Birmingham joins San Francisco and Oslo in global green cities club

On Thursday 3rd April 2014, The Guardian newspaper announced that Birmingham has been awarded Biophilic City Status and has joined a global network of cities who celebrate their open spaces and links to nature.

“The city of Birmingham is renowned for its great industrial history, vibrant cosmopolitan communities, an extensive canal system (larger than that of Venice) and, at a push, its football clubs.

But now, possibly to the surprise of many outsiders and even some of its own citizens, England’s second city joins the likes of San Francisco, Wellington and Oslo in a global network of “biophilic cities” – urban centres celebrated for their green credentials, their open spaces and their links to nature.

The idea is that nature is, or should be, central to a happy, healthy and meaningful life not only to country dwellers but to those living in cities. Birmingham, the first British city to be invited to join the “biophilic network”, is pledging to work with the eight other cities to find out ways of making sure its inner city dwellers and suburbanites are linked to nature and living organisms.”

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Posted on 7th April 2014