Green love
The term ‘biophilia’ was first introduced by the Greek philosopher Aristotle as the “love of life or living systems” and used by psychoanalyst Eric Fromm in 1973 to describe “the love of all that is alive”, so this concept is not new.
Biophilic design integrates cities and urban landscapes with nature by re-foresting to give shade and improve air quality, by incorporating green spaces in the form of large and mini parks beneficial to residents, and with vertical gardens and green rooftops that lower temperatures and cool buildings.
Johannesburg is one of 45 cities worldwide to join the World Resources Institute’s ‘Cities4Forests’ initiative, committed to conserving and restoring their urban forest. There is a serious threat to trees, including Jo’burg’s urban forests which are dying from infestations of the polyphagous (i.e. having many host plants) shot-hole borer from Asia. >>