Dunedin’s inner-city greening project shows even small spaces can be wildlife havens |
Even small green spaces can bring nature back into cities, as our project in Ōtepoti Dunedin has shown.
Over the past two years, Dunedin’s city centre has become greener and more biodiverse thanks to the installation of street-side planters.
This change, though modest, proves popular with a range of insects that have moved in even though the city centre remains dominated by grey non-permeable surfaces.
This real-world example shows that urban dwellers with limited green spaces can still have a positive impact on urban biodiversity through the use of planters and raised garden beds.
Since most New Zealanders live in urban areas, these are the places where people frequently interact with and experience nature. The way we design cities shapes our experience of the natural world, and it should include habitat for our native flora and fauna.
As housing pressure rises, stand-alone homes with private gardens are increasingly replaced by medium-density housing with limited greenspace. If we want to keep our living environments green, we have to find ways to enhance biodiversity in increasingly smaller spaces.
Opportunities to connect with nature are linked to increased........