Are we missing the city for the trees?

In today’s Big Story Podcast, if there’s been one progressive assumption about cities over the past couple of decades, it’s that they need to greener — more trees, more parks, more green projects on top of buildings, all of that. And while the goals are laudable, and the plant life will surely help in the climate era, a new books asks if we’re so concerned with making cities green, why are we forgetting to make them functional for the people who live in them?

 Des Fitzgerald is a Professor of Medical Humanities and Social Sciences at University College Cork in Ireland. He’s the author of The Living City: Why Cities Don’t Need To Be Green To Be Great.

“I have absolutely no quibble or objection to the fact that there is clearly important work that green space is doing in cities in terms of climate collapse,” said Fitzgerald. “I guess I want to retain … some kind of love for urban space in its own right, to not think of the city as a thing that just needs to be transformed into a park or a garden or a forest. That the city is a real thing in its own right and a thing that’s worth valuing.”

What exactly makes for a great city? Why does every development project you see now have a tinge of ‘greenwashing’ to it? Is there a way to make our cities better for everyone, and better prepared for the climate era that might not be as pretty, but would provide much more formidable infrastructure and services?

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