban nature spaces: exchanges with disability advocacy associations
Raising urban residents’ awareness through sustainable development education associations
Co-constructing urban nature policies with or against local institutions

14. Involvement of artists, scientists, and experts in public policy development

Collaborations between cities and artists
Collaborations between cities and scientific researchers
Setting up an expert steering committee of experts: example of Rennes

15. The role of other actors in protecting and creating green heritage

Incentives and support for social landlords
Impacts and contributions of developers and urban planners in creating a green urban territory
Sponsorship: another way to involve companies in creating green cities

General conclusion

List of authors

List of interviewees

Alt metrics

Publications in the same collection

On the same subject

Features

Language(s): French

Publisher: Éditions Quae

Published: 19 march 2026

EAN13 eBook [PDF]: 9782759242498

EAN13 eBook [ePub]: 9782759242504

DOI eBook [PDF] : 10.35690/978-2-7592-4249-8

Pages count eBook [PDF]: 326

Pages count eBook [ePub]: 326

Interior: Colour

Reference eBook [PDF]: 03046NUM

Reference eBook [ePub]: 03046EPB

Size: 17.9 MB (PDF), 18 MB (ePub)

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