A new biocentric sensibility

There is a disconnect between the human-made and the natural. When green spaces are proposed in cities, they aim to satisfy social and recreational needs of citizens. This biophilic approach is now giving way to a new biocentric sensibility. Here, blue and green systems – even in dense, built-up areas – act as carbon sinks, enhance biodiversity, restore habitats, and forge a bond between people and nature.

Two winners of the Holcim Awards 2023 Silver prize – Urban Nature Project (London, United Kingdom) from the Europe region and Stream Co-Habitat (Tuzla, Turkey) from the Middle East and Africa region – illustrate this socio-ecological approach to landscape urbanism.

Integrating the social and the ecological

The Urban Nature Project reimagines two hectares of open land at the Natural History Museum’s campus in London, United Kingdom, as a centre for research, training, and education. Learning experiences will be offered in “outdoor living galleries” – immersive exhibits created with landscapes. The new park will be a net-zero carbon project that will improve local biodiversity and contribute to urban cooling.

Stream Co-Habitat is a regenerative project that will help Tuzla, Turkey, recover from its industrial past, emphasising the links of water to history and culture. It envisions loops of ecological, hydrological, and mobility networks that double the public space, and offer habitats to fauna. It aims to become carbon-positive in ten years.