Strategie di coesistenza

Abstract

The concentration of high biological diversity in cities, as opposed to the dramatic depletion of global biodiversity, has directed theoretical debate and practice in landscape architecture toward explorations of the role of open space design in fostering the presence of animal and plant species in urban settings. The construction of urban landscapes in which all living species can exist in mutual respect results in a widespread presence of apparently wild areas, where biodiversity can thrive undisturbed. The urban public, however, do not always perceive the ecological value of such spaces, considering them abandoned and disordered and thus unsuitable for the urban environment.
Through a critical reading of public parks recently built in European cities, the article will highlight the role of landscape architecture projects in contributing to shaping human’s perception of spaces for more-than-humans within the urban context. By orchestrating spaces that harmoniously blend areas for recreational activities and habitat reconstruction or conservation while, at the same time, by constructing an emotional experience for visitors who traverse them, landscape architecture projects can contribute to solicit an aesthetic sensibility for the wild areas preferred by more-than-humans, fostering a shared awareness for the promotion of urban biodiversity.