The English translation of architectural historian Antoine Picon’s groundbreaking book on how urban nature has gained importance over the centuries, especially in our age of climate crisis.

For more than 300 years, we have been exploring the role of nature in urban development. From the Tuileries in Paris and London’s Hyde Park—both opened to the public in the late seventeenth century—to today’s urban forests, the approaches of architects, engineers, landscape designers, and their clients to nature are inextricably linked to technical challenges as well as political and social concerns.

Since the Age of Enlightenment, urban nature has also been closely intertwined with concerns about hygiene and efforts to mitigate economic inequalities and social divisions. This common thread of urban planning has shaped transformations such as Paris under Baron Haussmann and the creation of New York’s Central Park. To this day, the evolution of urban nature runs hand-in-hand with changing ideas of society.

First published in French in 2024, Urban Natures highlights how urban nature has gained importance over centuries and reached an entirely new dimension in our age of global warming and climate crisis. It demonstrates the urgency of forging new connections between people and their environment: with soil, water, vegetation, and animal populations. And it illustrates how far we have already come and invites us to be innovative about our cities’ future.