Indeed, there is now a growing sense among scientists and policymakers that humans are not meant to live in cities at all – that, as the biologist Edward O. Wilson once argued, we evolved not to be surrounded by streets and buildings, but by plants, rivers, and other forms of life. From here, it’s a short jump to the idea that, however piecemeal, we should return our urban spaces to this biological ideal – that a strong dose of medicinal nature (tree on its way!) will finally heal the sickly city.
