Birdsong over traffic noise

For some people green towns would be those that have good cycle paths and public transport facilities, but a green town is more than that.

Ninety percent of people in Britain live in urban areas and there has been a recent tendency to leave the suburb behind and either live in very urbanized intercity environments or out in the country. Some consider this split to be perfectly healthy, but even people right in the centre of town cannot be considered totally removed from the landscape. They are an intricate part of the ecosystem and can, and do, have a dramatic effect on the whole.

People are beginning to understand that there is a green dimension to infrastructure. For example, if an urban environment is made of tarmac, steel and concrete it has very little chance to absorb floodwater. This is because as the rain falls on a roof or a driveway it rapidly continues onto the street and into the piped drainage system. It is moments before it arrives in a river and the river rises and floods occur.

But the understanding of Gaia tells us we need to live lightly within the ecosystem, not in contrast to it. By introducing the idea of nature conservation from the countryside into our cities we can develop more natural open spaces that can give us more healthy urban living, pleasant and safe routes to school, filter out local air pollution, moderate urban heat island effects and greatly reduce the risk of flash flooding. This understanding can improve nature conservation, help diversity and improve healthy living all at once.

In the past, a city might clad its riverbanks with ugly steel and concrete. It is now clear that a more absorbent water retentive river landscape could hold back the water, improve the reliability of the drinking water supply and reduce the risk of urban flooding whilst dramatically boosting the habitat upstream.

We should expect to hear birdsong over traffic noise in our towns as well as in the tranquil rural settings.