A Companion to the city: The Environment of the City...or the Urbanization of Nature

For my presentation, I had to read a chapter from A companion to the City and after reading it, I couldn’t help but think about Garret’s Romantic Natures class last spring. We spent an entire quarter looking at the different conceptions of nature in literature. When the quarter first started, I thought I had a pretty good idea of nature. I thought that nature is the natural environment that surrounds us, right? But, maybe it’s not. We talked about how for some individuals, nature is something that is outside of our socially constructed environment—something outside of the city, but where would that be? Is there a part of the natural environment that has not been influenced by society? I’m not so sure. I used to think of nature as being far removed from my city life. And, in all honesty, I never really gave it much thought. But, now I think the relationship between nature and society is much more complex.  

Will admit though that the more we discussed the different notions of nature, the less I knew what it was. I used to think that the trees and the plans located outside my window were apart of nature, but now I’m not so sure. I don’t even know if they belong there (apparently their roots are negatively impacting our pipe lines). The hiking trails behind my building seemed to lead to the natural environment, but then again, as I walk through the hills, I see public trash bins everywhere and man-made trails that are supposed to direct me toward a “nature” walk…before this class I never questioned the trails or the plants in my surrounding area, but now I do. If I’m asked to describe what nature looks like, I wouldn’t be able give a clear answer. What I enjoyed about this chapter is that it continues the discussion about nature and its relationship with society, specifically its relationship with the city. It automatically takes for granted that the natural environment and the city are interconnected in more ways than we might have imagined. The chapter examines the importance of paying attention to the ways in which nature and the city intersect with one another and it looks at how this intersection can then affect different societal issues. So, I guess the question is not necessarily where does nature end and society beings, but rather to consider “how to construct a city that is sensitive to these myriad connections and turn the city into one of the pivotal arenas where class, gender, and ethnic issues combine with ecological and environmental questions” (Swyngedouw Kaika 577).