Health, Habitat, and Civic Infrastructure: Designing the City as a National Park

"Cities around the world share a common goal: to become healthier and greener, supported by civic infrastructure that restores ecosystems and strengthens public life. The question is how to reach this. Global climate targets, local building codes, and municipal standards increasingly guide designers and planners toward better choices. Still, many cities struggle to translate these frameworks into everyday, street-level comfort and long-term ecological protection."

"National parks operate through systems of protection that treat land as a network of ecological relationships rather than a collection of isolated sites. They establish a shared baseline for what must be preserved, maintained, and made accessible over time. When this logic is applied to the urban environment, success can inspire pride and a sense of shared responsibility among designers, policymakers, and residents, fostering a collective commitment to health, habitat, and civic infrastructure."

Cities aim to become healthier and greener through civic infrastructure that restores ecosystems and strengthens public life. Global climate targets, local building codes, and municipal standards increasingly guide designers and planners toward better choices, but many cities struggle to translate these frameworks into everyday, street-level comfort and long-term ecological protection. Treating urban areas as national parks reframes management around systems of protection that recognize land as a network of ecological relationships rather than isolated sites. Establishing a shared baseline for preservation, maintenance, and accessibility can inspire pride and shared responsibility among designers, policymakers, and residents, fostering collective commitment to health, habitat, and civic infrastructure.

Read at ArchDaily