Green Urbanist - Sustainable Placemaking, Planning and Urban Design
100+ episodes exploring climate action in cities and neighbourhoods.
This show provides actionable advice and case studies on:
- Sustainable urban design and placemaking principles.
- How to design cities and neighbourhoods for biodiversity net gain and wildlife.
- Climate adaptation: How to build resilience to climate change in cities.
- Net zero carbon masterplanning and architecture.
- Circular economy: How to minimise waste and emissions in new development.
- Transport: How to transition cities away to sustainable and active travel.
- Regenerative Design: Delivering positive benefits for the environment and communities.
Who is it for? Urban designers, planners, developers, architects, landscape architects, urban ecologists, engineers, transport professionals and urban citizens.
The Green Urbanist podcast is hosted by Ross O'Ceallaigh, an urban designer and sustainable placemaking consultant.
Green Urbanist - Sustainable Placemaking, Planning and Urban Design
#110: Wild Cities - Lessons from cities where biodiversity thrives
My guest today is Chris Fitch, author of the upcoming book Wild Cities: Discovering New Ways of Living in the Modern Urban Jungle. In this episode we discuss case studies of cities around the world that embrace wilder nature.
We go beyond the usual case studies like Singapore to explore lesser known examples like:
- Tallinn, Estonia - the city with pollinator corridors
- Tokyo, Japan - mini forests in a hyper-dense city
- Flagstaff, USA - the Dark Skies city
- Wellington, New Zealand - a hotspot for native birds
- + many others
Pre-order the book Wild Cities here - out on 10 April 2025
*Correction: At 44:10, Chris says that Sydney harbour has more marine species than the British Isles or Mediterranean. He actually meant fish species rather than all marine life. It's also more accurate to say that the biodiversity in Sydney harbour is equivalent to the Mediterranean.
- - -
Consulting: Book a Discovery Call to discuss your project
Course: Urban Sustainability Career Kickstart
Subscribe to the Green Urbanist Newsletter
The Green Urbanist podcast is hosted by Ross O'Ceallaigh.
Register for the Webinar (25 April): Nature-based Masterplanning