Medium Blog ~ Urban Planning strikes a balance with nature

[Julie]

Urban development used to bury nature to build cities. Beginning in the early 20th century, Baltimore, Maryland, gradually covered a stream called Sumwalt Run with streets, sidewalks, and stormwater drains. The city needed to make room for housing and cars, and turning a river into a sewer system was expedient. Out of sight, out of mind.

PhD researcher Kamyar Razavi calls the practice of degrading living waterways into sewer infrastructure “literally treat[ing] the natural world as a toilet.” His profile of Baltimore artist Bruce Willen shows how the city is ...Willen’s public project, Ghost Rivers, maps the hidden course of Sumwalt Run in vivid blue paint, reminding pedestrians that a natural waterway still flows beneath their feet. The goal is to show that burying streams didn’t solve the problem of excess water. It rerouted water into costly, flood-prone systems that cities are now scrambling to undo.

Cities across the globe are now trying to design infrastructure that works with water rather than against it. In Amsterdam, science writer Katrina Paulson explains, rooftops are being transformed into “blue-green” systems that act l.... These layered designs store rainwater under beds of vegetation and release it slowly, reducing flooding and keeping buildings cool. Smart valves release the stored water in advance of storms. Some versions even recycle it to flush toilets or irrigate plants. It’s part of a broader trend toward “sponge cities,” where infrastructure is designed to mimic natural drainage and increase biodiversity.

Both writers show that the future of city planning lies in ecological intelligence. Rather than treat nature as an obstacle or problem to fix, urban designers are beginning to recognize rivers, plants, and wetlands as functional parts of a resilient system. Nature isn’t a constraint. It’s a resource.

— Anna Dorn